Lesson 2: SIRS Discoverer for Grades K-9
I looked up Shaun White (aka the flying tomato). As I tried t0 think like a 5Th grader (something quite easy for me to do), I did have to do several searches before actually getting to Shaun White. Once I found the article, ti was quite fascinating. The fact that it provides a few word terms was great; the questions for study purposes would be a way teachers could work up a lesson; the Editorial Cartoon screen is a fun way to kids to interact with the article.
2 a.) Since someday I hope to go to Japan, I chose that country to look up. First, under teacher resources, the fact that one can print out a work sheet with questions for, say, a quiz, is a nice feature. The informaiton provided was not over the head of the child yet did give good facts and to the point.
2 b.) Under maps for Japan, I found not just one big messy map, but 13 maps to choose from with various subjects. The maps themselves showed detail and if a student needed to know where population was distributed, there was just a map for that. Plus, they can print out that particular map.
2 c.) I checked out "activities" under the Database Features and found it jamb-packed with fun things-like learning card tricks. Most kids I know want to learn at least one card trick.
All in all SIRS Discoverer in most fascinating!