NC Wise Owl
I was impressed with NC Wise Owl, because it would be very easy to create a web quest and many other things with it. The site is laid out to be very user friendly. I was really excited about how you could use many different resources all at the same time. When I looked at the body systems, which is in the seventh grade curriculum, I was amazed at how everything was broken down into sections that discussed each organ and their function within that system and the body. It was also neat that it showed at the bottom of each page how to cite the article. The tabs on the side of the page would enable students to look at things closer and see how that they apply to them. Overall I would rate the site a 8 on a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest. I chose eight because I wish that there was a more interactive approach, so that students that learn visually could see how things work.
Discovery
I was not as impressed with Discovery as I was for NC Wise Owl. When I tried to find something on the body systems I could not find anything as easily or as interesting and user friendly. I did however like what Discovery offered for weather, which in part of the seventh grade course of study. They had a unique link that allowed you to click on each of the levels of a tornado and see pictures and descriptions of the damage that, that kind of tornado is capable of. In this same link I was able to see a diagram break down of the parts of a tornado, and a description of each of them. There was also a place where students could take a quiz. I liked the videos that were on weather; the one that I looked at had many different types of weather and had very unique and interesting facts. Overall I would give this site a 6, just because there was not much information, just videos and games, but what was there would be something to really bring weather to life for the students.
SAS in Schools
I was thought that it would have more on it than what is did, I also thought that since it was made for North Carolina that it would have a breakdown of each grade and their requirements. So the site was not what I thought it would be, but I did like the links and lesson plan materials that it had. When I searched for stuff on the human body, I did find a s guided tour through the different body systems and each of the organs functions. That was the neatest thing that I found, just because it would be good for both auditory, reading learners, and visual learners, because the tour showed food going through the system and told what each function of the body and organ was with in that system. As far as weather goes it took me a while to figure out weather was. I found it under earth science the third or fourth time I looked. I was used to everything just being there, so I did not think this site was as user friendly as the others were. So I am going to rate this site a 5, because it was not as user friendly, and did not have a place to just search for a topic. On a good note though it does have a lot of links to sites that could be used many different ways.
MarcoPolo
Marco Polo is a very organized site. I liked how I could look at it as a student and as a teacher to find things. I also liked the feature that allowed me to tell it to find different types of information, for example if I wanted an audio clip of something I could just put in the topic, grade level, and media clip and that is what it would bring back to me. I thought that it was also neat how it showed where and to what the audience is, and on some of them showed where the link related to a states standard course of study. When I looked at weather I was kind of disappointed, because it did not have as much as I thought that it would. When I looked at the body systems though, there was a lot of things to see and learn from whether you were a teacher or a student. So I would rate this site a 8.
National Geographic Xpeditions
This site has several different things that would be a help for student and teachers planning lessons, by grade levels and topics. When I looked at weather it took a while to find anything that I would use, but I did stumble upon a neat link on the activities part that showed and explained how the green house effect works, and it also gave me to opportunity to explore more. The Explore more part showed different spots and how global warming is effecting that area, and even showed pictures and examples. This site though did not show that much for body systems that I was impressed with. So I am going to rate this site a 7.
Life Science Connections
I was excited when I found this and the site started to come up, because it was just cool. I felt like I was in the future, then the site came up and was disappointing graphics wise. I did like how the site had an online science notebook, which could be put up for notes for a class to take. In the notebook it also put some worksheets for review up too. I also thought that this was a neat site, because it is created by a teacher for her science class. The site even had music when you clicked on different links. The site was exciting for me, so it would have to be that way for a student. Even if you got lost within the site, it had a place to click that said lost, and that would bring you to a index for the human body. The site was not as colorful as I would have thought it to be at first, but it was clean and very easy to maneuver through to where the information would just jump out at you. There was not anything there for weather, but I am still going to rate this site a 9.
