Social Studies favorites

• 50 States & Capitals This site has some fantastic resource information on each of the states, including a variety of historical facts and other interesting information (flower, bird, size, population). It also has a very neat "locate the states" game that is both educational and fun.
• A&E Biography This site has great resources for teachers and students alike. They have a "Top 10 Biographies" list that is updated weekly. You can research famous people that share your birthday or any other specific day.
• American Memory Library of Congress This website offers an extensive collection of primary source information on United States history from 1490 to the present. This collection also offers a variety of student or teacher centered activities, including lesson plans, using the digital resources available.
• American President This is a fantastic site that supplements the PBS series "The American President" that was recently shown on television. This site has a great collection of presidential biographies and portraits. A bit of shameless promotion: I worked on discussion questions for Episode 4: The Professional Politician.
• Avalon Project at Yale Law School Yale Law School has compiled an excellent resource for primary source materials on law, history and diplomacy studies. The information presented here is organized by centuries, but there is a search option that will allow the user to locate information on a specific event or theme.
• CIA World Factbook The CIA, well known for their information gathering, has a great webpage dedicated tot he countries of the world. Not only can you find information about a specific country, you can also search maps and find out what kind of transnational issues are going on at any particular time.
• History Channel This site has some great resources available to teachers. If you haven't signed up for their "Save Our History" teacher kits, I highly recommend them! Great information, ideas, projects, discussion questions, and guides to supplement their television programming.
• Internet History Sourcebook Project The History department at Fordham University has created this wonderful resource for any World History enthusiast or student. From their main page, you will find links to sourcebook on topics ranging from African studies to Ancient history to Modern history. Each sourcebook contains links to multimedia resources as well as information on events and important figures in each period.
• Library of Congress Country Studies This site has great information on most of the countries around the world. Each link includes resource information, historical information, and other geographical information.
• National Archives The National Archives has a variety of links from their homepage. Some of my personal favorites are:
  • More Original Documents Continuation of the above.
  • Original Documents Original documents like the Declaration of Independence to writings of Eleanor Roosevelt.
  • Traveling Exhibit The main page for the traveling exhibits of the National Archives.
  • WWII Posters US propaganda posters from WWII. Includes Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter.
• PBS This site has many great links to many educational resources as well as programming schedules.
• PuzzleMaker Discovery School has created a wonderful FREE resource for educators or anyone else interested in creating puzzles (word searches, mazes, cryptograms, crosswords) that incorporate vocabulary, themes, or concepts. You create the clues, word lists, etc. and it creates the puzzle. If you plan on saving the puzzles on their site, you will need to create an account, but it is totally free and they don't send out junk mail.
• Remember.Org This site has a variety of resources on the Holocaust. There are several "on-line" books here and many links to helpful resources. Also includes a variety of teacher related resources.
• SCORE (Schools of California Online Resources for Education) This site has some great links to lesson plans and resources for K-12 Social Studies.
• Smithsonian Institute's Remembering Gallery This site is filled with text and pictures of important US artifacts from a variety of eras. Good resource for students to actually see history.
• Virtual Tours of the US Government This site has some great virtual tours of government buildings like the White House and the US Capitol. If you are interested in other virtual tours, try here.
• Witnesses to WWII This site contains stories and testimonies of the liberators and survivors of the Nazi Concentration Camps.
• Women In World History Curriculum This site contains a series of lessons about the role of women in ten specific time periods and/or events. There are also links to a section on female heroes, one on great female rules as well as other websites that provide information on world and women's history.
• World War I - Trenches on the Web: An Internet History of the Great War This site has some great resource information on World War I, including maps, pictures, and primary source documents. This is a very extensive site!
• US Census Bureau This is the official homepage of the US Census Bureau. It has some fantastic resource information on all of the 50 states and the latest census figures. How many people live in your state?

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WebQuests & Other Internet Goodies

• Dr. Alice Christie's WebQuest Matrix Dr. Christie has links to WebQuests created by her students. Most curriculum areas and grade levels are represented.
• Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Matrix Bernie Dodge has an extensive list of links to WebQuests from teachers across the country. All grade levels are represented here.
• Number the Stars This WebQuest was written by my friend Elissa. This WebQuest has some great activities to go along with the book Number the Stars.
• Dr. Alice Christie's Search Engine Links Dr. Christie has an extensive list of search engines and subject directories. This is a great resource to find the search engine that works best for you and what you're looking for.
• Seven Steps Toward Better Searching Bernie Dodge has created a guide to searching the Internet. This site includes some great clues and tips to get exactly what you are looking for.
• Dr. Alice Christie's HomePage Dr. Christie has complied a vast quantity of resources for teacher and student alike. Many links to school projects, web design tools, and PowerPoint presentations on everything from digital cameras to Constructivism.

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Personal Favorites

• Arizona Botanical Garden The Arizona Botanical Garden has an extensive site that includes pictures as well as information on conservation and desert gardening. If you live in the Southwest and want some tips on indigenous plants, this is the place to start.
• Arizona Diamondbacks Although I'm not denouncing my status as a Chicago Cubs fan, I have taken a liking to the local team. This was all done, of course, prior to their World Series Victory! For a look at what is going on with the 2001 World Champions, check out this site.
• Arizona Highways Magazine If you're not familiar with Arizona or the beautiful scenery here, check out this site. Arizona Highways is best known for its amazing photography of and around Arizona.
• Butchart Gardens This is the homepage of the world famous Butchart Gardens. If you ever get to British Columbia, I highly recommend a visit here! If you'd like to just see pictures, click here.
• Capital Steps If you love a good political satire song, this is the place to check out! The group is made up of former and current congressional staffers. They post a new song every week from one of their radio broadcasts. Download the MP3s and you'll have something to giggle at for weeks on end.
• Chicago Cubs As a long time, often dejected, Cub fan, I just couldn't have a list without including this one! This site offers, among other things, a virtual tour of Wrigley Field. Check it out!
• Donate Free Food You can donate free food from this website. No catch. No junk mail. No cost! Advertisers pay for a portion of the food just to get their name in front of you after you've "clicked to donate." Millions of pounds of food have been donated. This is all on the up and up. Check it out. They've also included links to other sites connect with the Hunger Site that for a click can donate funds for mammograms for low income women and help save the rainforests. There is some great educational material about each of these causes on these sites.
• NASA Astro Picture of the Day NASA as been capturing fantastic images from space for over 30 years. This site offers a wide variety of photographs that have been taken by astronauts and satellites over many years. There is an extensive archive of past pictures along with explanations of the image written by professional astronomers.
• National Public Radio (NPR) Online National Public Radio is available daily on many fine public radio stations across the country. If you're not near a radio, as many of us are at various times during the day, this is the next best thing. Not only can you get the latest national news stories, but there are also links to all of the great NPR programs like BBC News Desk, Morning Edition, and All Things Considered.