Are you a fan of nature? Are you an educator looking for more fun ways to bring wildlife into the classroom? Then surf on over to EcoKids and see what you’re missing.EcoKids is the website for an environmental educational program designed by Earth Day Canada. Earth Day Canada is a Canadian environmental communications organization mandated to assist Canadian citizens in improving their country’s environment. Earth Day, April 22nd of every year, began as an American environmental awareness event launched by Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University student Denis Hayes in 1970.
EcoKids uses the interactive software Macromedia Flash 8 to engage children in the sometimes difficult task of raising environmental awareness among youth. Each of the more than one dozen topics includes its own set of activities, games, and printable items. The goal of the site is not just to teach environmental conservation, but to also encourage children to become involved in their local communities.
An example of the interactive nature of EcoKids is in the Eco-Storybook section. Here, the decisions the child makes in creating the story will determine the outcome. In The Great Frog Dilemma, the backyard pond has loads of frogs but isn’t so great for swimming. Should you clear out the logs and grasses? If you do, the frogs won’t have so many hiding places, and the herons will eat them. That’s great for the herons but not for the frogs. What else will happen? Children learn that for every environmental action, there is an environmental reaction.
More interactivity is available for children should they wish to send art in to be posted on the website, voice their opinions or care to join the EcoKids Club through their school or youth group.
Animal and other natural sound effects complement the sitesurfer’s journey around the site. Another interesting feature of the site is the EcoKids player. This is a small, desktop application that sends factoids and other EcoKids site feature information to a child’s or a teacher’s computer. Apparently, the factoids are updated daily.
A key feature of this site is the adult/educator resource section. There one will find scholastic resources designed to integrate into both mainstream and ESL-type curricula. As a result, EcoKids is a very good resource for educators, youth group leaders and parents.
In summary, EcoKids is fun website for teaching children about the environment; its Flash animation interactivity favors broadband connections; and despite some Canada-specific references is great material for students worldwide. Interestingly enough, the site is only available in English. Unusual for a country that has two official languages.
On the .com Dish! Site Surfin’ Scale, EcoKids rates an “E” for everybody.
