A great website on the Olympics

This website has great info to be used for researching the Olympics!  I can easily see taking my students to a computer lab and having them research difference topics on the Olympics (from the history, to the controversies, etc.)

Google Form Quiz

Comparisons--If it were my Home

I came across a fun, informative and quick to use website this past week: ifitweremyhome.com.

This website lets you click on any country and it will compare it to where you live.  The comparison is basically a list of percentages.  For example, when I compare the U.S. to Japan this is what I learn:

If Japan were my home, I would:

have 54.56% less chance of dying in infancy

have 46.42% less babies

use 41.54% less electricity

consume 39.97% less oil

have 39.78% more chance at being employed

spend 61.59% less money on health care

make 29.74% less money

live 3.93 years longer

experience 15.33% less of a class divide

be 83.33% less likely to have HIV/AIDS

have 0.28% more free time

You can click on each different percentage to get more info about Japan.

The website would best be just a fun thing to direct students to and get them interested in different parts of the world.

Campaign Commercials

The website "The Living Room Candidate" allows you to look at different commercial ads that campaigns have used since Eisenhower.  The campaign ads are from 1958 to 2008. Students could take a trip to the computer lab and compare and contrast these commercials.   They could answer questions like the following:

How have campaign commercial stayed the same over the years?  How have they differed?
How do campaign commercials target the opponent?
Which add do you think is the most affective in 2008?
What is the campaign commercial of Jackie Kennedy in 1960 trying to do (she is speaking Spanish in the commercial)?
How do you think that the television changed presidential campaigning?
etc.

They can view the commercials themselves and read little blurbs about the candidates and the election.

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere allows you to take a survey in your classroom using texts.  This would be great, especially in a government class where you want lots of opinions.  The link I provided takes you straight to the K-12 Teachers section of the website