Gooru: Comprehensive Math and Science Searches

Gooru -search results are shown in thumbnails and grade levels are indicated.  
You can:

• Search for resources, collections or quizzes
• Study individual resources or entire collections
• Practice with an adaptive assessment system
• Interact with your peers and teachers
• Save -- and customize -- your favourite learning materials

"Gooru is a search engine for learning that allows you to explore and study over 2,600 standards-aligned and personalized study guides. Study guides cover 5th-12th grade math and science topics, and resources include digital textbooks, animations, instructor videos and more. All resources are vetted and organized by teachers or Gooru’s content experts, so you don’t have to sort through the mess of subpar educational resources available online yourself. 

Gooru also makes it easy for you to connect with your worldwide peers to make learning a social experience. Post questions to an active community of students, teachers and experts, or find friends and peers to study with. 

Best of all, Gooru adapts to you. Based on the topics you study and your performance on self-assessments, Gooru suggests resources and study guides that will help you master the concepts. You can track your study habits and monitor your performance on any of the topics you study."

This comprehensive search engine can only be used with Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome.  Some of our schools have Firefox.  If not, you can use the portable version of Google Chrome on your computer.  Contact  your tech coach if you need help getting this.  Portable Chrome   You can install the program on your desktop or onto a USB drive of your school computer.  At home, install the program as you normally would.

Survey Creator - Create an online survey in 4 steps

Survey Creator is a free service that allows surveys to be conducted and managed online. As the link to access the survey is controlled by the author, this service offers a safe and secure environment if desired. It's easiest to send the link and password to your class through LPSD email. For elementary classes that don't use email, the login information can be saved as a Word document in each school's "studentshare" drive for all students to access.

There are 4 steps to creating an online survey.
1. Sign up for a free account
2. Design the survey and questions
3. Send the link to your respondents
4. After the respondents have submitted their responses, you can analyse and report on the data

Survey Creator is promoting the following features:

• Simple and user friendly environment
• Different language preferences and support
• User defined design (colors, fonts, style)
• Add, modify, delete, or duplicate the questions / surveys is an easy operation
• 4 modes - survey, instant poll (with instant results), quiz (with instant evaluation), subscription (share collected data)
• Variety of question types: single/multiple choice, evaluation scales,...
• E-mail notification
• Filtering on multiple replies per respondent
• Direct data exchange with Excel, Export in PDF
• Graphical reporting
• Surveys protected by login / password
• Data storage on a secure server
• Publicity/ads free surveys

Survey Design Editor

Question Editor

Data Analysis

The interface to design the survey and questions can be a bit challenging for a first time user and unfortunately there is a bit of experimentation and previewing needed to design the survey to your needs. There is a built in help and FAQ menu available through the service.

Please request help from the tech coaches if you are interested in using this program and feel you need assistance.

Lloydminster meets Kaohsiung, Taiwan!

For students at Queen Elizabeth School in Lloydminster and their teacher, Justin Saulnier, it is the chance of a lifetime.  Partnered with Fo Gong Primary School, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, it is a chance to make new friends on the other side of the world.

Here is an article from the Lloydminster Source on this project.  The article is found on page 12 and 13.


Newcap News also highlighted this project in Beyond the Classroom from Dec. 14, 2011.

Using technology such as Google Earth, the partner school is brought to life for students here on the prairies.  The globe shrinks with the use of technology that can connect students at the click of a mouse.  Although the time difference limits Skype time (14 hour difference!), we have other methods to have students share their culture and experiences face to face.  Justin's class spent some quality time walking around Lloydminster, capturing videos of Lloydminster landmarks and locations using the LPSD ipod touches.  They were able to make short videos that have been shared with the class at Fo Gong Primary School.  You can find these videos on the QE website (Video Blog link) as well as on the partner teabhers' blog "Little Stars".  Look for more videos to be posted over the next few weeks.

Future collaboration and sharing will likely include:  Sharing artifacts through the mail, sharing information on our winter activities as a contrast to their climate and activities.

