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If your students can’t get out to the country, here’s a way to experience farm life – actually six different types of farms. Suitable for elementary students, there are images, simple text, and a few animations and other illustrations of aspects of each type of farm – everything from fish to cattle and chickens. Primary students could use this one with some teacher assistance. Created by Virginia Tech University.
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This narrated, virtual field trip invites students to explore the animals, birds, trees, flowers, and insects found in a wooded area. Visit the Nature Notes section for a collection of illustrated cyber-notebooks that contain more specific information about plants and animals. This is a beautifully designed site with outstanding photographs! Don’t miss the Teacher’s Guide which includes creative ways to extend the content, or the Fun Place which features a "click and drag" interactive woodlands poster.
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This 20-question interactive mini-quiz tests student knowledge of a variety of plants and animals. A different bank of questions appears each time the quiz is accessed, so there are multiple opportunities for challenging your students with content-rich trivia!
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Take a look at any animal you hear about in this comprehensive pictorial/fact database. Select a general animal category, like "snakes" and then scroll down to find the specific type you would like to see. Or search all items in the database. In addition to pictures of most items in the database, there is a brief summary of its main characteristics, geographic location, and common habits like diet, reproduction, and habitat. There are some unobtrusive advertisements at this website.
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Animal Diversity Web is an on-line database of animal natural history, distribution, and classification organized as an on-line encyclopedia. Users can search the Animalia Kingdom by Phylum, Sub phylum, Class, Order and Family. Choose the corresponding icons to view facts, descriptions, pictures, specimens and hear the sounds of the various animals. This site contains a lot of information. Younger students may need some assistance/instruction maneuvering through the site initially.
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This nicely organized visual site about animals is perfect for independent student research at the elementary level. Students can select an animal by type, read through the kid-friendly text to learn more about it, and browse through some great photographs. Animal topics include birds, fish, reptiles, spiders and insects, amphibians, and mammals. The site also includes a search feature (scroll to the bottom of the home page) and games, puzzles, and other activities. Although all reference links are active, some of the games and puzzle links are no longer working. This site does include some small advertisements.
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Primary students will like the pictures and short descriptions of a dozen different types of animal homes. Some of the text may be a challenge, but we like this one for its images.
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Designed to capitalize on young students' interest in animals and pets, this is more a collection of "idea starters" than actual lessons. ASPCA offers basic ideas and templates; you'll want to add your own context in a Language Arts or Math lesson. The subject matter, though, is likely to keep students' attention.
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This site, a sample from a larger "for a fee" site, offers a free sorting activity about animals. The site starts with a short slideshow of the animals highlighted. Then students are asked to click and drag animals to sort the animals that have fur, fly, and other characteristics. There are pictures provided for additional help to non-readers. The site also provides printable pictures, lesson ideas, and printable activities. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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There's not a lot of presentation to these pages, but each contains a selection of bird or animal sound files. The quiz asks students to name each animal sound, and it's not as easy as it sounds! The sound files do not require any special browser plug-ins. Turn on your speakers and give this one a listen.
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This interactive ASPCA site has a number of resources for teaching biology and life sciences, as well as good resources for teaching kids the responsibilities associated with owning a pet. The animal encyclopedia has individual animal profiles, and the Career center highlights an assortment of jobs for animal lovers. The Humane Education section has an assortment of worksheets and web-quests to learn more about animals.
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Pandas and dolphins and deer - oh my! This website, created by National Geographic, offers an eclectic mix of reference information about numerous animals: fish, invertebrates, bugs, birds, reptiles, and others. The site truly has something for everyone. There are video clips, interactive challenges, research information, music clips, photos, and current event news stories. There is a link for kids (designed for the elementary grades) with some age-appropriate interactives, news stories, and videos. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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Animals of the Arctic, a student-created site from Alaska, teaches elementary students about walruses and other arctic animals. Also included in the site are lesson plans for eight interdisciplinary science activities related to arctic animals: making blubber mittens, investigating owl pellets, and more. Thinkquest Junior Winner: second place, science and math, 1998.
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An extensive collection of information on the fauna of the rain forest, with photos, scientific facts, and descriptions for each. A nice reference tool for elementary students, and also a good source for classroom reports. This site is a web resource for the TeachersFirst interactive Biomes of the World Unit for grades 4-8.
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This site from New York's Museum of Modern Art uses animals as an introduction to art appreciation. Students can view a selection of different art works, make their own observations about what the artist is showing, and learn about the role of art in cultural expression. The site can be used successfully at several different levels.
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The ASPCA’s online guide to pet care for students offers basic information on the care of more than a dozen different pets. The ideas are great, but the writing is uneven, sometimes unclear. If you have a student interested in having a pet, here’s a good place to find out what’s involved. If your child is interested in having a pet, this is a good starting point to find out what’s involved.
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Choose a geological time period in Australia to learn about animals, climate, vegetation and what was going on in the rest of the world. Each time period showcases animals that lived during the period and includes links to view fossils dating to the period. Movies are small in size and do not have narrative explanations. Real Player is needed to view movies. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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This is one of the more complete “tell us about your backyard ecosystem” sites we’ve seen. The producers encourage students to send images and descriptions of plants, animals, and insects they find in their back yards. While the quality of the submissions varies, this one has the potential to be a nice resource for comparing species in different locations.
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Life science teachers can find a wide variety of information about many aspects of the natural world in this well-organized site. Topics include geology, plants, fungi, animals, and naming/classifying living things. A section on "tools" provides guidance in selecting the proper items for successful nature study (i.e., field guides, binoculars, notebooks). Most importantly, all of the information is geared toward understanding nature in your own backyard (or schoolyard!). Encourage your students to check out the link to 101 Nature-Oriented Things to Do for some great science-based ideas on how to fill those long summer days.
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This virtual field trip is all about bats - and takes students to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park! There are four sections of the "field trip". Part one is the journal, which is presented to the students first (and requires Adobe). The journal provides numerous questions for students to search for the answers while they visit their destinations. Part two is the virtual journey itself (which requires FLASH). Part three is "ask the experts" which provides past questions and answers. However, students didn't have the option of posing new questions. Part four is a live chat with the experts (a specific time is predetermined for the chat). Unfortunately, this web chat occurred in January 2007, but they hope to schedule another live chat in the future. Some of the activities on this site require FLASH.
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