Extra Credit: CONNECT! Transform the Future

Check out this game from The Center For Science, GE and National Geographic (as well as local energy companies)! It's a fun way to learn more about green energy and energy conservation while playing an interactive game. Enter GREEN2013 for a special game bonus! You can earn extra credit by playing the game and teaching the class about what you've learned from it. How you share the information is up to you!

Plan It Green, the Big Switch is an online game that allows players to design and create their own energy-efficient city of the future!

• Build new energy technologies and advance energy research;
• Rack up points based on eco-friendliness, energy production, citizen happiness, and more!
• Compete with other “mayors” for the highest city rating;
• Tackle challenging quests and earn rewards for your outstanding achievements;
• Advance through game levels by exploring and building a diverse energy portfolio;
• Check out new game play elements as fresh features are added on a regular basis. 

Plan It Green, the Big Switch is part of CONNECT! Transform the Future, a new collaboration between the Center for Science (a network of leading science centers), National Geographic, General Electric and local energy companies across the country.

The goal of CONNECT! Transform the Future is to enlighten, educate, and engage the nation’s youth in a conversation about the future of energy.

The CONNECT! Transform the Future project is a portfolio of media and outreach resources that will integrate with each science center’s unique experiences and outreach programs.  Each of the project resources are being developed by National Geographic with input from scientists, technical advisors, educators and science center partners to ensure what is produced is of the highest quality.

Frequently Used Websites

In the classroom, there are some websites we use a lot. These sites are available to students for quick access from our school computers, but they may want to visit them at home as well.

http://everydaymathonline.com
This is the online component of our math program. Your child will have login and password information in his/her binder, attached to the Math Letters sleeve.

http://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/home
LdVCS students have access to World Book Online. There are five different options to allow access by all levels of learners. We primarily use World Book Kids but World Book Student is another great option for more advanced readers.
Login: sdcoeldv
Password: library

http://wonderopolis.org/
Learning is happening everywhere, all the time! We have bottled a little bit of that learning in each Wonder of the Day®. Experience a daily dose of time with your child to make the most of each and every moment together — learn something new, try out an idea, create a masterpiece, imagine possibilities. It’s easy. It’s fun. But the learning is big!

 http://www.starfall.com/
Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read with phonics. Our systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL). Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children.

http://www.abcya.com/
ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
The kids version of the amazing National Geographic website.

http://www.funbrain.com/
Since 1997, kids, teachers, librarians, and parents have enthusiastically turned to Funbrain for its free educational games, online books, and comics. Funbrain, created for kids ages preschool through grade 8, offers more than 100 fun, interactive games that develop skills in math, reading, and literacy. Plus, kids can read a variety of popular books and comics on the site, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, and Brewster Rocket.

Teachers and librarians can confidently encourage students to use Funbrain during their free time in class, assured that kids will enjoy an educational, safe online learning experience. Funbrain's games help students build on what they have learned in class and acquire new skills in reading, math, and problem solving.

Tide Pools

We are currently working on a habitat project and these are some links for one of my groups... :)

http://42explore.com/tidepool.htm
http://www.seaworld.org/wild-world/ecosystems/info-books/tide-pools/intertidal-ecology.htm
Explorations
http://www.ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23926