Where on the Internet Did You Find That?

You want your middle schoolers to learn Internet research skills and gain some intellectual independence, but what will they find? What will pop up on their screens? Cara Bafile and Bernie Poole write at Education World about some of the bigger search engines.

The Big Daddy of search engines has to be Google. Google's additional tools, like Google Docs, make it a great tool for research and collaborative work. Google's search accesses billions of Web pages. Google also has some great targeted searches. One of them is the fabulous Book Search which trolls for full-text online books. I've used this for research and it is amazing what you can find. And what you can't find.

Local Search finds local services and businesses. Web pages can be translated into English from five different languages. Google's image search is a great and powerful research tool. Use SafeSearch. As an educated adult, I have been shocked by some Google image hits. If your students are doing a project and searching for images to use, definitely use one of the sites mentioned in the post Copyright- and Hassle-Free Images to avoid problems with ownership.

AltaVista is another "pure" search engine that also searches, like Google, for images, video and audio. It's simple and easy to use and a great option is you want the power of Google without a shopping list of extras. AltaVista has a filtering tool, Family Filter, that will filter just multimedia or everything that's searched. Once you turn it on and set it, you can use an optional password to keep the Family Filter on. You'll find the Family Filter in Settings.

Then there's Yahoo, which offers a search engine like Google and AltaVista but also has a directory which you can search by category and level to find webpages on your topic or interest. Yahoo offers a SafeSearch filter, too. The directory seems easier to control since no tangentially related and possibly problematic sites are likely to be listed. Your students can also see how their ideas are connected or how they narrow from a broad area to a specific topic or even a single website.

The article also mentions MetaCrawler, a meta-search which scans Yahoo, Google, MSN, AskJeeves and other search engines. The benefit of a meta-search engine is the wide sweep and the organization--the meta-search engine checks other search engines and compiles the links for you in order of relevance. The better your search term, the better your results.

But is this a real or potential problem? Are your students too busy to get into trouble? Or is your school's firewall so thick, nothing gets through anyway, not even NASA? Or is this handled with education on what is safe, where to look, how to search? How do you really handle this?

SOURCE: "Searching with Savvy, Part 1: The Best Search Engines" 10/24/05
photo courtesy of Joshua Davis, used under this Creative Commons license

Introducing Melanie Little

Melanie Little decided she wanted to be a writer roughly around the time she became conscious. Or, to be more exact, around the time she became conscious of words. Her first book, self-published when she was three years old, was about a family of bank robbers (though she called them "banque" robbers, proof, perhaps, of the bilingual nature of northern Ontario, where she grew up). The book was well received, though there were some problems with production (Melanie had a habit of stapling things up the wrong side).

She was born in Peterborough, Ontario, but when she was two weeks old, she and her parents moved north to Timmins, where her father became a reporter for the Timmins Daily Press. A trip to the Timmins library--a beautiful stone building that's since been replaced by a newer, shinier one--was the best part of her week. Her parents had begun reading to her when she was still a baby, and they showed her that libraries, even a small library in her hometown, could contain the whole world.

Melanie still reads just about everything she can get her hands on, which is what she advises all aspiring writers to do. Particular influences have been Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Margaret Atwood, and Alice Munro. She's also an avid film fan, and thinks directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Abbas Kiarostami, and Robert Altman can teach you more about good storytelling than a whole army of how-to books.

No one writer was more responsible for making Melanie want to write books of her own than Dr. Seuss. She particularly loved The Sneetches, a story about a strange race of creatures, some of whom have stars on their bellies ("stars on thars") and some of whom don't. She hopes that at least a sliver of what she's learned from Dr. Seuss has made its way into The Apprentice's Masterpiece (Spring 2008), which is also a story about discrimination arising from ludicrous ideas of what is "different."

Melanie has won numerous awards for her essays and short fiction. Her highly acclaimed short-story collection Confidence was named a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2003 and was short-listed for the Danuta Gleed Award. The Apprentice's Masterpiece is a book of firsts: it's her first novel, her first book for young adults, and also her first book written in verse. Melanie was the 2005-2006 Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary, and she continues to work with other writers through workshops, classes, and consultations. She also reviews books and plays for newspapers and magazines. She is currently working on a new novel, a book of short stories, a poetry project, and a book of essays--all at the same time!

