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Science Curriculum

Spring is Here! Explore with PBS KIDS!

🌸🌼 Spring is Here ☔️🌷 Videos to Watch & Activities To Do

Explore the Outdoors Activities & Games

Explore the Outdoors with graphic flowers, bees, ladybugs, ant, leaves and compass

More Activities by Series Page

    PBS KIDS Eclipse Programs & Activities:

    What & Where to Watch: WXXI Channels & Livestreams Guide:

    Ready, Jet, Go! Episodes & Block Party Activities

    Total Eclipse of the Sunspot; Sean’s Year in Space: Sunspot acts strange when Mindy, Jet, Sean and Syndey use a solar panel to try to improve energy efficiency; Sean is excited about NASA’s Year in Space program. Length: 30 Minutes

    WXXI PBS Kids 24/7 & Live Stream | Saturday, Apr. 6 at 06:30 pm

    Eye in the Sky; Total Eclipse Block Party: Bad weather threatens Sean’s first sleepout with his Space Scouts troop; the kids prepare a total eclipse song and dance. Length: 30 Minutes

    WXXI PBS Kids 24/7 & Live Stream| Sunday, Apr. 7 at 06:30 pm

    Activities:

    Ready, Jet, Go! Solar Eclipse Clip & Song

    Ready, Jet, Go! Solar Eclipse Block Party Activities

    Nature Cat: Total Eclipse of the Sun

    Nature Cat: The Eclipse Clip


    Freezin’ in the Summer Season; Total Eclipse of the Sun: Dark clouds threaten Nature Cat’s annual Summer Fest, which includes the Summer Fest Sprinkler Frolic, a bike ride and a kickball game; Hal is afraid of the total eclipse of the sun. Length: 30 Minutes

    WXXI-TV & WXXI-TV Livestream | Monday, Apr. 8 at 12:30 pm & again at 4:30 pm

    Curious George: George’s Dark Day

    Curious George sitting under a tree during the eclipse

    Curious George: George’s Dark Day; Leaf Raker: George and the Man with the Yellow Hat are excited to view the solar eclipse, but George accidentally leaves their eclipse viewing glasses behind; Bill teaches George the art of leaf-raking. Length: 30 Minutes

    WXXI-TV & WXXI-TV Livestream | Monday, Apr. 8 at 01:00 pm

    WXXI PBS Kids 24/7 & Live Stream | Monday, Apr. 8 at 11:00 am

    NOVA: The Great American Eclipse

    Scientists prepare new experiments to study the solar eclipse. Length: 60 Minutes

    WXXI World | Sunday, Apr. 7 at 08:00 pm
    WXXI-TV & WXXI-TV Livestream | Wednesday, Apr. 10 at 04:00 pm

    More Activities:

    PBS KIDS Solar Eclipse Digital Kit for PreK-2nd grade (from WXXI Education)

    Eclipse Explainer: During the eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, until it covers the sun's light. This makes a shadow on the earth, and the eclipse can only be seen in the places where the shadow falls.

    Solar Eclipse Games and Activities from NYS Libraries

    NASA Solar Eclipse Site

    Connect to PBS LearningMedia for Space Resource Collections & Solar Eclipse Resources

    Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms

    Space Collection: Resources organized by grade levels. (K-2) (3-5) (6-8) & (9-12) Note particularly the Solar Eclipses Lessons & Interactives for 6-8 and 9-12 Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms: Engage K–12 students with phenomena and science practices using this collection of supplementary digital media resources created by GBH in collaboration with NASA. The resources align with key NGSS Earth, space, and physical science disciplinary core ideas. To ensure that science content is accessible for all students, supports are included for students with disabilities or who are English learners; many resources have Spanish translations.

    Eclipses: CrashCourse

    See the Great American Eclipse Video (From 2017)

    Curious George: Songs, Videos & Activities

    Play games and watch full episodes of Curious George on https://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/

    Aimed at preschoolers, “Curious George” inspires children to explore science, engineering, and math in the world around them. And what better guide is there for this kind of exploration than the world’s most curious monkey? George lives to find new things to discover, touch, spill, and chew. Everything is new to George and worth investigating. Of course, in George’s hands — all four of them — investigation often leads to unintended consequences!

    WXXI Favorite Activities:

    Find articles, games, and hands-on activities to go with the series at the PBS KIDS for Parents Curious George Page

        Nature Cat: Songs, Videos & Activities

        Play games and watch full episodes of Nature Cat on https://pbskids.org/naturecat

        “Nature Cat,” a series for children ages 3 to 7, follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Once his family leaves for the day, Fred transforms into Nature Cat: “backyard explorer extraordinaire!” He can’t wait to get outside for a day of nature adventures and bravery! There’s just one problem: he’s still a house cat with no instincts for nature! With the help of his animal friends, Nature Cat goes on action-packed adventures full of nature investigation and humor, all while inspiring children to go outside and experience nature.

        WXXI Favorite Activities:

        See Games, Activities and Videos from the Nature Cat Series at PBS KIDS

        Learn more about the series, articles, activities and games at PBS KIDS for Parents: Nature Cat Show Page

        Nature Cat Videos Playlist

        Space Education Resources: (K-12)

        WXXI Education has pulled together educational support resources related to learning about Space for K-12.

        Connect to PBS LearningMedia for Space Resource Collections & Solar Eclipse Resources

        Eclipse Explainer: During the eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, until it covers the sun's light. This makes a shadow on the earth, and the eclipse can only be seen in the places where the shadow falls.

