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More interesting yet bogus sites.

Victorian Robots

http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/

The dangers of dihydrogen monoxide

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html



School Information Technology Discussion <[log in to unmask]> on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 8:33 AM -0500 wrote:
As part of my middle school curriculum, students develop Internet literacy
and learn how to "read" Websites.  Part of this involves examining sites and
analyzing them for accuracy, validity and intent (of the site).  I'm now
looking for more sites which may appear legitimate  but are actually (in the
words of the students) "fake."  Students learn how to use Snopes, Museum of
Hoaxes and other sites to verify the information the see, but finding good
(and appropriate, and virus free) sites to examine is time consuming.

Here are examples which I've already used:

http://www.thedogisland.com/     where dogs can run free as nature intended

http://www.bambooturtle.us/NationalCryptozoologic.html     home of the Rock
Nest Monster

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/    where you'll find the Pacific Northwest
tree octopus

http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html     which examines California's
threatened Velcro crop

http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/     because dehydrated water would be
sooo much more convenient

I also use some sites which appear to be filled with inaccurate or fantastic
content but which are quite legitimate.  Such as http://www.dinofish.com/  
 which tracks the rediscovery of coelacanths in the word's seas and oceans.

Lastly, we also look at sites which contain more than a grain of truth, such
as http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/25/usa.theobserver      which,
despite the crazy headline, features accurate information about the use of
dolphins in the military.  We also look at http://www.athletes.com/      a
URL that's been around for a long time but which doesn't seem to have a
clear purpose or good design (at first).

Now I'm looking for more examples, to help assess whether or not students
are able to determine accuracy and validity of what they read on the Web.  
Suggestions?  




Bob Sargent
Technology Coordinator
Waits River Valley School