Web Site Reviews: November, 2004
-- School Library Journal, 11/1/2004
Creativity
Carol Marshall Bridgeport (CT) Public Library
Attributes of a Creative. www.enchantedmind.com/html/creativity/attributes.html. Enchanted Mind. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 9 Up-Think you don't have what it takes to be a creative genius? Think again after you visit this site. "Use it or lose it," is the premise and Enchanted Mind offers a daily dose of puzzles, humor, and inspiring anecdotes, intended to stretch the brain and create new neural pathways. Known as "use dependent plasticity," the repetition of challenging the brain to see new solutions through puzzles is thought to enhance creativity. According to this site, figuring out solutions to problems and puzzles is the key to creativity, and once exercised, can be used in daily life to think outside the box. Click on the "Puzzles" tab at the top of the page and choose from a selection of games, from Mensa word problems to right and left brain challenges.
Cyberteens. www.cyberteens.com/cr/index.html. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 7-12-Creativity abounds at this site, featuring written, audio, and visual work submitted by teens. The "Gallery" features artwork and photographs; writing is divided into fiction, non-fiction and poetry; "Music" lets students listen to sound files of teen recordings under "Young Composers," and "Multimedia" has four selections of teen-produced animations. Be inspired by a talented peer group, and contribute original work by clicking on the submissions guidelines.
Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse. web.mit.edu/invent/www/ima/index.html. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 6 Up-Every site promoting creativity and ways of developing it suggest that inspiration is the key to thinking outside traditional boundaries. "Inventing Modern America" examines a specific segment of invention history that will speak to contemporary children. Creativity was certainly a factor in Doug Engelbart's invention of a graphic computer using a keyboard and mouse to create pictures on a monitor. Only a few modern inventors are highlighted, but it's more than enough to inspire. Click on "games" at the top of any page and try your luck at deciding which came first, in the timeline of inventions. Also included is an "Invention Connection," a series of ten inventions that came on the heels of a previous discovery. Test your knowledge when guessing which invention led to other, connecting innovations.
Kaleidoscope Painter. www.permadi.com/java/spaint/spaint.html. (Accessed 9/20/04).
K Up-Kaleidoscope Painter is just a simple Java exercise in creativity, for all ages. Click and hold the left mouse button, and be as creative as you wish. This applet allows even young children to see what happens when color and design meet. Choose "auto" to let the program create by itself, or "dynabrush" for a randomly selected brush size. Either way it is manipulated, the canvas creates a never ending panorama of design that responds to how the mouse is moved. This will get your creative juices flowing!
KidZone. www.icaf.org/kidzone. International Child Art Foundation. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 2-6-Select "Fun Stuff!" from the kid's page and try out the "Creativity Test." Originality and imagination are stressed as the key components in creativity, and the exercises are intended to get young brains thinking in new ways. Some involve paper and pencil; others are relegated to the imagination. All require flexibility in thinking beyond experience. "SCAMPER" is an anagram for seven different ways to unlock creativity by looking at a problem from different perspectives, seeing it in a different light, and devising a new solution. The puzzles link leads students to three jigsaw puzzles, each demonstrating mathematical solutions to creativity, including the golden triangle and Fibonacci numbers. Each puzzle is a piece of artwork contributed by a child from around the world. This is a great site for younger students that incorporates beauty and originality.
10 Steps for Boosting Creativity. www.jpb.com/creative/creative.php JPB Creative Co., Ltd. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 9 Up-This site is geared toward freeing up innovative thinking. Read the "10 Steps" for some good ideas on getting the creative flow going, then head to the sidebar and choose one of the listed links. Some are obviously for corporate use, but all are worthy of a look, especially for high school teens, working collaboratively. The "Brainstorming" suggestions work with or without the suggested software, and "Doodles" exercises present various art techniques that encourage--well, doodling. Students can try this on a home computer, or wherever downloading to the hard drive is allowed, and then use a graphics program to finish the doodle. If all else fails, click the link to "Decision Maker" and ask "Zda" questions worthy of an eight ball.
Wordplay. www.fun-with-words.com/index.html. (Accessed 9/20/04).
Gr 9 Up-This fun site offers an encyclopedia of words. Check out the exhaustive list of word formats: anagrams (the eyes--they see), palindromes (never odd or even), spoonerisms, oxymorons, malapropisms, Tom Swifties ("I need a pencil sharpener," said Tom bluntly), and Cockney rhyming slang, to name just a few. Try some tongue twisters, read some hilarious headlines, try a typewriter record and see if you can create a new word using only the keys on one row, or play hangman. Practice flexible thinking with a Rebus puzzle. The occasional pop-up ad is a small price to pay for the wealth of this site, and while a warning is in order for one small section of rude anagrams that is best left alone, it isn't enough to deter teens or adults from playing with words.
