To Alaska and Beyond!


Of all the summer vacations our family has shared, this last one will always stand out in my mind. Yes, Virginia, Alaska truly is as breathtaking as everyone says --from the glaciers to the humpback whales to the incredible sense of peace, serenity and awe we felt taking in nature's wonders.

Thanks to the Internet, we can all visit Alaska. Let's start with the basics-- Alaska's Facts and Figures . Did you know that dog mushing is the state sport? Can you guess the state flower? Appropriately, it's the Forget-Me-Not. Did you know that in 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia for just two cents an acre! Many Americans called the purchased "Seward's Folly."

If you're thinking about a trip to Alaska, there's plenty of links to help plan your trip. The Alaska Scenes Slide Show provides a glimpse of some of the beautiful sites you might see.

The Teel Home Education Page is a wonderful site with links to plenty of Alaskan resources, including the Official Student Information Guide to Alaska , which has everything students will want to know about Alaska. Thanks to the Teel family, it's a snap visiting the Alaska Science Forum, Alaskan Animals or the Alaska Volcano Observatory, just to name a few. The Aurora Page has information and links to breathtaking images of the Aurora Borealis or "Northern Lights." As long as we're star gazing, you won't want to miss viewing the universe through NASA's Hubble Space Telescope . There's online images and files for some of Hubble's finest pix.

Looking for Alaskan fun stuff? Try Dogsledding or the Snow Page with activities about snow. There's plenty of links to crafts and activities, games, magazines, sports and books online. The Teel site also provides links to general education sites. General education? Is it that time already? Where did the summer go?

I hated leaving Alaska and vowed to go back someday. Yet I had to face the fact that summer was gone and the school year was just beginning. If you need a jolt of motivation to get you going, visit The School Page . Included in this month's hot sites for teachers is WhaleNet , an interactive educational project dedicated to whales and marine research. Its goal is to foster enjoyment in learning about the environment. The Language Arts Page provides an extensive, and I do mean extensive, list of lesson plans for teachers. Gotten a bit rusty on those math skills, over the summer? Visit The Math Page and get back up to speed.

The copyright of the article To Alaska and Beyond! in K-12 Resources is owned by Randi Field. Permission to republish To Alaska and Beyond! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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