Natural Science and Technology
The Discovery Channel online offers science, technology, history, and more
through video clips, games, current news stories, and interactive media. A
cool feature called Explore by Subject offers a wide range of topics to match
any interest.
EcoKids is Earth Day Canada’s environmental education program for youth
who care about the planet. This is their interactive environmental website
for children, their families, and educators in Canada and around the world.
At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s website, the For Kids,
For Students, and For Educators buttons lead you to educational multimedia
interactivities designed to pique interest in the universe beyond our planet.
This site of the San Francisco–based Exploratorium Museum of Science, Art
and Human Perception is packed with scientific information and interactive
possibilities on a wide range of topics.
Through posing questions, this site explains how just about everything in
the world works. Fifteen umbrella topics divide into a seemingly infinite
variety of subcategories. Kids will love this!
Visit this terrific site to explore geographic, scientific, and historical concepts,
issues, and events. Participate in interactive content-driven activities,
games, and multimedia presentations.
This website of “the science magazine for curious kids” features interesting
and entertaining information and activity ideas.
The Educators section of the Boston Museum of Science website contains
both student (Student Resources) and teacher (Classroom Resources)
materials. Podcasts, videocasts, and virtual exhibits provide great content
for a variety of topic studies.
The kids’ section of the National Wildlife Foundation is loaded with information
about animal conservation and animals in general. It also includes
a special focus on age-appropriate explorations of global warming. Participate
in interactive web communities related to America’s fast-disappearing
wilderness.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather
Service provides up-to-date weather forecasts. Under Education/Outreach,
click on the NOAA Education Page for general educational information
about weather and a list of weather sites of interest to kids.
The Kid Territory section of the San Diego Zoo website offers interactive
craft assignments, zoological science trivia, animal-themed games, and
employee profiles that inform kids about what it’s like to work at the zoo.
The Meet the Critters link allows you to make virtual contact with every
single animal that lives at the SD zoo.
Check this out for great information, photographs, and stories about anything
pertaining to the ocean and to marine conservation.
This site delves into the science behind the news and delivers an amazing
array of all-purpose scientific information. Click on the education link to
access the teacher activity pages and curriculum suggestions for grades
5–12.
Current Events
The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition provides high school students
and teachers with engaging, real-life news and information on the world of
business from one of the most trusted sources in the world.
The Environmental News Network is an excellent database of news stories
concerning wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, energy, business, climate, pollution,
green building, technology, and health. Content is best suited to high
school and young adults.
News Round is the Children’s British Broadcasting Corporation’s news website.
It is a valuable resource for current event info targeting 6- to 13-yearolds.
The page includes links to top stories in world news, British news,
sports, showbiz, and animals, as well as video and photo journals for students.
There is also a very useful content glossary under Extra Stuff to aid in
topic-specific research.
This online New York Times kids’ edition for grades 3–12 is a truly fantastic
site. It offers daily updated news summaries, science Q&As, On This Day
and Word of the Day features, and the ability to explore the New York Times
learning network by subject.
Subtitled “America’s leading news source for kids,” Scholastic’s News Online
lives up to its reputation. Extensive student-oriented news stories, updated
daily, engage kids with a “tell us what you think” feature that encourages the
reader to blog responses with the Scholastic Online community. This site is
also the home page of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
Science News for Kids is a website devoted to science news for children aged
9 to 14. It offers timely items of interest to kids, accompanied by suggestions
for hands-on activities, books, articles, Internet resources, and other useful
materials.
This site, targeted specifically to students in grades K–6, offers a variety of
opportunities for kids and teachers.Within each grade level, click the Past
to print any or all of the TFK articles.
Updated weekly, this site features educational resources and games related to
current events and trends.
History and Social Studies
The website of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in
Cincinnati, Ohio, offers historic information, narratives, and lesson plans
related to the Underground Railroad. Click on Expand Your Knowledge or
For Educators.
The website of the History Channel shares videos, topics, podcasts, games,
and more on all things historic. A favorite feature for kids is the everchanging
This Day in History video. Other video clips are particularly
useful for building background on an historic concept or event.
This site covers the story of America from New World encounters to contemporary
history with information, narratives, maps, and links to other relevant
American history websites.
This civics curriculum initiative from Lesley University teaches kids about
the importance of voting through a range of grade-specific learning activities.
Each activity set is built for student-centered active engagement to maximize
student involvement and motivation.
This site includes Nobel lectures, a history of winners and their prizes, and
more. The Educational Games section offers interactive multimedia games
featuring Nobel lore and prize categories.
With sections for students, teachers, and families as well as for adults and
scholars, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides in-depth
information about one of World War II’s most shameful crimes.
Online Communities and Networking
Delphi Forums is an online resource for creating and engaging in blogs,
forum discussions, and chat rooms. Registration is free and forumconstruction
is user friendly.
Guys Read is a web-based literacy resource hosted by children’s writer and
humorist Jon Scieszka, who created this website to help boys find stuff they
like to read.
The “forum” is a very extensive mathematical problem-solving web community.
Indicators allow users to see how many students are viewing particular
solutions at once.
Created by students for students, the ThinkQuest Library is a free educational
resource featuring 7,000+ websites created by participating school
groups from around the world. Classroom web design contests are an exciting
opportunity featured on the site.
