Name:Fact Monster Almanac
Brief Description of the Site:
This site is so cool that you’ll wish you could stick it in your pocket. It is a cornucopia of information in eight major topics: World, US, People, Word Wise, Science, Math, Sports, and Cool Stuff. Each is further subdivided into subtopics, such as Women in Sports, Inventions, U.S. Geography, and each subtopic is further subdivided. This is a wonderful place for the lover of arcane information, for anyone seeking to expand his knowledge, and probably for anyone about to enter a trivia contest. Spend some time here and then impress your friends with the answers to questions such as “what is the difference between the dragon as seen in Western versus Eastern culture,†“why is there a Miranda Warning and what does it include,†and “when was the first all-female boxing match and what did the winner receive?â€
How to use the site:
Create a love of learning. Divide your class into teams of three to five and challenge each team to use this site to create a PowerPoint presentation entitled “20 Amazing Things We Never Knew Before.†Each of the 20 must have originated at this site but must be enhanced by further research. Have the class create a rubric for judging presentations and then sit back and let the teams work. Set aside a few days for presentations and follow-up. Another possibility is to use the site’s many pages in various WebQuests. Or let students delve here to create original “Trivial Pursuitâ€-like contests.
