1. Africa Quest II- This site features online expeditions to various countries. Recently students were able to take virtual expeditions to Okinawa, Japan and Ghana, Africa to explore the life expectancies of babies born there. The average life span in Okinawa is 86, while the average lifespan of in Ghana is 56 years or less. In order to determine the reasons of this, students explored the daily activity of people as well as their diet and culture. Students were asked to consider ways in which the life expectancy of people in Ghana could be lengthened, and what they could do to help. They were encouraged to post their ideas on the website. Students were also able to vote to direct the expedition team’s activities, and questions and answers were posted to the website to facilitate the learning experience. This is a great site with interesting collaborative activities.

http://www.globalschoolnet.org/expeditions/bluezones/index.html

2. Discrimination Based on Race- This lesson examines the causes and effects of racial discrimination as well as positive steps that students can take to combat this problem. The lesson is divided into three sections. The first section asks students to work on a common definition of race. In the second section, they discuss their opinions on racial differences. The third section gives students ideas on what they can do to stop racism both locally and globally. Students can read about the experiences of ten individuals living in Denmark as minorities, by visiting On Being Myself. They then have the opportunity to collaborate with other students by visiting Voices of Youth to discuss their opinions on the interviews above, or share their own experiences on the topic.

http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/discrim/race.asp#C

3. African Great Lakes Region Collaboration- This site offers about 50 collaborative projects related to social studies. I liked the African Great Lakes Region collaboration, which is a forum where students in Central Africa (Specifically the Great Lakes Region of Africa) are united to discuss issues they have shared. These include the ethnic and political strife which has existed in the area over the past ten years. Classrooms outside of this area may also take part in the discussion.

http://www.iearn.org/projects/greatlakes.html

4. National Pride- This project called National Pride falls in to the Geography category. Students are asked to find information about a Partner School’s Country. Some of the information listed is: 1. The country’s National Anthem 2. Currency 3. National Symbols 4. Flags. The information is then organized by students into a graphic representation such as chart or poster. Teachers can include other information in this project, or modify it to suit their grade level.

http://www.interlink.org.nz/projects/pride/pride.html

5. War Affected Children- This site has projects which can be translated into eight different languages. This particular project deals with the effect of war on children. The information is presented in chapter format, and students may participate in a discussion at the end of each chapter. This lesson lets students talk about their experiences (or lack of) with War, and what they can do to contribute to the peace process. There are a series of thoughtful discussion topics, and it was both interesting and eye opening to read the comments from children all over the world. This site is great for teachers, students and parents.

http://www.epals.com/waraffectedchildren/

6. Electronic Postcards- This is a project where classes can exchange electronic postcards with other participating classrooms. The objective of this project is to gain knowledge of other schools and communities from around the world. This looked like a really fun project that all grade levels can participate in, since teachers can modify the lesson based on the type of information being exchanged.

http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/cc/projects/05-06/postcard.htm

7. Global Warming- This is a current project whose target age is listed as secondary students, although I noticed younger students had participated. The topic is stopping global warming. Students are provided with links to complete eight instructional activities on the subject. Students along with their instructor, are asked to post their findings on the KidSpace site. They can then interact with students from other countries and discuss their findings on global warming.

http://65.42.153.210/kidspace/start.cfm?HoldNode=16019&HoldNav=614

8. Social Security-A New Challenge for the 21st Century- This is a WebQuest project which asks students to consider how the Social Security System will effect their lives, and how it should be structured in order to provide for those who need it in the future. The lesson has the following four phases: 1. Students should research the topic of Social Security 2. Students should compare our Social Security System to that of other countries 3. Students are to use collaboration to answer a question 4. Students are encouraged to contact Congress to voice their opinions and offer suggestions to improve the Social Security System. Each phase provides students with appropriate links to complete the tasks. I though this was a great project for students to complete on a current hot topic which will ultimately affect their futures.

http://drb.lifestreamcenter.net/Lessons/soc_sec/index.htm

9. International Telementor Program- I thought this was a neat project where students can collaborate with mentors through electronic communication. Because the Mentors are Business Professionals, they are able to use their real world experiences to guide students towards setting future goals, and ultimately towards a career path. The Mentors help students determine what their interests are. This particular project allows students to familiarize themselves with computers, and helps them formulate a plan to help them achieve educational and career goals.

http://www.telementor.org/newprojects.cfm-

10. Historical Treasure Chests- In this activity, students are provided with four primary source documents, and they work in conjunction with other students to determine the time period of the documents origin. Questions

http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/treasure/

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