Reference and Library Resources
If you are looking for a site where kids can ask questions and search for
information and almost always find text and ideas they can read and understand.
Ask Kids is the answer to your dreams! The site sends kids to many
alternative sites which are written at a reading level and in a language that is
understandable for kids.
Unquestionably the most popular homework help site on the web. B. J.
Pinchbeck started this research portal when he was nine years old. Twelve
years later he continues to maintain the site and field kids’ questions. The
site has received favorable reviews from the New York Times and Newsweek,
among others.
A listing of approved sites for kids. The Education category includes links to
sites about animals, art, dinosaurs, history, math,music, science, and space.
The official site of the Library of Congress offers much more than you’d
expect. Click on Kids, Families to discover the compelling story of America’s
past as presented by the Library of Congress. Or explore the site endlessly
for anything you can imagine.
Click the Student button on the Smithsonian Institute’s education website
and you can explore resources by topic: Arts, Science and Nature, History
and Culture, and People and Places. Click on the Educators button and follow
the links to searchable teacher resources and lesson plans in Arts and
Design, Science and Technology, History and Culture, and Language Arts.
This urban legends reference site debunks rumors and old wives’ tales of all
kinds. Faulty and truthful claims are categorized by topic. Under the Hottest
Urban Legends section are rumors and scams that are currently being circulated
on the Internet and in the media.
Educator Resource Sites
Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (INK) is a blog that keeps track of the
newest and most interesting nonfiction books for kids.Meet writers who are
presenting nonfiction in a whole new way. Discover books that show why
nonfiction writers are some of the best storytellers around.
The goal of this Annenberg Foundation site is to advance excellent teaching
in America’s schools. You’ll find information on school reform, professional
development, teaching and learning, curriculum suggestions, and so on.
The student section of the learner.org site has interactive exhibits that focus
on extensions of a concept or theme that is explored on the site.
MiddleWeb provides a wealth of resources for schools, districts, educators,
parents, and public school advocates working to raise achievement for all
students in the middle grades.
This site helps teachers and kids make judgments about the safety and reliability
of websites and the Internet in general.
From PBS, this extensive educators’ resource allows you to search for featured
lessons and activities by curriculum area and grade level.
This umbrella site covers all the PBS shows aimed at the early elementary grades
that can now be seen on the Kids Go channel on cable TV. Through this site,
you can access materials for both teachers and kids built around many wonderful
shows, including Arthur, Animalia, WordWorld, Between the Lions and more.
This website allows you to make free phone calls and even free video conferences,
with the proper equipment, to any place in the world.
Fine Arts
The National Gallery of Art’s NGAkids home page is an abundant resource
of interactive art that kids can make online. It’s equally populated with multimedia
presentations of artist biographies and extensive art history guides.
A homework research database allows kids to search the entire NGA collection
for information and images.
Content on this teen section of the Museum of Modern Art’s website reflects
current exhibitions and trends in the museum and the arts world generally.
Including interviews, podcasts, videocasts, interactivities, and contests, this
site launches high schoolers headlong into the art world.
Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art’s MuseumKids page is a fantastic
resource for children passionate about art and archaeology. Under the For
Kids to Try Right Now! header there are dozens of links to fascinating ageappropriate
virtual multimedia. From Degas’ Dancers to Medieval Arms and
Armor, all interests are covered.
A website dedicated to hooking kids on classical music, Classics for Kids has
a monthly focus on specific composers and eras. The site also features lesson
plans/teacher resources, professional musician interviews/profiles, and an
award-winning podcast.
Click on the Interactive Resources link of Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute’s
website and you will be led to a plethora of informative articles, podcasts,
and games that encourage music appreciation for all ages.
This jazz portal is intended to preserve and promote one of America’s greatest
art forms. Click the Learn It icon to access an amazing free archive of oral
histories and interactive “lessons” that teach young adults how to cultivate
curiosity in their music listening.
The Pennsylvania Ballet’s online Outreach and Education page offers some
profoundly creative dance appreciation media and materials. The drop-down
menu under For Kids, Parents & Teachers reveals artist interviews, kid workbooks,
video clips of ballet positions, and the brilliant “creating a ballet” lesson,
which catapults students into the process of storytelling through dance.
Health and Fitness
At this site geared toward educating kids about their bodies, resources range
from an age-appropriate glossary of medical terms to a “dealing with feelings”
section to healthy and easy recipes for kids. There is an extensive database
of health-related games, quizzes, and experiments. The site is also
available in Spanish.
Click on the age-appropriate magazine for nutrition and health-oriented
things to read, see, and do from the Children’s Better Health Institute.
Sports Illustrated’s website for kids is full of sports information, articles,
radio programs, survey questions, and more.
Renowned child yoga instructor Shakta Kaur Khalsa’s website includes articles,
teaching tips, and lessons geared toward making yoga a fun and healthy
daily exercise for kids. Click on the For Children link and you will find
clearly diagrammed methods for introducing simple stretching exercises
into the classroom.
This award-winning network features free culinary instruction for kids.
With video recipes performed and taught by kids, Spatulatta promotes
healthy eating and cultural exploration through cooking.