Maker Portal
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Science Exploration
Digital App. by Sarath Saleem
A digital periodic table with helpful diagrams of atoms
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Helpful Tip: Click on any element and
then click on
to look at a
diagram of its atom.
Challenge Idea: Can you pick an element at random and try to draw the structure of its atom without looking at the diagram on the website. How many rings does the atom have? How many electrons are on each ring of the atom?
Digital App. by Aodhan Sweeney
A visual tool to look at global temperature changes over 100 years
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Helpful Tip: Click on the screen and then scroll left, right, up, or down to move around the globe. You can also zoom in by scrolling without clicking, to get a closer look.
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Challenge Idea: Pick a country or region. In which decade were the average temperatures the warmest in this country/region? Can you find out what was happening in this country during that decade? Was the country industrializing, building more factories, using more cars or growing in population?
Digital App. by MinMax
An online, visual exploration of stars in our galaxy
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Helpful Tip: Take a star tour by clicking on at the top, middle
of the page.
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Challenge Idea: Explore the stars on your own and then choose a favorite. Can you find out why the star has the name it does and when it was it was discovered? Do you think you will be able to find this star in the night sky?
Digital App. by Sarath Saleem
A digital periodic table with helpful diagrams of atoms
​
​
Helpful Tip: Click on any element and
then click on
to look at a
diagram of its atom.
Challenge Idea: Can you pick an element at random and try to draw the structure of its atom without looking at the diagram on the website. How many rings does the atom have? How many electrons are on each ring of the atom?
Digital App. by Aodhan Sweeney
A visual tool to look at global temperature changes over 100 years
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Helpful Tip: Click on the screen and then scroll left, right, up, or down to move around the globe. You can also zoom in by scrolling without clicking, to get a closer look.
​
Challenge Idea: Pick a country or region. In which decade were the average temperatures the warmest in this country/region? Can you find out what was happening in this country during that decade? Was the country industrializing, building more factories, using more cars or growing in population?
Digital App. by the New York Times
Journey through the event using the actual conversations and images captured when it happened.
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Helpful Tip: Take a star tour by clicking on at the top, middle
of the page.
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Challenge Idea: Explore the stars on your own and then choose a favorite. Can you find out why the star has the name it does and when it was it was discovered? Do you think you will be able to find this star in the night sky?
Digital App. by The Cornell Lab
Learn about birds that are native to different parts of the world
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Helpful Tip: You can click on the light red circle on the left of your screen to find a specific bird by name.
Challenge Idea:
Go to your backyard or to the nearest park. Can you identify some birds from Virginia? (A pair of binoculars will help you get a better look). Now, can you distinguish between male and female birds ? Does the male have more colorful feathers and ornaments ? Try making a sketch of a bird that you find interesting (Take your sketch pad and pencils/colored pencils with you).
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Here's a resource to help you identify Virginia birds:
http://www.pwconserve.org/wildlife/birds/lists/backyard.html
Digital App. by The Cornell Lab
Learn about different bird songs and how to differentiate between them​
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Helpful Tip: Click on the right arrow
to go to next section or left arrow to
go to previous section .
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Click on to look at a menu
of all the sections.
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Challenge Idea:
Play the Bird Song Hero game on the website then go to your backyard or to the nearest park. What kinds of bird songs do you hear? Can you tell by the bird song whether the bird is male or female?
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Or... Try guessing the bird
species by listening to the
bird's song. You can also download the BirdNET app on your phone or tablet to record bird sounds and identify the bird.
Digital App. by The Cornell Lab
Learn about bird anatomy and what makes bird feathers so unique​
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Helpful Tip:
To navigate through the pages select any page on the top right-hand bar
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Did you know? It's illegal to collect birds' feather: specifically migratory birds according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. You can read all about it here:
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https://infinitespider.com/illegal-feathers-and-the-feather-atlas
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https://www.fws.gov/birds/policies-and-regulations/laws-legislations/migratory-bird-treaty-act.php
Please DO NOT collect feathers.
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Plant cell
Digital App. by James A.Sullivan
An interactive cell model that demonstrates the different parts of plant and animal cells
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Helpful Tip: Simply hover over the diagram and the name of each part of the cell will appear
OR
hover over the list of words at the bottom of the page to find out which word corresponds to which part of the cell.
Challenge Idea:
Explore both the animal cell and the plant cell. Now don't hover your mouse over the diagram or the words. Can you name all parts of the cell and explain what each part does only looking at the diagram?
Digital App. by The Yard Games
Learn about magnets and magnetic fields and help characters find hidden magnets
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Helpful Tip: Click on the Tutorial button and then the playground button before you play the game. It will give you helpful information about magnets and how to find them.
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Challenge Idea:
Can you find magnets at you home? What function do they have at home? Did you know that earphones have magnets? What other uses of magnets can you find in our daily lives?
Digital App. by The Yard Games
Learn about hot air balloons and how they float in the sky
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Helpful Tip: Click on Intro and then make your way through Particles, Forces and Density to learn about all the factors that affect flying in hot air balloons
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Challenge Idea:
Can you make your own mini hot air balloon? Here's a link to a tutorial (Try finding other tutorials as well):
https://www.homesciencetools.com/article/how-to-make-a-hot-air-balloon-science-project/
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Ask an adult to help you with melting the wax and using candles!
