Dive in, explore and discover with these 3 free online Science resources
Free Homeschool Resources Series: SCIENCE
Science is one of those subjects that’s meant to be hands-on, full of wonder, and deeply engaging… but sometimes it’s hard to find ways we can add activities simply and easily into our daily homeschooling routines.
This week I’m highlighting three of my favourite go-to free online science resources which I think are perfect for curious minds of all ages! Whether you're a homeschooling parent, a classroom teacher, a student, or just someone like me who loves exploring the natural world, I’m hoping you’ll find something here to inspire discovery and deepen understanding.
These resources include podcasts, videos, information, lesson plans, and activities that cover everything from chemistry to space exploration. Most are flexible enough to adapt across ages and learning styles, and many are aligned with curriculum outcomes (especially helpful if you're tracking progress).
So let’s dive in, explore, and discover!
ABC Education
ABC Education is a firm favourite resource of mine. I can always count on it for quality production and information, and I can easily choose a topic, level and mode that will suit my need. Most of the resources are drawn from familiar ABC productions and usually include short video clips you can use to initiate discussion or add to a unit study you’re already working on. Some also offer lesson plans, with ‘things to think about’ and suggested activities and links.
And if it’s experiments that you can easily and cheaply do at home with the kids, ABC Science Education has that covered too! I’ve used their videos to help me plan when creating an afternoon of science experiments for the grandkids. The videos show me how I can set up and present the experiments, and sometimes we’ll watch them together after, especially if our experiment didn’t pan out the way I thought it should!
For older kids, Science News is brilliant for provoking thoughtful conversations or initiating investigations.
And for younger kids, ABC Kids has a section on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) that links to popular shows such as The Wonder Gang, Rusty Rivets, Dr Nij Explains, Imagine This podcast, and more, plus downloadable extension activities and information.
Explorify
Explorify is a completely free digital resource from the UK, but the content is definitely relevant and useable in Australian homeschools. Register and sign in to use. You’ll be taken to a dashboard where you can add to your collection of resources from the site and then click on the Explorify level that suits your learners.
In addition to ready-made lesson plans, because this resource is designed for teachers, it also offers support such as topic guides, leader podcasts, tips and ideas and example resources in their science leader toolkits. It’s well worth exploring the teacher’s section of the website.
You might need to adapt some of the lessons to suit the homeschool environment, or you could use them as is if you’re running a science focused co-op with a group of homeschooling families.
Lesson plans are offered under different headings, or activity type, such as Odd One Out, What If, Zoom In Zoom Out, The Big Question, What’s Going On, and so on. You can search for a lesson plan by activity type, age, or topic or simply use the search bar. Each lesson has explicit instructions telling you what materials you’ll need (if any), how to introduce and run the activity, science information and suggest extension activities. You can also print out the lesson page.
For older kids, the primary resource collections page allows you to explore the range of topics connected with the different strands of STEM. Also check out the enrichment page where you’ll find access to live streamed and virtual events and information about competitions and challenges.
Exploratorium
Mirroring the famous San Francisco Exploratorium museum’s mission “to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning”, this free resource is an interactive online science hub featuring hundreds of hands-on experiments, videos, articles, and learning tools designed to get us all thinking scientifically!
I’ve used it often to help me find and collect ideas for science days for my grandkids, where I put together four or five simple experiments to explore a topic, such as light or magnetism. I usually go straight to the Science Activities page where they have over 300 low-cost, teacher-tested science activities perfect for curious learners from preschool to high school. You can search by subjects (topics), grade (year level) bands, and activity type.
Or you can explore Science Snacks, which are low-cost, hands-on, teacher-tested activities that make it easy to explore natural phenomena in your home. Snacks can be searched by collections, subjects, or year level bands. Each Snack tells you what tools and materials you’ll need, how to do the experiment, what to notice, and an explanation of the science involved. There’s usually a ‘going further’ section that you can use to extend the learning.
What I love about Exploratorium is the detailed instructions and images, with clear explanations, and the vibrant and inviting presentation of the website. There’s a lot more to this website than I’ve covered here: it’s well worth poking around to find what else might interest you and your learner!
I hope you find these resource recommendations helpful in keeping learning joyful (and budget-friendly)!
Every week I hope to add another post (paid subscription) in my Free Homeschool Resources Series covering each of the eight Australian Curriculum key learning areas: English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Technologies, and The Arts.
In the meantime if you want to find quick links to a huge collection of links to free online resources, check out this list compiled by April from Always Learning Books.
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