Link: www.htwins.net/scale2
Quick overview: An ingenious approach to help students explore and understand the scale of everyday objects and their size relative to each other. Do you know how big objects are that are measured in micrometers, kilometers, gigameters… or even a zettameter? Hint: some are way bigger than you think! Truly inspiring, a great conversation starter for a math, science, or biology class. I’ve spent hours playing with this website, it’s definitely worth checking out!
How can it be used in the classroom? Start with an object as small as a quark and then slowly zoom all the way out to see the entire observable universe and everything in between! On this website, similar sized objects are compared to one another in metric units as students zoom-in or out using a slider located on the bottom of the screen. Clicking on any of the objects will bring up an interesting fact about it. Fully interactive with an almost zero learning curve. Your students might also be interested to know that this entire tool was programmed by two 14 year old brothers in high school. Adobe Flash required, will not work on an iPad or iPhone. Source: (Terrific Tools for Teaching with Blooms Taxonomy, San Diego ISTE 2012)
Looking for more material like this? Check out the classic 1968 NFB film “Cosmic Zoom” at on YouTube. This NFB film might appear a little dated to your students, so you be the judge before showing it to your class.
