February 01, 2012
New Math Lesson Materials Published
We've just published 2 new sets of Lesson Materials for two of our most popular math Gizmos!
Polygon Angle Sum - Activity B
Quadratics in Polynomial Form - Activity A
As usual, each set of updated Lesson Materials includes 4 documents (Student Exploration sheet, SE Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet), all of which are available as a .doc or a .pdf. (Note: You will need to be logged in to see all the documents.)
This brings us to 20 math Gizmos with updated Lesson Materials (well, 60 if you count the more modern "purple ones" that have never had anything but Lesson Materials). We still have a long way to go in this project, but there's plenty of progress happening "behind the scenes."
We hope these new Lesson Materials are a help to you and your students - lots of good explorations and thought-provoking questions here.
Posted by Dan at 02:58 PM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
January 02, 2012
Ring in the new year with new Gizmos
We have released two new science Gizmos to start the new year. Both Gizmos are appropriate for students in elementary school through high school and cover highly requested topics.
The first Gizmo is called Dichotomous Keys. In this Gizmo, students use dichotomous keys to identify a variety of plants and animals, including California albatrosses, Texas venomous snakes, and more. Students can then try creating their own dichotomous keys for organisms in the Gizmo or for organisms found where they live.
The second new Gizmo is called Measuring Volume. In this Gizmo, students can use a variety of containers and tools to measure the volumes of liquids and solids. Students can fill containers from a faucet, pour water from one container to another, add objects to containers, and measure the dimensions of objects with a ruler. An eyedropper is available to add or remove small amounts of water, and a magnifying glass can be used to get a closeup view of a meniscus. Students can test their skills using the "Practice" mode of the Gizmo.
We hope you enjoy using the new Gizmos and wish you a great beginning to the new year!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 04:04 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 12, 2011
Two new chemistry Gizmos
We have released two new chemistry lessons focused on the concept of chemical equilibrium:
The two lessons use the same Gizmo but focus on different topics. In the Equilibrium and Concentration lesson, students observe reversible reactions to gain an understanding of why chemical equilibrium occurs and how equilibrium constants are calculated. The follow-up lesson, Equilibrium and Pressure, discusses partial pressure, Dalton's law, and Le Chatelier's principle.
We hope you enjoy the new lessons as we continue to expand our chemistry coverage!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 04:15 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
October 10, 2011
New lesson materials published!
We've posted 3 sets of new Lesson Materials today! In addition, the Gizmos themselves (all 3 of these) were updated to gain some new problem types, so your students will be able to get more practice with more types of problems. Check them out:
Dividing Exponential Expressions
Multiplying Exponential Expressions
As usual, each set of updated Lesson Materials includes 4 documents (Student Exploration sheet, SE Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet), all of which are available as a .doc or a .pdf. (Note: You will need to be logged in to see all the documents.)
This brings us to 18 math Gizmos with updated Lesson Materials. We have a long way to go on the math side, but we're hard at work on it!
Hope these new materials are a help - to teachers and students alike.
Posted by Dan at 05:05 PM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
August 15, 2011
New Titration Gizmo
Just in time for the new school year, we are pleased to announce a new chemistry Gizmo called Titration. In this Gizmo, students can measure the quantity of a solution of known concentration needed to neutralize an acid or base of unknown concentration, allowing the unknown concentration to be determined. A special "Worksheet" tab on the Gizmo gives students a hand in completing the calculation and allows them to check their work. In addition to titration, the Student Exploration sheet for the Gizmo covers several important topics such as pH calculation, titration curves, acid-base reactions, and the importance of choosing the correct indicator.
We will be working on several more chemistry Gizmos this year to expand our coverage of this subject. Enjoy the Gizmos and good luck with the start of the year!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 09:07 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
August 02, 2011
New Lesson Materials - 3 "Pathfinder" Math Gizmos
We're happy to announce that today we have published new Lesson Materials to go with 3 of our "Pathfinder" math Gizmos:
Solving Formulas for any Variable
These sorts of Gizmos ask students to solve problems, step-by-step, with feedback for any wrong answers along the way. They focus on algebraic procedures, but in a thoughtful way. The new Lesson Materials will help get students started, thinking about what they are doing, and then the Gizmo can take it from there, providing feedback for students.
