Websites

American Fact Finder Kids’ Corner. U.S. Census Bureau. 2004. 12 Nov. 2004. <http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/kids/kids.html>.

A website designed to aid students in finding facts about their states, the population, and learn about the U.S. Census Bureau. The site is current and show the U.S. population estimation per second as one enters the site. Students can take quizzes about the states and about the Bureau itself. Perfect for use in a social studies’ classroom, the Fact Finder website is a useful aid in allowing students to find out about where they live and other states they might like to visit. Learning about the country in which one lives is a prime component in teaching Social Studies.

ClassBrain.com. 2004. 12 Nov. 2004. <http://www.classbrain.com/>.

ClassBrain.com is a website designed with Social Studies in mind. From links to the Defining Documents of the United States to State Reports, students and educators can find many ideas and tools for teaching Social Studies. The site also gives activities to use with movies and books for teaching the subject and provides ideas for teaching about holidays. Teachers cannot go wrong when using this site to educate their students in Social Studies. History and geography are covered in this site, and students and teachers alike will find this site useful in the classroom.

CNN Student News. 2004. 13 Nov. 2004. <http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/>.

CNN Student News is a website created for helping children understand the news of the globe. It has topics as seen on the actual news broadcast, and then the site takes each topic and expands it so that students can further learn on each subject. The site is filled with current events and daily happenings, and students or teachers can enter this site daily and see what is happening around the world. This would be a good tool in upper elementary classrooms, and each morning the teacher could log onto the page and have each student write in their journals the article they would most want to learn about that day. This site would be ideal for starting social studies lessons.

EIA Energy Kids’ Page. Energy Information Administration. 2004. 14 Nov. 2004. <http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/>.

This site, funded and provided by the Energy Information Administration, was created for children. It teaches children facts about energy, the history of energy, and others. Easily understood, this website is designed with education in mind and provides links for teachers and students to further learning. It also gives ideas for teachers, games and activities for students, and a glossary for all. The website itself may be linked more so to the subject of Science, but the history of energy is a huge factor in Social Studies. Students can learn about the different people associated with making energy possible, and each of who are taught in Social Studies. This site would be perfect when learning about energy and conservation; students could make their own timelines and do research papers about people in the history of energy and could get ideas from this site.

Eye Witness to History. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/>.

Eye Witness to History is dedicated entirely to the history of the world. In beautiful photographs and paintings, the website teaches its visitors about some of the most memorable historical moments in the world. Very interesting articles accompany each photograph taken from the Ancient World throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries as well as scenes from the World Wars I and II and the Civil War. Perfect for use in a social studies’ classroom, this website would be perfect for students as a starter to each of the particular times in history. Some students make have never seen photos from the 1800s, and this site provides many for students to see.

FBI Kids’ Page. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2004. 14 Nov. 2004. <http://www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/kidsk5th.htm>.

A site for students in Kindergarten up to fifth grade, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has created a site to teach children more about what they do. The site offers a tour of the FBI, games concerning investigation, and ideas for safety. Learning about the FBI would closely be related to jobs, and at a young age, children learn about careers in Social Studies. This site gives children a closer look at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and it would be useful in giving students a better idea of what the FBI actually does.

KinderStart. 2000. 11 Nov. 2004. <http://www.kinderstart.com/learningactivitiesandcrafts/>.

The KinderStart website is filled with ideas and suggestions for adding crafts and activities to lessons. Although the site is not only for social studies projects, the site provides lessons for history, government, and geography. This site is intended for early elementary students, and teachers are encouraged to use the links below the subjects as aids also. This site would be used by teachers to create activities for their students when learning about specific aspects of Social Studies such as history, government, and geography.

NASA Kids. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2004. 13 Nov. 2004. <http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/>.

This website is intended for children to learn about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. With games and projects for children, the site has links to the topics of rockets and airplanes, the earth, space and beyond, and astronauts, living in space. This site is closer related to Science, but the earth and the history of space, rockets, and airplanes have much to do with Social Studies. Teachers could introduced Science and Social Studies in talking about war or our armed forces and visit this site to help students understand that NASA creates most of our planes used by the military.

