Creator: Big Think | visit site
Grade Range: 6 - 11
News and information from top thinkers and doers around the world, screened so that it is condensed to that which is significant, relevant, and applicable, that is Big Think. This website is a phenomenal source for information and news. The philosophy of Big Think is that as we "move to the knowledge era" that you will be able to better function if you know more and understand what you know. This website was awarded one of TIME magazine’s best websites of 2011 for news and information. <B>Please screen any articles that you wish to share BEFORE sharing with your students. Some content is NOT appropriate for the classroom. This is not a site you want to send students off to explore on their own. </B>
In the Classroom
Choose a story that relates to your topic that you are teaching such as science or even music with a story such as "How Music is Good for Your Brain." Share the story with your students. Discuss the writings, and then use it as a platform on how students should approach the things that they are learning in class. This way they develop critical thinking skills and extract the most important information and leave the accessory facts to the side. Assign specific articles to cooperative learning groups to read and explore together. Then have students create a multimedia project to share with the class using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools <a href="/content/edge.cfm?c=18">reviewed here</a>. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): <a href="/single.cfm?id=18378">Adobe Spark for Education</a>, <a href="/single.cfm?id=17166">Zeetings</a>, <a href="/single.cfm?id=17424">Animatron</a>, <a href="/single.cfm?id=18291">Renderforest</a>, and <a href="/single.cfm?id=18390">Beautiful.AI</a>.
At Home
Stay current and help yourself better organize the information that surrounds you by reading and watching Big Think.
Tags
news, brain, psychology, politics, cross cultural understanding, business, environment,
Subjects
Art, Biology/Life Science, Current Events, Earth Science/Geology, Economics, Engineering/Technology, English, Family and Consumer Science, Geography (US/World), Government/Civics: U.S, History & Culture: World, Language Arts, Math, Music, Parent Information, Physics, Professional, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Writing,