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Hello science teachers, I could sure use some help in finding out what level of content I need to make for a web site about the water cycle. If anyone wants to offer suggestions, please do. I am Howard Perlman, US Geological Survey (USGS), and we recently put up a Water Cycle for Kids diagram: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids.html USGS has told me they will print these posters for me if I create an interactive Web page for the diagram (which I need to do anyway, as would not an interactive page be a much better teaching tool?). Here is a mock up of what I'm making: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hotspot.html You mouse hover over each "hotspot" to get a popup of information. Now, my site is aimed at "kids", but I'm not sure what age..I assume elementary and middle schools. I need to know what kind of content I need in these popup boxes. I have some detailed content in them now, as I want to be comprehensive, but in a way kids will understand. But I've been told currently the popups have way, way too much text for elementary school kids. Is that true? How about middle school kids? And, would I need to make 2 sites? One for elementary schools with very limited text and leave the current mock up version more for middle schools...have 2 sites? NOTE: I've made "Condensation", "Evapotranspiration", and the little drop in the cloud into much simpler text. Is this better for elementary kids? Please offer me any opinions! Thanks Howard Perlman, USGS [email protected]

Hi Howard, Let me begin by saying thank you for this site! I have used it informally and in middle/high school. I would agree that there is too much text for elementary school students, and perhaps even for some middle school students. That said, I used to use a roller coaster simulation by Windows 2 the Universe (I think) which is no longer available, at least not by the same people. Anyway, they had a nice feature on the page that allowed the user to select among basic, standard, and advanced versions of the text on the site. The basic contained few difficult words, and shorter sentences, more suitable for late elementary, while the advanced contained more technical terms. They also had the option to choose Spanish or English, which is not a bad idea in the typical classroom, at least in our area. The site itself taught force and motion concepts generally targeted at about the seventh grade level, but using the selections, could be used in a differentiated classroom. You might consider definitions on a hotspot rollover, and click on links to go to new pages for deeper discussion. That would be my approach, but I am sure there are lots of good ideas out there!

Hi Howard, I did finally find the link to Windows to the Universe. The site is targeted to the middle school audience. I have used it with freshmen in high school as well (first year physical science). I see you also have the translation into many languages - that is awesome. Hope it helps.

Hi Howard! Love the visualization! It's really great! To answer your question about whether you should have one website or two, I would definitely say 'less is more' in this case. Two websites could prove to just be confusing, especially if one age group lands on the wrong one. I really like the way that you use the mouse over option. For younger kids, they could simply focus on the images to start. For older kids, they could use the mouse over option - in which case I would agree that some of the text boxes are too long. A short summary of 2-3 lines is best and if one wants to learn more, perhaps they could go to a detailed page. Overall I really like it though. Looking forward to seeing how it develops!

Hi Howard, I love what you have done to the website. All of the information is so easy for students to use and is well written. I have used the original site in many courses for teachers and I am going to show them your draft version and we will be checking to see when it is done.

Super! Howard, I thought all of the information was relevant, but like Christina mentioned, it may be a bit verbose for the younger students. Also, I would have liked to see the term aquifer being used on the poster for the second 'groundwater' section. Great site! Carolyn