National Geographic Society. 2004. 10 Nov. 2004. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/>

As one of the most trusted and well-known societies in the world, the National Geographic Society has provided a large amount of accommodations for those visiting their website. Updated daily, the site offers global news, geographic maps and photography, children’s games and activities, and many other useful tools for the learning of geography. Not only does the site contain valuable information about news, travel, and expeditions of the Society, it also has links to help for homework and teacher resources. The National Geographic Society’s website is a great aid for teachers in educating their students about social studies. The best way for using this particular website would be when learning about different parts of the world. Students are able to locate places on maps and also see photographs of the people and things they might see when visiting a specific country or continent.

Puzzlemaker. 2004. 11 Nov. 2004. <http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/>.

The Discovery School’s Puzzlemaker is a perfect resource for teachers. This website has tools that helps teachers create their own puzzles, mazes, word searches, and many more by simply having their ideas ready when entering the site. Teachers, more so than students, will find this website useful. When teachers find themselves out of ideas for worksheets, handouts, or just an easy activity to go along with a concept, Puzzlemaker would be ideal for adding an extra touch to a lesson. In a social studies classroom, often times teachers find themselves lecturing history and geography instead of having students enjoy it. By using Puzzlemaker, teachers would collect student interest by adding activities to the lessons in social studies.

Social Studies for Kids. Ed. David White. 2004. <http://socialstudiesforkids.com/>.

Social Studies for Kids is a website based on the subject of Social Studies. It has articles about history, geography, economics, world events, to name just a few. There is a section dedicated to book reviews and one for “This Week in History.” Teachers could come to this site to find ideas for what to teach about each week by looking under the category, “This Week in History.” This site is wonderful and could be a very useful aid in the classroom.

States and Capitols. Ed. Ray Weber. 12 Oct. 2004. 10 Nov. 2004. <http://www.50states.com/>.

An astonishing collection of facts about the United States of America, States and Capitols is a wonderful site dedicated to informing visitors about the fifty states. Many aspects of each state are covered such as: capitol, state tree, flowers, birds, state songs, population, colleges and universities, constitution, maps, history, economy, and many more. Each state is wonderfully compiled and linked to other sites so that more information can be found. The site is print-friendly, so this website would be ideal for educating students about the fifty United States of America. Each student could be given a state and visiting this site would be their way of gaining information about their state.

Time for Kids. 2004. 14 Nov. 2004. <http://www.timeforkids.com/>.

This site funded by Time Magazine is perfect for young students. The site provides daily updates in news in and around the country. Students can take virtual trips around the world, and take quizzes after visiting particular places. This site can definitely be used in teaching geography by taking virtual tours, but students can also watch history as it occurs because events are updated numerous times daily. Teachers could ask students to do a variety of activities having to do with Social Studies using this site.

Tramline Virtual Field Trips. 2004. 10 Nov. 2004.
<http://www.field-trips.org/trips.htm>.

Tramline’s Virtual Field Trips’ website is wonderful for use in a social studies’ classroom. The site does exactly what it claims to do, and that is take students or visitors on trips of their choice that pertain to Social Studies and Science topics. If teachers cannot take students to places they feel necessary for them to see, this website is designed to cater to that. From field trips on America to the Deserts and Oceans, Tramline gives teachers resources outside of the actual place in sight. If students need visuals of the things or places taught in Social Studies, this is the site to visit.

US EPA Student Center. Environmental Protection Agency. 2004. 14 Nov. 2004. <http://www.epa.gov/students/>.

In a site solely devoted to teaching students about the Environmental Protection Agency, students can actively participate in activities and games provided by the EPA. Students are taught about neighborhoods, ecosystems, human health, waste and recycling, and others all from this one site. Each subject of the EPA is easily printed and easy to understand for children of all ages, and the activities that accompany each topic are good aids in furthering understanding. This site would be perfect in a social studies’ classroom, and it could be used when talking about science also. Teachers could discuss history, geography, economics, and many other social studies’ related topics from this site.

White House for Kids. 2004. 11 Nov. 2004. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/>.

In a website dedicated solely to children, the White House has created a page that would interest students of all ages. It provides games and activities as well as interesting facts and stories about all of the past presidents, their wives, and the White House itself. Children can take quizzes and read articles about the President, the Vice President, and their wives. There are also pictures provided of each of them and of the President’s dog, Barney. Teachers could use this website during a presidential election or just to inform students about our President. Historical information on past presidents can also be found, so teachers may find this website a useful tool in teaching about that.

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