Embracing the Budget

School is expensive.

Ideally, we as teachers come in with grand ideas for the experiments and projects we have planned for our students, all involving inquiry and margin-based learning that fosters creativity.  We want students out of the textbook and engaging with the science in front of them, and everything is going according to plan until…

The Budget.

(dun dun dunnnn)

One thing that I’ve realized is that I can come up with as many ideas as I want for my classroom, but if I don’t have the funds to pull it off, I tend to scrap the whole concept.  Especially being a broke college student making plans for demos and lesson plans, the whole concept of a “budget” is touchy for me, and I’ve learned something extremely valuable that will carry on to my career–just because we’re short on funds doesn’t mean we have to teach straight-forward, lecture and textbook based lessons.  We just have to get a little creative, and use the tools set in front of us.

Here are a few I’ve found, for example:

1. Kids Discover Online

https://online.kidsdiscover.com/discover/life-science?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=Ad&utm_campaign=LifeSciencePN&pp=0&epik=0ieM4E_IW39V3

Kids Discover Online is a great, affordable resource for educators and students alike.  It has resources both for science and social studies teachers, but I focused in on the science aspects it offered.  I currently have the free account (again, broke college student), but they have a $4/month option for teachers (very, very cheap) so they can set up classrooms right on the site.  Essentially, they give access to hundreds of science-based articles that students can explore right at their fingertips, over all different subjects of science.  Check out the website above if you’re interested!

2. Labster

https://www.labster.com/

Labster is an affordable resource available for teachers delving into biotechnology or microbiology.  While it’s more expensive than the other resources I found ($29.99/student/year, or $7.99 per lab), the goal of this app is to provide virtual labs for experiments that would be too expensive or dangerous to physically do in the high school classroom.  So yes, the price seems higher than other apps listed, but when you look at what the app is actually offering this cost is extremely cheap and can be great for students studying more advanced biology subjects.

3. Seek by iNaturalist

A Shazam for Nature: A New Free App Helps You Identify Plants, Animals & Other Denizens of the Natural World https://t.co/xtIZT3uog8 pic.twitter.com/Pjn1uviRq4

— Open Culture (@openculture) April 1, 2018

This app is one of my personal favorites–it’s called the “Shazam for Nature” for an incredible reason!  Simply snap a pic with the app of something you’ve found while exploring, and the app will tell you what type of plant or animal you’re looking at.  This can be great for students to use both while they’re at school and when they’re at home, and they can create collections and try and see as many natural organisms as they can to add to their findings.  It’s like Pokémon Go, but science version.  The best part?  It’s 100% free.

4. PhET Simulations

Okay, I’m biased–I’m doing my research on these sims, so of course I’m going to include them.  But hey, they’re an incredible resource for science teachers, and here’s why:  PhET simulations are designed to show us what we can’t see.  PhET delves into molecules and interactions that aren’t directly observed in lab, which makes them a great resource to round out teaching at the molecular level for students.  The free sims also have recommended teacher activities (though pro tip from someone researching the effectiveness of those–double check them before you use them!)

5. NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/index.html

Ah, a classic.  Check out the NASA Education website and prepare to be amazed–NASA provides great materials for teachers to use in their classrooms, and who doesn’t love NASA?  (Besides the Flat Earthers, but they don’t count.)  Take the website to the NASA Wavelength, page, where you’ll find access to tons of resources for specific grades, both online and in paper form.  Just look at the above example of a resource from the site–a space weather viewer?  How COOL.  All in all, NASA has loads of information and resources available, and since they care about the future scientists of the world, it’s all available for us to use in our classrooms for free!

These are just some of the resources available for teachers, but if you’re interested in more, check out any of my cohort’s blog posts.  Happy teaching!

-Naomi