I spent some time
reviewing the National Geographic website. I chose this website because I enjoy
reading National Geographic and I wanted to see what they have available to
kids. I created an account as if I
was a child or student. It is easy to create an account, but they do ask for a
parents E-mail address. From the home page, you can scroll down to see different
categories of pictures posted by fellow National Geographic student users.
There are also links to other activities like giving a caption to an animal
picture, animal games, and weird but true facts. I clicked to play a couple of
games like Beaver Badminton and Kennel Chaos but unfortunately they were not
supported on my computer. I did enjoy exploring the animal link that allows you
to search for certain animals. Within this section an overview of the animal is
given, their location, diet, lifespan, habitat, weight, speed, and length.
I
think this website would be appropriate for students in or around the third
grade. Some of the games may be geared towards younger students, but the
written description seems to be in a fourth or fifth grade level. The site is
fairly easy to navigate and while there are not a lot of advertisements, there
is a somewhat cluttered feeling to it.
There
is a TON of animal information through this website. This definitely reaches
science content and some math with the mention of weight, length, and speed.
There are also some social studies concepts discussed in the animals habitata and “range” or biome.
I
really liked the colorful graphics, abundance of information, interesting
pictures, and fun games provided through the National Geographic website. There
is definitely an emphasis of information on animals. I enjoy the National
Geographic magazines because it addresses a variety of world science and social
studies concepts and issues. I wish that the students’ version of the website
had done this as well, but overall I would recommend this website to students interested
in science and animals.
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI too chose National Geographic to review. I have used this in my classroom on numerous occasions. I like to share some cool fact each day and a lot of my cool facts come from National Geographic.