Instructify

January 28, 2009

A spoonful of podcasting helps the science go down. Yes, that’s a terrible lead sentence, but when a site has a name like Bytesize Science, how could I not think of utensil-sized portions? Or Mary Poppins? Bytesize Science delivers hot new scientific developments via their series of two- to three-minute podcasts. Your students can learn about paper-thin stereo speakers, underwater camouflage, or how chemists have improved artificial turf. You can download select episodes in Spanish as well, which would be helpful for some of your ESL students. To make things even easier, you can subscribe to Bytesize Science in iTunes or via RSS feed, so you can download each episode automatically. And since each episode is about the length of your average pop song, your students can learn intriguing scientific facts without expending a huge amount of time. Bite-sized indeed. -BILL FERRIS