Animals: Wildlife
During the early days of the Web wildlife sites seemed to hurl animals into the classroom because they appeared so "real"...
Links
http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/wandering_wildlife/During the early days of the Web wildlife sites seemed to hurl animals into the classroom because they appeared so "real". For instance, a student can look into the eye of the panther--Bagheera ala Kipling! Listen to bear growls at the portage site (Other useful information is there, also.). Virtual reality is used at the Gorilla site to improve visualization of actual tribal wanderings. Be sure to check these sites before pointing young children to them.
Young children can receive email from animals living in the wild--a kind of you-are-there approach--to understand habitats from the point-of-view of animals themselves. The correspondence changes with the season. Journey North involves tracking the coming of spring around the world to help students gain a global systemic perspective.
Information about particular animals, such as koala and tigers, can be obtained at the sites mentioned more efficiently than via online search engines (returning a mission sites for each key word).
The Virtual Gorilla Modeling Project (VGOR) was a collaborative summer workshop during which virtual observation of gorilla life is presented. It is modeled like a safari in which individual gorillas are tracked.
The U.S. Geological Survey has set up a short unit for high school students about the effects of pollution on wildlife (exotoxicology).
Many states have established an infrastructure for tracking wildlife across a larger region than a single town. The Alaska Science Center includes a web exhibit showing the tracks of Polar Bears, Salmon, and multiple bird species.
Cheetah is another conservation site about the fastest animal in the world.
Learn what influences sleep cycles in animals.
Annotation
Such sites were prized because students were exposed to REAL-TIME wildlife activities. Given the high quality of CD's and cost of real-time connectivity besure to select wisely.
