1. NASA Kids Club
Description:
This site funded by NASA, has a great mix of factual information as well as games. Geared towards 2-5 grade depending on which activities you choose, the website actually has different levels. There are no advertisements, and the navigations are user friendly.
Critique:
The games for the first two levels are not very educational. They really just use space like items to play brain teaser games. It is not until you get to the upper levels that they games become informative. Because of this a teacher may want to scaffold the students by telling them what level and above they have to choose when they go onto the website.
2. Kids Know It
Description:
I would recommend this site for grades 4th-7th. This is a vast website full of resources. The neatest part of this website is the amazing collection of educational songs about numerous topics. It also includes a nightly skymap mapping out the stars for the evening, short movies on numerous concepts including eclipses and podcasts.
Critique:
This site is pretty wordy and can be difficult to navigate. It might be best for a teacher to use it as a resource, or give students a specific location to go to. Some of the movies have a computerized voice that may be annoying to listen to for extended periods of time.
3. The Planetary Society for Kids
Description:
This website is geared towards upper elementary students and has a few resources for finding specific information such as your weight on other planets and where and when to a meteor shower. There are no adds on this site.
Critique:
This website is not very flashy or "pretty". There is little colors of graphics so I think that students may get bored with it pretty quickly. There is also not a lot to do on it so teachers should not give this to students to explore for very long.
4. Windows to the Universe
Description:
This website suitable for 3rd grade and up is packed full of wonderful age appropriate space science information. The visitor is able to choose if they are beginner, intermediate or advanced, and the website itself immediately changes things like wording and font size to fit the need of that user. It includes sections for the earth, solar system as well as the universe. There are many pictures and graphics and the labels are colorful and easy to read. This website includes information, games as well as teacher resources. There are no adds and the website is available in Spanish.
Critique:
Some parts of the website are tricky to navigate and it can be difficult to find your way back to the home page. Some of the games take awhile to load so be prepared for the time needed to complete an activity.
5. Black Holes
Description:
This website for 4th grade and up gives the students a glimpse into the ways atronomser use technonlgy to learn about space. It specifically focuses on Black holes. Using radio waves, visible light and x-ray technology students can explore space and discover what different space objects look like through these different lenses. Students can also take a "voyage" to different places in space of their choice.
Critique:
Some of the options are not very scientiifcally correct while doing real space travel so the educator should make sure that the students know the difference between sci fi and factual space travel.
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