1/2 Markets Around the World

The 1/2s have been learning about Market Street and now they are doing their very first research project: Markets Around the World. Here are some resources to help your children find the information they will need for their research.

PRINT RESOURCES
The library is a great resource for illustrated books about markets, books about individual countries, and encyclopedias. You can search online for books in the Mid Hudson Library System by going to http://midhudson.org/ and requesting titles using your library card number and PIN. Contact me if you need guidance on how to do this. You can also search for books in our school library online catalog; the link to our catalog is on the library portal page.

Our school library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which is also used in most public libraries. If you browse along the shelves in the following areas in the children's books section you will find some useful titles:
031 Reference area where you'll find illustrated encyclopedias.
381 Social Studies area for books about markets.
900s Geography and History for books about individual countries. For example, location 944 for books about France; 951 for books about China; and 972 for books about Mexico.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Web Sites
Markets Around the World from America. Gov. This site is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Follow this link to see photographs of markets around the world. There is some text accompanying each photograph. http://photos.america.gov/galleries/amgov/4110/markets/

National Geographic For Kids. Search for a country in the Explore Countries of the World page where you'll find photographs, videos and information about many countries around the world.  

Kids Around the World from the National Peace Corps Association. This is a fun site for children to learn about life in other countries. You can choose a continent and search for individual countries where you'll find information about daily life, photographs and links to other useful web sites.
http://www.katw.org/index.cfm
Encylopedia Britannica Online. This searchable site contains 3 encyclopedias at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. http://school.eb.com/ You will need to use our school user name and password to log on from home; these are listed in a document on the library portal page, which is also available in hard copy in the library. Or contact me directly. Try a search for "open air markets."

Kid-Friendly Search Engines: Use search terms such as "open air markets" or "outdoor markets" to differentiate from financial markets!
Yahoo Kids!
http://kids.yahoo.com/learn

Internet Public Library/Kidspace
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/

Ask Kids
http://www.askkids.com/

9/10 Country Study

Here are some resources to help you find information about contemporary life in different countries around the world. Use this guide to find information on the internet and in books available both in our school and in your local public library.

PRINT RESOURCES
A good starting point is the reference section where you can read illustrated articles about individual countries in general encyclopedias such as World Book or Colliers. You can also look in specialized encyclopedias such as People and Places and Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, which are both in our library at the location REF 910.3 WOR. Excellent reference books available in the public library are the Europa World Year Book and Countries of the World and their Leaders. Both books contain facts about individual countries and their economies, media, political parties and other general information about daily life.

Our school library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which is also used in most public libraries. The Dewey number you will find helpful is the 900's where you will find books about individual countries. For example, books about Nigeria can be found at 966.9 and books about China at 951. Other Dewey numbers give information about religion (200's), holidays (394.2), international cuisine (640's), architecture (720) and flags (929.9). Use the online catalog to search for books about specific countries or regions and for books on particular topics.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
1. Encyclopedias and Almanacs
CIA - The World Factbook. Contains statistical information about every country's geography, population, government, economy, communications and culture.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/profileguide.html
NationMaster. Contains statistics on every country. Data is drawn from authoritative sources such as the CIA World Factbook, the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF. http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
Encylopedia Britannica Online.  http://school.eb.com/
Global Statistics. An almanac that gives brief information on nations and regions of the world. There are also links to individual nations' information sites. http://www.xist.org/
The Library of Congress: Portals to the World. Links to electronic resources about different countries. http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html
2. Newspapers, Magazines and Media
ABYZ News Links. A portal to online news sources from around the world, including newspapers, broadcast media, internet, magazines and press agencies. Searchable.http://www.abyznewslinks.com/
All You Can Read. A portal to online magazines from around the world. http://www.allyoucanread.com/international-magazines/
Internet Public Library Newspapers Collection: Online Newspapers from around the world. http://www.ipl.org/div/news/
News and Newspapers Online from the University Libraries of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. http://library.uncg.edu/news/
Librarians' Internet Index provides links to English language editions of newspapers from several countries around the world. http://lii.org/pub/topic/newspapers_by_place
3. General Sites
U.S. Department of State Background Notes. This site gives up to date information about a country's infrastructure including land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy and foreign relations. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
Cultural Profiles Project from the University of Toronto. Intended as a guide to aid in cultural awareness to new immigrants to Canada, this is a resource for learning about the life and customs of countries worldwide. http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/index.html
National Geographic - Travel and Cultures. Gives brief factual information about many countries and multi-media about many aspects of a country's cultural, political and economic life. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/
InfoPlease from Pearson Education - Countries of the World. http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html
Embassies of the World. Links to embassy web sites. http://www.embassyworld.com/
Kids Around the World from Global Teach Net, a program of the National Peace Corps Association. This is a good place to find names of people in different countries and for links to additional sites. http://www.katw.org/
Celtnet Recipes from around the world from Celnet. http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/
Kate's Global Kitchen Archive from Global Gourmet Magazine. An archive of recipes from around the world. http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/kgkarc.html
Smithsonian Global Sound project. Listen to music segments from around the world. http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/

4. Maps
National Geographic Maps. http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps
Maps and Geography of the World. http://www.geography.about.com/library/maps/blindex.htm
World Atlas. http://www.worldatlas.com/
5. Flags
Flags of the World. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags
World Flag Database. http://www.flags.ndirect.co.uk/
6. Other Useful Sites
Google Earth