Backyard Jungle
Collaborative learning: Kids share "science maps" of their backyards online!
Grade Level: 3-5
http://www.backyardjungle.org
CONTENT: Backyard Jungle is a science site that encourages kids to create and share representations of their backyards, and record their findings and discoveries.
AESTHETICS: This kid-friendly site has bright colors and cute graphics, very appealing to the younger set.
REVIEW: Backyard Jungle is an interactive site that allows users around the world to load photos, drawings, and descriptions about the natural surroundings where they live, that is, their "backyard." Anyone can view the content in the backyards, but only members (registration is free) can upload information. Users go into their own backyards--or neighborhoods or any outside area they want to explore--and create a map of it to upload to the site. Then they add descriptions, photos, and drawings of the discoveries that they found there. Children will enjoy viewing the work of other children and creating their own online "backyard," a web page that shows what they find in their outside exploration.