Web Evaluation 1: Bill Nye The Science Guy

1) Website: Bill Nye The Science Guy

2) Website Address: http://www.billnye.com/

3) Copyright date and/or Last Update: © 2011 Bill Ny

4) Author/Organization Credentials: Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

5) Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: Bill Ney The Science guy website is a perfect interactive site for both students and teachers. The home page consists of a daily blog about a daily science issue he stumbles across his everyday life. The site provides pictures and questions that support Bill’s science issue. On the top of the page are some links which talk about the biography of Bill Nye, media, appearances, the Bill Nye store, for kids and teachers, e-cards, and contact information about Bill. To the right of the home page is a list of links which have to subtitles. The first subtitles are categories which are “consider the following” “crush ed” “space” and “videos”. ` These categories are fun and exciting to show your students or just allow them to find it on their own through an evaluation project. The next subtitle is archives where the viewer can go back months to see what Bill was talking about and which topic they missed. At the very bottom are social networking sites that you can follow Bill through facebook, twitter, or yoututbe. A pretty cool feature that I like is the two links at the bottom which allow you find your favorite episode of Bill and interact with the fun exercises and activities of science.

6) Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is outstanding when making science fun for kids. I mean as a child I loved watching the Bill Nye The Science Guy and it made me interested and curious about science. Well now there is a website and now kids can access Bill online. The most useful link on the site is “For Kids & Teachers” because it gives the teacher experiments that their students can do in the classroom which they are studying. Along with the experiments are videos which can be shown to your students that add to the multimedia learning in your classroom. So not only are kids learning but they are earning through you teaching them, Bill hands on experiments and Bills videos. These are great tools to get your class excited for science and have them wanting to go further in this subject. In this link are also printable sheets which help the teacher out when trying to come up with assignment or how to evaluate the experiment? The coolest feature in this link is the Bill Nye Pop Quiz which is over any experiment or subject that you and your class have went over. This allows the students have fun and learn but at the same time see what material and knowledge they have gained from this website. I know that after the quiz they are going to realize that they have been successful by studying and learning about science through this site which will boost their self confidence in school in general. So overall this website makes learning fun and fascinating with all kids in science class.

Web Evaluation 2: Texas Education Agency

1) Website: Texas Education Agency
2) Website Address: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/
3) Copyright date and/or Last Update: Copyright Texas Education Agency (TEA)

4) Author/Organization Credentials: The mission of the Texas Education Agency is to provide leadership, guidance and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) comprises the commissioner of education and agency staff. The TEA and the State Board of Education (SBOE) guide and monitor activities and programs related to public education in Texas. The SBOE consists of 15 elected members representing different regions of the state. One member is appointed chair by the governor. The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) oversees all aspects of the preparation, certification and standards of conduct of public school educators. There are 11 members on the board who are appointed by the governor, and three non-voting members. TEA provides staff support to the SBEC board.

5) Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: The Texas Education Agency is an excellent resource for teachers and administrators. TEA website is very informative and has important links on the left side of the homepage which are funding, testing, curriculum, reports, news and events and ARRA. There are links on the tope of the homepage that give the viewers to contact TEA, view district information, an index provider and as well as a help button. The coolest feature I see on this website is the agency news because it gives you updates about most Texas students meet promotion requirements while a new issue of Texas Education today is available. These are just some issues that teachers need to know and be caught up to date to know what is happening across the state in education.
Quick links section and How Do I… part of the website is the most useful to teachers and administrators. Its important as teachers and administrators that we know to find TAKS released tests, curriculum standards, TAKS results and many more. Overall this website is a great tool to make sure that the requirements which our state has to meet.

6.) Response and Recommendation for Use: The TEA website is a teacher and administer website that gives them the ability to take care of the requirements of the state so that they can plan and make room for things that the teachers want to plan personally. As a teacher it’s important to know what is asked of you and if you have a question there is a search engine on the main homepage to help out the viewers on any questions or concerns. In the end the website is not really for students and sometimes is not fun but this website is what makes are curriculum in our Texas Education.

