teach and delight

We know the positive results of getting our students to write about issues. They tend to write with more interest and passion because they are writing about something they care about. Ideally, they will conduct their own research with little prompting. The trick is to get them interested in the first place.

Here are three sites built with Flash technology that provide just enough factual information about environmental issues to get your students going. You will want to spend some time at the sites yourself, because they are amazing.

• The interactivity of nationalgridfloe allows us to calculate our carbon footprint--daily activities--to see how they affect creatures as far away as the North Pole.
• A popular ice-cream maker sponsors helpthehoneybees, reminding us that healthy bee colonies are responsible for many of the tasty things that go into our favorite summer treat: berries, nuts, and honey.
• Taking a tongue-and-cheek look at lightbulbs, unscrewAmerica, makes a convincing case for citizens for environmental enlightenment.

These are dazzling interactive sites, reminding us of Aristotle's maxim to both teach and delight.