Life Science Website Links

What is Life Science?
http://schoolscience.rice.edu/duker/life/lifesciintro.html
Grade Level: 4th-6th
This site was created by an elementary school. It provides a good overview of what life science is and some basic history and scientific thinking.

Strengths:
• If students click on any link it will still be a kid friendly site.
• The information is visually organized and not confusing.
Weaknesses:
• There is very little to do/see on this site, it is only information to read, so it is somewhat limited

Animal Cams from the Smithsonian Institute
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/
Grade Level: K-6th
This site has a collection of cameras watching animals in their zoo with accompanying information and updates about the critters. Because of the visual nature of the cams any grade could use this site, but scaffolding may need to be provided in order to get to the the appropriate cam for the lower grades.

Strengths:
• This can help to provide real time visuals for animals students may never have heard of before.
• This could be great for students to 'conduct research' about an animal and track behavior that they see
Weaknesses:
• There is lots of other information about the animals and the zoo on this site. Kids could easily get lost in the text on this site and have a difficult time finding the cam they are looking for, I did!
• If students click on other links within this site, it is not that they are NOT kid-friendly, but it is more about the business of the museum and zoo than it is about animals

The National Science Foundation - The Secret Lives of Wild Animals
http://nsf.gov/news/special_reports/animals/index.jsp
Grade Level: 4th-6th
This site features information on several animals (deer, ocelot & agouti, dragonflys, zebras and seals). The pages for each animal includes pictures, movies, maps and research/scientific information as well as tracking technology.

Strengths:
• This site shows active scientists and current research. Kids can truly be a part of the cutting edge!
Weaknesses:
• This site is not written for kids reading levels so some scaffolding would be needed for some kids to perhaps look for specific information rather than just gather information that they find.

Dep.'t of Agriculture Research Service
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/
Grade Level: 4th-6th
This site has kid friendly research articles that are written about a variety of topics. There is even a Spanish language version of the site! Overall it is a series of stories from scientists at the ARS about animals, aquaculture, cities, environment, farming, high tech, insects, microscopes, nutrition, plants, satellites, small towns, soil, the suburbs, test tubes, transportation, water and weird science.

Strengths:
• This site is fun for ketting kids interetsed in something science related. It seems to provide interesting 'stories' about real research but with lots of visuals and info for kids to follow along.
• I like how it is organized through pictures rather than words
Weaknesses:
• The major weakness is that it uses language that would be difficult for K-3rd graders
• It is not a site to look for specific information about a topic

Rader's Biology 4 Kids
http://www.biology4kids.com/index.html
Grade Level: 4th-6th
This site is a great kid friendly way for kids to learn about basic biology info as well as the scientific process and research. It has great diagrams and breaks hard concepts down.

Strengths:
• This site holds tons of information about complicated biology but in some-what kid friendly language.
• This would be a great place to send kids to do research
Weaknesses:
• There are ads by Google on the site that take away from its content, but nothing inappropriate. They mostly confuse the visual organization of the site

Kid News
http://www.kindnews.org/
Grade Level: K-6th
This site focuses on human and animal relationships, specifically on being humane and helping animals who are being treated poorly.

Strengths:
• This site provides a way for kids to work towards a good cause and get other kids involved (community activism). It even includes a flyer maker.
• There is much to do for all ages, so through some of it is beyond the K-3 reading level, there are things that the little kids can do such as look at pictures and movies and play games.
Weaknesses:
• This site has more to do with animal cruelty than with life science, but it does hold some information about the animals it features.