Posts Tagged ‘geography’

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“Why Do I Have To Learn Math?”

November 7th, 2011

Hi! It’s Monday, November 7, 2011, and time for Math at ClickSchooling! 

Recommended Website:
mOtivate – maths enrichment for schools 

Age Range: 11-17 (with parental guidance) 

The University of Cambridge presents this terrific website with downloadable multimedia explorations of how math relates to real life issues such as nutrition, disease, vaccinations, and the economics of heath. The math topics covered include percentages, graphs, probability, equations, contingency tables, tree diagrams and much more! 

When you get to the site you’ll see a description of what’s provided on the site. Click on “Multi-Media Packs” to get to the engaging math activities that answer questions such as: 

  • Is eating bacon sandwiches bad for you (or are the statistics
    misleading)?
  • What are the odds that you test positive for something and the
    test is wrong?
  • How does vaccination work?

Explore these and other health-related questions from a mathematical perspective.

You can also do an in-depth study of “Babylonian Maths” that hone skills in number and place value, multiplication, division, inverses, shape, and symmetry.

If you still want more, click over to the “Cross-Curricular Resources and Projects” section to find correlations between mathematics and art, geography, history, music, science, sports and more. The videos (VCs) in this section don’t work any more, but there are plenty of good suggested activities to stimulate learning over a wide variety of subjects.

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Posted in economics

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Silver Rush Adventure Game!

November 3rd, 2011

Hi! It’s Thursday, November 3, 2011, and time for Social Studies at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
The Cobalt Adventure

Age Range: 9-14 (About grades 5-8, with parental supervision. People of all ages may enjoy aspects of this site.)

At this website you can virtually experience an early 20th century Silver Rush through interactive games and lessons that teach social studies, history and geography. When you get to the site, you’ll see a menu that includes:

*Game – Select one of three real-life characters (an old prospector, a nurse, or a young shopkeeper) and head to Cobalt in Ontario, Canada to join the Silver Rush of 1903. This multimedia adventure (available in Flash or HTML) is different for each character, and there are 28 possible endings. After you’ve seen the results of any one decision you make for your character, you can choose “previous” to go back and choose again.

At the end of each playthrough, you can click on “Actual Factual” to see what actually happened to the person you chose to be, plus plenty of other information about life in Cobalt at that time. (From the “Library” on the menu, all of the Actual Factuals are available; during gameplay, only the information pertinent to your most recent decision is available.)

*Curriculum – Get four downloadable (pdf) lessons with ideas and activities designed to enhance what you learn from playing the game. Create a facsimile of a hand-colored postcard, write your own adventure story, use visual prompts to tell a story.

*Library – Explore a photo gallery and view a collection of artifacts from the Cobalt Mining Museum that were used to create the multimedia game.

This game is available in English or French. If you want to view it in French, click “Francais” at the top of the home page.

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Posted in history

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Free Lessons & Activities On Puerto Rico!

October 13th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Thursday, October 13, and time for Social Studies at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Boricua Kids

Age Range: 6-13 (Elementary grades, with parental supervision)

October 18th, 1898 was the date that Spain turned over Puerto Rico to the United States’ control, a condition of The Treaty of Paris after the Spanish-American War. At this website, you’ll find free lesson plans and activities about the history, geography, and culture of Puerto Rico.

When you get to the site, read the brief introduction.  Then use the horizontal menu at the top of the page to access:

  • A Map of Puerto Rico
  • A Fact Sheet – Includes the national flower, bird, flag, capital, government, terrain, notable people, etc.
  • Tainos – Learn about the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, the Taino Indians.
  • Puerto Rico, U.S.A. – A brief history of Puerto Rico’s history with the United States of America.

Then, use the menu on the left to explore:

*Food – Get recipes for Coconut Kisses, Plantain Chips, and more!

*Songs – Listen to Children’s songs such as “El Gato Y El Raton.”

*Coloring Pages – Print and color symbols of Puerto Rico.

*Coqui – Learn about Puerto Rico’s very tiny tree frog.

*Rain Forest – Discover Puerto Rico’s tropical rain forest, El Yunque.

*Lesson Plans – Free lessons, designed for classroom teachers, that cover Puerto Rican social studies, geography, history, and much more.  Print out quizzes, word search puzzles, coloring activities, and more!

