Even while you probably won’t use these as stand-alone units, the smaller chunks of content within them make Science Bits a gold mine. Just be prepared to dig! The search option doesn’t always provide hits for expected keywords, so you may need to try several approaches. The site’s interactive practice activities don’t pop up at all via the search engine. Find them instead in the Explain segment of a 5E unit by clicking the icon with a pencil next to it. This will take you to a list of related interactive activities that can be practiced individually or as a whole class, depending on your subscription.
The Engage videos are an effective way to introduce topics, such the Sun-Earth-Moon system. Show them to the whole class and follow up with your own clicker-based pre-tests to gather students’ initial ideas. Use activities and short lessons with individual students to reinforce topics or provide extensions.
Continue readingScience Bits is an online source of complete science units, each following the 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate). Units fall into five categories: Life, Earth & Space, Physics, Chemistry, and Nature of Science. Segments within the units are usable separately. Teachers can organize content in their library as well as piece together their own units (repertories). Those with connected student accounts can make assignments and view student scores.
Units follow a consistent design. Engage segments use short videos to introduce students to real-world situations (e.g., trash sorting centers) or ideas (e.g., the cause of the seasons). The Explore, Explain, Elaborate sections provide learning and practice through online activities, simulations, questions, and dynamic images. The Evaluate sections begin with great summary videos based on unit concept maps, and include the final student assessment.
Science Bits is true to its name: It’s full of snippets that can enhance many science classes. Options like the microscope simulation can prepare kids well prior to in-class labs. Others, like videos of expansion and contraction in solids and gases, allow students to gather experiences that may be difficult or time-consuming to re-create in some classrooms. Short, focused practice activities on topics from classification to chemical makeup provide great opportunities to target specific learning goals.
Because Science Bits' units aren't intended to be self-paced, all-encompassing curricula, kids will be most successful with a teacher's guidance and scaffolding. Explanations tend to be text-heavy, and some vocabulary may be too advanced for the audience (reverse sublimation, for example). Also, since kids can move forward to the next question -- or the next section -- without checking their answers, it could be challenging to ensure that they’re learning and understanding.
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