Marine Life
Kate Houston Mitchoff Multnomah County (OR) Library
AquaFacts. www.vanaqua.org/education/aquafacts. Vancourver Aquarium (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 4 Up-Start with the FAQs on marine life and aquariums from the Vancouver Aquarium. Learn about beluga whales, what grey whales eat, where they migrate, and what the similarities and differences are between octopuses and squids. Discover what it takes to make a career as a marine biologist, a marine trainer, or a whale researcher. Each marine animal fact sheet includes a photo and additional resources where students can learn more about that specific animal.
Biggest, Smallest, Fastest, Deepest: Marine Animal Records. oceanlink.island.net/records.html. Public Education Department of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Center. (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 3 Up-Wow your students with facts. Did you know that the longest humpback whale measured 65 feet and weighed 64 tons, or that the fastest fish is the sailfish that clocks in at 68.18 miles per hour? This site is full of entertaining, marine life world records.
Blue Planet: Seas of Life. dsc.discovery.com/convergence/blueplanet/blueplanet.html Discovery Channel. (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 5 Up-The Discovery Channel created this introduction to ocean life, with an information and photo gallery showing sea worms that scavenge the ocean floor for food and the 'Dumbo' octopus, that has something in common with its Disney counterpart. Listen to marine animal sounds, including killer and humpback whales, dolphins, and even catfish! Online games help students to guide South African fur seals across shark-infested waters in search of food, teach them about the ocean's food chain, journey 2000 feet below the ocean's surface to discover the giant squid, and discover what it takes to build the perfect surfing wave. The Ocean Alert Page Current features current marine news and issues ranging from dolphin exploitation in Singapore to flatulent herrings. A sea life quiz rounds out the site. Discovery Channel collaborated with the BBC on this project, and its accompanying site features extensive text and video clips at www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/blueplanet.
National Marine Animal Laboratory Education Web Site. nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/education. National Marine Mammal Laboratory. (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 3 Up-This easy-to-navigate site is full of marine mammal info and an introduction to taxonomy--mammals' scientific names and their scientific classification. Discover amazing facts about whales, dolphins, and porpoises (Cetaceans), including echolocation--their sonar detection abilities, behavior such as breaching, flipper flapping, and spy-hopping, and the reason why beach strandings occur. Did you know that the northern elephant seal can remain under water for two hours and can dive more than 1500 feet below the ocean surface or that the polar bear is considered a marine mammal because of its swimming and fishing abilities? This site is packed with great facts.
Our Sea Otter Exhibit. www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_fo/fo_ottr_exhibit.asp. Monterey Bay Aquarium (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 5 Up-Meet the Monterey Bay Aquarium's otters and learn about their care and feeding as well as general otter facts, such as how they keep warm in cold environments, their favorite foods, how they interact with each other, and the importance of the mother and pup relationship. The site also features a history of otter hunting, their gradual disappearance from the seas, and their current recovery. The live otter cam is a particularly fun feature for viewers.
Web Ed-Ventures. www.aquarium.org/edventures.htm. Oregon Coast Aquarium. (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 4 Up-These online adventures in marine and aquatic sciences were created by the Oregon Coast Aquarium (OCA). "What is a sea horse and how did it get its name?" asks the Seahorse Surreal page, just one of many fascinating facts about these enigmatic creatures, including their anatomy, place in the food chain, reproduction, and conservation. "Central Shark" suggests that sharks are cooler than dolphins by comparing both mammals in 14 areas, including evolution, habitats, teeth, senses and intelligence. Students can take an online shark quiz to test their knowledge and print out a shark color and activity sheet that combines math and problem-solving skills with science. The site also features well-selected links to other notable shark and dolphin Web sites. "Anadromy in Six Easy Steps" explains how smelt, salmon, and other fish travel long distances before returning to their home waters to reproduce and discusses what students can do to help conserve these fish. "Those That Sting" includes a downloadable lesson plan on jelly fish, while. "Seals and Sea Lions" introduces students to pinnipeds with a slideshow format Web page.
A Whale of a Business. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales. Public Broadcasting Service. (Accessed 9/19/04).
Gr 7 Up-PBS Frontline discusses the ethical aspects of captive marine life in this site. "Should captive whales and dolphins be set free?" the viewer discussion asks. A debate offers the pro-captivity view--whether one can justify capturing wild animals in the future and use currently captive animals for the education and entertainment of humans--and the anti-captivity view--that no man-made facility can adequately provide for these animals without being a sterile version of their original environment. Can captive marine animals be successfully returned to the ocean? Discover what one Western Australian marine park learned from reintroducing nine bottlenose dolphins into the ocean and hear the issues presented by The National Marine Fisheries Service on returning whales and dolphins to their natural habitat. The site features a variety of marine expert and animal advocate interviews and students will connect with the plight of Keiko the whale, star of the movie Free Willy, and the events surrounding his release.
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