Sunday, February 13, 2011

Today's Version of Noah's Ark: ARKive!

This past Friday and Saturday I attended the MAEOE Conference ~ Maryland's conference for outdoor educators where over 600 people attended (making it the nation's largest "green" conference.). 

Being the eco-geek that I am, I was essentially in nirvana! 

One of my favorite highlight's of the entire conference was my first session Saturday morning where I swear, I visited Noah's Ark!  Internet style.

In order to tell about www.ARKive.org, I think I need to start in just the same way as Liana Vitali (the fabulous Arkive science outreach and education officer who presented) did--by showing this brief video that's on Arkive's home page and narrated by one of their major patrons, Sir David Attenborough:

ARKive has a collection (as of numbers on February 9th as their stockpile grows continually) of:
     ~ 12,201 species profiles
                [most of them threatened, endangered, or even extinct!],
     ~ 7,416 videos, and
     ~ 66,605 photographs. 

In addition to images and animal fact sheets, there are lesson plans (http://www.arkive.org/education/), maps (as it is tied in with Google Earth), and interactive games kids will adore.  You can explore animals by category, geography, or simply using the search bar. It's an educational resource meant (in ARKive's words) to "enthuse...engage...and inspire." 

And it does!  Most definitely!

Best part (as if there's a better part than "all of the above,") is that it is a free resource, where no user names or passwords are needed.  I had to drag my own kids away from their own endless investigations this afternoon! 

My teacher-wheels were definitely spinning about all the number of ways I could use this in my classroom!  It's going to want to be a site you want high on your "bookmark" list!

If you cannot click the video above, click the title above, or see it on Arkive's home page at http://www.arkive.org/By the way...their other major patrons are oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and Professor E.O. Wilson.  That's quite an alumni of major conservationist supporters!! 

4 comments :

  1. Love this! Thanks for sharing. It is perfect for my 2nd grade Living Things Grow and Change.

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  2. So glad the timing is perfect! My daughter couldn't get enough of it this afternoon!! Hope it serves your purpose well!

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  3. Thanks so much for such glowing reviews, Vicki! Our UK team saw your post and just loved it, too. Thanks for helping us spread the word about ARKive and raising awareness to the beautiful and bizarre endangered species that need the most help!

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  4. Excellent Liana...and the rave reviews were most certainly well-deserved!! It's an amazing website! Can't wait for more and more elementary lesson plans to join the collection. Although I must say, I bet my 3rd graders would love to trying to tackle the upper grade sharks & rays identification activity you had us do at the conference! Happy Valentine's smiles to the ARKive team!!

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