Coalition for Positive Sexuality
This is a great health site for teens to learn about things such as safe sex, birth control and other sexual health issues. I would use this in a grade 8 or 9 classroom. It is a great site for students to go to, to get the answers to the questions that they may have about sex.

This site gives the facts. Some parents may have problems with it, especially if they are in favor of an abstinance based program. I still think that this is a great site. I would especially use it in the grade 9 birth control and STI unit.

Ology
Ology means "the study of." The site Ology, is from the American Museum of Natural History. I love science, and this site is one of the best science sites for kids that I have ever found. Ology is an interactive site that touches on many areas of science including: astronomy, biodiversity, genetics, Einstein, marine biology, and paleontology. I never used to like science, because I could not make a personal connection to my life or experience. I, like most kids, wanted it explained in a way that made sense to my life. This site helps to make science make sense. I learned a lot by looking around at the different topics that it explores. I would definitely use this site in my classroom (grade 4, 5,6,7). One idea I have is to have the kids go in groups and each choose a topic. They could then learn about the topic by visiting this, and other sites, and then do a presentation of some sort, so that all the kids will learn about each topic.

The information is age appropriate, and is engaging. This site fits with the constructively approach, and allows kids to develop a clearer understanding of some very complex concepts.

Before teaching science in elementary school, you should check this site out. It is a great teacher resource, as it helps teachers to find out the simple way of explaining something, that is not simple. This is also a great site for kids.

The Interactive Museum of News
I just found a fabulous site that I would use in a grade 8 or 9 classroom. Students often need to find news articles pertaining to different topics, and may also do reports on events that have happened throughout history. Newseum is an interactive museum that would be a great resource for students. It allows you to look at the front page of over 250 newspapers from around the world (each day), and also has photos, cartoons, war stories, information about September 11th, and articles about the Holocaust. I would have my students visit this site in social studies or language arts. One thing that I really want to do in my classroom is have a student share a current event each day (the first couple minutes of the day). This would be a great site for the students to go to, to choose an article that they are interested in (something possibly from the front page of a newspaper).

This site is very user friendly. I like the fact that it makes research so much easier. I remember going to the library and flipping through the filing cabinets full of articles. It sucked. The new technology that is available makes this task much more enjoyable, causing students to hopefully learn more. I especially like this site because there may be something that catches a student's eye, and then they might read about it to gain some more information.