SHORT VIDEOS FOR CLASSROOM USE, BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

[On June 10, 2011, Buffy Cushman, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, posted this.]

Did you know that the National Science Foundation - a federal agency that funds scientific research - produces short videos intended for use in our K-12 classrooms? These videos, created by the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, highlight the cutting-edge science, engineering, and researchers that NSF funds. Most of the videos are five minutes or less. They could easily be used as "bell-ringers" to stimulate interest, or as supplementary materials for topics you're covering. They can also provide inspiration for your students and expose them to careers and ideas that you may not have time to delve into deeply.

A few of the video series include:

Profiles of Scientists and Engineers: these are great for letting students see the variety of careers a major in a STEM discipline could open up for them. They showcase how incredibly cool some of these careers, and the people who do them, can be!

Chemistry Now: produced in partnership with NBC. Learn to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry, these videos answer fun and relevant questions such as, How do molecules interact in the foods we eat? How were new compounds discovered? What are the cutting-edge scientists working on now?

Green Revolution: a look at the science behind clean fuels and green technologies, and how they will make our lives better in the future.

The Science of NFL Football: this series pulls together NFL football players, NBC's high-speed cameras, and NSF-funded scientists' content expertise to explain scientific principles like projectile motion, Newton's laws, the Pythagorean Theorem in the context of throwing, catching, blocking, and scoring.

And these are just a few of the series! Others include the Science of the Winter Olympics, Changing Planet, and Science of Speed.

To explore all the video series, go to http://science360.gov/series/ and/or

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/.

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