Lesson 3 - SIRS Issues Researcher and Discoverer

SIRS Discoverer

1. I decided to have my nine year old son help me with this one. I wanted to get his point of view. He chose to look up wolves. We were able to see graphics and noted that many reading levels were available. It did seem that most were at the moderate reading level for the wolves. It seems like graphics are readily available for each article.

2. Database Features.

Country Facts. We chose Turkey for this example. We noted that you were able to get the pronunciation, official name, year of independence, capital, population, map graphics, the turkey flag, religions, languages, education, work force, etc. Geography, weather, economy, government and history were other choices.

Maps of the World. We decided this section would come in very handy for geography lessons.

We chose Science Fair Explorer for our last database feature. It lets you explore a topic of your choice. We chose "In the Junk Drawer", and then chose electric animals. It gives you an article with key words. At the end you are able to test your reading comprehension by answering the questions in the discussion section. The correct answers then follow.

My son was very excited about the information and agreed that it would help with his research at school. He is planning on telling his teacher about the database. He also thought he would enjoy just "surfing" it on his own at home for fun!

SIRS Issues Researcher

1. I chose "banned books" for my issue. I like the format that is used. First a short summary of the issue and hand is given, and then the "pros" and "cons" are outlines. Each has several viewpoints to back up each side. Different perspectives are given, and critical thinking and analysis discussion questions are available as well.

2. Curriculum Pathfinders. I chose Journalism under Language Arts. Once I chose my subject, I was shown several matching subjects available in newspapers, magazines, government documents, references, graphics/media, and Web Select sites. I was also given the chance to define my selection further by choosing broadcast journalism, editorials, fighting words, foreign news and more!