Our writers recommended these independent websites for our field-test teachers.

General, Kid-Friendly Web Sites

The Adventures of Herman

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/index.html

This interactive site helps students learn more about earthworms.

EcoKids: Chain Reaction

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm The "Play and Learn" section of this website includes a game about food chains. In addition to reinforcing vocabulary, children are challenged to put a food chain together, and speculate what would happen to if one organism in the food chain was removed.

Microbe Zoo

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/dlc-me/zoo/

This site features the following attractions: DirtLand, Animal Pavilion, Snack Bar, Space Adventure, and Water World. Each provides examples of microbes (bacteria and fungi) that thrive in the particular environment described.

Nature’s Recyclers Coloring Book

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/cool/natrec.htm

Follow this web link to a PDF file for "Nature’s Recyclers Coloring Book," which you can print and distribute in class.

Natureworks: Decomposers

www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep11b.htm

Drawn from an episode of Natureworks ( New Hampshire public television), this web page begins: "When plants and animals die, they become food for decomposers like bacteria, fungi, and earthworms." It then describes each of the three types of organisms.

Soils Zoo

www.waite.adelaide.edu.au/school/Soil/zoo.html

This site offers clear photographs of some of the different organisms that live in the soil. It features predators, tunnellers (including earthworms and dung beetles), grazers (including springtails and nematodes), and microbes (including fungi and bacteria).

Welcome to the Mushroom Club

http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/FunFacts/Mushroom_Club.htm

This kid-friendly site offers games, recipes, experiment ideas and information about mushrooms and other types of fungi.

References for Teachers

Decomposition

Biodiversity in Soil and Leaf Litter

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/biodiversity_litter.htm

This site provides illustrations and information about organism that live in leaf litter.

Decomposition

http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/decompos.htm

This site explains the process and importance of decomposition and contains images of a rabbit decomposing over several months.

Forest Floor Terrarium

http://casnov1.cas.muohio.edu/scienceforohio/Terrarium/L.html

This site explains how to set up a forest floor terrarium in the classroom.

Australian Invertebrates that Inhabit Rotting Logs

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/genetics/staff/sunnucks/homepage/research1.html

Forest Preserve District of Cook County: Rotting Logs

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/400-499/nb441.htm

There’s Life in Dead Trees

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/nr/wildlife/animalinn/whattodo.htm

These sites provide detailed information about rotting logs.

Oetzi the Iceman

http://www.crystalinks.com/oetzi.html

This site contains information and links to other sites about the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy. Believed to be 5,300 years old, the Iceman was discovered in 1991 in the Italian Alps.

Rotten Luck: The Role of Downed Wood in Ecosystems

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Bro/Bro24.htm

Download a short, well illustrated brochure that describes the important roles played by fallen trees.

Waste in the Natural World

http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/enjoying_alberta/parks/featured/kananaskis/pdf/waste.pdf This site provides exceptional activities and resources detailing how nothing is wasted in nature.

Earthworms and Other Invertebrates

Crayfish in the Classroom

http://www.naturenorth.com/fall/crayfish/crclssrm.html

This web site describes how to catch, keep, feed, and care for keep crayfish in the classroom.

Small Farms: Friend Earthworm

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/oliver/oliverToC.html

Teaching with Worms

http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/teachercenter/pg000185.htm

Wiggly Worms

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/explore/worms.htm

Worm Watch

http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/index.html

These sites provides detailed information and activities about earthworms.

Worm Bin Critter Gallery

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/bbb/id16.html

Worm Bin Pictures

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/bbb/id16.html

These sites contain excellent pictures and information about organism that can be found in a worm bin.

Worm Bin Reviews

http://www.wormdigest.org/wormbins.html

This site explains the different types of worm bins that can be used for vermicomposting.

Fungi and Bacteria

Classroom Clipart: Fungi

http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Plants/Fungi&img=0

This site contains clipart of various types of mushrooms that can be used as visuals in the classroom

North American Mycological Association

http://www.namyco.org/education/k-12.html

Simply Fungi

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/andes/8046/

Tom Volk’s Fungi

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/

These sites provide an incredible amount of information about fungi.

Microbiology

http://www.microbeworld.org/htm/aboutmicro/abt_start.htm

This web site is produced by the American Society for Microbiology. View the section entitled "Microbes: What They Are and What They Do" for excellent, illustrated descriptions of fungi and bacteria.

Composting

Backyard Magic: The Composting Handbook

http://www.gnb.ca/0009/0372/0003/0001-e.html

Composting: A Great Way to Rot

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Lessons/COMPOSTROT.htm

The New York City Compost Project

http://www.nyccompost.org/program/index.html

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/exec/sbea/tes/lessons99/composting.html

These sites contain extensive information about composting.

The Decomposition Process

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/compost/chapter1.html

This web site offers a comprehensive overview of composting, including distinctions between aerobic and anaerobic decomposition, requirements for efficient decomposition, and organisms in composting.

Vermicomposting

http://connes.wcpss.net/Worms/articles.html

This site explains how to compost with earthworms.