Web Evaluation 3: ScienceNews for Kids

1) Website: ScienceNews for Kids
2) Website Address: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
3) Copyright date and/or Last Update: © 2011 Copyright Science News for Kids
4) Author/Organization Credentials: Science News for Kids was launched in 2003 by Society for Science & the Public (SSP) as a youth edition and companion to SSP’s Science News magazine.SSP is a nonprofit membership organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1921, and first known as Science Service, SSP advances the popular understanding of science through publications and educational programs. SSP’s flagship publication, Science News, has been published since 1922 and provides crisp, concise coverage of all fields of science daily. Reaching the global community with professional, intelligent, accessible, award-winning coverage, online and in print, Science News delivers news from across the range of scientific disciplines.SSP also administers education programs, including the Intel Science Talent Search, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and the Broadcom MASTERS competitions for students, and offers the SSP Fellowship for teachers. More information about the people and the mission and goals of SSP can be found here. We encourage you to subscribe to the free monthly SSP Newsletter to receive news, updates, and stories on SSP Fellows, Intel STS, Intel ISEF, SSP alumni, and other SSP work, as well as highlights from our Science News and Science News for Kids publications.
5) Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: This is a very fun and interactive website that involves parents, students and teachers to play a role that allows each of them to work with each other. Science News for Kids is a publication of the society for science and the public that allows any viewer to become a member and sign up for “mySNK”. SNK is an award winning online publication that is committed to children 9 to 14, their parents, and their teachers. In 2003 it was started by a nonprofit organization membership organization Society for Science & the Public. This website purpose is to encourage youth, parents, teachers and others interested in science to visit regularly. When they visit the site they will receive timely, interesting news stories and features as well as suggestions and resources for hands on activities, books, articles and web resources. These viewers and members can have coverage of the world’s leading math and science competitions for young people.
6) Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is excellent way to get your students to interact with what science is all about. On the homepage there are links which can great topics of discussion or material for future lesson plans. The links consist of atoms and forces, earth and sky, humans and health, life, tech and math and extras. The ScienceNews for kids websites gives the students a sense of maturity that there is a type of news just for them to be informed on the latest. The imagination and interest will grow more and more as the students visit the site as they learn about events like cosmic explosions and new sources for healthy fats. Kids these days need to be inspired by science and this website gives them an opportunity to see how important science is and at the same time have fun along the way.

Web Evaluation 4 : Environment Protection Agency

1) Website: Environment Protection Agency

2) Website Address: http://www.epa.gov/

3) Copyright date and/or Last Update: Last updated on Monday, March 7th , 2011

4) Author/Organization Credentials: Your Rights under the Privacy Act: The Privacy Act of 1974 protects the personal information the federal government keeps on you in “systems of records (SOR)” (information an agency controls that can be retrieved by name or some other personal identifier). The Privacy Act regulates how the government can disclose, share, provide access to, and maintain the personal information that it collects. Not all information collected online is covered by the Privacy Act.

5) Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: The Environmental Protection Agency website is very informational website that allows the viewer to see what the issues are in the environment that they are living in. This website greets you with a slideshow full of images and issues that our environment is dealing with in the U.S. The websites motto is “40 years of protecting health and the environment” and has four links on the top that help you learn the issues and the science and technology that helps are environment be safe and clean. The other two links on top is the laws/ regulations and explains to the viewer who EPA really is. My favorite feature on this site is the “MyEnvrionment” link that allows you to see what is going on in your own environment at home. The viewers simply enter their address, zip, city or place name and it well show them their environments stats. The stats consist of air quality, water quality, the health of your environment like types of toxins if any and the quality of the land.

There is also a cool little feature on this link that allows you to make a shootout to how well your environment is and it allows to other people in your community to see your comments and concerns on where you live. Environmental reports also displayed that allows you as a resident to see what past reports compare to the environment you now live in today.

6) Response and Recommendation for Use: As a teacher is an excellent way to get your students interested in their environment. Teachers today find it hard sometimes to get their students excited about nature and our environment. Well this website can give you tools you need to come up with a lesson plan that can let your students see what is really going on in their environment. This website can track the amount of pollution is your schools environment and you can show your class that this is a problem. From there you can assign an environmental project that gives your students a chance to get their hands dirty. For example, you can tell your students to research this part of the website and have them find what pollution problems are going on where they live. Then you can vote as a class to see what issue is the worst and act out on it. After teaching to them about environmental safety and the dependency which we rely on our environment, it can be a perfect time to take them on a field trip to do something about the biggest issue in their environment. It could be cleaning a polluted ditch, planting trees, showing awareness about water conservation by having rallies. Basically this website provides an excellent way to have your students interact with their own community outside of the classroom.

Web Evaluation 5 Wildlife Conservation Society

1) Website: Wildlife Conservation Society

2) Website Address: http://www.wcs.org/

3) Copyright date and/or Last Update: ©2011 Wildlife Conservation Society

4) Author/Organization Credentials: 1. Copyright Notice - Copyright1998 - 2006; Wildlife Conservation Society. All rights reserved. Certain articles or materials contained on this web site are also separately copyrighted. Trademark Notice - Wildlife Conservation Society, Pablo Python, the WCS logo and associated trademarks are owned by the Wildlife Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

5) Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: This site a very useful website which is very friendly and informational. The main home page is where you can get access to all the links. There is a sliding bulletin which always shows new conservation projects and issues that the WCS is dealing with. On the top are four links, saving wildlife, saving wild places, conservation challenges and a donation link and these are the sites main links. My favorite link is saving wild places because its gives the viewer a chance to see what places are being conserved around the world. The places which the WCS are dealing with are Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and the Oceans. When you click on the places you will see the different regions of Africa or Asia and see how each climate, natural resources, wildlife health, and local livelihoods are different from each region.

