Saturday, February 20, 2010

For the love of water: resources for a unit on Water as a Resources




Flow: The Film: Ways to get involved, as well as water rights facts.

Food and Water Watch: includes ways to get involved, the truths about bottled water, chemical contamination, etc. A guide to the "take back the tap" movement as well as a guide to tap water filters. Outlines the argument for public vs. private water rights.

EPA for kids: This site tells kids about water usage in thier family, and how they could concerve more water. It also talks about why kids should conserve water.

Water 1st: Ways to donate, also local actives, and what the organization is about: providing safe water to those who need it in a sustainable way.

Center for Environment Law and Policy This site outlines water rights including local water information on the Columbia River water shed. It gives information on restoring rivers and waterfalls as well as the history of local damn usage and its affects on our local water shed.

Water.org: This website contains all the most recent global water news. It also includes videos and articles about successful and continuing water campaigns across the globe.

UN for Kids: This site has games, current kids related news as well as quizzes on water and other global rights issues.

World Water Day: This site gives details about the current water crisis, as well as information about world water day. It gives students ideas for how to get involved as well as other news and resources. It also has a fun and informative water game for students to play online.

Global Water.org: This website is run by a non-profit humanitarian group that provide information and help concerning the water crisis. It details current projects, information about technology being used, as well as how students can help.

Sites students will get information from for Haiti Complex instruction project:

Tap It: This site is a resource for the role of NGO representative that some of the students will have. It gives them information about the water situation in Haiti.

Times: This link is to articles on the water crisis in Haiti. Hosted by Times and CNN the site had articles from mulitple authros and also contains videos.

Haitian Earthquake Relief Campaign: This is a blog that details current relief efforts in Haiti. It will be used by the role of the local representative as a resource to see how the local people of Haiti are getting water.

Haitian Water.org: This site is a resource the role of the plumber. It has a map of the Haitian water systems.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Health, Sex Education and HIV Websites




1. Kids Aware

Description:
This website for students 3rd grade and up talks about basic themes students need to know to be safe. This includes "Stranger Danger" and even internet and cell phone safety. Each section has catchy acronyms to help students remember safety tips. There are no adds on this site.
Critique:
The website itself is not very flashy and there are not activities for the students to do. It is more of a resource for the students as opposed to a place where they can go "hang out" for awhile. There are some terms on the webiste that the teacher may need to explain to the students like FAQ.

2. Kids First for Health

Description:
This website brought to you by Ormond Street Hospital covers and array of health issues for children including what hospitals are like, illness, and puberty. It has tabs for children to click on leveling the site to their age: 4-18. The site includes games, pictures, interviews, "Ask the Doc" and diagrams. The website is based in the UK and has no adds.
Critique:
All of the activities need reading so even the 4-6 age tab had reading necessary for the activities. Because the site is based in the UK some of the language is culturally situated and may not make sense to even a more ready reader. Be sure to preview the page before using it to see what vocabulary you made need to pre-teach.

3. Go Ask Alice

Description:
This website brought to you by Columbia University is a health and sex education website for 6th grade and up. It includes information on drugs and alcohol, emotional health, sexuality, sexual health, and fitness and nutrition. It includes frquently asked questions, themes of the week, and a place where kids can "Ask Alice" questions. There are no adds on this site.
Critique:
I would be cautious using or recommending this site to students as a teacher because it contains sensitive and adult materials that parents and or the district may not support. You could possibly recommend it to a parent first to look at and then they could descide if they wanted to share it with their child.

4. Kids Health

Description:
This website was one of the few that addresses HIV and AIDS for children. I would recommend it for 4th grade and older. It is also available in Spanish. The website gives a "kid" friendly explanation of the disease over 5 pages of text. There are adds on this page.
Critique:
This website does not have fancy graphics or games. It is just a straight forward explanations of HIV/AIDS. I would recommend heavy scaffolding for you students on terms, and processes. Senstive topics like this are better to be taught in person.

5. Learn to be Healthy

Description:
This website for grades 4 and up covers a multitude of health topics. Its an interactive and fun website where students can explore on their own health topics that might interest them. The site includes information, games, activities and even a "personal locker" to keep information. The site had no advertisements.

Critique:
To acess some of the features of the site you have to make a user name and log in for them. Also, the site itself requires some computer features to run. If the schools computers don't have the proper upgrades the site may run poorly or not at all.