Rocks & Fossils at the Smithsonian

It’s time for the Wednesday Website suggestion!! For two years, I was the Technology Specialist at a school in Georgia. During that time, I amassed a large collection of websites that I use with my students. If you want to search through some of them, you can check out my IKeepBookmarks site. Or, you can check back here each week for the Wednesday Website suggestion.

My students’ next unit of study is on Rocks, Fossils and Soils.  In my search for great activities and websites to use with them, I stumbled on this week’s Website of the Week – Smithsonian for Kids. 

I love, love, love the Smithsonian museums.  If you are lucky enough to live or travel close enough – they are totally worth the visit.  Of course, I don’t reside close enough (an entire ocean is in the way), but this website gives you access to lots of cool stuff provided by the Smithsonian Museums.  The website focuses on the topics that are covered in the museums: art, science, history, and cultures. 

There is tons to be found on this website, but here are the places of the site that I will be using:

The Dynamic Earth – This interactive multimedia presentation talks to kids about how rocks are formed and changed, presenting amazing images along the way.

 

Pre-Historic Climate Change – This kid-friendly game brings about an approach to climate change that allows kids to see how fossils give us information, while connecting climate change today with climate change long ago.

 

Scientist Features – These videos have scientists talking about their jobs in a kid-friendly manner.  The videos include videos and great explanations, and each one is only about 3 minutes long.  My kids will be watching the videos of the two paleontologists – labeled Dinosaur Hunter and Fossil Hunter.

 

How could you use this site in your classroom?