Today I am going to highlight three websites that can be used by teachers and students as a tool for learning about animals related to our integrated units. Photos and videos are so powerful when it comes to teaching students about animals because it allows them to come alive! Students are always amazed when they are able to see animals in action, especially when they have never seen the animal before.
Arkive is a website which contains videos and images of the world's endangered species. You can explore the site by categories such as species group (mammals, fish etc.) or geography (continent and country). You can even type habitats such as Amazon Rainforest or Coral Reef into the search. There is a small library of resources categorized by age (7-11, 11-14) with games, PowerPoints etc. When you search by category you have the option to sort your list by Top 50 Species, Common Name, or Scientific Name. When you type a specific name into the search you can sort by Species, Video, or Image. Once you click on a specific animal you can view the images as a slideshow as well as read information about the animal (facts, description, habitat etc).
Ocean Footage and
Nature Footage each contain a huge collection of animal videos. Each video is a preview of a full video available for purchase, so each is less than one minute. Search by category or type in a specific animal. Students love exploring numerous clips. The only down side is that there is no audio, but students don't seem to mind.
