Social media can be a great resource for content for your classroom. At Edvotek, we love to share scientific articles, images, and instructional videos through our social media accounts (below).
- Twitter: @edvotek
- Facebook: Edvotek
- Instagram: @edvotek
- YouTube: Edvotek Inc
However, there are a lot of amazing organizations, researchers, and educators sharing content through social media. Their work has even been published in scientific journals (like here and here). Here are a few of our favorite (non-Edvotek) social media creators and accounts.
Twitter is a microblogging and social media site. Each tweet needs to be 280 characters or less, so researchers have to be clear and concise with their language. Researchers and science communicators use the hashtag #ScienceTwitter to tag their posts.
Real Scientists is a rotating curator, or “rocur” account. This means that the account hosts a different scientist each week, allowing you (and your students) to learn more about a variety of different scientific fields and professions. They also describe their “career paths,” or the sequence of experiences, education, jobs, and volunteer opportunities that got them to their current position.
Science News for Students, run by the Society for Scientists, an organization “dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education.” Their website features science articles about current topics, geared to 9-14 year olds (so, perfect to share with your students, especially in your pre-lab materials).
While any social media account from the Smithsonian Institution highlights content you can use in your science classroom, we love the Smithsonian Science Education Center Twitter feed because the content is largely geared for science teachers and students. They feature educational training webinars, articles, and items from their museums (including behind-the-scenes at the museums!)
And, a fun bonus twitter account. Teacher Goals is not a science-focused account; instead they share fun meme and inspirational quotes that can bring some much-needed humor and good vibes to your Twitter feed.
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social media app. Science educators and researchers use this platform to share teaching tips, infographics describing scientific phenomenon, and even beautiful scientific images that bridge the gap between science and art.
The Field Museum is a premier museum of Natural History located in Chicago, Illinois. Their collection grew from items displayed at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Their Instagram feed highlights artifacts from their collections with detailed descriptions and even some ideas for science at home.
The Space Gal is an engineer and a science communicator who explains space science, engineering, climate science, and more. She is also the host of Emily’s Wonder Lab on Netflix, which explores concepts in physics in a fun, hands-on way.
YouTube is an online video sharing platform. From professional societies sharing scientific lectures, to teachers performing experiments, and live professional development workshops (which we do!), you’ll find everything you need.
ASAP Science is a team of science communicators that are “Making Science Make Sense.” Their videos are “a colourful intersection of art, science, and pop culture where anyone can learn, participate, and grow.” Some content can be off-color (especially on their Instagram), so be sure to review the videos before you share with your students.
IN A NUTSHELL – KURZGESAGT are beautifully animated videos that cover any science topic you can imagine, from the Coronavirus to wormholes, vaccines to black holes, and more! (Furthermore, they teach their techniques on Skillshare, so if you want to learn to animate your own videos you can!)
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