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Hi Everyone!
I have been perusing the new look of the NSTA home page. It looks sharp! I found the "Freebies for Science Teachers" section. It has lots of great stuff listed. If you have time check it out. Something new is added almost EVERY day, and it goes back to Dec. 1996! The October 10, 2013 addition takes us to Jan VanCleave's home page. She is the guru for science fair books! Her site is filled with great ideas for beginning and experienced teachers alike.
Great resources AND free!
Carolyn

This is an amazing list! It includes websites, printed material, things to send for - wow! thanks for sharing. In addition, if you are an NSTA member, the NSTA Reports newspaper has a column of additional freebies and low cost resources for teachers

Wow, this list seems really helpful. I'll keep this bookmarked for when I start teaching. I've also found that the HASTI conferences are a really good place for free stuff. It's mostly little trinkets that you get, but there are a lot of books being handed out that would be very useful. At the very least you can pick up a few catalogs that have everything you need in them.

Hi Patrick!

Yes, the Indiana people (HASTI) put on a good show don't they :)

If you get an opportunity to attend an NSTA regional or national conference they also have a lot of good materials and exhibitors willing to share information and sometimes samples. If you will be in Indiana a while, the NSTA national conferences is coming to Chicago in 2015 - or you might check the conference schedule and see if you have friends or family near one of the conferences that are coming up later this year or Boston 2013. If you like HASTI, you will LOVE the national NSTA conference!

This is awesome! Thank you so much for this link. I am in school to be a teacher so this will really help when I am looking for ideas.

Hi Carolyn. I didn't know about the link. I skimmed through it tonight and I will go back. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thank you for sharing this link! There are a bunch of helpful websites. As a new science teacher, I am always looking for new ideas! Thank you again.

This list is FANtastic!!! I can't believe how many resources are on that list. I am going to take a while and peruse that for sure!

Thanks for sharing ! My school is limited in resources so we need all the freebies we can get !

In addition to the freebies websites, those of us who were around pre-internet know (and probably ought to mention) that you can also send postcards or school letterhead stationary to a number of other places for freebies. NASA - find out where your local NASA resource center is [url=http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/ercn/home/#.UoPzFXe1VOs]here [/url]. You can call to confirm, however, many will send you a free packet of materials if you send them a note on letterhead explaining who you are and how you would use the materials (posters, stickers, brochures about missions, photos). Another good reason to call is to find out exactly what is available. If you live close enough, they might even send out a person to speak to your class. State agencies - DNR, Geology, Environmental protection, etc. - Many state agencies receive some funding for public relations and they can use this to supply you with resources or speakers. For example, in my state I could contact the DNR for brochures on the different state parks, on plants/animals common to the parks, and we used to have geology in the parks brochures. Another good state agency to utilize is the tourist/visitor centers. You can have your students write notes to different states requesting information and use that to put together a unit. I have a couple large boxes with files from about 20 different state that contain state maps, state park information, geological sites of interest, botanical sites, aquariums, zoos, etc. We tie the maps to the unit on force and motion where they learn to read a paper map and to find out how long it takes to visit a tourist location at least 50 miles from the state capitol and what science museums, or other science type exhibits they might see there. Governmental Agencies (other than NASA). Again, you can google them to find out a phone number and then call to ask what kinds of things they can send you - it helps to have a goal. So, for example, NOAA for posters on oil spills or sea life or currents. Mind you a lot of information is online, but contacting them can score you posters, pictures, brochures, stickers, etc from many places. One governmental agency with local branches that I have had in my class is the NRCS - the National Resources Conservation Service who talks about soils. A number of the National Parks have "trunks" that if you are within a certain distance you can send for with lesson materials and plans. Others will send you pamphlets about their facilities. So, while there are infinitely more freebies available online now than in the "old days", there are still "old fashioned" sources of freebies as well.

Thanks, Tina, for all the good leads. I've found some of this stuff in the past but had forgotten some of those nifty "leads." Thanks so much for the help!

I like this website! Thanks for sharing. I went to the link how to use your Halloween pumpkins after Halloween for science! I thought that was an awesome idea.

Thank you so much for sharing. I really need to take more time on the NSTA website...I just have trouble finding the time!

Can't wait to check out all of the great resources. Thanks for sharing.

I am currently working on my elementary education major and I found this link very useful! I can definitely see myself using the resources in this link when I become a teacher.

Wow! This website seems like it will be very useful for a new teacher. Thank you for sharing this link with us. Another website, not science based, that I find very resourceful is teacher pay teacher. There are several things that you can find on this website that are beneficial for new and seasoned teachers.

http://www.uasacademy.org/#! UASA is building a complete course of instruction covering a wide range of learning objectives, broken down into 40 minute classroom or lab modules. Apply today for a Grant to use UAS Academy Kit's in your school. The kits are made up of the hardware, software, and curriculum from the leading industry manufacturers. This is the same stuff your students will need to master as they head to college or join the workforce! http://fs7.formsite.com/UASAcademy/form1/index.html

Hey, thanks, Pamela. I'll check this out! Happy New Year!

