Surfing the Net:: Science

By The Critical Thinking Co.
Price $24.99
Age grades 3-6

The internet is an invaluable resource for research and education, but skill in its use requires experience and guidance. This book is filled with science activities carefully designed to help students in Grades 3-6 use critical thinking skills to selectively locate and use information on the web. Activities span several dozen topics, including Animal Cells, Weather Forecasts, Plate Tectonics, Electromagnetism, and our Solar System. Each activity begins with a search of key words followed by questions that direct students to specific URLs to mine for answers. The author is careful to include only sites that contain age-appropriate research-based information, with an emphasis on making learning fun. Students gather information from text, videos, charts, and images to define and describe a topic, then fill in a graphic organizer to help them analyze and absorb the information. They learn to dig deeper, gathering information about specific areas of a topic, and how to form their own questions before seeking further answers. Surfing the Net: Science is organized around science standards found in most states and works exceedingly well as a supplement to teacher instruction or as student-guided instruction.