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This page contains links and a short description of all the websites that have featured as "Website of the Week" in our newsletters.
http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/
Although often put down as the cause of students not doing any homework, TV can be useful in the classroom if you know what programs to watch. ABC TV is well known for showing educational programs on weekday mornings during school terms and the ABC Schools Television website is a great resource for planning lessons that incoporate visual aides.
The website not only has schedules of educational programming - from one day to six months in advance - it also allows you to search by subject, age range (primary to secondary), and program title.
An essential resource if you plan lessons using programs screened on ABC TV.
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/
News websites are one of the most popular types of sites these days, but there are not many that cater specifically for schools and to a child's point of view. The Behind the News website is one of the few sites to do so and is the companion site for the long running school oriented news programme that screens every week on the ABC.
The site features the most current stories that have been on the show, along with questions and learning exercises designed to encourage discussion on the issues involved.
Also interesting are the profiles on famous Australians and the compilations of BtN stories listed in the specials section.
http://www.ga.gov.au
Looking for a map of Australia? Need to find accurate latitude and longitude?
Want to find the location of every nuclear explosion since 1945?
The Geoscience Australia website has all this and more. It is run by a government agency whose task is geosciences research and to provide geospatial (mapping) information. While much of the data available from the site is meant for those who need data for GIS (Geographic Information System) software, there are many other resources that are easily accessible to the general public.
There is much more fascinating information contained on this site so I won't spoil the fun of finding it yourself. A highly valuable resource and somewhere you can look around for hours if you so desire.
http://www.wikipedia.org
Did you know that there are three cities in the USA named Melbourne? And that if you hit a golf ball on the moon it will travel over a kilometre?
These facts come from the site Wikipedia, which is a copyright unrestricted, collaboratively written encyclopaedia with entries in 33 languages. The site began in 2001 and contains 128,870 articles in English.
While it is not going to replace the Encyclopædia Britannica or the more recent Google, this site is an excellent reference source if you want a quick information about on a particular topic without having to search for hours.
www.sunsmart.com.au
The Sun Smart catchphrase was developed by The Cancer Council Victoria in 1988 and has become part of our everyday vocabulary. Radio, print and television advertising remind us of how important it is to be aware of the damage that UV rays can do to our skin, even in winter!
The website provides information about sunburn & skin cancer, sun protection, skin cancer treatment and research & statistics. There are also printable Fact Sheets on topics ranging from Solariums to Sunscreen.
www.cybersmartkids.com.au
Kids spend a lot of time surfing the internet and chatting online. After all, the internet is a source of entertainment as much as it is an educational tool.
With the school holidays upon us, kids are probably going to spend more time than usual online. The Cybersmart Kids site is produced by the Australian Broadcasting authority and has useful tips for kids, teachers and parents to help protect them from the potential risks associated with surfing the worldwide web.
www.museumofhoaxes.com/aprilframe.html
Were you taken in by any April Fool’s Day hoaxes this year? If you were chances are you weren’t alone!
There has long been debate about the origin of April Fool’s Day, and the April Fool’s Day section of the Museum of Hoaxes website outlines a few of the most common theories.
Of course the list of Top 100 April Fool’s Day hoaxes of all time is one of the best things about the site. You may have heard of some of the more famous ones, such as the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest and the UFO that landed just outside London in 1989, but some of the others are just as good.
A few of the hoaxes on the list are so outrageous that you wonder how anyone believed them in the first place, but others walk a finer line and may have been harder to pick at the time. To see this for yourself, why not do the April Fool’s Day Quiz? The Quiz consists of a list of news stories and asks you to pick which ones you think are genuine and which are hoaxes. Try it for yourself, the results may surprise you...
http://www.abc.net.au/wordmap/
If you have spent any time in different states and territories within Australia you may have found yourself in a situation where you were totally confused about what someone was saying to you!
If you have ever wondered what a "cossie" was, or not known how to respond when asked if you would like a glass of "chateau d’ cardboard" the Word Map website is worth a visit.
realestate.com.au
If you are planning to buy a new house or apartment, selling your current home, or simply moving to a new rental property, this website is a great place to start.
If you have never purchased property before you may find that the terms and abbreviations used by real estate agents can be quite confusing. The Tools and Resources section of this website has a list of abbreviations and real estate terms, as well as some frequently asked questions. Consult these and you should be an expert in next to no time!
tipking.com
Do you have wine stains on the carpet, hands smelling like garlic, or a tough screw to undo? Then you need the Tip King!
The Tip King is a good source of helpful advice to assist you with day-to-day tasks and small problems. Basically it’s the sort of advice that was probably common knowledge in our parents and grandparents time.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Most of us would be aware of the bushfires currently burning in south eastern Australia as they have featured prominently in the media. Some of our readers may have been unfortunate enough to have experienced them first hand. The extent of the problem is immediately obvious from satellite images on the Earth Observatory website.
If you and/or your students have an interest in how our earth is changing spend some time browsing the site. You will be fascinated by what you learn!
www.bom.gov.au
The Bureau of Meteorology website is a rich source of information about our weather. It actually contains so much information that it can be difficult to know where to begin!