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Posted in history

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Geography and History Games & Activities

September 29th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Thursday, September 29, 2011 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Sheppard Software

Age Range: 4-18 (PreK-12 with adult supervision)

This ad-supported website is a ClickSchooling favorite.  And while I’ve featured it before, I want all of our new subscribers to know about this fabulous resource. It’s filled with hundreds of FREE multi-media learning games, activities, videos, articles, and quizzes on every subject for all grade levels including History, Geography, and Social Studies.

When you get to the site, you will see menu icons in the center of the screen. I recommend that you scroll 3/4 down the page (below the icons) to find the activities sorted by grade level including:

*Preschool and Kindergarten – Learn about numbers, colors, shapes, animals, U.S. States, countries, and more.

*Elementary School to Early Middle School – Do activities that teach about math, grammar, geography, science, health, and more.

*Middle School to High School – Discover chemistry, geography, life sciences, and improve vocabulary for the SAT.

*College – Exercise your advance skill level in geography, medical terminology, and challenging brain teasers.

Click on any topic and a new page opens with a menu of activities that relate to that topic. For example, under “Middle School – High School” click on the subject “Geography.”  A new page opens with an assortment of U.S. and World geography games that you can play to boost your knowledge of where places are located in the world.

I also want to draw your attention to a special section called “Kid’s Corner: U.S.A.” You’ll find a great selection of social science activities that include:

  • USA Landmark Puzzles
  • USA Government Games
  • USA Cities and State Word Games
  • USA Regions Games
  • USA History

You’ll want to bookmark this site to return often. Again, all of these activities are available for free on the ad-supported website. For those of you who would prefer to access the site without ads, you can get a family subscription for $36/year and enjoy the activities commercial free.

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Posted in social sciences

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Language Arts Activities for K-8

September 28th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, September 28, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Mr. Nussbaum: Language Arts

Grade Range: 5-14 (grades K-8, with parental supervision)

This ad-supported website is a massive archive of all kinds of learning activities and resources for every school subject.  For this review, we are focusing on the huge variety of free language arts games, printables, reading comprehension activities, grammar editing, spelling help, and other resources.

When you get to the site, you will see a variety of menu boxes below the words, “Language Arts.”  To access each activity, click on the words below each box (rather than the boxes themselves) that include:

*Language Arts Games – Play 12 games that teach sentence and paragraph editing, spelling, punctuation, and writing basics.

*Online & Printable Reading Comprehension Exercises – Read a paragraph or essay on any topic you select and answer multiple choice questions about it. Use either the online or offline versions. Topics include the American Revolution, the Silk Road, Galaxies, Lewis and Clark, Peregrine Falcons, etc.

*Story Units – Read 3 different online stories and enjoy the interactive activities that further learning.

*Sentence Surgeons & Paragraph Paramedics – Learn to be an editor! Correct sentences for spelling, grammar, and punctuation online.

*Cloze Reading – Fill in the blanks in a sentence or paragraph with the correct word from a vocabulary bank.

Other activities teach and/or remediate spelling, alphabetical order, parts of speech, punctuation, and more. Many of these activities will allow you to choose either printable or online exercises.

When you are through with the Language Arts section, use the menu at the top of the page to find activities for math, geography, science, etc.

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Posted in math

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Virtual Field Trip To Statue of Liberty!

August 19th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Friday, August 19, 2011 and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
National Park Service: Statue of Liberty eTour

Age Range: 8 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)

At this website you can take a multi-media virtual tour of one of the world’s most recognized landmarks, the Statue of Liberty.

When you get to the site select High Speed or Dial-Up access, turn on your speakers, and enjoy the tour.

VERY IMPORTANT:  You won’t hear spoken words, so be sure to read the text to understand how to navigate and access all of the content here, including the video presentations at each stop along the tour. (Hint: be sure to click on the icons in the black frames.)

The e-tour includes:

  • A trip around the perimeter of Liberty Island in New York Harbor
  • The history of the statue’s design and significance
  • Statue Statistics – height, weight, materials used to make it, etc.
  • Engineering Techniques
  • Information on the statue’s torch and flame
  • How the image of the statue is used by marketers
  • Symbolism of the concept of liberty

This tour is sure to spark discussion about world history, immigration, politics, geography, liberty, and more.

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Posted in Virtual Field Trip

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