Term 4 of 2008

Ancient and Past Societies

Mary and Tanya's Groups
Both groups are looking back in time, with different emphases in their themes. Mary's group will be focussing on ancient societies and Tanya's group will investigate Timelines in History. The resource list has been combined for these two groups.

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga: Viking Voyage
- there are videos, podcasts and lots of information here from the Smithsonian Museum

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga: Resources
--some other resources including the Runic alphabet, an old Norse board game you can make and some other things.

The Viking Network
--this site is straight from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and has lots to read about the real life of Vikings.

NOVA Online - The Vikings
--from the PBS network, this site has interactive sections such as write your name in runes and how archaelogists can tell how old Viking ships are. Lots more here too, make sure you click around.

Ancient Druids of Wales
--this site is from the National Museum of Wales.

Druids
--this site is from the Digital Library Project of the Chicago Public Schools / University of Chicago. There is some very good information about druids and life during the times of the druids.

Mr. Donn.org
--this site was built by two American history teachers and they update it often. There is a lot of ancient history here. And especially there is some information on druids. Also check out their daily life in ancient civilizations pages.

Ancient Civilizations
-- This British Museum site offers a look at a variety of ancient civilizations through themes such as trade, monument/buildings, religion, technology etc.

Mr. Dowling.com
--This site was made and is maintained by an American geography teacher so be aware that there may be some biases in the way information is presented. But there is also lots of good maps and history here to. It's been written for elementary students.

Minnesota State Museum -- The EMuseum
The EMuseum has lots of information about all sorts of things-- you can search by floor or go to the information desk or use the search box on the top of the page. I found some great information about Catherine the Great on this site (Hint: try the 2nd floor or use the search function).

Historical Timelines

Channel 4 Biographies
--set up by British TV 4, this site has very readable biographies for heaps of people throughout history. Set out in alphabetical order. Many of the names Tanya's group are looking for.
Also of interest it their time line browse buttons on the left-hand side of the screen and the time traveller's guides on the right-hand side.

The Web Chronology Project

Flying the Flag
This interactive game from the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) takes you through either WW1 or WW2. Learn all about who, what when where and why.

ANZAC Day Education
Also by the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee. This resource page covers many areas including myths and lore, medals, maps and classroom activities.

Edith's Group

will continue their sea theme until camp week. Resources for their projects can be found in the previous term's entry.

Wendy's Group

will investigate three shorter themes.

Space, Olden days (knights), and Animals.

Rocket and space ships
History of Space Stations -- not exactly about space ships, this is where to stay when in outer space. The author of this website is an award-winning book author on the same subject.

Astronomy for Kids: Space Exploration -- this is a site that is part of the Kids Know It network (a site created and managed by American teachers). This section is all about space exploration so will include stuff you want and other stuff that doesn't suit. Check out the button on the side that says "Space Shuttle".

Starchild -- this is a website for kids by NASA. Primary school kids will want to look at the information marked Level 1. Try clicking on the button marked "Space Stuff". This site will even read the text for you and has a glossary of terms (tells you what some of the words mean).

Solar system
Astonomy for Kids: The Solar System -- This section is all about the planets, their moons, and comets and asteroids. You need to click on the buttons on the side.

Starchild -- see the link above but try clicking on the button marked "Solar System". There is also a button on the top left corner that will start the audio -- so the site will read the page to you.

TERM 3 of 2008

This term the whole school has gone nautical in preparation for the whole school performance of "HMS Pinafore".

Tanya's Group
Science on the High Seas

Tanya's group will be exploring the science of the ocean. Experimentations will include: floating, sinking, waves, boat shapes, currents and the many other aspects of water with which a good officer should acquaint himself.

The tying of knots in their various forms and uses will be undertaken.

Projects of relevance to the nautical theme will also be negotiated and undertaken. Some of these sites have been chosen to generate inspiration for these projects and will be added to as the specific topics are agreed upon.

Nautical Terms
A list of terms to do with boats and sailing from Phrontistery - a site of the most extraordinary word lists.

Knot Gallery -- a site from the Tollesbury Yacht Club with animated knot demonstrations.

Bureau of Meteorology
Scroll right to the bottom of the page for downloadable experiments to do with air pressure, wind speed, clouds, the colour of the sky and much more.

Oceans in Motion
This Oceans Alive site has an excellent explanation and experiment about waves. Experiments on currents and tides are also available with an opportunity to collect data on tides and to predict using that information.

National Geographic: Volvo Ocean Race
Lots to explore on this site that makes use of a real boat race (formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race) to explore science of the ocean. Check out the wave and sailing simulators, learn about the doldrums, navigation, how they rescue people at sea and much more. Access this by clicking on the green bars' drop down menus (try clicking on other stuff as well, you can always use the back button to find your way back).

A Stowaway's Guide to the Pacific

Museum of Underwater Archaeology

Columbus Navigation

EducScapes pathfinder pages -- Explorers

Life at Sea
Maritime Museum's section on Exploration through the ages. The Life at Sea part includes what it was like to be sailing in the time of Captain Cook.

