Recommended Website:
ZipcodeZoo.com
Age Range: 4-17+ (Grade Range: PreK-12 – Non-readers will need a little help from mom or dad.)
Are you having trouble identifying the bug or weed your little naturalist found outside? ClickSchooling® subscriber Theresa Kempker may have discovered a website that is the answer to your problem! It offers an interactive Field Guide of plants, animals, birds, and insects all over the world – that is personalized to your geographical area by inputting your Zip Code in the search engine!
No more flipping through page after page of a gigantic field guide of North America (or any other region of the world) trying to find the flora or fauna in question. Just enter your zip code and narrow the field of possibilities to your own backyard! Just think – only the species that typically inhabit the neighborhood where you live will come up in the search. That means the salamander found beneath the old tire near the garage or the plant that your preschooler is munching on will be much easier to identify!
When you get to the site you’ll see an introduction, a featured plant or animal, and a menu bar. Read the introduction to understand how best to navigate and use the site. Then, place your cursor over the menu tabs to see drop down lists of the extensive content available on the site. Pick your area of interest and explore it! The site includes:
- State-of-the-art technology and multi-media (turn your speakers on) to not only educate you, but help you provide specific criteria that will assist in the identification of various plants, birds, and animals. Use the “Key” – a tool that helps you step through kingdom, phylum, class, order, and family to decide what species you have at hand.
- Photographs submitted by amateur and professional naturalists from all over the world. You’re not limited to just one or two pictures when trying to identify a species – you can see a variety to help you really narrow it down and avoid misidentification.
- Sophisticated search engines, Google maps, popup definitions where you can listen to how a scientific word is pronounced, and engaging slideshows of plants and animals. Be sure to watch the “Ask a Biologist” podcasts.
- Fun quizzes that help you develop skill matching a bird, mammal, fish, or amphibian with the sound it makes. There are interactive crossword puzzles that will challenge and build your vocabulary.
- Find out about invasive plants or threatened and endangered species near you. Join other amateur naturalists and help build this field guide by recording your observations using the “LifeList” button at the bottom of every species page. Or provide helpful feedback by suggesting edits to pages where the information is faulty or incomplete.
- A translator that allows you to read every page in a variety of languages including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, or Spanish.
This site is vast – and you may have to wait a few minutes while content downloads as you move from one page or section to another. I found occasional glitches and redirects, but overall this is a terrific site in applied Biogeography that you’ll want to bookmark and visit again and again.
———————————–
DID YOU MISPLACE A ClickSchooling® Review? Do you need to find an educational website – fast! Visit the ClickSchooling® archives at: http://www.homefires.com/clickschool/archive.asp.