Fo Gong Primary School website (English)


View Larger Map

For teachers that are interested in partnering with another class, there are many ways to accomplish this.  S. Merth can help you create and find a project.  This particular contact was found using an ad posted on "Around the World With 80 Schools".  In addition to our new friends in Taiwan, LPSD teachers currently have projects underway in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Tulita, Northwest Territories, and Alabama.  Another option is to post an ad in "Skype in the Classroom".http://www.tubechop.com/watch/248730

Free Science Demonstrations

PhET provides free interactive simulations of different physics, chemistry and biological phenomena.  PhET enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the world around them.
To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls, such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders, and radio buttons. The simulations offer measurement instruments including rulers, stop-watches, voltmeters, and thermometers. This is fully interactive at every point, and, as the user manipulates these tools, responses are immediately animated, illustrating cause-and-effect relationships.

All grade levels can use these animations and online activities/simulations. 

Here are some examples from the Sask. Curricula that could access these simulations.

Grade 4 Physical Science:  Light and Sound units
Grade 5 Physical Science:  Properties and Changes of Materials
                                       Forces and Simple Machines
Grade 7 Physical Science:  Mixtures and Solutions
                                       Heat and Temperature
Grade 8 Physical Science:  Optics and Vision
                                       Forces, Fluids and Density
Grade 9 Physical Science:  Characteristics of Electricity


Circuit Construction Simulation

Draw a Stickman

This one may just be for fun.  
Draw a stickman, start the story and draw your way out of  trouble.  


While this is a simple web tool, it has some entertainment value but perhaps limited educational value!  This interactive story can be completed by kids of all ages.  No real artistry required!

Bugscope: Look Closer!

How would you like access to an industry standard, $600,000 Scanning Electron Microscope?

Bugscope:
"The Bugscope project run out of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign allows students to examine their own bugs using a high power environmental scanning electron microscope that can magnify samples up 20,000 times. Students are able to operate the microscope remotely via the internet. It is suited to students from kindergarten, to high scholl and all the way up to college and allows kids to lonk at real life bug samples.

Scanning Electron Photograph

In doing these examinations, the students are also able to gain a better understanding of insect anatomy, gaining valuable insights into how bugs eat, breath and move.

The project is simple and free to access, with applications taking less then 10 minutes. Each classroom proposes its own experiments using their own samples. Once approved, the students have remote access to over $600,00 worth of high tech equipment as well as scientists and microscopists who can assist during examinations proving valuable insights about the instrument and samples.

Another benefit of the project is it help to promote science and helps prepare students to become scientists through real interaction .

To date the Bugscope project has been used by over 580 classrooms in 415 schools all over America, with students acquiring over 120,000 images of bugs.

A live Bugscope session typically runs about an hour and is scheduled to allow the teacher to participate during his/her class period. Teachers can choose to login from a single machine, connected to a projector, or allow students to login individually or in groups on their own computers. The live interface allows all participants to see the latest images coming from the microscope, ask questions via the built-in chat, and have the opportunity to control the microscope.

The live session experience is flexible and exciting: Parents can join their student's session and kids home sick can even join their classrooms online!"

Please contact S. Merth if you would like help in running this session.

Museum Box From EB2N.org

Museum Box Homepage

This site is inspired by 18th century Anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson who travelled with a wooden box containing collected items he used to support his argument against slavery.  

Thomas Clarkson's Museum Box 


"This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life; the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier; or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? You can display anything from a text file to a movie. You can also view and comment on the museum boxes submitted by others."


They also offer an educational support page which gives links to register your school to set up teacher and student accounts in a protected environment. Please note that the EB2N organization requires a confirmation with administration at each school before enabling a school account. The usual process is having an interested teacher or school administrator completing the online registration supplying a contact for them to confirm your school's identity.   



As with Glogster.edu, the strongest feature is the teacher having control of his or her student's work as they have full access all the time to evaluate and check on student progress.

Paper Templates

Do you require specialized graph paper or templates for storyboards?


Incompetech.com/graphpaper is a website that can help you create and print your specialty paper needs.

You can create custom paper of squares, triangles, and hexagons.  In addition you could make circular and polar graph paper, number lines, writing templates such as storyboards, and music templates for notation and fret boards.


All documents are in created in pdf format.  You have full control over the paper size (8.5" x 11", 11" x 17", A4, A3 etc.), grid line weight, horizontal and vertical sizes and line colour.