Joseph Banks Papers Online

For Collaborative Work in Tanya's group
Arthurian Myth
Retelling of the Sword in the Stone
History for Kids - King Arthur's Britain (sorry lots of ads)
Early British Kingdoms for Kids

Mary's Group
Free Choice
Mary's group will again be pursuing topics of their own choice. Links will be added as specific topics are negotiated.

Rocket and space ships
History of Space Stations -- not exactly about space ships, this is where to stay when in outer space. The author of this website is an award-winning book author on the same subject.

Astronomy for Kids: Space Exploration -- this is a site that is part of the Kids Know It network (a site created and managed by American teachers). This section is all about space exploration so will include stuff you want and other stuff that doesn't suit. Check out the button on the side that says "Space Shuttle".

Starchild -- this is a website for kids by NASA. Primary school kids will want to look at the information marked Level 1. Try clicking on the button marked "Space Stuff". This site will even read the text for you and has a glossary of terms (tells you what some of the words mean).

Solar system
Astonomy for Kids: The Solar System -- This section is all about the planets, their moons, and comets and asteroids. You need to click on the buttons on the side.

Starchild -- see the link above but try clicking on the button marked "Solar System". There is also a button on the top left corner that will start the audio -- so the site will read the page to you.

Global warming
Climate Change Kids Site -- this site was made especially for kids by the American Environmental Protection Association (EPA). There is a lot of good info and some activities to explore.

Video and electronic games
Dolphins
Dolphin Research Project -- this organisation has a page for kids doing school projects. Check it out.
Wild Animal Watch: Dolphins -- this site by Scholastic is great, but be mindful that it is an American site so may have different species of dolphins from Australia.
Fungus
Introduction to Fungi -- This site by Berkeley University has a good introduction page and scroll down for other good sites. Some of the info on this site is tricky to read. You may need a bit of help.

Fun Facts about Fungi -- this site from the Utah State University has some activities you may want to try including how to grow your own mushrooms.
Mediaeval torture
Scientific experiments for kids
Organic foods
Stick insects
Bugwise - this site set up by Australian Museums is all about studying insects. Make your way to All about Invertebrates then find the Invertebrate guides -- there's all kinds of info on all kinds of insects (and lots about what you can do to get involved with insect research).

Marine life


Edith's Group

Wendy's Group
Pirates Sail to the Olympics

Olympics for Kids
This First Steps site has lesson plans and activities that tie in with the Olympic games. This site is for Wendy.

Classroom Olympics
More ideas for Wendy

Official Site of the Australian Olympic Team 2008
Look at the venues, find out about the atheletes and the sports they will compete in.

Olympic Education Resources
Primary education resources from the official site. Lots to look through here Wendy.

TERM 2 of 2008

Tanya's Class -- Countries of the World and World Geography
Geonet -- a challenging world geography game

National Geographic

Infonation
This site is from the United Nations website and has information about every nation in the world.

Discovery Atlas
from the discovery channel. There are some videos about featured countries of the world. They are: China, Japan, France, Brazil and Australia.

The European Map Game
The Sheppard Software Company's game that lets you choose the level of play and tests your knowledge of countries and capitals. Explore around the rest of the site too.

Greatest Places
This site was created to supplement a film about seven of the most geographically dynamic locations on Earth. This site is rich with personal stories, videos, activities, and experiments as well as information on Greenland, the Amazon, Tibet, Namibia, Madagascar, the Okavango Delta and Iquazu Falls region in Brazil.

The CIA World Factbook
By the American Central Intelligence Agency this site has geographical information for every country. You need to choose the name of the country in the drop-down box to see a map and info about that country.

FactMonster World Atlas and Map Library
Printable maps, latitude longitude finder, country profiles, distance calculator, crossword puzzles. A real treasure trove! Sorry, ads on the side.

Geography World
a huge collection of links all to do with geography including GPS, maps, climates, population etc. You need to scroll down for the links headings, the ones at the top don't appear to work.

Classroom Resources on Countries around the World
Although this site is created for US schools, the information about the different countries can be used by primary school students anywhere.

Round Earth, Flat Maps
The issues that come with representing a 3D globe on 2D paper.

Global Sounds Live -- from the Smithsonian
Music videos and short explanations about the significance of the songs from every continent on the globe. You may need to give the videos a minute or two to stream.

World Newspapers
This is the Internet Public Library's site of newpapers from around the world. You will need to look for English versions for some countries.

Mary's Class -- Animal Families and Animal Functions

Kid's corner -- All about Animals
a collection of links to all kinds of sites - endangered animals, invasive animals, beneficial and harmful animals, types of animals -- you name it it's here!

Classifying Critters
from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Cool Science Site. Learn about the special system that scientists have for keeping track of plants and animals. Take the challenge!

Animal Diversity Web
This site is set up by the University of Michigan and can tell you about each of the phylums of the animal kingdom.

Goat Domestication -- this site is especially for Jack's project. You'll need someone to help you read it but it is very interesting.

Domestic Goats and Neolithic Revolution -- another very informative site for Jack. You will need some help reading this but the information is fascinating!

Creature Features
Done by National Geographic this has information about different animals but also includes habitat information. Lots of videos to watch.

