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May 2004

ISS EarthKAM
Strong NASA site for middle schoolers with a satellite's eye view.
Grade Level: 6-8

http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/index.shtml

CONTENT:
ISS EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) is a NASA education program that provides excellent activities and learning guides for learning about Earth through digital pictures taken from the International Space Station.
AESTHETICS:
The site has an uncluttered layout that uses Flash technology and extraordinary photographs of the earth from space. PowerPoint is also needed to view some of the slide shows.
ORGANIZATION:
The resources are grouped into three major areas: Images, Students, and Educators. A top menu with a rollover feature allows users to view the submenus, which makes finding what you're looking for quite simple. Internal pages have a left side menu for moving around the section or between areas.

REVIEW:
This incredibly interesting site allows students, teachers, and the general public "to learn about Earth from the unique perspective of space." Visitors to the site will want to begin their exploration by clicking on the About link and viewing the slide shows that give an excellent overview of what the program is all about and explores a few of the images. EarthKam allows middle school students, using a Web based interface, to take pictures of the Earth using a digital camera on the International Space Station. The database of images numbers into the thousands and can be searched by country, geographic feature or by mission. An image support section is included to help users understand the numbering system. Images are also grouped into collections for easier exploration. Collections include: Themes such as coasts, rivers and cities; a Lithograph set that includes instructional materials; Favorites; Investigations; Annotated Images and Composite Images. The activities, educator guides and other resources provide the necessary support for teachers to use the images in the classroom and address standards in science, geography, mathematics, technology, and more. The student area gives students the opportunity of learn about our world by exploring the images and have some fun completing challengers and activities.

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05/10/2004