There is a wealth of educational material provided on the website, including lesson plans and ideas for school projects as well as links to other meteorological resources and publications.
how-to-keep-your-new-years-resolution.com
If you are like most people you have probably already broken your New Year’s Resolutions! In case you are still struggling to keep them, this website may help.
You can find out how the whole tradition of making resolutions first began, and be provided with a handy "loophole" for making resolutions again later in the year!
isubscribe.com.au
The isubscribe website provides magazine subscriptions online and features over 750 magazine titles to choose from. You can search for magazines either by title or by category.
The benefit of subscribing online is that your request is received instantaneously; there is no need to wait for postal delivery. This means that your subscription can be processed much faster, and you receive your first magazine earlier! (Magazines are sent via regular mail.)
amazon.com/cards
Have you ever received an e-card? E-cards (sent via email) are a fun way of sending a message to friends and family and Christmas is the ideal time to make use of them!
Most e-card websites have a range of animated cards available for a variety of occasions, featuring moving graphics and occasionally music. If you are interested in sending a Christmas e-card, the Amazon website can be a good starting point. It has a range of cards in several different categories: General, Humorous, Kids, Retro, Romantic and Religious Christmas. There is even a series of cards featuring the 12 Days of Christmas for dog lovers!
stateart.com.au
Are you interested in all things "arty"? If so, the State of the Arts website is well worth a visit.
The website features articles about arts events in all states and territories across Australia in the categories of visual arts, performing arts, music and film. There is also an Arts in the Media page listing upcoming arts programs on television to help you plan your weekly viewing! Use the Arts Directory to go to other arts related websites such as theatre and dance companies, bookshops, music vendors, cinemas and even travel and tourism services.
www.choice.com.au
Many of you may have heard of Choice magazine, published by the Australian Consumers Association, a non-profit organization that provides information about the various products we use from day to day.
Regardless of whether you decide to become a Choice member, the reports and articles featured on their website can help you to make more informed decisions about the products you purchase.
www.webcarhire.com
There is always so much to organise when going away on holidays. Tickets, luggage, maybe even travellers cheques or foreign currency. One aspect of your holiday planning that can be made a little easier is car hire.
The service certainly takes a lot of the work out of finding an appropriate vehicle at the best rate as you are presented with an instant list that you can use to make your decision.
fuelwatch.com.au
Would you like to save money on fuel for your car? Fuel Watch can help!
The Fuel Watch website provides information about the best fuel prices in suburbs around Australia’s capital cities. To find the location of a service station near you with the best price all you need to do is enter your postcode and press GO to commence a search. The 2 service stations with the cheapest prices will be displayed.
nationalgeographic.com
The National Geographic website is such a fantastic source of interesting information that it’s hard to know where to start!
As you would expect, the website is also a great source of educational information. There is a Homework Help area for students and plenty of resources for teachers including lesson plans, printable maps, quizzes and games. There is even a NG Kids link to a magazine especially for kids, featuring games, fun facts and stories.
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk
Are some of the things you hear in everyday language "all Greek to you"? The Phrase Finder website not only explains some common sayings, in many cases it also reveals where they came from originally. To use the above saying as an example, it originated from a line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "But for my own part, it was Greek to me", meaning that he found what was said unintelligible.
The site also features a list of handy proverbs, explanations of the origins and meanings of euphemisms and some popular fallacies about the origins of well-known sayings.
www.triv.net
Do you think you might be a good candidate for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"?
This website provides you with the opportunity to find out! Each quiz on the site has 15 questions, ranging from easy to extremely difficult, similar to the TV show. You are also given some familiar lifelines; ask a friend, 50/50, ask the audience. Unfortunately no money can be won, this is just for fun!
savewater.com.au
As we are approaching summer, and many areas are facing the prospect of drought, saving water is an important consideration. The Save Water website provides tips for reducing our water consumption and also information about products that can help us to do this in the home, garden, office and even at school. Green thumbs will appreciate the plant selector that recommends plants that are best suited to where you live in Australia.
20 to 26 October is National Water Week, a great opportunity for us to examine the ways in which we use (and waste) water. Information about activities and competitions is available on the Save Water website.
citysearch.com.au
The City Search website provides information about major cities and areas within Australia.
If you are planning a holiday City Search can be a good place to start. You can select the city/area that you are interested in from the City Search home page. The pages for capital cities all feature a Holiday Guide that is a great place to start and provides information about things to do and see, accommodation, transport and emergency services contact details.
schoolfriends.com.au
The School Friends website provides a central point for you to register your contact details and school/university details so that former classmates from schools in Australia and New Zealand can get in touch with you again.
wordsmith.org/awad/
The Wordsmith website offers a simple way of doing this by sending you a new word each day. All you need to do is click on the A Word A Day link on the website’s homepage and then click on the subscribe link.
Once you have subscribed you will receive a daily email containing a new word, pronunciation information, an example of its use and other interesting information about the word. There is even an audio clip so you can hear the word being spoken. The words selected are usually based on a theme each week and past words are included in an online archive.
familytree-online.com
Have you ever wanted to know more about your ancestors? The internet is a fantastic tool for researching genealogy. It is much faster and cheaper than the overseas flights and phone calls that were often required to build a family tree previously!