Melanie has moved around a lot, living in Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Calgary. She loves cities, but no particular one has really seemed to stick to her yet. Her idea of "home" is, instead, a person: her husband, Peter Norman. Peter is also a writer, and they have many conversations about writing (which is not as pompous as it sounds: most of these consist of moaning about how hard writing is). Their cat, Catso, also loves writing, but she generally expresses her appreciation by sitting on it.

New and Notable in Ed Tech

Meris Stansbury at eSchool News reports on the new educational technologies featured by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) at its 2008 Ed Tech Industry Summit last week. Ten technologies were chosen for SIIA's Innovation Working Group which gives developers additional exposure for their products and gives them chances to network with other ed-tech developers and executives.

Of the ten technologies chosen and two semi-finalists, many hold great promise for middle school. These include:

• Blue Nose Edutainment--this website "uses music, film, and sports" to motivate sixth to twelfth grade students to read and write, including chances to submit their own lyrics or interpretations of lyrics to win prizes.

• Education Clip Library--this online collection of video clips selected and "contextualized by education experts" is aimed at students aged 3-19 and says it covers all academic areas.

• eSpindle Vocabulary and Spelling Tutor--this online program helps students commit words to long-term memory with individualized practice.

• MaestroReading.com--at this site, reading and literacy development is mixed with social networking.

• Personalized Language Learning Platform from Open English--this personalized learning program helps students learn English based on their grade level, age and native language.

• GenYES--this is an online curriculum that teaches students in grades 4-12 about technology with real-world examples and contexts.

• TutorVista--this program offers personalized tutoring in math, English, science and other subjects from highly-trained tutors who are available anytime.

You can find more information on each of these programs at their respective websites. Check out the eSchool News article for other programs of note. Many of the winners are aimed at differentiated or personalized learning. How might you use these with your middle schoolers? Do any of these fill a need or multiple needs or are they cherries on top, nice to have but not essential?

SOURCE: "Summit showcases ed-tech 'up-and-comers' " 03/29/08
photo courtesy of pasotraspaso, used under this Creative Commons license

Ultra-High Speed Internet2

Sometimes, the main obstacle between your middle schoolers and that absolutely amazing videoconference, collaborative project, or virtual field trip is your school's Internet connection. Meris Stansbury, assistant editor of eSchool News, reports on a solution: Internet2. More and more K-12 schools are connecting to this 100 gigabits per second network.

The Internet2 network was expanded 10 years ago to allow K-12 schools to gain access to Internet2 through partnerships with any of the 206 universities currently members of the network. Last year, about 4,300 districts total were in partnerships with member universities. Schools do need to have the right network infrastructure. But the investment yields a lot of great benefits for the district, the schools, the teachers and especially the students. The ultra-fast connection makes everything easier and finally possible. At the March conference of the Consortium for School Networking, presenters showcased some of the projects happening in schools, including:

• In Barrow County, GA, K-12 schools "have used a high-definition video link to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta to control cameras and view images of sea life remotely from their classrooms; learned calculus from Georgia Tech instructors using a "virtual whiteboard" application; and interacted with researchers on the ocean floor near Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary just off Sapelo Island, Ga."

• The National Library of Medicine has created the Visible Human Project that has "complete, anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of the normal male and female human bodies." In addition, the University of Michigan "created two- and three-dimensional navigational browsers through which students can take a virtual tour of the human body."

• Project Lemonade brings students in grades 3-8 together from across the world to engage in "real-world problem-based" activities.

• Virtual field trips, differentiated instruction, and more.

Universities also collaborate more with K-12 educators, offering assistance with using Internet2 in the curriculum, professional teacher development, and collaborative opportunities between university faculty and K-12 educators. Students love it, too. Ron Saunders, superintendent of Barrow County (GA) Schools, said, "We've found that kids are glued to the Internet2 presentations, and participation is at a high. We're trying to get them interested in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics], and this seems like a great way to do it."

SOURCE: "Internet2 expands schools' possibilities" 05/27/08
photo courtesy of Ack Ook, used under this Creative Commons license

The Impending Gale, Coming Soon to a Middle School Near You (Hopefully)

Middle schoolers love video and computer games. And at North Hills Junior High School in Pennsylvania, they're like the spoonful of sugar that helps the learning go down. Daveen Rae Kurutz reports in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on a new educational game being tested at North Hills Junior High that mixes algebra, earth science, geography and Spanish.

