ScienceBob

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Review Overview

A. Instruction - 6.3

B. Design - 9.3

C. Engagement - 6.7

7.4

ScienceBob: A Website for Science

Summary : Making Science Experiments a Breeze!

Free!

ScienceBob is a website dedicated to students’ scientific learning. From the website’s homepage, students can access multiple features for exploration. The “Experiments” feature offers students a few dozen experiments that they can conduct. Each experiment includes a video, list of supplies, descriptive procedures, an explanation of the science used in the experiment, and concluding questions. In addition, each experiment can be downloaded as a PDF. The “Science Fair Ideas” feature is designed to support student users in planning and completing a project. The website offers student users ideas for creating a project, information about the Scientific Method, additional resources, and tips. The “Science Q & A” feature offers answers to commonly asked questions related to science (e.g., What is an owl pellet?, Why is the sky blue?, and Why do our toes get wrinkled in the tub?). Users can click on a question to read the website’s answer to it. Users can also ask ScienceBob a question by clicking the link at the bottom of the “Science Q & A” screen. The “Research Help” feature includes several dozen links to common topics taught in science, and the links are categorized by topic that include: Space/Plants, Earth Science/Weather, Animals/Nature, Physical Science, Human Body, and Other Links. The “Videos” features contain multiple videos, and the videos show different experiments and explore a variety of scientific topics. The “Experiment Blog” and “About Bob” features let users keep up with all that ScienceBob is doing. The content on these features commonly includes text, images, and videos.

Instructional Ideas

As an extended learning project, teachers can have students select an experiment listed on the website and conduct it at home. As they conduct the experiment, teachers can require students to take pictures of the experiment’s different stages, and students can answer the questions listed on the website that follow the experiment.
When researching science projects, teachers can direct students to this website and research different projects before selecting one. Next, teachers can have students view the “Scientific Method” feature on this website. Before students complete the experiment, they can research information about the project, write their hypothesis, and compose a paragraph that justifies their hypothesis. After students complete the experiment, they can review their original hypothesis and compose a paragraph that explains if the experiment proved their hypothesis to be true or false.
Teachers can assign students a question from the “Science Q & A” feature on this website. Students can then read their question and the answer. Next, students can further research the answer by consulting reference materials, either online or in a library. Students can then offer their answer to the question, and cite their references in it. Students can confirm the website’s answer, offer a rebuttal to it, or add more information to it.
If students come up with a question that is not addressed by ScienceBob, they can write their question and submit it using the link on the “Science Q & A” feature.

A1. Rigor
A2. 21st Century Skills
A3. Conn. to Future Learning
A4. Value of Errors
A5. Feedback to Teacher
A6. Level of Material
A7. Cooperative Learning
A8. Accom. of Individual Diff.

B1. Ability to Save Progress
B2. Platform Integration
B3. Screen Design
B4. Ease of Use
B5. Navigation
B6. Goal Orientation
B7. Information Presentation
B8. Media Integration
B9. Cultural Sensitivity