By the way, we have also updated the Gizmos themselves. You'll find a deeper bank of problems to allow for more student practice.
Give them a try!
And, as they say, "more to come"!
Posted by Dan at 05:51 PM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
June 14, 2011
Science curriculum project is complete!
For the past two years we have slowly but steadily added enhanced curriculum materials (Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet) to our science Gizmos. Today we published the final batch of enhanced materials for:
We are proud to say that now every science Gizmo on the website has a full set of curriculum materials, available in Word format (allowing you to edit and customize these materials for your own use) and as PDFs. We hope you enjoy these materials and look forward to similar improvements to our math library in the coming months.
Posted by krosenkrantz at 10:30 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
April 26, 2011
Updated science curriculum highlights electricity and magnetism
Five more science Gizmos have been updated with expanded curriculum materials, leaving only seven more to do! This batch highlights several Gizmos on electricity and magnetism:
Each of the enhanced Gizmos now features a Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet. These are available as pdfs and Word documents to allow easy editing for your own use. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:29 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
March 31, 2011
Updated science curriculum materials -- getting close to the end!
Five new sets of expanded science curriculum materials have been published, leaving us with only 12 more science Gizmos to go! We have added updated materials to the following Gizmos:
Each enhanced set of materials includes a Student Exploration sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet, all available as a Word document or pdf. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 11:36 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
March 01, 2011
First new Gizmos of 2011
We are proud to announce the first new science Gizmos of 2011! They are Ripple Tank and Electromagnetic Induction.
In the Ripple Tank Gizmo, you can run a variety of experiments to demonstrate wave motion, diffraction, reflection, interference, and even refraction with several submerged obstacles. The wavelength and wave strength can be adjusted in each scenario. This Gizmo really complements our other wave Gizmos such as Longitudinal Waves, Refraction, Phased Array, and Doppler Shift.
Electromagnetic induction is the fundamental principle behind all generation of electricity and was one of the most important discoveries of 19th century physics. Students can explore this vitally important phenomenon with the Electromagnetic Induction Gizmo. The Gizmo allows students to move a magnet or a coil of wire to induce an electric current in the wire and light a light bulb. This Gizmo provides the perfect followup to our related Magnetic Induction Gizmo.
We hope you enjoy the new Gizmos!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 10:25 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
February 17, 2011
New Lesson Materials - more fraction fun
Three more fraction-related math Gizmos would be proud to show off their new Lesson Materials to you:
As always, the modern version of Lesson Materials contains 4 documents per Gizmo (Student Exploration sheet, Student Exploration sheet Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocab sheet). Each of these is available to you as either a Word doc (to allow you to edit it if you like), or as a pdf (for smaller filesize).
We hope the lessons in these documents will enhance the Gizmo-based learning experience for you and your students.
Posted by Dan at 01:51 PM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
January 24, 2011
New lesson materials - 3 fractions Gizmos
We've added new Lesson Materials -- Student Exploration sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocab sheet -- for 3 more math Gizmos!
Part-to-part and Part-to-whole Ratios
Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Fractions with Unlike Denominators
As usual, these Lesson Material documents are available as both Word docs and pdf's. (Word doc form allows you to edit the documents yourself. The pdf gives you the same document in a smaller filesize, but it is not editable.)
Hope these new materials enhance your use of Gizmos! More to come.
Posted by Dan at 11:15 AM in Help (User Support), Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
December 22, 2010
ExploreLearning Scheduled Maintenance
Technical upgrades to explorelearning.com are scheduled for Sunday December 26, between 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. EDT. The website will be unavailable during this time.
Posted by ExploreLearning at 10:29 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 02, 2010
More new math lesson materials
Three more math Gizmos have a brand new set of Lesson Materials! (As a reminder, "Lesson Materials" include a Student Exploration sheet, an Answer Key, a Teacher Guide, and a Vocab sheet. You'll need to be logged in to see all of those documents, and students will not see the Answer Key or Teacher Guide, for obvious reasons.)
The 3 Gizmos with the new Lesson Materials in this batch are:
Sums and Differences with Decimals
Percents, Fractions, and Decimals
Ordering Percents, Fractions, and Decimals Greater than 1
Hope you and your students enjoy! And of course, stay tuned for more to come.