This website acts as a meeting place for people researching their family trees as well as a source of information and links to other useful websites. There is an events calendar for advising of family reunions and a free email service that family members can use to contact each other.
bookcrossing.com
The concept is simple and fun. Basically all you need to do to participate is read a good book, register the book and your comments about it on the website and then release it! When you register your book you will be given a unique BCID code to write in it before you release it. This code is used to track your book. You can release the book by giving it to a friend, donating it to charity or simply leaving it in a public place such as a café or on a park bench for someone else to find. Each time someone finds your book and posts their comments on the website you will receive an email so that you can track how many people have read your book and how far it has travelled.
The site claims that many authors and publishers support Book Crossing as a lot of visitors to the website purchase books based on the reviews they have read there. The site is about promoting books and good karma rather than saving people money!
lastminute.com
The people at lastminute.com match last minute buyers to last minute sellers and offer a range of products at fantastic prices. They only work with the highest quality suppliers so you can be sure that you are getting a genuine bargain. If you find the same product at a better price elsewhere, lastminute.com will refund the price difference.
If you are about to book a holiday, buy a gift or are looking for an adventure go to lastminute.com first!
www.daypop.com
This is a very handy search engine that locates articles about current events and breaking news. Simply type your query into the Search field, specify whether you want the search engine to look in News, Weblogs or both and then click the SEARCH button.
The beauty of locating information using this method is that it saves you sifting through other articles posted on News websites and takes you directly to the information you are looking for. A real time saver!
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm
Have you ever wanted to know more about urban legends? Have you ever wondered what an urban legend is? This link will take you to a feature page on the What You Need to Know About website that explains all!
changemyaddress.com.au
This website aims to provide a "one-stop shop" for people moving house. It will save you time as you simply enter your old and new address details once, select the service providers you wish to notify and let the website do the rest! It will even provide you with contact details for removalists, storage space providers and cleaning and maintenance services.
The website uses similar security technology to that used by major banks and credit card companies and only information that is relevant to each service provider is sent to them. Change My Address also guarantees that your information will not be sold to marketing and direct mail companies.
http://support.microsoft.com
If you are like most people these days, it's almost certain that you will use a computer during the course of the day. What is even more certain is that you will use at least one software package from Microsoft. Whether it's the operating system or an office application, we have come to rely heavily on the software provided by Microsoft to carry out our daily tasks. The Microsoft Knowledge Base website provides a one stop shop for advice, instructions, software updates, service packs, issue reports and general knowledge about the full range of Microsoft products. So whether you are looking for a security patch, drivers for a new piece of hardware, or instructions on how to set up networking for Windows XP, this is the site to visit.
ninemsn.com.au/getaway/
Need a break? Why not visit the Getaway website for some inspiration and great deals…
The Getaway website is based on the Channel 9 TV show of the same name. There is a Hot Deals section that features some amazing discounted rates for holidays within Australia and overseas.
www.timeanddate.com
Do you need to know what time it is in another part of the world? This website can help you quickly and easily. You don’t need to spend any time working out the time difference between your location and another (and risk getting it wrong!). All you need to do is enter details of the location you need to know about and the website will do all the work for you!
www.tradingpost.com.au
Yes the Trading Post is now online! If you have something to sell or are looking for a second-hand item the Trading Post is a great resource.
The home page of the Trading Post website has a useful Help & Services section. It explains how to search for ads, how to place an ad, about the Trading Post and also provides Trading Post contact details.
infochoice.com.au
The InfoChoice website provides independent information about the banking, investments, telecommunications, insurance and travel sectors. The site is run by Info Choice Limited, which does not endorse any provider, product or service. They aim to "provide information on a wide range of goods and services and present them in an objective way which allows consumers to make easy, meaningful comparisons and informed choices."
www.howstuffworks.com
Have you ever wondered how hypnosis works? Or how an email can travel from your computer and arrive at its destination? If so then How Stuff Works is the website for you!
How Stuff Works is a good source of information for interesting classroom discussions and will also satisfy your own curiosity about the world around us.
whereis.com.au
This is a fantastic website for navigating around metropolitan areas and regional centres in Australia. You can use the Map Search feature to display a map showing the location of a particular street, which can be zoomed in or out, and there is also an option to show the nearest parking stations in the area.
Where Is Online is produced by UBD and currently provides detailed maps for metropolitan areas and regional centres around Australian capital cities only. According to the website, map coverage is being updated progressively and their aim is to create the most comprehensive and complete online map database for Australia, so keep watching for maps of other regions!
www.infoplease.com
This website is part of the Learning Network which is based in the United States. It does contain a reasonable amount of information about the US, but is still quite valuable from a general knowledge perspective as it also has a world focus.
The website allows you to carry out searches of the Information Please Almanacs (collections of information about Business & Finance, Society & Culture, World Events, etc) Dictionary, Encyclopaedia and Atlas.
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