globio

Lions, Tigers, and Koala Bears! Oh My!

Written by: Danielle Abernethy
Thursday, February 5th, 2009

//www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=62&art_nm=Koalas

Do your students know that Koalas are not actually bears, but marsupials? Yep, just like kangaroos. This is but one example of the things you can learn in GLOBIO. GLOBIO is a nonprofit online resource dedicated to educating kids about the world around them or in their own words, “Our objectives are to create multimedia tools and programs that connect kids to the environment, to other kids, and to actions they can take to manage natural resources wisely.”

As I looked through the website, I noticed how easy it is to navigate, which is a necessity for younger kids (GLOBIO’s target audience is 7-12 years old.) It also has great curb appeal which is very important. A website can have great information and be easy to use, but if it’s not pleasing to look at, kids won’t stick around long.

GLOBIO consists of several areas. One that is content related, a kids community, an area for grown ups and educators, and more. They have also even begun creating Learning Activity Guides for educators that correspond with their content. These resources consist of great articles, pictures, videos, audio, and more. The subjects matter varies from different animals, light, behavior, the human body, ecosystems, all the way to the moon. Just to name a few.

I bet you also didn’t know that GLOBIO is also included in netTrekker‘s Collections. When searching, look in the refinement menu under collections and you can see if your search produced GLOBIO resources. You may better recognize the name of one of the areas in GLOBIO called Glossopedia. This is the name for their tool which contains all their great resources and media. Also, all content in GLOBIO is designed to align with US National Standards for the Sciences, Technology and English language arts.

Decide for yourself! I encourage you to click here and take the tour, then come back and leave a comment. Let us know what you think about GLOBIO.