Introduction:
We subscribe to many databases for children. They reside, for the most part, under the Homework subject heading on the Research page. They allow access to encyclopedia’s, country information, videos, timelines, newspapers, television transcripts, diagrams, photos, poetry, science projects, and more. You can access information appropriate to the reading level of the customer and limit by the type of media required. The information could be used in a report or project, or by a teacher in the classroom. Explore them and see if you can find the answers to these questions.
Resource List
eLibrary Curriculum (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program.)
Encyclopedia of Animals (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program
Facts on File Science Online*
MAS Ultra: School Edition (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)*
Middle Search Plus (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)*
Primary Search (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)*
Student Research Center (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)*
Gale Virtual Reference Library*
Science Fair Project Index (and other resources on the Kidspage Homework section)
1) I need a video on photosynthesis. And I need to write a one page paper on it.
Can you help me find articles on polar bears. I need to know everthing! I am in 4th grade. Search again adding a lexile level of 300 – 500. (The child’s teacher needs a science experiment about polar bears.)
To post your answers, just click on the "comment" link at the bottom of this message.
3 comments:
1.) I need a video on photosynthesis. And I need to write a one page paper on it.
Kids Search (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TEXSHARE program) > Select Science > Type in “photosynthesis” and select Environment, Energy, How Things Work = no video found.
Gale Virtual Reference Library > Search “photosynthesis” = 56 results, enough to write a one-page paper on the topic.
InfoTrac OneFile > searched “photosynthesis” = Results included 378 Magazines, 2981 Academic Journals, 36 Books, 201 News, and 1 Multimedia – but no videos.
Facts on Science Online > Select Videos and Animations > Search “photosynthesis” = Results include 357 Topics, Terms & Principles, and 10 Images, Videos & Animations!
Video Citation: "Plant Cells and Photosynthesis." Life Processes of Plants. Films Media Group. WMV video file. Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://0-www.fofweb.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org:80/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin= FMG026356&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 6, 2008).
2.) It’s Polar Bear Day at the Library! Can you help me find articles on polar bears? I need to know everything! I am in 4th grade. Search again adding a Lexile level of 300 – 500. (The child’s teacher needs a science experiment about polar bears.)
Kids Search (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TEXSHARE program) > Select Animals > Search for Polar Bears and select Animals as the search criteria = 1199 results. Select Detailed Search for limiting by Lexile and selected 300-500 (and select full text as well) = produced 7 results.
Once the student has found information on polar bears, Science Fair Project Index could be used to find a science experiment related to a polar bear-related topic.
3.) I am writing a report about Syria. I need at least 5 different sources and I am in 8th grade.
Country Studies/Area Handbooks > On the Choose a Country drop-down window, select Syria.
InfoTrac OneFile > Search “Syria” and select full-text = Results in 1452 Magazines, 994 Academic Journals, 367 Books, 12,296 News, and 236 Multimedia
Alternate Source #1: Kids Search (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)
Click Geography > Type in “Syria” > Limit search to Books & Encyclopedias and (out of a total of 1795 results) there are 23 results, most of which come from the CIA World Factbook.
Alternate Source #2: Middle Search Plus (Provided by the Texas State Library's TEXSHARE program)
Type in “Syria” and select full text > Limit your results by subject by clicking on Syria on the left hand side = 306 Results.
These four databases should produce at least 5 different sources.
4.) There is a story or maybe a poem about a boa for kids. Do you have it? I think someone is being munched on in it.
Go to the HPL Catalog > Click on Kids to go to children’s catalog > Search “boa” = skim through the results for poetry. Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of the results. Click on the book to view its contents, and you will notice that the title of the poem (the word boa appears in bold letters) is “Boa Constrictor.” Our library has a copy of the book, (call number 811.54 S) but a Google search of the poem and author will produce the poem:
Boa Constrictor
Oh, I'm being eaten
By a boa constrictor,
A boa constrictor,
A boa constrictor,
I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor,
And I don't like it--one bit.
Well, what do you know?
It's nibblin' my toe.
Oh, gee,
It's up to my knee.
Oh my,
It's up to my thigh.
Oh, fiddle,
It's up to my middle.
Oh, heck,
It's up to my neck.
Oh, dread,
It's upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .
* * * * Extra Credit! * * * *
Define and identify two regions of alpine tundra.
According to wikipedia, alpine tundra is an ecozone that does not contain trees because it has high altitude. Alpine tundra occurs at high enough altitude at any latitude on Earth. Alpine tundra also lacks trees, but the lower part does not have permafrost, and alpine soils are generally better drained than permafrost soils. Alpine tundra transitions to subalpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone are known as Krummholz. Alpine tundra occurs in an alpine zone.
One regions of alpine tundra are the Indian Peaks region of Colorado (Google search for “alpine tundra” resulted in this University of Wisconsin webpage: http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/virtdept/ipvft/tundra.html)
Another region that has alpine tundra is the Tibetan Plateau. (Google search for “alpine tundra” led me to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra)
Alternate source: Brittanica Online Library Edition
"tundra." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. 7 May 2008.
1.Facts on file yielded a video entitled Plant cells and photosynthesis. III also yielded a video (Magic school bus gets planted-vhs). And Kids Search did give me an article entitled Eating the Sun How plants power the planet.
2. In Encyclopedia of Animals I found the information about polar bear along with some photos as well. And in the Science Fair Project Index (Science Fair Central) I did find some articles for a 4th grader Animal Instincts, and Habitats of the World.
3. In Middle Search Plus I discovered 1231 articles on Syria.
This particular assignment does not mention what the 8th grader will focus on with Syria. I guess he/she could focus on Syria as a country; foreign relations; or perhaps terrorists.
4. The poem or short story dealing with a boa for kids, I think is probably Shel Silverstein entitled Boa Constrictor
First Line: Oh, I'm being eaten
Second Line: By a boa constrictor
etc.
5. Infotrac Onefile gave me some interesting articles on the alpine tundra such as Salvator Tocci's Alpine Tundra; life on the tallest mountain; One Day in the Alping Tundra -Science Books & Films 21 Sept. 1985; Polar and alpine tundra (brief article) SciTech Book News 22 June 1998.
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