        PBS KIDS Solar Eclipse Digital Kit for PreK-2nd grade (from WXXI Education)

        Solar Eclipse Games and Activities from NYS Libraries

        NASA Solar Eclipse Site

        Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms

        Space Collection: Resources organized by grade levels. (K-2) (3-5) (6-8) & (9-12) Note particularly the Solar Eclipses Lessons & Interactives for 6-8 and 9-12 Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms: Engage K–12 students with phenomena and science practices using this collection of supplementary digital media resources created by GBH in collaboration with NASA. The resources align with key NGSS Earth, space, and physical science disciplinary core ideas. To ensure that science content is accessible for all students, supports are included for students with disabilities or who are English learners; many resources have Spanish translations.

        Eclipses: CrashCourse

        Space Time: A PBS LearningMedia Collection for 6-12

        Space Time: A PBS LearningMedia Collection for 6-12

        Space Time PBS LearningMedia Collection: Join astrophysicist Matt O’Dowd on a journey through the deepest, darkest, coolest corners of the universe. Math, physics, and astronomy can’t get much bigger than this.

        On the acclaimed PBS Digital Studios series Space Time, Matt explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth. Visit the series home on YouTube for new weekly episodes and challenges that prompt your classroom to think differently about physics and push the rules of space and time to the limit.

        NOVA: The Great American Eclipse

        Scientists prepare new experiments to study the solar eclipse. Length: 60 Minutes

        See the Great American Eclipse Video (From 2017)

        SciGirls Resources

        SciGirls is a show for kids ages 8-12, showcasing bright, curious, real tween girls putting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to work in their everyday lives. In each half hour episode you’ll meet a new group of girls, whose eagerness to find answers to their questions will inspire your children to explore the world around them and discover that science and technology are everywhere.

        See the Season 7 Trailer:

        Check out the SciGirls websites:

        Engineering & STEM Challenges

        Are you sharing STEM challenges with your students? Creating maker or tinker days? Here’s a list of resources, by grade level, focused on engineering and STEM challenges. 

        Engineering and STEM design challenges are great opportunities for students to shine – there are many roles for all different kinds of learners, there are lots of opportunity for problem solving, students can work independently and collaborate, and they work great with same-age and mulit-age groups.

        Engineering is a process of developing solutions to problems. Engineers use creativity, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of technology, math, and science to design and build products, machines, and structures for a better world. They explore why and how things work, and try to figure out how to make things work even better. STEM & engineering design challenges do the same.

        Engineering & STEM Challenges:

        Preschool – 2nd Grade

        3rd – 5th Grade

        6-8th Grade 

        9-12th Grade

        What is the Engineering Design Process?

        The Engineering Process: Crash Course Kids

        The Engineering Design Process: A Taco Party

        Engineering Design Process Explainers

        The Design Process Explained on PBS LearningMedia

        Engineering Resources

        A project-based learning unit for middle school science classrooms focused on developing solutions for negative impacts of plastics on the environment. In this NGSS-aligned unit, students use the engineering design process to define a problem, brainstorm solutions, develop prototypes and iterate on their designs. The project culminates with students producing videos about their solutions to share with the community. Connect to Engineering for Good

        A one-stop shop of STEM and digital making resources that focus on the problem, technology, or process behind object creation. Teachers can use the collection, which is categorized into design, how to (DIY), arts and crafts, robotics, and engineering subtopics, in conjunction with hands-on activities to further this initiative. Like the Maker Party, this collection is designed to encourage hands-on engagement in science, technology, engineering, math, and the arts.
        Connect to Makers

        Teaching Engineering in New York is a collection of resources that shows real-world applications of engineering concepts and practices and is correlated to New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS). These media-rich resources and accompanying support materials cover disciplinary core ideas from ecosystems to energy. Use the resources to help your students gain a stronger understanding of how the engineering design process seamlessly melds with science concepts from life, earth, and physical sciences. Connect to Teaching Engineering in NY

        Design Squad: Inventing Green Resources

        Design Squad’s mission is to get kids excited about engineering and inventing. For years Design Squad, the award-winning PBS KIDS program and website, has created activities, videos and clubs that aim to make engineering and invention accessible and fun for kids. Now, Design Squad is tackling a new content area: inventing for a sustainable future. We want to get kids thinking about how engineering and invention impacts environmental sustainability and how new inventions can help tackle environmental problems.

        Design Squad Global Inventing Green is the latest addition to the Design Squad family of resources that challenges youth to brainstorm solutions that can help people with things such as lack of food, clean water, renewable energy, affordable energy, and ocean and land
        pollution. These resources use the same core tenants found in the other Design Squad materials such as:

        • Every child should and can participate in engineering and invention.
        • Engineering and invention are most meaningful when kids have the opportunity to solve real problems faced by real people.
        • Failing is to be embraced as a step that all engineers and inventors take in the Design Process.
        • Students should have the opportunity to lead their own learning process with guidance from an educator.
        • Hands-on learning experiences based on an open-ended problem lead to more successful experiences with engineering and invention concepts.

        In the Design Squad Global Inventing Green Club PBS LearningMedia collection, the is objective: help kids build an environmental sustainability mindset when inventing. Design Squad wants kids to work to solve environmental problems with invention as well as learn to bring sustainability practices to the process of inventing. This includes thinking about material choices, where an invention goes once it has outlived its usefulness, and how an invention is powered.

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