I recently wrote a blog about the NASA For Kids Website which is designed to bring space learning to younger children. Another website put out by NASA to help kids learn about space is Star Child.
Star Child is designed for use as a teaching tool for younger children. The site is divided up into two levels. Level one covers basic information about the planets and solar system. Level Two expands upon the knowledge children learn in level one to cover the moon and gravity.
There is a large section of the webpage filled with activities that teachers can print out for their students to use in class, and some information for teachers so that can teach along with the website.
In the extremely internet based world we live in I think that websites like this are fantastic. This website is written at a six or seven year old reading level, so children can navigate the site on their own and learn about the world around them.
When I was a child I had aspirations of becoming an astronaut and would have loved a website like this. The different levels give children a basic overview of the topic, and then give them the opportunity to expand upon it in level 2.
One neat portion of the site is the “Question Of The Month” that attempts to tackle a question sent in my the sites child users.
Foreign students can also benefit from the information on Star Child. The site has been translated into German, Italian, and Portuguese with a Spanish translation underway.
I find it somewhat fascinating that the Spanish translation did not come before all of the rest. A student who is learning English however should be able to navigate through the site rather easily. There is some complicated language but that is usually explained within the text.