How Stuff Works
How does a fridge keep things cold? What makes a clock tick? How will time travel work? If these are questions you and your students often ponder it’s time to visit How Stuff Works.
Brought to us by the Discovery Channel, How Stuff Works is an expansive online encyclopaedia for all things scientific and an invaluable resource for research and project work in senior classes at primary and all ages at second level. This site is excellently laid out with information grouped under fifteen headings including Animals, Computer, Entertainment, Money, Science and more, making it easy to navigate and find specific information.
With every imaginable phenomenon covered there’s plenty here to keep even the most inquisitive students interested. Each topic is explained comprehensively with written information complemented by relevant photographs, illustrations and videos, helping to illustrate tricky concepts in a way books (or teachers!) would find difficult. In addition comprehensive suggestions for follow up and extension activities are included. For instance under Animals, students can find out ‘How long can a camel go without water?’ giving a comprehensive explanation of how these creatures can survive Dehydration. Investigating how sweet works and how bottled water works are just two of the suggested follow up activities.
Some may find the large banner ads obtrusive but the sheer quantity and quality of information onsite make it a must for student research.