Teachers' Room
And, as a social studies teacher, you realize how much information
a student would have to research, organize, and analyze, to achieve such
a standard. After all, no "current event" unfolds within a vacuum. And
many occur within nations that your students have not yet explored....
Letting the Internet help. Learning Enrichment (LE) editors understand
the task that such SOLs impose. That's why we're sharing the following
list of Internet links with you. These links will lead you to on-line
encyclopedias, newspapers, government sources, global reports, and
dictionaries. And, among them, you'll find info on the history,
geography, government, economy — and culture — of every country
in today's world.
How did we organize the list? It's divided into the kinds of tasks
that LE editors address, when using the Internet to research one of our
world neighbors. We...
GATHER BASIC DATA Bookmark this page now! Then use it as a launch-pad for exploring
nations and peoples caught up in today's complex "current" events....
GATHER
BASIC DATA.... Bartleby.com. Links to high-demand
reference books, including The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition. Use
the "Select Search" or "Reference" menu to locate this encyclopedia, then
link to articles on the country of your choice.
The World
Factbook 2005. An old stand-by for LE writers! The CIA's
2005 edition includes an itemized profile of each country's economy, geography,
government, population, and more. Handy icons next to each profiled item
("Population," "Exports," etc.) allow readers to check
that item's definition and/or to cross-check data, in the same field,
for the rest of the world's independent states and territories. An additional
("Rank Order") icon next to some profiled items ("GDP,"
"Area") provides further information. (NOTE: Certain segments
of the online Factbook are regularly updated throughout the year.
See the opening page of any country profile to learn when its most recent
update occurred.)
yourDictionary.com.
Top 10 language dictionaries, plus 280 more. For translating occasional
phrases in the language of the country or region that you're researching.
Start with the link to "Dictionaries."
You'll recognize this.
It's a typical standard of learning (SOL) for a typical social studies
course in Grades 9-12:
"[Describe] a current event in detail ... [showing] depth
of understanding of the event's history, geography, politics, and economics."
SPOTLIGHT ECONOMIC ISSUES
EXPLORE REPORTS AND SURVEYS
KEEP AN EYE ON THE LATEST NEWS
CHECK WHAT U.S. & OTHER GOVERNMENT
SOURCES SAY
SEARCH EVEN FURTHER (Search
Engines)
KEEP YOUR LEARNING GOALS & STANDARDS
IN MIND
About. The Human Internet. List
of links compiled by "professional guides" to various topics. Use the introductory
Search box to enter the name of the country you're researching — "Germany,"
for example. Then, on the page that opens, use the Search box to refine
your topic — "Germany history," "Germany geography,"
etc.
SPOTLIGHT ECONOMIC
ISSUES....
InvestorWords. Alphabetical
arrangement of 6,000 definitions in what is perhaps too-narrowly described
as a financial glossary. Actually contains many terms that pop up in LE
coverage of economic issues. Good internal links among definitions.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Current data on economic topics and trends for dozens of democratic, free-market nations. Browse through reports listed on the Home Page, or select "Statistics" from the links. Note: Some reports are available to OECD subscribers, only.
World Bank. Detailed profiles of economic problems endured by the world's poorest nations — and reports on efforts by wealthy countries to aid them through World Bank loans, programs, etc. See "Data and Statistics" among the listed links.
World Trade Organization. Up-to-date news on disputes before the WTO, as well as annual reports on WTO issues and occasional special reports on such global concerns as poverty and its consequences.
EXPLORE
REPORTS AND SURVEYS.... UN Human Development Report.
UN's annual review and ranking of nations on the basis of their success
in coping with such issues as poverty, gender gap, refugee needs, etc.
World Resources Institute.
Source self-described as providing "information, ideas, and solutions
to global environmental problems." Check "Global Topics" and
"What's New."
Freedom House. Carefully
drawn ratings and rankings of the world's nations, based on the degree of
political rights and civil liberties enjoyed by their citizens.
KEEP AN EYE ON THE
LATEST NEWS....
(NOTE: Some news sites require that visitors register, in order to
access the site contents. Registration may include name, e-mail address,
etc.)
BBC News Online/World. Access to the seemingly endless online news archives of the British Broadcasting System. Click on a world region to begin browsing, or use the Search box to see articles on specific nations.
CNN.com/World News. Access to CNN news reports, features, and background stories. Click on a world region to begin browsing, or use the Search box at the bottom of the CNN World page to see articles on specific nations.
Google News. As the opening page advises us, this service tracks and constantly updates 4,500 world news sources. A "must-visit" site for Current Issues classes....Others, too!
OnlineNewspapers.com. Links to current editions of newspapers in more than 150 nations. Click on a continent or region, then select the country. Look for English-language publications.
USA NEWSPAPERS.COM. Links to current editions of newspapers in specific U.S. towns and cities. All 50 states! Good for local views on world news.
The Washington Post Online/World Page. Daily menu of articles on nations in the news, plus a search facility for info on all nations. Enter the country's name; on the next page click on "[Country Name:] Latest News and Post Coverage"; and you'll turn up recent Washington Post and Associated Press articles on each country, as well as links to country profiles in The World Factbook and at the Web site of the U.S. Department of State.
CHECK
WHAT U.S. & OTHER GOVERNMENT SOURCES SAY.... Europa. Official Web site
for the 15-nation European Union (EU). Click on the introductory label
in the language you like best, and discover links to EU policy statements,
announcements, and recent commission reports — as well as to a detailed
explanation of major EU institutions.
Library of Congress
Country Studies. Well-researched, book-length coverage of individual
countries. Number of study titles, as of October 2000: 101. Some are more
dated than others. To check a title's currency, click on the country's
name at the beginning of the table of contents; look for "publication"
date.
THOMAS: Legislative Information on
the Internet. Easy "Word/Phrase" access to U.S. Congressional
bills, resolutions, and proposals dealing with specific countries. This
source complements the viewpoints in "Backgrounders" and other reports
which the U.S. State Department provides on world nations.
U.S. Department of State.
U.S. Government source for several types of profiles on most world nations.
Click on "Country Background Notes" (under "Countries and Regions"), and
follow links to particular country.
Embassy.org's "Foreign Embassies....".
Compilation of links to many nations' embassies in the USA. Click on a country's
name. In most cases, the page that opens provides the embassy URL near the
end of the list of phone and fax numbers, etc. (If a URL isn't listed, click
on the CountryWatch "Profile.") The "Portfolio" connection on
the opening page of GlobeScope Internet
Services also provides a selection of embassy links. (NOTE: GlobeScope
maintains LE's Web site, too.)
SEARCH
EVEN FURTHER....
Google.
At the top of many an Internet user's list of "Favorites," this
engine scans billions of Web pages!
Google News. Constantly updated survey of more than 4,000 publications worldwide for the latest news about that country in your lesson plan.
KEEP
YOUR LEARNING GOALS AND STANDARDS IN MIND....
Education
World. Quick access to all State learning standards, by curriculum
area and grade level.
National Center for History in the Schools. Fast track to the Center's National History Standards.
National Council for the Social Studies. Site maintained by the leading professional association of social studies educators in the USA. Look for teacher resources, curriculum standards, and information on national, state, and local social studies councils.
That's it.... Good hunting! And don't forget the country study units which LE has already developed for you.
Feedback, anyone?
Click here to tell us if this page works for you. We'd like to know....