Thank you for sharing everyone! I am teaching Forensic Science for the first time so if anyone has any ideas for free materials or how to search for them I would really appreciate the information!

I have created a collection of NSTA journal articles for a forensic course I taught. I am attaching it. I hope it helps you.Do not be scared by the big number below. It is really only 18 items in the collection.

Forensics Science Collection (18 items)

Dem Bones

- Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: Forensic Analysis Demonstration via Hawaii Five-O

- Journal Article

The Home Zone: Get Familiar with Fingerprints

- Journal Article

View All 18 Items

Also, here is a list of websites that may be useful to you. Forensic Science Videos http://science.howstuffworks.com/forensic-science-channel.htm Links to forensics information http://www.teachersdomain.org/search/?q=forensics&fq_grade=PK&fq_grade=PS Forensics Bonanza http://sciencespot.net/search.html?cx=partner-pub-3878598790534777%3Aizrzmm5gt30&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=forensic+science&sa=Search Lots of forensic websites www.scilinks.org Put in Code #SS050402 Adventures from CSI TV http://forensics.rice.edu/ Free Forensic Magazine www.theforensicteacher.com/Home.html Lots of forensic lessons http://csiloyola.wikispaces.com Lots of forensic lessons www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/forensics/index.html Lots of forensic units http://apps.trutv.com/forensics_curriculum/ Access Excellence – the Mystery Spot http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/mspot/ Science Spot Forensic Science Lesson Plans http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classforsci.html

While it is not free, and you did not specify a grade level or if this is a full course or a special unit, I really enjoyed using the GEMS Mystery Festival and supplementing it with additional materials from other books on forensic science or things I found in NSTA articles. In addition, since I was on an interdisciplinary team the last time I taught it, we integrated it into all the other subjects. And I contacted the local police department and they sent over a detective that worked with adolescents in the community and he spoke to my classes, giving them hints before we visited our "crime scene" on how to prevent contamination, how to collect and label evidence, and other topics.

It was a very popular unit and I used it to introduce nature of science concepts, lab skills, and measurement.

A reminder, with your NSTA subscription, there is NSTA Reports, the newspaper that shows up each month that has a wonderful section of “Freebies” for Science teachers that is updated monthly. I have found some really good materials and resources there. The best part is this is always the middle section, so I can pull it out and use it after I recycle the rest of the paper. The NSTA Reports is also a great place to find out about grants before anybody else.

Thanks for sharing this. This is amazing!

New teachers, take a look at our Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for New Teachers. We award 25 scholarships to attend the national conference, a year's membership in NSTA, and registration to the national conference. It is a funding opportunity you do not want to miss. Go to www.nsta.org/awards. You can't win if you don't apply!

This is great! I am so grateful for all the resources and help! thanks for posting

What a great resource!! Thank you for sharing!!

great resource! thank you for sharing!

Oh wow! This is so awesome! I am doing my student teaching now and this site is loaded with useful information. Thanks! :) Christina

Thank you for all of these great resources! I can't wait to try these out in my own classroom! These will be great to have saved! Thanks for sharing!

Awesome!! This is a great resource and I am so thankful for you and everyone else sharing so many new and different ideas to help out both new and existing teachers. I am definitely going to save this link, so I can use it in my future classroom.

Thanks for sharing!

Do they have freebies for student teachers? Thank you.

Thanks for sharing! I have looked into it and they definitely have a lot of neat stuff that would be useful in the classroom! :)

Thanks for the great resources!

Thanks for this useful information. I am going to have to pass this information on to all of my friends. We are all student teachers graduating this coming May.

Thank you for sharing these resources you have provided a great collection of information that I look forward to using!

An update regarding NSTA's new website: You can find Freebies for Science Teachers on the NSTA Reports landing page at https://www.nsta.org/types/nsta-reports. That page also contains content from the former print newspaper, including feature articles and From the Field, a column with information on events and opportunities for science/STEM educators.

Thanks so much for sharing these links! I will be sure to use these resources in my future as an education major & future teacher. Very helpful.

That's wonderful, Rielly! You should check out NSTA's free e-newsletters at https://www.nsta.org/enewsletters. In addition to NSTA Reports, we have e-newsletters about the Next Generation Science Standards, STEM teaching and learning, and NSTA Press books.

Thanks for posting this! As a new teacher I am always looking for more sources to use in my classroom. The more the merrier! Love to keep fresh ideas and activities in my classroom!

Thanks for sharing Jan's website. However, the Freebie NSTA page has an issue, got a "page not found" message.

You can still access the Freebies page on NSTA's old website at this URL: https://old.nsta.org/publications/freebies.aspx

On the new NSTA website's NSTA Reports landing page, Freebies for Science Teachers columns are posted. See https://www.nsta.org/types/nsta-reports

This is so cool! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks, Madison! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or are looking for something on the NSTA website.

It says page not found. Sad times!

This link still works: https://old.nsta.org/publications/freebies.aspx 

More recent Freebies can be found at https://www.nsta.org/types/nsta-reports