Insects really need no introduction. They have lived on earth much longer than humans and vastly outnumber people and all other animal species combined. People encounter them daily in their houses and yards. Yet, when children want to investigate insects, books can help them start their explorations. "Paleo Bugs" carries readers back to the time…

Teachers live for the "teachable moments"--those opportunities to connect their subject content to events taking place beyond the classroom. They can occur spontaneously, lucky occasions to bring the curriculum to life grabbed on the fly. In other instances, a teachable moment looms large. In hundreds of thousands of classrooms nationwide,…

In this article, the authors discuss how Google Earth provides more than a geography lesson. For starters, Google Earth is perfect for teaching geography. Subscribe to Where in the World, for example, and have their students listen to podcast clues in a find-the-location game created by students worldwide. Clues relate to math (the population of…

What child hasn't chatted with friends through a computer? But chatting with a computer? Some Danish scientists have literally put a face on their latest software program, bringing to virtual life storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, who engages users in actual conversations. The digitized Andersen resides at the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in…

"Do you blog?" That's a question educators are hearing frequently these days, and more and more are responding with an enthusiastic "yes!" The reason? Teachers have discovered that technologies like weblogs--Web sites that are a snap to update--can be powerful teaching tools. And librarians are gearing up to help them. The educational community's…

"Wiki", the Hawaiian word for quick, can refer to either a Web site or the software that runs it. Ward Cunningham, a Portland, OR, programmer, invented and named the wiki in 1995. He wanted to help a virtual community of programmers communicate efficiently. Teachers and librarians nationwide have begun to explore the role of wikis in…