6) Response and Recommendation for Use: The WCS site is perfect for teachers and students when getting involved and excited for geography and wildlife. Teachers can use this site in their lesson plans and allow the students to visit the site and comeback with an evaluation assignment of the website. From there you can have projects that allow your students to form groups and come up with a presentation. An example would be a PowerPoint that explains a conservation challenge and in this presentation your students would have the chance to use the multimedia videos on the website to show their class what they have researched.
Another cool feature which gives your class a chance to locate what areas in the world that the WCS work in is this interactive map. This is a world map and to the left of the map are other stories that can be great topics and projects for the students to interact with.

Reading Response 5

The Land and Wildlife of TRPOPICAL ASIA
Author: S. Dillon Ripley and The Editors of Life
Publisher: Rhen Austell and Time Incorporated New York
ISBN: 64-209-22-571
Genre: Natural History
Location: West Texas A&M University Library







Summary: The book Tropical Asia is an amazing book which takes you on a journey though the southeastern realm, the lands of water and fire, the dominion of rain, the Great forest, and many other various aspects of life and climates that thrive here. The creatures of these lands are brought to life and hidden secrets are found that this great land of tropical Asia poses. These are the lands which the rest of the world does not know about and you will embark on a great expedition.

Personal Comments: Tropical Asia is magical place where most of the land is neither water nor land but rather mud. Meandering to the sea, Sarawaks Santubong and Salak rivers create these classic mud and mangrove environment on the lower lands. The unique creatures of tropical Asia consist from Nepenthes which is a pitcher plant that eats insects, the flying frog of Borneo which is self explanatory to the flying mystery ,the Coluogo which is the most thoroughly aerial of all gliding animals in the world. The reason why it is mysterious is because scientists don’t know and can’t find any relatives or what the origin of the animal is. Tropical Asia has so many mixtures of races and culturally different people, which the book portrays the different type of people who left their mark on this land. For example the Australoids and and Negritos are earlier inhabitants who were driven there by northern invaders. Other races and cultures as the Malays, Indians, Chinese, Arabs and finally the Europeans all came after and have made an impact in Tropical Asia. Tea is the tropical region of Asia as wine is to France and today India and Ceylon account almost 75 percent of the worlds export crop.

Suggested Use in the Classroom: This is an excellent book to teach young students about other cultures such as Southeast Asia and the how different the geography, animals, and way of life are different than living here in the states. Children at a young age as for elementary need to have the chance and opportunity to be exposed to foreign cultures and interact with activities that help them learn and not be unknown to these lands. I think a field trip to the Zoo would be an excellent way to see animals from these parts of the world and visit museums which have artifacts that depict the cultures of the people who live in Southeast Asia.

Reading response 4

Birds
Author: Nicola Davies
Published by A Houghton Miffin Compnay imprint
Illustrations: Steve Weston
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6124-2
Genre: Science and Nature
Location: Hastings Book Store Canyon,Tx



Summary: The Book “Birds” explore the world of birds through fun facts and easy do it yourself projects. The book explains that there are over 9,000 different species of birds in the world. The way birds eat, nest and fly are just some of many interesting facts this book has to offer. The Projects in this book allow kids in grade school to be creative and design a bird book for art, create a bird feeder and construct a bird house.

Personal Comments: I love how this book explains the way of the bird. Birds are seen in a totally new and interesting light by going in depth into different types of birds lives. I like how the author portrays the endanger species and their importance to our environment. He also explains about the prevention of harming these species of birds and how we did to respect their habitat and way of life. There is a unique and interesting section in this book where it talks about the secret life of a bird. In this section scientist actually tag radios to penguins and attach rings to the feet of different birds so that they can be tracked throughout their life. This is a really important component when it comes to protecting endanger species by knowing how many are left and finding ways to protect them.

Suggested use in the Classroom: This book is excellent when teaching grades school student ages 8-11 about birds of nature because it allows to them have better understanding and interest in these gentle creatures. Using this book in a classroom setting will allow the students to see the different type of birds there really are and what type of environments they live in thought the pictures and illustrations in the book. The imagination of these young students will be unleashed though experiencing these birds in the wild. Since this book has projects in it, I would ask my students to complete these easy do it yourself assignments so they can engage from what they learned from the book. Creating a bird feeder would be great ways to have the students interact with the birds in the wild. For example I would have them make the bird feeders in class and then I would have them take it home and put it somewhere in the yard where you know birds will be at. I would ask them if they can to take a picture of a bird eating out of their feeder and bring the picture to class. This assignment will allow the students to find a new appreciation for these creatures of the sky and have a little fun at the same time.