Catch of the Day - yolink - 10/12/2010

yolink is free software that moves your students from searching to finding. Saving time and improving their research skills.

With yolink, scan web pages and browse e-books quickly. yolink finds and organizes search results, then takes them directly to Google Docs or your favorite social networking site.

yolink Lessons are lesson plans created by a group of education professionals integrating yolink into their own classrooms. These can be applied in any classroom or used as a starting place.

Watch how yolink searchs inside links for key terms and concepts

yolink has gathered resources from Creative Commons and Google. You may share and distribute this content (non-commercially) as long as you give attribution to the original sources.

The available online demonstration incorporates basic yolink functionality, educational use-cases, and an information literacy curriculum overview.

You can download yolink for both Mac and PCs. yolink supports Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. There is also a Chrome extension available.

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Buona Giornata, Columbus!

Columbus! Ehi siamo qui!

Photo by Andrea De Stefani

Catch of the Day - The National Aviary - 10/8/2010

The National Aviary offers an innovative selection of interactive classes for students of all ages geared to engaging their minds in science and conservation.

The National Aviary's web curriculum gives students and teachers the opportunity to enhance their bird knowledge and awareness. Materials include lesson plans, games, activities, and other teacher resources.

• Early Elementary - Students will learn the basics of what makes a bird a bird, and discover ways to identify various types of birds by using their eyes and ears.
• Late Elementary - Students will learn the characteristics that make a bird unique, and discover many of the adaptations that differentiate various species.
• Middle School - Students will observe and record bird behaviors such as preening and foraging and investigate and track the behavior of migrating birds.
• High School - Students will learn about threats facing wild bird species, and delve into conservation issues facing many bird species both locally and around the world.

Bird Resources is a directory of links to sites where students and teachers can learn much more about birds.

Located in Pittsburgh, PA, The National Aviary also offers a wide variety of in-house and outreach classes and programs. In-house classes are only $5 per student October through February. Teachers can download the Self-guided Tour PDF for use during your visit.

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Catch of the Day - Reading for Life - 10/7/2010

From the UK,Reading for Life aims promote the benefits of reading for all people. The site has sections for youngsters, teens, adults and families, that attempt to capture your imagination and show that reading is for you.

The intent of Reading for Life is to help you get the most from reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You can find tips, advice, games, free downloads, and competitions.

In the Parents' Place are resources such as free kids' stories, alphabet coloring pages, online ABC book, and tips for talking to your baby and reading with your children.

The Kids' Place includes activities like The Gruffalo, Maisy, Where's Wally, Write your own play, and more.

Reading for Life came out of the 2008 National Year of Reading, a year-long celebration of reading in all its forms designed to help build a greater national passion for reading in England.

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CK-12 FlexBooks Adds to Physics Text

CK-12 FlexBooks is an open-content, web-based collaborative e-textbook model that I posted about in July.

Along with NASA, they recently announced the addition of a new chapter to CK-12’s 21st Century Physics FlexBook in which students and teachers look at a contemporary NASA space transportation project and learn how simulation-based engineering is used to develop new technology – in this case, the Launch Abort System, a state-of-the-art astronaut escape system.

Go to my earlier post on CK-12 FlexBooks

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