Posted by Dan at 05:47 PM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
November 29, 2010
Join us on Facebook!
Our social media presence keeps expanding! First we set up our Twitter feed, where you can access an ongoing stream of useful information about math and science. Then we turned on our YouTube channel, where you can find videos of teachers and students using Gizmos. Now we've launched a Facebook page that's just about Gizmos.
We are just getting started with Facebook-- this is a great opportunity for you to write on our wall, comment on other posts, and tell your colleagues to visit as well. We want to hear your stories about Gizmos: how you use them, what your students get out of them…whatever you want to share. Visit the ExploreLearning Gizmos page and click on the "Like" button at the top of the page so you can be a part of our growing community.
Posted by Ed Pastore at 03:12 PM in Site Announcements, Web/Tech | Permalink
November 23, 2010
New math curriculum materials published!
Good news, math Gizmo fans - we're updating the curriculum materials for all the secondary math Gizmos now also! Gradually, over the coming months, you'll see the venerable old Exploration Guides replaced with our updated 4-document set of curriculum (Student Exploration sheet, Student Exploration Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet).
The first 3 sets are now live! You can find them by clicking on the "Lesson Materials" link above these Gizmos:
Comparing and Ordering Decimals
(Note: That last one is a title change. This Gizmo was formerly called "Using Tables, Rules, and Graphs.")
We hope you enjoy the new, enhanced materials! Much more to come...
Posted by Dan at 10:45 AM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
November 16, 2010
Gizmos Correlated to the Common Core State Standards
ExploreLearning Gizmos are now correlated to the new Common Core Standards for mathematics. The Common Core State Standards Initiative aims to provide a clear and consistent understanding of the knowledge and skills needed for student success in the 21st century. So far 38 states have adopted these standards for both math and language arts.
Of course, Gizmos are already correlated to all state standards and to over 200 leading textbooks. You can easily browse for Gizmos using any of these correlations, or just by entering a key word or phrase in the Search window found on every website page.
Happy browsing!
Posted by ExploreLearning at 12:43 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
October 22, 2010
Next batch of new curriculum is up
We have just published the latest round of enhanced curriculum for our science Gizmos. This batch focuses on optics:
Each new set of curriculum materials includes a Student Exploration sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet. Each is available as a pdf or Word document that you are free to customize for your own use. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 04:01 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
September 21, 2010
Enhanced Gizmos feature inclined planes and vectors
Five new sets of enhanced curriculum materials have been published:
Inclined Plane - Simple Machine
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects
Inclined Plane - Rolling Objects
Each set of new curriculum materials includes a Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Vocabulary Sheet, and Teacher Guide. All materials are available in pdf format or as a Word document to allow you to edit and customize the materials for your own needs.
Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 12:03 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
August 24, 2010
Welcome back to school!
It's that time of year again, with everyone a little sad that summer's over but excited to start a new school year. At ExploreLearning we've continued our curriculum enhancement project, and have just published five new sets of expanded curriculum materials:
This is our first batch of physical science Gizmos this year, and we will be focusing on physical science for the remainder of the year. Enjoy the Gizmos, and good luck in the new school year!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 09:25 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
July 19, 2010
Enhanced Gizmos in astronomy
Five more Gizmos have been enhanced with expanded curriculum materials. These Gizmos feature the Moon (Moonrise, Moonset, and Phases), orbits (Orbital Motion - Kepler's Laws and Comparing Earth and Venus), gravity (Gravitational Force), and the stars (H-R Diagram).
Each of these Gizmos now includes a Student Exploration sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet. We have now finished enhancing Earth Science Gizmos are are tackling Physical Science Gizmos next. Enjoy the new materials!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 05:01 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
June 28, 2010
More updated Earth Science Gizmos
Enhanced curriculum materials have been published for the following five Earth Science Gizmos:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 08:35 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
June 15, 2010
New curriculum highlights seasons and eclipses
Just in time for the solstice on June 21, we have published enhanced curriculum materials for five Earth Science Gizmos:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 02:16 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
June 03, 2010
Gizmo demo movies are live!
Who says that all the blockbuster summertime movie action is only taking place on the big screen?
We're happy to announce that all 80 Gizmos with the "purple bar on the left side" appearance have a demo movie!
