Website Wednesdays: Weebly (and a biome project)

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to have my students create projects. And if they can involve technology - I'm usually sold.  Nothing gets my kids more fired up, than the thought of using a computer versus a pencil and piece of paper.  

So when it came time for my kids to study biomes and ecosystems, I knew that having them create a pamphlet just wasn't going to cut it this year.  Which leads me to today's Website Wednesday - Enter Weebly.  A fabulously (is that even a word? It is now!) free website that helps you....build websites. Ironic - I know. 

My students assignment was to create a website based upon the biome they were assigned and design a tourism site to inform potential travelers of the facts and sights they would see there.  These were their basic guidelines (*note - I did not create the original template of this project. I found it a few years ago and cannot locate the original author. I did, however, modify it to be a website project):

Home Page: Introduction
• Include a brief introduction to your biome to encourage them to visit the rest of the website.
•  Include why this Biome is globally important.

Page One:  Biome’s place on earth
• Where is it (geographical distribution)?
• What are its physical features?
• What are the native plants and their adaptations to live there?
• What are the native animals and their adaptations to live there?
• Give examples of cooperation and competition between and among species.

Page Two: Attractions/Tour Packages/Weather Report
• Advertise your biome’s recreational activities
• Publicize points of interest
• Suggest supplies/gear that tourists should bring to make their trip more enjoyable.
• Suggest other biomes nearby for side trips
• Weather Report (Used to aid tourists in packing their gear)

• What is the average precipitation?
• What is the average temperature?

Page Three: Warnings
• What are some threats to this biome?
• Are there any endangered species?
• Is there a fear of climate change for this biome?

Page Four: Sources Cited
• List where you found your information.

They make it easy to sign-up your school!

Weebly is a fantasic and easy resource for the students to quickly understand and begin working in.  Some of its best features include drag and drop editing, a collection of designs, no advertising (which is huge when talking about educational purposes), and the ability to put in rich multimedia.  At my school, we are lucky to have our email completely linked up to Google and all the awesome Google apps that come along with it.  Weebly is one of them, so my students could easily log in without me having to create sign-ins for them. 

Julia's Amazing Artic Website

You seriously just need to check it out today! In the meantime, here are some of my students' websites for your viewing pleasure. :-)

Chloe - http://chloesfreshwaterfacts.weebly.com/

Julia - http://theamazingarctic.weebly.com/

Kamila - http://thefantasticfreshwater.weebly.com/

Dhruv - http://dhruvstropicalrainforest.weebly.com/

Share below how you would use weebly in your classroom!