The Impeding Gale is an online game that is similar in design and play to World of Warcraft. In the game, students are disaster relief volunteers engaged in an adventure. The game, created by Eric Hardman of the National Network of Digital Schools, has the same chat components as other online games, but this past semester, teachers have turned that off so students focus on the adventure and the academics in the game.

Students love the chance to play for a purpose and avoid the boredom of reading textbooks and filling out worksheets:

"A lot of times I get bored just reading a textbook or doing worksheets, but this makes us more apt to pay attention even if it isn't a subject we're really interested in....It's fun, but educational, not like some of the games out there like Guitar Hero where you aren't learning. I'd do this in any class."

"You get so tired of reading out of a textbook it makes you fall asleep....This definitely makes you remember things differently. I feel like I'm catching on better."

The Impending Gale is a pilot project, the National Network of Digital Schools' first foray into the traditional classroom and its first project to focus more on academics than linking teens socially. Only the North Hills district of Allegheny county is participating so far. Hopefully, after this successful semester, The Impeding Gale will be more widely available. We can also hope that NNDS and others will create and test more games like this that combine subjects in a fun virtual learning environment for our middle schoolers.

SOURCE: "Video game supplies adventure for North Hills students" 05/27/08
photo courtesy of ground zero, used under this Creative Commons license

Lynne Endres' French Video Game Project

It is a little outside of the scope of this blog, but this story is too great to pass up. Cara Bafile has another great teacher profile in Education World on Lynne Endres' sixth-grade French capstone project -- designing and producing a video game.

Endres teaches at Shanahan Middle School in Lewis Center, OH. She decided to blend her sixth graders' love of video games with their need to review the French they had learned in a fun and engaging way. After looking at examples of the kinds of games they can make -- Endres limits them to a template of three game types, memory, matching and a Tetris-style game -- students spend time talking about "requirements of the project, and such aspects of it as choice of content, pronunciation, mechanics, game choice, file management, creative thinking strategies, use of time and resources, and working well with a group" and learn other skills like how "to process different data types and to make voice recordings and pictures to include in their games." Students then work in pairs or groups of three to create their game and an outline. Once the outlines are approved by Endres, the students move to production.

With a grant, Endres bought a projector for whole-class game viewing, laptops, microphones and other equipment for students to use in producing their games. Other students at the school and in Endres' other French classes have access to the student-created games. They find them not only fun and educational but love that they can know who the creators are and can tell them face to face that they played their game or liked it. Student game creators also tell Endres about the comments and compliments they get, something Endres says "is very empowering for the students."

Endres shows great pride in her students' work and the benefits other students get from the games:

I have a student who is cognitively delayed, and he used the games my previous students had made to review his numbers....He was able to count to forty-five orally in French, even though someone of his cognitive level might typically only count to about ten. I have several autistic students who benefit greatly from these games. Creating the games gives students a sense of efficacy because they know that they are making something that will be used to teach someone else and not just an assignment that will be graded and set on a shelf or tossed away.

The games aren't available on the school website, unfortunately, but maybe they will be in the future. It's a great idea for a final project in any subject.

SOURCE: "Video Gaming for French Review: Starring: Lynn Endres" 05/13/08
photo courtesy of badjonni, used under this Creative Commons license

LIVEbrary Lesson Plan #10: The Blue Jean Book

LIVEbrary Lesson Plan #10:
"The Jeans Scene"

Subject: World History
Age Range: 12-15
Grade Level: 7-10

Contents:
- Reading
- Assignment
- Quiz
- Discussion Questions
__________________________________________________

READING:

"The Jeans Scene"
an excerpt from
THE BLUE JEAN BOOK:
The Story Behind the Seams
By Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Published by Annick Press
Reprinted here with permission.

~ Behind the Seams ~

Check the labels on your blue jeans. Were they sewn in the United States? Canada? Britain? Probably not. Jeans may have been born in North America, but they aren't made there much anymore. Because of the rising costs of labor, many jeans companies moved their factories to developing countries in the 1980s and 90s. Australia used to produce more than half of its own jeans. Now, it makes less than a third.

