Lesson 3 - - SIRS Issues Researcher and Discoverer

When opening the SIRS Discoverer for K-9, I found the homepage to be helpful but not too overwhelming.  It listed several browsing options under the Browse Subject Tree, an Almanac for kids, Current Events, Encyclopedia, Dictionaries, Activities, Biographies, Maps and more. 

Because we are coming up on Groundhog’s Day, I chose to search for the fuzzy little guy.  The search results page showed several tools at the top of the page including the total number of articles separated by newspaper, magazines, reference, graphics, and webfind sites.   There was also a color-coded reading – level key.  It showed a purple book for general, a green book for easy, a blue book for moderate, and a red book for challenging reading levels.  Each article began with the colored book that matched it’s reading level.  

Each article also showed several different icons next to the title.  The yellow apples allowed you to view the subjects that were found in the articles without opening up the entire article.  The camera icon previewed any graphics that were included with the article.  The lowercase letters “a” and “p” were not a linked to anything, but the “a” showed you that this article had an activity with it, and the lowercase “p” showed that the article contained some biographical information about a person.  Some articles came in PDF version and the symbol was also next to the articles name.  Each article also included a short description, the size of the article, the date and place where it was taken from, and the Lexile Score.  Although this page was informative, it might be a little much for young students without some adult guidance.

The “Country Facts” page listed the countries alphabetically and showed the yellow apple and camera icons once again for each country.  With the warm winter weather that we have been having lately, I have been dreaming of someplace warm and tropical.  So I chose to search for Jamaica.  Right away the option was given to have the article transmitted to my email.  There were several teacher resources with links given and then a ton of basic facts about Jamaica were listed including the population, geography and weather, economy and government, and important dates from it’s history.

Through the link for “Maps of the World” I was directed to a search of over 3000 detailed and printable maps that I could search for by clicking on one of the given options, typing in my own search request, or choosing from the alphabetical list.  I chose to type in the word Jamaica and it gave me 4 different map links to choose from.  The first map that I chose showed 15 different towns including the capital of Kingston, the Caribbean Sea around it, the flag, a mileage key, and a smaller map to show where it can be found on the earth.  It also stated where the map was copied from.  The second map that I chose included most of the same information but it also included geographical features and the lines of latitude and longitude.

The other database feature that I chose was the “Skills Discoverer”.  It included links for Art, Health, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  Each one had subsections and each of those sections included a “Featured Interactive” with a game, activity, or video.

While searching the SIRS Issues Researcher, I noticed right away that some of the issues listed may be considered controversial and that some parents may not want their children to view this without their permission and guidance.  I have several families that homeschool their children that might feel this way. 

I chose to look up the topic of “Banned Books”.  The site opened up with a short summary of the topic , a Pros/Cons question and answer section, and a video.    The Research Tools gave links for a Topic Overview, a Timeline, Global Impact, Statistics, My Analysis, and Note Organizer.  The site then listed several articles and gave the option of narrowing the results by magazines, newspapers, viewpoints, reference, and graphics and media.  Each article gave a short description, a list of subjects, the Lexile Score, the size of the article, and the date and place where it was published.  It also gave a check box for each that said, “Add to My List” and some articles showed when PDF was available.

After choosing the “Curriculum Pathfinders” I found several subheadings and research ideas for the areas of Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Arts, and Health.  There were also different interactive links on the right hand side for each. 

I chose the Fine Arts link and the subheading of art.  It listed several links for research ideas, notable people, questions, and a spotlight on outside art all followed by the corresponding articles.  The art subheading itself was also linked to many articles