Biography
Biographical studies are popular research topics...
Links
Americans in Science
http://www.sacnas.org/biography/Biographical studies are popular research topics. Typically, school libraries do not support the number of biographies to match the number of individual students conducting research. Web technology allows a new mix of secondary and primary sources at the sites included here. For instance, biographical accounts sit side by side with links to photos, letters or even audio clips of the subject.
For sheer number power few other sites can top the 33,000 different stories at the Biographical Dictionary.
In contrast, Achievement is intended as an inspirational site -- a few good people -- with vignettes about and attributes of heroes.
Alexis de Tocqueville's remarkable insights about the U.S. which have endured for more than a century have been recorded with a contemporary tour of the places he and his friend Beaumont visited. This innovative twist may inspire your students to prepare other contrasting travelers' accounts.
A&E's Biography Channel resources have been placed in digital format -- look at this database of more than 25,000 persons. Their Biography For Kids section includes videos, games and challenges.
The series, History Detectives on PBS, is accompanied by a Web inquiry activity.
The Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century, created by the National Archives and UT at Austin, "reminds us that history is not simply the set of narritives we read in history books, but the experience of creating these stories from the essential evidence contained in primary sources such as" a diary or telephone conversation.
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science contains short biographies of over 70 Chicano and Native americans in biology, physics and earth sciences.The notes are targeted to both middle and high school students and show links to more extensive biographies.
During 2009 will be the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. Many resources have been compiled which could be used for many years.
Annotation
This set illustrates traditional biography resources, adapted for new technology: an unparalleled amount of sources (The Biographical Dictionary), motivational multimedia (Achievement), a classic updated (de Tocqueville), and the history of recent events (Presidential Timeline of 20th Century).
