Encyclopedia of Life
Grades: 9-to Adult | Subject(s): Life Science | Overall rating: 9
The Encyclopedia of Life is a free, online collection of article and multimedia resources accessible online at http://eol.org. The site is colorful, inviting, and interesting. Simply search for any living thing and a wealth of knowledge and research is presented in a variety of formats.
I decided to conduct a search on "sea turtles" simply because I love the character named Squirt in the movie Finding Nemo. I learned a great deal about sea turtles by browsing through the immense amount of research, data, images, videos, and maps. The information is organized into tabs to ensure ease of locating information. The articles are written in a highly scientific manner which may prove difficult for struggling or younger readers. A great feature included on this site is the ability to translate the information into many different languages. Another one of my favorite aspects about the site is the media files offered for users. In my search for sea turtles, I found 1,777 different media files which I could filter by image, video, or sound. Additionally, users are given an extensive bibliography to help with finding further resources to help with research.
I've rated this incredible resource as a 9. The only factor keeping it from earning 10/10 was it's lack of differentiation options available for struggling students and it's inability to change the text in order to appeal to a younger audience.
The Encyclopedia of Life is a free, online collection of article and multimedia resources accessible online at http://eol.org. The site is colorful, inviting, and interesting. Simply search for any living thing and a wealth of knowledge and research is presented in a variety of formats.
I decided to conduct a search on "sea turtles" simply because I love the character named Squirt in the movie Finding Nemo. I learned a great deal about sea turtles by browsing through the immense amount of research, data, images, videos, and maps. The information is organized into tabs to ensure ease of locating information. The articles are written in a highly scientific manner which may prove difficult for struggling or younger readers. A great feature included on this site is the ability to translate the information into many different languages. Another one of my favorite aspects about the site is the media files offered for users. In my search for sea turtles, I found 1,777 different media files which I could filter by image, video, or sound. Additionally, users are given an extensive bibliography to help with finding further resources to help with research.
I've rated this incredible resource as a 9. The only factor keeping it from earning 10/10 was it's lack of differentiation options available for struggling students and it's inability to change the text in order to appeal to a younger audience.
Source article:
Cheloniidae: Sea Turtles. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved September 14, 2011 from: http://eol.org
/pages/8123/overview.
Cheloniidae: Sea Turtles. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved September 14, 2011 from: http://eol.org
/pages/8123/overview.