These Gizmo demo movies are quick (~3 minute) how-to movies that show you what each Gizmo can do, and how you can interact with it. The movies don't teach the lesson (see the Lesson Materials or Exploration Guide for that), but they should help get you comfortable with that Gizmo.
Demo movies come with voice-over narration, so be sure you have your sound turned on. (We recommend using headphones if in a lab setting.)
Movies are appropriate for teachers or students.
To access the demo movie, click on the "Demo" button in the purple bar, at the lower left corner of the Gizmo.
Posted by Dan at 03:57 PM in Help (User Support), Quick Tips, Site Announcements, Training and Professional Development, Using Gizmos | Permalink
May 05, 2010
Explore the atom with updated Gizmos
Five more Gizmos have been updated with expanded curriculum materials (Student Exploration, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet). Four of these Gizmos explore the structure of the atom and/or discuss the beginnings of quantum mechanics:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 12:17 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
April 13, 2010
Five updated chemistry Gizmos
We have finished updating the life science Gizmos and are now halfway through the remaining chemistry Gizmos. Five more Gizmos are now equipped with Teacher Guides, Student Explorations, Answer Keys, and Vocabulary Sheets:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 08:45 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
March 17, 2010
Need a science fair topic? Our latest batch of enhanced Gizmos might help!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:11 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
February 25, 2010
Updated Gizmos highlight genetics and evolution
Five Gizmos have been updated with new curriculum materials as a part of our ongoing project. Several of these Gizmos focus on the intersection of evolution and genetics:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 10:48 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
February 16, 2010
Updated Help Center navigation
We've updated the look of our Help Center and changed how it's organized.
Some of the updates you may notice include:
- New topic pages to help organize existing help
- Help movies integrated with text help
- New Search field - searches the Help Center only
- A handful of new help entries related to recent changes (such as Community Features)
Check it out! We hope this makes things a little nicer, clearer, and easier to use.
Posted by Dan at 04:59 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 29, 2009
Science Gizmo curriculum project reaches the halfway mark
Five more science Gizmos have been enhanced with expanded curriculum materials. Each of these Gizmos now includes a Student worksheet, answer key, teacher guide, and vocabulary page:
Effect of Environment on New Life Form
This set brings our total for the year to 75, half of our total collection of science Gizmos. Look for more enhanced curriculum in 2010!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 09:36 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 07, 2009
Weather, Density, and Disease featured in freshly enhanced Gizmos
As the end of 2009 approaches, we are nearly halfway through our science curriculum enhancement project. Five more Gizmos are now equipped with Student Explorations, Answer Keys, Teacher Guides, and Vocabulary Sheets:
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:55 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
November 02, 2009
Five more enhanced Gizmos
Enhanced curriculum materials (Student Exploration, Key, Teacher Guide, Vocabulary Sheet) have been added to another five Gizmos as a part of our ongoing project. Check them out!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:11 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
October 13, 2009
Enhanced Gizmos feature chemistry and evolution
As a part of our ongoing project, six more science Gizmos now feature enhanced curriculum materials (Student Exploration sheets, Answer Keys, Teacher Guides, and Vocabulary Sheets):
Rainfall and Bird Beaks (metric version)
That brings our total up to 60 enhanced Gizmos since the start of the year. Phew! We hope you enjoy these materials and take advantage of all the great teaching ideas and activities that they offer. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 10:34 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
October 09, 2009
Remodeled Phase Changes Gizmo
Prompted by a note from a teacher, we have made changes to the Phase Changes Gizmo. In the original Gizmo, we assumed a "no stirring" scenario in which heat applied to the bottom of the beaker was transferred to the ice through natural convection -- the water heated by the burner naturally rose to melt the ice. This scenario resulted in an average water temperature above zero, even while some ice was still present.
We decided to switch the model in the Gizmo to assume "constant stirring." In this scenario, used in many textbooks, lessons, and labs, heat from the burner is instantly transferred to the ice. Noo heat is transferred to the water until all of the ice has melted. As you can see in the revised Gizmo, this results in a heating curve that is perfectly flat during melting, just as in freezing and boiling.