Some American jeans companies simply moved their factories across the border from California to Mexico. While workers in California had been making $10 or $12 per hour, workers in Mexico could be found for as little as $7 per day. The city of Tehuacan, Mexico, has the lowest minimum wage in the nation and is home to 700 clothing manufacturing companies. The industry earns $450 million each year and blue jeans are the most popular product made there.

Wages are just as low -- or lower -- in other countries. In Honduras, a woman sewing clothes for export might make $139 a month, and in parts of China, about $64. In Bangladesh, a similar worker makes just over $18 each month.

Sometimes, overseas production means not only lower wages, but lower workplace standards. An American delegation that went to the island of Saipan in the South Pacific to investigate factory conditions found some people there working almost as slaves. Recruiters had charged these people up to $7,000 to get them a factory job, then forced the people to work in bondage until the "debt" was paid off. Companies buying clothes made at these questionable factories included at least two major American jeans makers.

In 2003, a New York-based labor group brought a worker from a Honduran sweatshop to Manhattan. They staged a protest outside the store of a popular designer jeans maker, claiming that the jeans inside were made in sweatshops where workers were treated unfairly.

People who had arrived to shop stayed outside on the sidewalk instead, listening as the 19-year-old girl described her factory, where workers were limited to two bathroom breaks a day and were forced to work overtime without pay. They weren't allowed to talk to each other, in case they slowed down or tried to start a union. They were also regularly tested for pregnancy and HIV. Workers who tested positive were fired.

As the young woman continued to speak, reporters began to join the crowd of would-be shoppers. By the next day, the worker's story had made newspaper headlines and the company was rethinking the way it handed out contracts.

~ Sweatshop Shock ~

Sweatshops don't operate only in developing countries. In 1995, police raided an apartment complex in El Monte, California, where they found 72 Thai immigrants sewing clothes for 69 cents an hour. The workers had been smuggled into the country and threatened with murder if they quit working or escaped before they "repaid" the smugglers for their journey to the United States. Some of the immigrants had been held there for more than two years.

Many Americans were shocked by the news of sweatshops operating in their own country, but a 1994 government study found that half of clothing factories in Los Angeles paid less than minimum wage, and more than 90 percent broke health and safety laws.

~ Jeans and the Power of Teens ~

By the year 2000, 13- to 17-year-old shoppers became the number one buyers of denim. Jeans makers depend on millions of young shoppers choosing to buy their jeans every day. That gives teens the power to influence how these companies operate.

How can you be sure you're buying jeans made in respectable factories? You can't tell whether jeans were made in India or Mexico by holding the denim up to a light, but you can start by reading the label, and you can often check the company website.

• Does the company supervise its contractors?
  
  
• Does it ban the use of child labor?
  
  
• Does it make unannounced visits to its factories to monitor safety standards?
  
  
• How does it deal with contractors that break the rules?

You won't find the answers to these questions on all company websites. If you can't find the information you're looking for, try e-mailing or writing the company's public relations department.

When enough people write letters about their concerns, companies will listen. After all, teenagers are these companies' biggest market. Indirectly, teens control the blue jean world!

# # #

Copyright 2005 by Tanya Lloyd Kyi. Excerpted from THE BLUE JEAN BOOK: The Story Behind the Seams." Published by Annick Press, ISBN 9781550379174 (library binding), ISBN 9781550379167 (paperback). Reprinted with permission. For more information, please visit http://www.annickpress.com. Thank you.
__________________________________________________

ASSIGNMENT

Clothing Conundrums

Jeans companies have made big efforts to convince buyers that clothing manufacturing is a fair and balanced business. Have they succeeded?

Your assignment is to research where your clothing is made and decide whether you support the labor and environmental practices involved.

First, work with a partner to read the labels on your clothing. Was it made in America? Mexico? Overseas? Using tacks or sticky notes, mark your findings on a world map.

Once your entire class has marked the map, note the countries that seem to produce the majority of your clothing. Then, see what you can discover about those places. What is the minimum wage? What are the working conditions like?

Next, break into groups and choose one of the following topics to research. Larger classes may want to assign each topic to more than one group.

Topic One: You're an environmental organization. Can you find out how making jeans impacts pesticide use, irrigation, and water pollution? Are there eco-friendly jeans options available to teens? What are they?

Topic Two: You're a labor union representing American workers. What concerns would you have about the wages and working conditions at clothing factories? How can you make shoppers in North America more aware of sweatshop practices? How can American workers compete for jobs against low wage workers in developing countries?

