Nice extension to a science lesson.
Community Review for Project Squirrel
My Take
I love the amount of information and getting to show students that there are communities of scientists on the internet. I thought that the website, although tranquil in color, was not visually appealing for second grade students (until I read them the information they basically looked at the pictures and were ready to move on). After we looked for squirrels on our own at recess and through our class windows we were able to upload our data. I thought the site was clearly labeled and easy to use, but would have loved if they actually posted live results from all states, not just where the information gathering started.
How I Use It
I found this website and used it as an extension on a science lesson I was already teaching about habitats. Students loved being able to search for squirrels. They liked getting to know the different types of squirrels and that other people were also watching for the squirrels. Some of my students could not access the internet at home and did not like that they could not make their own observations there, but other than that, they liked getting to call themselves scientists.