We hope that this change will make this Gizmo easier to understand and use. If you have comments or suggestions about any of our Gizmos, please send them in!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 10:54 AM in Site Announcements, Using Gizmos | Permalink
September 24, 2009
Enhanced curriculum and improved Gizmos
As teachers and students are settling into the school years, we have continued to update the curriculum materials for our science Gizmos. The following Gizmos are the latest to be equipped with Student Exploration sheets, Answer Keys,Teacher Guides, and Vocabulary Sheets:
Determining Density via Water Displacement
Evolution: Mutation and Selection
In addition, we have spent time this month improving some of our Gizmos. Many of these improvements have been suggested by our users! For example, Rock Classification has been equipped with a new set of rock images that will allow students to identify the rocks more easily based on their appearance. Triple Beam Balance now shows masses to the nearest 0.1 g and the "250 g cube" has been swapped for a cube of unknown mass. Finally, Weight and Mass now has a "Clear scales" button and a digital readout on the spring scale. (To see this, place your cursor over the red pointer on the spring scale.)
We hope these improvements will help you and your students enjoy Gizmos even more. Keep those helpful ideas coming!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 11:24 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
August 18, 2009
Five more make 50
Just in time for the new school year, we have updated the curriculum materials for five more popular science Gizmos:
That makes a total of 50 science Gizmos that have been equipped with student explorations, answer keys, and vocabulary sheets this year, in addition to the 40 elementary-level science Gizmos that already have these materials. We will continue to add enhanced curriculum throughout the year!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 02:54 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
August 05, 2009
Five more Gizmos equipped with lesson materials
As a part of our continuing project, we've added lesson materials to five more Gizmos. The following Gizmos now have Student Exploration Sheets, Answer Keys, Teacher Guides, and Vocabulary Sheets:
Temperature and Particle Motion
All materials are available in pdf or Word format to allow for easy customization. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 02:43 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
August 01, 2009
ExploreLearning 2.0
Today we launched a new and improved version of ExploreLearning.com. This was a major effort by a lot of people and the team here is very excited that launch day has finally arrived. We think you will be, too.
We had three main goals for the redesigned site:
- to update the look and feel,
- to make it even easier for new users to get up and running, and most importantly,
- to help our teacher users share information about teaching with Gizmos.
What's New
New Teacher-only features on ExploreLearning.com:
Gizmo recommendations:
Want to see which Gizmos other Algebra teachers think are particularly useful? Want to turn other teachers on to your personal favorites? Now you can.
Lesson Materials Sharing:
So you've created some lesson materials that really work well with your favorite Chemistry Gizmos? Upload them so that other teachers can give them a try.
Gizmo List Sharing:
Have the perfect Gizmo List for your 7th grade science class? Share it. Want to see what the Gizmo guru down the hall is using with her 4th graders? Ask her for the link to her Gizmo List.Public Profile
Everything you contribute is displayed on your Public Profile. Really like something that another teacher has shared? See what else she has contributed by checking out her Public Profile.
Lesson Info page
Every Gizmo now has a companion page called the Lesson Info page. Browse Gizmo descriptions, ExploreLearning Lesson Materials, teacher recommendations, and teacher-contributed documents, all from this new page.
'Getting Started' Movies
New users will be up and running in no time thanks to our new Getting Started movies. In just a few minutes you can get a quick orientation to ExploreLearning.com, get oriented to our teacher community features, or get quick ‘how-to’ demonstrations on topics like enrolling students into the system.
Me Page
Your Teacher Homepage now has a new tab. It’s called your ‘Me’ page. The Me page is your home base on ExploreLearning.com. On it, you can check out our Getting Started movies, see what other teachers like you are sharing on the site, or even register for a live webinar.
Of course, there are a lot of smaller improvements on the site as well, but we’ll let you discover them on your own. Meantime, if you have feedback or questions for us, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you. Enjoy!
