Figure This! Math Challenges for Families

http://www.figurethis.org

This engaging and absorbing site has been designed to allow students and their families to undertake a series of challenges that highlight the entertaining aspects of mathematics. Associated information on the site provides information to assist parents to better support their children in studying mathematics.

Design a Satellite

http://www.eduweb.com/portfolio/designsatellite

Primary students studying communication technologies will be enamoured with this interactive website. With the assistance of the animated inhabitants of Littleton, students can design a TV satellite, incorporating the necessary parameters to be able to relay signals to space.

Classics and Ancient History

MetaSites
http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/classics/classicsmeta.htm
Ancient history teachers and students can access a range of document collections, databases, digital image collections, journals, atlases and encyclopedias encompassing Greek history, Roman history, Egyptian history and the history of the Near East. This website is maintained by the University of Auckland Library.

Lesson plans and resources

I have updated the following pages of lesson plans and resources for teachers.


Books like Unfortunate events
Thinking skills
Books about refugees to Australia
Values books
Reading comprehension
Books with a rugby league theme
Computers & ICTs
Thinking hats picture books
Geography
Books about self-control
Picture books for P.E.
Weather

Learning::a quotation

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer

Enterprising Australians

Enterprising Australians provides free DVDs, teaching resources and support for schools in Victoria and Queensland.

As part of Enterprise Learning in the 21st Century they are providing free resources that are mapped to ELS for Victoria and Queensland in domains of English, Maths, Humanities-Economics, Civics & Citizenship and ICT.

The resources incorporate a unit of work, DVDs, worksheets and online support.

For more information please visit www.enterprising.com.au or call 03 9473-3688

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need

This award-winning website is an easily used and straightforward guide to the major search engines. Teacher librarians can use this website as a teaching tool to demonstrate the range of options available when searching for information and the most appropriate search engines to fulfil a variety of information needs.

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

A history of light

[Via Family first]

...an interesting look at the history of light. It veers all over the map in telling the story of light, and I think you'll find it fascinating.

It begins with the origin of the universe, as espoused by Immanuel Kant in 1755. We progress through the ages as man begins illuminating the night with crude torches, mastering the dark.

Eventually, we find our way to the nineteenth century, when electricity first began to be used for lighting. Obscure devices are recounted, including Alexander Graham Bell's
sunlight-transmitted telephone.

Stage lighting is given a special emphasis, and I found the saltwater dimmers used for adjusting the volume of
light to be amazing to read about. These devices consisted ofan electrode at the bottom of a tank of brine, and another electrode that was raised or lowered in the liquid to adjust the voltage going to the bulbs. The brine would boil, heating the backstage area.

Cool stuff.

See for yourself.

Surf's Up: a cross - curricula resource for primary schools

Surf's Upis a free teaching resource developed by the Surf Life Saving Australia, it provides students with an understanding of beach safety and surf awareness

Educational podcasting for teaching and learning

[Via OLDaily]

... quality podcasts from over 360 carefully selected podcast channels for educational use - ideal for teaching and learning activities with children, young people and educational professionals.

http://www.recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/

Digital Cameras

Show your students what can be done:

Little Grebe
Digital Cameras Enhance Education

Cities Around the World

"over 6,100 photographic images from the slide collections of the American Geographical Society Library." Search, or browse by city or country, by Views, Architecture, City and Town Life, by People, or by the 100 cities with the most photos.

http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/digilib/cities/

Geometry from AMATYC

http://or.amatyc.org/geometry.htm

Along with their substantial instructional resources, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) has worked to place valuable mathematical materials online to aid both teachers and students. This particular site contains links discovered and vetted by George Alexander, who works on behalf of the AMATYC. Here visitors will find links to materials that can be used to teach students about the fundamentals of geometry, including plane motion, polyhedras, symmetry, and tessellations. In total, there are links to 33 resources here, and suggestions for new materials are always welcome.

Open-content learning portal

A new online content resource center, formally launched March 9 by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), will make more than 8,000 classroom materials available to teachers, faculty, and learners worldwide, at no cost. In the weeks before its public launch, more than 10,000 people reportedly visited the newly created OER (Open Educational Resources) Commons ... Full Story

Creating a Literate College Community

Marj Kirkland outlines the process of one school's approach to form a Whole School Literacy Plan. The plan focuses on the effectiveness of existing literacy initiatives and how it can further improve literacy outcomes for all students in the years ahead.
REad on ...

Educational Coloring

Pictures http://www.edupics.com/coloring.html Educational images and coloring pictures for teachers in primary school. Categories include animals, buildings, cultures, space travel, holidays, time, and transport.

DrawingNow - how to draw tutorials

http://www.drawingnow.com/index.html
Learn how to draw with step by step drawing tutorials. Includes Manga art, cartoons and 3D drawing.

Famundo for Organizations - FREE online calendar and file library

Famundo is the central hub for your organization’s scheduling and document storage where members can get an easy to read, holistic view of everything that is going on within your organization.
visit Famundo

Learning to read in Australia

http://www.assa.edu.au/Publications/op.asp?id=95
This paper from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia outlines what is known on the process of learning to read, and reports on the Australian national survey of children's reading levels and of classroom practices in the teaching of reading. The review concluded that for any reading program to be effective, it must include throughout its first two or three years extensive systematic explicit instruction in synthetic phonics. This paper summarizes what has been done so far in response to the 2005 review.

Report gives poor grades to nation's schools

The Arizona Daily Star reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined with a prominent liberal think tank to warn of potential long-term damage to the U.S. economy caused by the failure... Full Story