Surfing the Net with Kids: ThinkQuest 2002

June 19, 2002 Dear Reader, It’s summer again — and as usual, I face the change in schedule with mixed feelings. One exciting difference this year is that for ten whole days both kids will be at sleep-away camp at the same time — giving us a sneek preview of what life will be like when they leave home. Yikes! How could they possibly be this old? Getting back to business, I’ve added a “Related Books” feature to the weekly newsletter — replacing the single book recommendation I used to do. You’ll find the link next to the Calendar section. Today’s Related Books link is here. Have you looked at the Surfnetkids Printables Club yet? If you like what I do here each week, I’m sure you’ll love the PDF format that club members get.

Today’s newsletter is made possible by:

• This summer teach your child to read. Imagine your child reading when school starts in the fall! Reading Lesson (a Discovery Channel award-winning program) helps you give your young child (ages 4 to 6) a super head-start in reading. Read the reviews and try the free lessons:

• You don’t have to be a programmer to add games to your organization’s Web site! This summer, learn how to create interactive word searches, scramblers, and jigsaws with the low-cost tools explained in “How to Add Games to Your Site.” As a special bonus item, all buyers get a FREE copy of “How to Add Quizzes to Your Site.” Buy now, download immediately and have games on your site in an hour!
  

See ya on the Net,
Barbara J. Feldman
“Surfing the Net with Kids”

P.S. This week Printables Club Members also:
   1) learn where to find real-live research librarians to help with your Internet searches
   2) learn about a computer-skills site for preschoolers
   3) get a FREE two-page Internet enrichment printable of today’s topic

Click here to Become a Printables Club Member
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ThinkQuest 2002

https://www.surfnetkids.com/thinkquest2002.htm

ThinkQuest Internet Challenge is an opportunity for young webmasters (from grades three through twelve) to show off their skills by developing an educational Web site. With over 325 entries in this year’s USA competition, the following sites were among those that earned the highest national honors. For a complete list of this year’s winners, visit ThinkQuest USA 2002.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/

Created by fourth and fifth graders from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, this site encouraging multi-cultural understanding won a Platinum Award in their grade-level division. Breaking Down the Walls suggests excellent questions and topics for classroom or dinner table discussion, and concrete ways to overcome prejudice. Best interactive activities include the Crossword Puzzle and Spin Around the World.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/

I was struck by the depth of information at this Gold-winning site from Tennessee elementary-school students. The site can be navigated either by the links on the left-hand side or via the nifty drop-down menu across the bottom of each page. But to get a better picture of the whole site, use the Site Maps found under Extra Information in the bottom menu. My favorite clicks were the related crafts (such as a Trojan Horse constructed from boxes and paper mache), recipes (anyone for Egyptian fig cakes?) and interactive activities (quizzes, jigsaws, crosswords, flash cards and interactive timelines.)

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212881/

Click to accept your mission as a secret agent investigating the events surrounding World War II. After “spying” on each European country listed on the left-hand menu, take the country quiz. Upon completion of your mission, take the Final Quiz (perhaps an oblique reference to Hitler’s “final solution?”) and receive your Certificate of Recognition. Mission Europe Hostilities won a Platinum in the high-school division, but is sprinkled with a few typos and grammatical errors.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212240/

Personal Best, another Platinum winner in the high-school division, is not only an informational resource about running but also a tool to keep track of your running performance. To use the tracking application, create a free account as either an athlete or a coach, and then login to enter details about your runs. After entering your stats, you can view a graph of your performance over time with just four clicks of the mouse.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210341/

“The purpose of our Thinkquest website is to try to lessen the amount of hate and prejudice in our world by developing an awareness of America’s attitude towards Asian Americans during World War II and towards American Muslims after the terrorists’ attack on September 11.” To research their topic, the authors (from a middle school in Hawaii) visited surviving members of World War II’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team (which was comprised of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.) Their excellent work earned them a Thinkquest Platinum award for grades six through eight.

Surfing the Calendar Paul McCartney’s Birthday Jun 18, 1942 M.C. Escher’s birthday Jun 18, 1898 Summer Begins Jun 21, 2002 Start of Korean War Jun 25, 1950 More Calendar

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