Topic Three: You're a child advocacy group, concerned about child labor in clothing factories. Can you find out how widespread this problem is? What are American clothing companies doing to stop it? What more could they do?

Topic Four: You're a manufacturer's trade group, interested in bringing the lowest prices to American shoppers. What is the best way to mass produce cheap jeans? Do you think most shoppers care whether their clothes are ethically or environmentally produced? What can you do to support jeans manufacturers and retailers who make a commitment to fair trade?

You can find more information on pages 56-65 of THE BLUE JEAN BOOK. You can also ask your teacher or librarian for assistance finding relevant books and magazines. Here are some useful Internet sources for information:

The Center for Sustainability
http://tinyurl.com/3wyn3q

Good Environmental Choice Australia
http://tinyurl.com/47etfj

Maquila Solidarity Network
http://tinyurl.com/6awt56

Don't forget to name your group! When you've finished your research, present your group's views to the class.
__________________________________________________

QUIZ:

NOTE: Quiz answers are available to teachers upon request from LIVEbrary@annickpress.com. Quiz answers will be revealed during online classroom visits and will be made a part of the transcripts of those visits.

1) Multiple Choice. What is the main reason jeans companies site for moving their factories to developing countries?

A. lower taxes
B. lower labor costs
C. less government oversight
D. disagreements with labor unions

2) Multiple Choice. Which of the following groups spends the most money on blue jeans?

A. cowboys
B. farmers
C. teenagers
D. Hollywood celebrities

3) Factories with poor labor practices, known as "sweatshops," exist in which places?

A. China and Bangladesh
B. Honduras and Saipan
C. America and Canada
D. All of the above

4) True or False: You can always tell where jeans have been made by reading the labels?

5) True or False: Consumers have little control over where their jeans are made.
_________________________________________________

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Do you think American shoppers know where their clothes are made? Do they care? Why or why not?
  
  
• Jean companies are always trying to find out what teenagers think is cool. What do you think is the next thing in jeans? What is the most interesting thing you've seen someone do with a pair of blue jeans?
  
  
• If you were going to launch your own clothing company, what kind of jeans would you manufacture? Would they be high fashion? Eco-friendly? Cheap or expensive?
  
  
• Would you change the brand of jeans you buy if you found out the manufacturer was using underpaid child labor or violating environmental laws? How can you find out whether the company who made your jeans is engaging in fair trade?
  
  
• When teens protested against companies using unfair labor practices, it caused Live Strauss & Co., Nike, and other clothing companies to change the way they do business and monitor subcontractors more closely. Can you think of other ways teens have used their purchasing power to change corporate or government behavior?

__________________________________________________

Copyright 2008 by Annick Press. All rights reserved. Printed here with permission of the publisher. Please request permission from LIVEbrary@annickpress.com before posting this lesson plan in any public place. Thank you.

Immune Attack!

More and more educational games pop up each month, some more fluff than substance. Meris Stansbury at eSchool News reports on a new game from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) that meets the high standards you want for your students. And it's free.

Immune Attack was created by immunologists, teachers and "learning scientists from institutions such as Brown University, the University of Southern California, and Escape Hatch Entertainment." Henry Kelly, president of FAS, said of the game's focus on the immune system, "We felt the subject lent itself perfectly to an attempt to use game technology to convey sophisticated knowledge while retaining interest in the phenomena." The game was tested in schools before its release.

Immune Attack uses three-dimensional simulations whose images were created by medical illustrators for scientific accuracy. The game also has features like conferencing and auto-tutoring to appeal to and help students at all levels and to promote individualized learning. It also has an assessment tool so you can see how much your students have absorbed. Immune Attack is meant to supplement rather than replace a lesson in the class and to be used in conjunction with other materials and lessons. At the FAS website, you can download the game and also find a teacher's guide with tips on using the game with your students.

Immune Attack is aimed at high school biology students to help them better understand the links between classwork and real-world illnesses and treatments. High school teachers are being recruited to evaluate the game, too. Still, it can be a valuable tool in middle school and a great way to draw your game-loving students toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects and careers.

