annotated+bib

Hirman Bertoch. (2009). "KidsBiology.com - Needs of Living Things." //Biology For Kids.// Retrieved August 4, 2011 Kids Biology was created by a teacher for use in his own elementary school classroom, it is a division of Kids Know It Network. The information is presented in an easy to read and understand way. The information is simple yet informative for young readers. While the ads can be a little distracting it allows the website to be viewed without fees. Students are able to navigate freely from page to page to learn more and review what has already been read. This pictures and small text sections help to keep a student’s attention. There are many other sites that are a part of this network that can be used for future lessons and games that go alone with some of the lessons too.

Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens (2011). "First Grade: First Class... Zoo!." //Education Adventures//. Retrived August 4, 2011 This is the main website for the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens where I plan on taking my class for a learning field trip on the Friday of our lesson. The zoo offers educational trips and had a program specifically designed for first graders. The contact information is listed for this zoo and program on this page. I'm sure similar information is available for other local zoos. The site is easy to navigate and even lists the Sunshine State Standards that their workshop covers.

National Science Foundation (2007). "Teachers' Domain: Living vs. Nonliving." //Teachers' Domain: Home//. Retrieved August 4, 2011. This is a lesson plan created by Teacher's Domain. It is intended for use with students in kindergarten up to the fifth grade. The lesson is easy to follow and easy to edit. They provide usefull information for changing the lesson to fit students of different ages. The videos are helpful and allow visual learned to be engaged while providing interactive learning opportunities for auditory and kinetic learners. This site provides materials to be used by both the teacher and the students. It engages the learner and provides materials that can be completed alone or in groups.

Marquez, Korey (2011). "Grow a Miniature Container Garden." //Education.com//. Retrieved August 3, 2011. Grow a Miniature Container Garden is the instructions I found to use for my students to create an egg carton garden on their own in class. The step by step directions are easy to follow and the end result will allow my students to see the growth of a living thing and what living things need to survive. The directions are short and easy to read for my young class.

Starters&strategies Teacher's Magazine. "IS IT ALIVE? SCIENCE UNIT." //TEACHINGONLINE.org//. Retrieved August 3, 2011. This is another lesson plan created by Starters & Strategies Teacher's Magazine for their site Teaching Online. It was created to be used in first through third grade classrooms. It provides good starting material to form lesson plans from. The lesson plans involve a asking the students several questions to get them thinking about the lesson and group work. Many elements that I included in my lesson plans, such as a zoo visit and growing plants in the classroom, are included in this one as well. I found the assessment criteria listed at the end of the lesson plan to be very helpful.

British Broadcasting Corporation (2001). "BBC - Schools Science Clips - Variation." //BBC - Schools, Science Clips Home//. Retrieved August 05, 2001. This is a fun little interactive game designed for students between the ages of 6 and 7. It is a good filler activity for when students finish their work early. It is very user friendly and easy to understand. The directions appear right on top of the game and there is a button to push to have the directions can be read to you. The game help students learn the different categories of living things. While the exact creator is not listed it is published by on the British Broadcasting Corporation site. The BBC is well known for their reliable news distribution and informative documentaries.

First School Years. "Sorting Living and Non-living Things." //Free Worksheets, Flashcards and Teaching Resources for Key Stage 1//. Web. 05 Aug. 2011. This simple game is perfect for young learns to do after finishing their other work. It is easy to use and gives great feedback. When the student clicks to have their work checked it gives feedback and then sends the pictures that have been sorted incorrectly back to the top to be resorted. While the page is simple and doesn't provide information about the source there isn't much to it and the information is correct.

Sesame Street (1992). "Classic Sesame Street - Robin Williams on What Is Alive‬‏ - YouTube." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Retrieved August 2, 2011. While this video is a little (okay a ton) our of date, the material is very informative. It shows the basics of deciding if an item is living or nonliving in a very straightforward and easy to follow way. The clip is short enough to keep young student's attention while providing usable material. Sesame Street is a long lasting, well trusted show that provides fun learning material for young inquisitive minds.