It’s Friday, and time for Virtual Field Trips. I would like to ask you to check out the following Recommended Websites: If you have used these resources leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of them and why.
International Space Station Tour
Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision) Join Astronaut Suni Williams as she gives 4 informative video tours of life on the International Space Station.
Each tour is between 5 and 10 minutes long including:
- Zarya and Zvezda
- Cupola and Leonardo
- Destiny, Columbus, Kibo
- Harmony, Tranquility, Unity
Suni brings you through the Russian segment, the central command post, modules where spacecraft are docked, observation deck, multi-purpose module, labratory modules, airlock, sleeping quarters and hygiene station. Fascinating!
Recommended Website: Field Museum: All About Chocolate – Just for Kids
Age Range: 7 and up (Grades 2 and up approximately; children with parental supervision) Today is Valentine’s Day – and that means chocolate! At this archived website you can take an animated tour to virtually pick cacao pods and process cocoa beans into chocolate!
When you get to the site, click on the words, “Begin the chocolate-making process,” to start the interactive tour. When the tour is over, explore the rest of this site that provides the history of chocolate.
Don’t miss the “Educators’ Resources” where you will find “Cocoa Connections: From Beans to Bars” that is a free, downloadable series of 12 lessons about chocolate. Students will:
- Discover the botanical source of chocolate, Theobroma Cacao, a small tree of the tropical rainforest interior.
- Explore the ecological connections between people, plants, insects, and other animals within the tree’s habitat.
- Investigate cultural interactions and conservation concerns resulting from the cultivation, processing, exchange, and consumption of cacao.
- Recognize the changing economic and cultural roles of cacao and chocolate in local and global economies over time.
This is a terrific website for learning all about chocolate! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
