Some sites potentially valuable or interesting to education students.  These are sites I use regularly and most deal with science education.

Inquiry-Based Science Education

This is how we teach kids how to think!  ...and to think for themselves!  Scary, isn't it?  To be honest, I believe most strongly that it is scarier when we don't teach them how to think.  Inquiry-based is only a little more difficult, and it's a lot more fun.  Give it a try.  Find a one-hour workshop, then a one-day workshop, and then you're hooked.  There is a reason most district, state and national teachers-of-the-year use Inquiry methodology in their science teaching.

The Exploratorium in San Franciso is one of the leading resources for Inquiry-based Science Education. The more time you spend on this website the more you'll want.  www.explortorium.com/educate/index.html

The Oklahoma Museum Network is a consortium of five inquiry-based museums in the state.  Some inquiry activities and resources are available at the Network, and some at the individual museum websites.  www.oklahomamuseumnetwork.org 

Lisa Seay is an energetic powerhouse in the education of the Gifted and Talented using Inquiry Methods.  She teaches Sand Springs and is a semifinalist for State Teacher of the Year.  Her website is www.sciencepalooza.wikispaces.com

Free Stuff for Science Education. 

Tons of stuff; posters, lab kits, foldables, videos (lots of videos) and more, for all grades.  This is a wiki, so anyone can edit anything that is posted here.   http://scienceinquirer.wikispaces.com/freestuff

Anatomy / Physiology

          Dissection alternatives.  Not everybody likes to dissect.  Personally I am tired of it but my anatomy classes are just too critical - we are training health care providers after all - so we do dissect.  However, there are alternatives for other classes and that might include yours - models and software for example.  For a list of places that will lend or sell you this alternative material look at www.navs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ain_edu_other_resources

Environmental Science

            http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/ Hands-on teaching activities for middle-school and high-school biology teachers.  Complete student and teacher pages for a number of activities.  Most of these are not elementary level.

Space Science

            http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/  Astronomy Picture of the Day.   Hundreds of the best images from NASA,  fully indexed, searchable and copyright-free (you paid for them with your taxes).   Use these to spice up your presentations.

            http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/ercn/home/index.html  An absolute goldmine of teaching resources from NASA but typical of federal websites, it takes awhile to learn how to use it.  You might also want to try www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

http://www.hnsky.org/software.htm#hnsky   “Hallo Northern Sky”  - This is where to download the program.

     http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/html/educators.htm  Civil Air Patrol educator’s area.  There is an abundance of aerospace education material aimed at upper elementary and middle school students.  There is also a one-time grant that is usually available for $250 to $500 for classroom supplies.  Membership required.  There is also an aerospace education conference every year somewhere in the US.

Earth Science

            www.weather.gov/norman  My favorite radar site.

            www.mesonet.org My favorite weather site in general.  You will need to load two plugins from the homepage of this site to get all of the parts to work. 

            http://www.ametsoc.org/AMSedu/  American Meteorological Society – workshops for teachers K-13, and free teaching materials.

http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/education.htm  Oklahoma Archeological Society.  Free programs for teachers.  Also some summer opportunities.

www.oerb.com  The Oklahoma OERB offers free workshops for teachers in a variety of areas and has them for all grade levels.  After attending a workshop you get a free kit of materials that will be replentished (free) for as long as you teach.  They have told me that Sci 2224 students can attend these workshops - the only catch is you won't get you kit until you become a teacher.  Highly recommended.  Written by teachers for teachers. 

http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/slaymaker/archives/Geol10L/landforms.htm  Examples ( many) of various landforms found on topographical maps.  Definitely a niche site, but if topo maps is your niche, this is for you!

www.teachcoal.org/teacherstore/freePDFs.html  from the American Coal Foundation.  There are four large pamphlets you can dowload, each with numerous lessons and activities for various grade levels.

Education

           http://sde.state.ok.us/  Oklahoma State Department of Education.  You might use this one a lot.

           http://sde.state.ok.us/Services/Conference/Encyclomedia/default.html  is the Encyclomedia website - the registration, speaker and exhibit info for 2010 will be there next spring.

            http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/default.asp  Texas Teacher Certification. 

            http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index3.aspx?id=44&menu_id3=793  Released TAKS tests for Texas.  These tests provide great resources for building your own mini-lessons on various PASS skills if you teach in Oklahoma.

            http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/ESC/  Provides links to the various ESC centers in Texas  - this is the first step in looking for a job in Texas.

            www.nsta.org   National ScienceTeachers Association.  Have separate subgroups for elementary, middle school, high school and college teachers.  Great conventions, publications,  support groups and lists of all kinds.

            http://www.oklahomascienceteachersassociation.org  Oklahoma Science Teachers Association.  A small, tight organization and this website always has a few announcements of upcoming events that might be useful to you.

            http://kats.org/  Kansas Science Teachers – a progressive, large group.  However, they require a paid membership before you can access their services.  Nothing free on this website.

            http://www.statweb.org/index.php  Texas Science Teachers – They are active in education leadership on this website; there is also a small, continuous listing of activities and events.