ScratchJr vs DIY Lake Science

With ScratchJr, young children (ages 5-7) learn important new skills as they program their own interactive stories and games. By snapping together graphical programming blocks, children can make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. In the process, children learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer. They also use math and language in a meaningful and motivating context, supporting the development of early-childhood numeracy and literacy. With ScratchJr, children don’t just learn to code, they code to learn. ScratchJr was inspired by the popular Scratch programming language (http://scratch.mit.edu), used by millions of people (ages 8 and up) around the world. The ScratchJr interface and programming language were redesigned to make them appropriate for younger children’s cognitive, personal, social, and emotional development. ScratchJr is a collaboration between the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the MIT Media Lab, the Developmental Technologies research group at Tufts University, and the Playful Invention Company. The ScratchJr project has received generous financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF DRL-1118664), Scratch Foundation, LEGO Foundation, and British Telecommunications. If you enjoy using this free app, please consider making a donation to the Scratch Foundation (www.scratchfoundation.org), a nonprofit organization that provides ongoing support for ScratchJr. We appreciate donations of all sizes, large and small.

DIY Lake Science, funded by NSF, allows families and educators to investigate and learn about lakes and other freshwater ecosystems at home, at school, or anywhere you go! Developed by UC Berkeley’s The Lawrence Hall of Science. HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES Includes a dozen, easy to use, hands-on activities to learn about freshwater ecosystems. Each activity includes step-by-step instructions that have been tested by educators, kids, and families. The activity materials are widely available and inexpensive—you probably have many of them in your home. UNDER THE LAKE Want to explore what happens under a lake's surface? In the Under the Lake simulation, you can explore a process called lake mixing and how lakes change across the seasons, in different climates, and for different lake sizes. VIDEOS View collections of videos of lakes and other freshwater ecosystems around the world! Learn about the plants and animals that live in lakes and other bodies of water, the scientists who study freshwater ecosystems, and how people can care for lakes.