HomeWeb Connections Mar 2008
Web Connections for March 2008
The Web sites listed below were verified at the time of publication, but please check that they remain valid before using them in an educational setting.
“The Green Earth Book Award”
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The nonprofit Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation collaborates with schools to raise awareness of sustainable development and to help incorporate related principles into their curriculum and programs. The organization’s Web site also offers a list of related resources, including Web sites and books.K–Gr. 12. -
A nonprofit Maryland corporation, Environmental Concern, is dedicated to working with all aspects of wetlands. The organization’s Web site provides rich information about these important ecosystems as well as a special section for educators, examples of youth programs, and an online course about wetlands. Gr. 7–12. -
Canadian-based Green Street endeavors to provide opportunities to actively engage students and teachers in environmental learning and sustainability education. The group’s Web site offers a rich assortment of ideas for classroom use and a youth action section. Gr. 8–12. -
The National Gardening Association’s Youth Gardens Web site provides invaluable information for teachers, students, and parents in designing and developing gardens as well as important information about nutrition. Preschool–Gr. 5. -
The North American Association for Environmental Education is committed to teaching people how to think about the environment. The organization’s Web site presents teaching materials and methods that are designed to show people how to make a difference in the world through a positive, nonconfrontational approach. Preschool–Gr. 12. -
The Center for Global Environmental Education is an internationally recognized pioneer in creating thematic learning projects for K–12 students around the globe. Hosted by Hamline University, the center’s Web site offers related classroom lessons on rivers, frogs, and wetlands. K–Gr. 12. -
The Children and Nature Network was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. This site has ideas to encourage youth to be engaged with the outdoors. This group, among others, is also a supporter of the No Child Left Inside Act.
“Voices in My Head”
The following links feature lists of recommended audiobooks as well as information on the history of audio recordings:
“Thinking Big with Skyscrapers”
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The companion PBS Web site for the excellent series based on the book Building Big by David Macaulay has background information, online building challenges, photographs of famous skyscrapers, fascinating facts, interviews with engineers and designers, and an online educator’s guide with printable handouts. Gr. 5–8. -
From Marshall Brain’s popular and informational How Stuff Works Web site, see “ How Skyscrapers Work” for a detailed, illustrated explanation of skyscraper construction and a famous buildings image gallery. Gr. 5–12. -
The Web site of New York’s Skyscraper Museum has an online photo gallery, animated and virtual tours of skyscrapers, interactive activities for children, and a free toolkit for teachers (“Tower Tube”) with photos, diagrams, maps, and student projects and activities. K–Gr. 12. -
The Educational Broadcasting Corporation’s “ Reach for the Sky” is a lesson plan on the “technology of vertical architecture.” Included are background information, printable worksheets, and instructions for building a model skyscraper. Gr. 5 –8. -
The project of an elementary-school teacher, “ Sim City 2000: Building a Scale Model City” offers complete instructions for creating a dramatic 3-D cardboard city. Gr. 5–8. At “ The Great Buildings Collection,” the acclaimed Web site of Artifice, click on “Buildings” and “Architectural Types” for statistics, histories, photographs, and 3-D models of famous skyscrapers. Gr. 5–12. -
Architect/designer Daniel Stocker’s “ Twistscraper” includes information, photographs, and an animation of the innovative new skyscraper often described as a “monumental piece of art.” Gr. 8–12.
“Appreciating the Wonders of Nature”
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From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, “ EEK! Environmental Education for Kids” is an excellent compendium of kid-friendly information on plants and animals, video clips, online quizzes, fun facts, projects, games, and teacher resources. Gr. 4–8. -
“ Children and Nature,” sponsored by a network of environmentally committed individuals and organizations, is dedicated to the premise that children “have a basic need to establish a deep emotional connection to the natural world.” Featured are nature-themed reading lists, categorized by age, and many children’s activities for “Bonding Experiences with the Natural World.” Preschool–Gr. 2. -
Visit PBS’s “ Connecting Kids to Nature” for annotated reading lists and many teaching suggestions and activities. Preschool–Gr. 3. -
The Sierra Club’s “ Environmental Education” Web site includes a grade-by-grade downloadable John Muir study guide and a nature journal template. -
The American Museum of Natural History’s “ Online Field Journal” is an excellent interactive project with printable pages that will help kids learn to describe, draw, and model plants and animals. K–Gr. 5. -
At the North American Association for Environmental Education’s “ EE-Link,” click on “Classroom Resources” for a long list of creative activities by topic, among them Air & Climate, Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Flowing Waters, and more. Preschool–Gr. 12. -
The Web site of the nonprofit organization KSE Worldwide, “ Kids for Saving Earth,” includes a long list of participatory environmental action programs for children. K–Gr. 5. -
“ Best Lessons on Earth Day” from Education World, the popular teacher’s resource site, has lesson plans, hands-on projects, games and puzzles, and printable coloring pages. K–Gr. 12.
“Wet and Wonderful”
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The Missouri Botanical Garden Web site has a wealth of illustrated, reader-friendly information on freshwater ecosystems categorized under Rivers and Streams, Lakes and Ponds, and Wetlands sections. Gr. 3–5. -
The Educators site at the conservation organization Ducks Unlimited has wetlands-based activities with printable worksheets and an excellent series of downloadable student manuals and teacher’s guides on wetland ecosystems. Gr. 4–6. -
From the Science for Ohio Web site, hosted by the Center for Environmental Education and Natural History at Miami University (Oxford), “It’s a Small World After All!” is a multifaceted study of pond microorganisms with printable diagrams and worksheets, experiments, and recommended resources. -
Don’t have access to a source of pond water? Visit the Carolina Biological Supply Company’s Web site for Pond Mystery Mix, an inexpensive dried mix to which you add springwater to generate a minipond filled with varied microorganisms. Gr. 5–8. -
The Environmental Protection Agency’s “ World in Our Backyard” is an excellent illustrated eight-chapter guide to wetlands that includes student activities. Gr. 6–8. -
From the National Wetlands Research Center, visit “ The Fragile Fringe” for a multipart guide to the ecology and function of coastal wetlands that includes student activities. Gr. 3–8. -
From British Columbia’s Community Learning Network teacher’s site, the Wetlands Theme Page has an excellent collection of student activities and well-designed informational links. Gr. 1–8. -
At Michigan State University , visit the Water World Web site’s Pond section for an illustrated tour of pond microorganisms and habitats. Gr. 6–8.
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