Wild Kids
This site is from the Australian Museum Online. There's great Australian information about habitats and the animals in them. If you click on the explore tab at the top it will take you to a directory with other good stuff to explore.

National Geographic - All about Cats
This site covers the anatomy and physiology (how their bodies work) of cats and tells how they have adapted from the first sabre-toothed tiger.

Melissa Kaplan - animal-related careers
This is just a person's personal site but has an interesting list of animal-related careers, explore down the bottom of her page for a list of links too.
Trivia question - do you know what a herpetologist is?

Animals in Work, Sport, Recreation and On Display
This website is by the Gov't of South Australia, Animal Welfare Branch. It covers topics such as Service animals, racing, hunting, zoos, circuses, and rodeos.

BEEP: Animal ethics
This British site was set up for secondary schools so you may need a little help. It looks at the relationships that humans have with animals. This site asks lots of questions about what you think is the right thing in our use of animals. Lots to thinks about and discuss.

The Food Chain Game
find out what eats what!

All about Animal Homes
Pages put together by Eduscapes. This site has many links to explore about all kinds of habitats.

Dirtmeister: Animal adaptations
Use this website to help write about a particular animal and the ways that it has adapted to its environment.

Camouflage
This is a site from the Sacramento Zoo (a really famous zoo). Its all about the different ways animals can use camouflage to protect themselves from other animals. Includes a link that explains mimicry.

Names of Animals, Babies and Groups
Here's a great chart put out by Enchanted Learning that tells the names of baby animals (eg. Pigs and piglets, Bears and cubs) and also tells what a group of that animal is called (eg. did you know a group of pigs is called a 'herd' or a 'sounder'?) Fascinating stuff!

Edith's Group -- Pets

Some of the sites listed for Mary's group might be useful for you too.

BBC -- CBBC Wild -- Pets
This is a BBC site for children and the pets corner has lots of information including: stuff about animal breeds, a check list to find out if you are a good pet owner and how to care for pets.

World Almanac Online
This is an almanac for kids (American publication) and has a chapter all about animals - both domestic and wild. Click on the animal chapter then choose your beast!

Care for Pets
This site comes from the American Veterinary Medical Association and cover aspects of animal care like animal first aid, breed choice, pet safety and pet loss. Also a kids corner.

5 Min Pets
This website offers 5 minute pet care videos like: how to train your dog not to jump on guests, how to build a bird house, how to give your cat medicine. Excellent viewing but you'll probably find only one computer can run them at a time or they will slow down. It's our bandwidth.

Wendy's Group -- Toys

Moving Toy Mechanisms
Help Ergo build a better mousetrap! Learn about cams, gears, levers and other stuff that make toys move. Interactive but the kids will need help with the reading. Might spark some ideas for building.

History of Toys
From History.com
Videos, timelines, inventors, and try playing the toy shop game - find all the pieces to complete the toy before the cuckoo clock chimes.

Term 1 of 2008

This term the whole school will be focussing on Health and Well-being

Many of the sites will be appropriate for the whole school but some will be placed under classes if the issues are specifically suitable or the reading level is more appropriate.

KidsHealth
A very comprehensive site made especially for kids. There is also a special section for adolescents --
KidsHealth - Teens
and one for parents that includes parenting information (like how to talk to your kids about puberty/emotional issues/behaviour etc.)
KidsHealth -- Parents

Nobel Prize.org
This great site has a number of Medicine/Physiology type games including: the very challenging Immune System game, blood typing, cells, DNA, tuberculosis, electrocardiogram, and much more. Lots of fun with learning mixed in.

PBS Nova
some great programs available to watch online including: stem cells, anorexia, micro-photography of the growth of a baby, obesity, pandemic flu, sleep and cancer. Check the play times and choose the player installed on your machine.

Life Science Connections - Human Body
this site explored the human body, has lots of snappy facts and self-quizzes. The best bit is the webquest designed for upper primary students where you become the resident with a patient. Two hospital rotations give you a case to research then to raise public awareness for your particular condition.

Inside the Pyramid
the food pyramid that is. Explore this new version of the healthy eating pyramid.
Tracker
allows people to assess their food intake and physical activity levels to help you make better choices.

MedilinePlus: easy-to-read health information
While this is an American site the info sheets cover issues A - Z in easy to understand terms. There are also some interactive tutorials.

Life Be In It
like a portal for all kinds of information of health and fitness. Australian based

Go For Your Life
another portal site maintained by the state gov't with categories for families, children and teens. Lots to explore, quizzes to do etc.

Cool Foods Planet
this has lots of bits to explore for info and quizzes about nutrition. There are two entry points for younger and older kids. The site for adolescents deals with developing healthy habits and teen eating issues.

Eat Well SA
A site developed in South Australia all about food and nutrition in schools. Lots of brochures, info on food groups and nutrition. Resources for teachers, parents as well as students. Check out the food ready reckoner!

Body and Mind
This site is from the US Dept of Health and Human Services. It is a fun, bold, colourful site aimed at kids with information about diseases, food and nutrition, physical activity, safety, your life/your body. It has an excellent activity calendar kids can use to plan and journal a personal get fit regime.