SOURCE: "Scientists release educational computer game " 05/22/08
photo courtesy of katmere, used under this Creative Commons license

Introducing Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Tanya Lloyd Kyi began her writing career as a poet in high school, producing pages and pages of really bad poems that her mother adored. Her love of writing led to the University of Victoria, where she took creative writing and English.

Tanya’s early writing jobs were as a newspaper reporter and brochure writer for the government. She also worked as a dishwasher, busgirl, server (her parents own a restaurant), an aerobics instructor, and, most recently, a graphic designer, before returning to writing full-time.

In her spare time, Tanya likes to run, play ultimate Frisbee, bake, and read. She also harbors a secret love of video games, chocolate chip cookies, and chick flicks. Her favorite meal is breakfast, her favorite color is blue, and her favorite children's book is A Wrinkle in Time.

Tanya grew up in Creston, B.C., and now lives in Vancouver with her husband. She has plenty of ideas for future books, but is taking a short break from writing to spend some time with her two-year-old daughter, Julia, and her baby son, Matthew.

She also enjoys cooking and reading, and would like to add gardening to her list of hobbies but is spending most of her time with her daughter.

Tanya's most recent book, BURN: The Life Story of Fire (2007), explores how fire has shaped our planet, our history, and our imaginations.

Jared Lester, Fifth-Grade Jester (2006), is a charming and humorous tale of a boy's determination to realize his dream of becoming a court jester.

Rescues! (2006), ten remarkable, fast-paced, and tension-filled stories from around the world, is her second book for the True Stories from the Edge series. A fan of non-fiction and fast-paced, action-packed stories, Tanya's husband came up with the idea for Fires! (2004), her first book for the series. Perhaps Tanya was drawn to the idea because of her own experience with fire. In grade eight she and her friend Michelle were working in her bedroom, creating a science fair project about lightning. For the display, they hung a static generator through some cotton ball "clouds." Unfortunately, cotton balls proved flammable -- and so did the bedroom!

The Blue Jean Book (2005), is the story of how denim jeans rose from their origins with hardscrabble miners and cowboys, to their popularity among laborers, rebels, and the incurably hip.

Interactivities for Middle School

Looking for some new Web 2.0 tools and activities? Or wondering what might work for your students? Linda Starr outlines some great options in Education World. The resources range from writing tools and guides to interactive lessons and explorations for specific grades or all ages. Some that may work well in middle school include:

• GeoGame which has a variety of games to help students learn geography
  
• ThinkTank which helps students brainstorm and organize topics and subtopics for reports and research
• Power Proofreading which helps students hone their editing and proofreading skills
• Playwriting-in-the-Round, a site coordinated by Jonathan Fairman of the Cleveland School of the Arts with project design by Nancy Schubert from the University of Minnesota and Mary Todd Kaercher of Grandview Middle School which involves students across the country in collaborative playwriting
• Knowing You Is Knowing Me which exposes students to other students of differing cultures, through partner schools in multiple countries, and their own with the goal of increasing students' self-knowledge and their knowledge of the world around them
• Amazon Interactive where students can virtually explore Ecuadorian Amazon and play a game in which they plan and manage an ecotourism venture
• The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, a digital archive with "thousands of original letters and diaries, newspapers and speeches, census and church records left by men and women in Augusta Country, VA, and Franklin County, PA"
• Beyond the Fire: Teen Experiences of War guides students through the experiences of teens living in war zones and in times of armed conflict
• Ocean Explorer from NOAA gives students "near real-time access to a series of multidisciplinary ocean explorations"
• A virtual tour of a U-505 submarine from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
• Visible Proofs, which has "[t]hree online activities and three lesson plans introduce forensic medicine, anthropology, technology, and history"
• Geosense, an online geography game you can play against others to test your knowledge
• The U.S. South Pole Station site from the National Science Foundation with a webcam at the station, a video tour and other resources
• The Encyclopedia of Life which is trying to catalogue every species on earth and is packed with great pictures and other resources.

And that's barely half of the sites Starr lists. There are fabulous K-12 and all-ages sites like the Underground Railroad, Comic Creator, Project Poster, and PandaCam. The article was first published in 2005 so check any link before you get excited about it. At least 3 of the sites listed for middle school students in the article are no longer active or have moved.

What are some of your favorite interactive websites for middle schoolers?

SOURCE: "The Interactivity Center" 2005
photo courtesy of Randy Stewart, used under this Creative Commons license