Sometimes it seems like the back-to-school ads hit our mailboxes and dominate our TV screens before the chalk dust has settled from the previous school year.

But now it’s really time to pull out those lists — and the checkbooks and credit cards to pay for everything.

In honor of back to school and all the pen, pencil and notebook purchases, UDaily talked to Melissa Jurist, program manager for K-12 outreach in the University of Delaware’s College of Engineering.

She provided a list of mostly free online experiences to support the work that kids, from kindergartners to seniors in high school, are doing in class. 

Algodoo: Gears, Axles, and Motors

(Late elementary through early high school.)

“This app is amazingly fun and educational,” says Jurist. “Once you know how to use it, you can simulate all kinds of interactions between gears and motors, water and other fun stuff. Kids have the opportunity to build while maximizing their instinctual ability to be engineers.”

Jurist suggests using Algodoo with the “Makers Challenge Box” to plan and test things before making them, just as engineers often use simulations before they build. She also recommends using the tutorials to avoid frustration with all of the various buttons and controls on the site.

Virtual Dissections

(Middle and high schoolers — and possibly adventurous, strong-stomached elementary schoolers.)

“Dissections are an integral part of biology, comparative anatomy, and evolutionary biology, Jurist says. “But if your child isn’t one for the smell and feel of a real dissection, there are many online resources that provide all of the realistic visuals, without the other unseemly realities of a dissection.” However, she warns that even these virtual dissections are not for the faint of heart — while they’re one step removed from the real thing, they still have color images of the insides of animals. 

• This cow eye dissection has full-color pictures, with “try it, click-on-it” activities in a “look at this” mode.
• This virtual frog dissection is more like a traditional lab-based dissection, with virtual pinning and cuts. “You get full-color visuals of frog insides without that nasty smell burned into your brain for all eternity,” says Jurist. “Scroll to the bottom of the page to a tiny box that says ‘View Demo’ and click your way to innards education.” Note: The demo of the frog dissection is free, while a subscription to virtual dissections of a whole host of other animals is $299, which could be appropriate for a school or parent-group purchase. 

Virtual chemistry and math

(Elementary through high school.)

Jurist explains that while the content on this free site is not always explicitly explained, it works well as a supplement (“you learned this, but this might help explain it better”) or an intro (“look at this thing and we’ll talk about it”).  The site enables exploration of topics ranging from the shapes of molecules to how to generate static electricity—starring “John Travoltage.” The math includes sims-like vector addition and an introduction to fractions. 

“What makes a lot of sense is the interconnections they create between math and science,” Jurist says. “For example, the pH meter simulation uses graphic elements, concepts of dilution, and color coding to convey the pH of different liquids, including vomit—and nothing gets kids learning like the disgusting. The site allows sorting by age and content area and will, certainly, get students to explore additional content areas through its variety and fun depictions.”

About Melissa Jurist

Melissa Jurist, who launched her career on Sesame Street, is director of K-12 education in the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware. She works closely with faculty to bring their research concepts into K-12 activities that are grounded in current educational theory as well as engaging and enjoyable for the K-12 community. She also designs and implements programming for various K-12 outreach programs, including summer camps and high school internships, with the goal of increasing the participation of K-12 students and teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Jurist, who has a bachelor’s degree from New York University in psychology with a focus on math and science cognition, started her career researching and developing curriculum for Sesame Workshop, creators of the PBS television show Sesame Street. She then worked with academic research teams at California Institute of Technology on a National Science Foundation evaluation of how children learn through hands-on science.

Jurist can be reached at 267-275-2656 or mjurist@udel.edu.