Posted by ExploreLearning at 05:58 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
June 19, 2009
Five new sets of enhanced curriculum
As part of our ongoing curriculum enhancement project, five more Gizmos are now outfitted with Teacher Guides, Student Exploration Sheets, Answer Keys, and Vocabulary Sheets. They are
Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs
All new materials are available in Word and pdf formats and can be edited to suit your individual preferences. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 11:34 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
May 27, 2009
Earth science and astronomy curricula enhanced
As part of our ongoing project, we have published expanded curriculum materials for several popular Earth science and astronomy Gizmos:
Earthquake - Recording Station
Earthquake - Determination of Epicenter
Physical science is coming up next!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:19 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
May 20, 2009
Five new sets of enhanced curriculum materials
Our curriculum-enhancement project is rolling along, and we are pleased to announce that five more Gizmos are now outfitted with expanded curriculum materials:
pH Analysis: Quad Color Indicator
Density Experiment: Slice and Dice
The new materials include a Teacher Guide, Vocabulary sheet, Student Exploration sheet, and an Answer Key. All materials are available as a Word document or pdf. Feel free to modify any of these documents for your own specific uses. Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 12:05 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
May 19, 2009
Announcing our new "Introduction to ExploreLearning" video!
We have published a great new "Introduction to ExploreLearning" video. You can view it by clicking on the orange and black icon here on our website's front page (in the New to ExploreLearning box). The video features information on what Gizmos are and why so many teachers are using them in Math and Science classrooms. Best of all, it features our founder, Dr. David Shuster, Ph.D., talking about ExploreLearning's mission and showing some of his personal favorite Gizmos. Check it out today!
Posted by ExploreLearning at 06:39 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
May 05, 2009
Five more Gizmos get updated curriculum materials
We are pleased to announce that five popular life science Gizmos are now equipped with expanded curriculum materials: Teacher Guides, Exploration Sheets, Answer Keys, and Vocabulary Sheets. The Gizmos are:
All of the new curriculum materials are available as a pdf or a Word document that you can easily edit and adapt to your own needs.
Posted by krosenkrantz at 03:19 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
April 16, 2009
Gizmo demo movies - elementary science - done!
It's been a long time coming, but at long last, every elementary science Gizmo has a demo movie! (That's 40 of them, if you're keeping score at home.)
The "movies" are short (about 2 minutes each) and have a simple "how-to" approach. They show how to use the basic features in the Gizmo. If students are brand-new to a Gizmo, the demo movie would be a nice brief introduction to it.
The movies feature a voice-over, so be sure audio is turned on before watching. (In a lab setting, you probably either want to project it for the whole class to watch and listen to, or have students use headphones.)
To see a demo movie, click on the "demo" icon at the bottom left corner of the Gizmo, in the purple bar, as shown below.
(Note: Demo movies will only appear in elementary-level Gizmos - the ones with the purple bar on the left side.)
Tip: To find the 40 elementary science Gizmos, either click "Browse Gizmos" and browse through the grade 3-5 science offerings, or just type "elementary science" (without the quotes) in the search field.
Enjoy! We hope these are useful for both teachers and students.
By the way, the elementary math Gizmo demo movies will now slowly start appearing also! We hope to have all 40 of them complete by the end of 2009.
Posted by Dan at 02:40 PM in Help (User Support), Quick Tips, Site Announcements, Training and Professional Development | Permalink
March 31, 2009
New curricula for current Gizmos
When we added enhanced lesson materials to our elementary Gizmos, the new format was so popular that we decided to revise the materials for all of our grade 6-12 Gizmos as well. We chose 20 of our most popular science Gizmos to start, and these sets of lesson materials are now available. Each set includes the following:
--Teacher Guide with teaching tips, related activities, discussion questions, science background, and interesting links.
--Student Exploration worksheet with 1-3 activities to guide student learning.
--Answer Key for the Student Exploration worksheet.
--Vocabulary Sheet that defines key words used in the Student Exploration activities.
It will take a while to update the curriculum materials for all of our grade 6-12 Gizmos, but we have made a great start. You can see new materials on the following Gizmos:
We will continue to add new lesson materials throughout the year. Let us know what you think!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 09:38 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
January 05, 2009
40th new Gizmo for 2008!
We've released the 40th and final new Gizmo for 2008! (Hey, at least it was very recently 2008...)
Check out the Road Trip (Problem Solving) Gizmo! This Gizmo ties together many concepts as students plan and take a road trip around the United States. Gas mileage, budgets, geography, state capitals, general problem-solving skills... they're all in here. A lesson with the Road Trip Gizmo can be a great capstone lesson, challenging students within an open-ended and very realistic context.
Enjoy, and again, happy new year from ExploreLearning!
