Home | Resources | ATPE News | Fall 2009 | Snip-its
Snip-Its
Travel the world from your computer screen
Economic troubles might have taken their toll on a time-honored education tradition—the field trip. Take your students farther than they could ever travel in a school bus by visiting places online.
- www.field-guides.com/trips.htm—Tramline Trips offers virtual field trips to places such as the Columbia River Gorge, the center of a volcano and the Seven Wonders of the World.
- www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions—
National Geographic Xpeditions will lead students into the depths of the ocean and across the varied topographies of the world.
- www.nasa.gov (Search for “virtual field trip”)—Through NASA, students can study the similarities and differences between Mars’ landscape and that of Western Australia, investigate penguins in Antarctica and more.
Pop-ups can be educational?
Keep your students learning, even while they might be enjoying time on the computer. Popling, a free Web site and application, allows you to install “pop-ups” onto various computer programs. The programs work as flashcards, motivating students to learn through mini-quizzes. Premade lessons on languages including Spanish, Japanese and Hindi are available at www.popling.net, as well as questions on geography, science and art. Using the free software, you or your students could even make your own Poplings on topics you’re studying in class.
Expanding horizons through science
Excite your students—especially girls—about the possibilities that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers hold for them. The Texas Girls Collaborative Project (TxGCP) is the state arm of the National Girls Collaborative Project and an initiative of the University of Texas at Austin. TxGCP provides grants to projects throughout the state and connects organizations and individuals across Texas that are committed to informing and motivating girls to pursue STEM careers. Find more information at http://texasgirls.engr.utexas.edu.
On the national level, the National Academy of Sciences has created www.iwaswondering.org to encourage middle school students to consider science careers. On the Web site, kids can read biographies of women scientists such as Cynthia Brazeal, a robot designer, and Adriana Ocampo, a space geologist; ask questions that might get answered by real scientists; explore a timeline of scientific events; and play STEM-related games.
©istockphoto.com/graffizone-mountains,janne ahvo-gear girl
More ATPE News
Game over for cyberbullies
The thank-you files (part II)
Capitol Comment
Legal Opinions
Educators’ Exchange
In the Classroom
Para-educators’ Place
News Briefs
Snip-its
Tech Support
Web Bytes
Your Association News