Posted by Dan at 05:05 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 30, 2008
Seven new math Gizmos!
As 2008 draws to a close, we're happy to introduce seven brand new math Gizmos! Here's a quick overview...
First is a trio of related Gizmos. In Function Machines 1 (Functions and Tables), you can introduce input-output machines and record data in data tables. Function Machines 2 (Functions, Tables, and Graphs) takes that a step further, adding graphs. In Function Machines 3 (Functions and Problem Solving), students program their own machines, model and solve real-world problems, and begin to think about inverse functions.
The Pattern Flip (Patterns) Gizmo challenges students to recognize and extend patterns in a fun carnival-game-like setting.
Fraction Artist 1 (Area Models of Fractions) is a creative Gizmo in which students create modern-looking paintings, in the style of Piet Mondrian, and then describe their paintings using fractions. This Gizmo serves as an introduction to the already-published Fraction Artist 2 (Area Models of Fractions).
In Factor Trees (Factoring Numbers), students can create factor trees in Factor mode as they break composite numbers into their prime factors. In Build mode, students can build numbers by multiplying primes. The two modes allow students to see these as two sides of the same coin.
Finally, the Reaction Time 2 (Graphs and Statistics) Gizmo uses the "catch the ruler" and "click a target" experiments to allow students to collect data, interpret graphs, and explore mean, median, and mode.
All of these Gizmos come with a full set of Lesson Materials and Assessment Questions. (You have to be logged in to see all of these materials, as always.)
This brings our yearly total to 39 new Gizmos for 2008 -- one more to go to hit our goal of 40 for the year!
In addition, all of us at ExploreLearning would like to say "thank you" for helping us have a successful 2008! We're pleased to be a partner in math and science education for so many teachers and students. Happy holidays and best wishes for a happy new year to all.
Posted by Dan at 11:31 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
December 02, 2008
Three new Gizmos published!
We're happy to announce that we've added 3 new Gizmos to our elementary mathematics library...
Balancing Blocks (Volume)
Rock Art (Transformations)
Fractions Greater than One (Fraction Tiles)
The Balancing Blocks Gizmo is a cool 3D Gizmo intended to help teach volume of prisms. Students build three-dimensional figures out of cubes, and rotate them to see them from any angle (great spatial-relations practice). As a challenge, can your students build a figure of a given volume that also balances on the tip of a cone?
In the Rock Art Gizmo, students learn about reflections, rotations, and translations, inspired by art found on cliff walls in the American Southwest. The built-in "old paintings" challenge students to use transformations to match ancient paintings.
The Fractions Greater than One Gizmo is the third in a set of three fraction tile Gizmos. (The first two are Equivalent Fractions and Adding Fractions.) Students can make their own fraction tiles using the "Fractionator" and add them. Sums greater than 1 are shown as either improper fractions or mixed numbers.
We hope you enjoy these and find them to be valuable practice for your students!
Posted by Dan at 02:20 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
November 21, 2008
New from ExploreLearning: Online Gizmo Training!
Are you interested in increasing your knowledge and skill using ExploreLearning Gizmos?
Do you want to learn to use Gizmos in your own environment, with an affordable individual cost? Sign up for one of our new three-week online initial training courses. Anyone with an active subscription to ExploreLearning.com can purchase a seat in this new course, which will feature both guided and independent learning opportunities.
The first session begins on January 5th and the second begins on February 2nd.
Contact Explorelearning Sales for more information or to sign up.
Posted by ExploreLearning at 10:22 AM in Site Announcements | Permalink
November 17, 2008
Addition by subtraction
We just published a new elementary math Gizmo, called Subtracting Decimals (Base-10 Blocks). This Gizmo completes our suite of three Base-10 Blocks Gizmos--the others are Modeling Decimals (Base-10 Blocks) and Adding Decimals (Base-10 Blocks).
With these Gizmos, students will gain a deeper understanding of place value, the base-10 system, and regrouping during addition ("carrying") and subtraction ("borrowing"). Students will see that the rules for adding and subtracting decimals are no different from the rules for adding and subtracting whole numbers, and will see why it is necessary to line up the decimal points when adding or subtracting decimals.
Enjoy!
Posted by krosenkrantz at 05:05 PM in Site Announcements | Permalink
