Travel Back in Time with Interactive Timelines

One of the things I like about the internet, is it allows resources to become interactive. There are many interactive timelines which are available now, which provide an engaging way to look at history. Teachers can use them on Interactive whiteboards and they can cater for a range of subject areas. Students can explore on their own, find information for a research task or search for items similar to a scavenger hunt.


Conflict History

One in particular is called Conflict History. This site provides a timeline of the conflicts around the world throughout history. The site also provides a map of the world linking the countries involved in the conflict. There is information provided on each conflict provided by Wikipedia. This is a great resource for History and Geography. The scary thing is to see how many conflicts are documented in the 2000s.

British Library Interactive Timeline

Here is another great interactive timeline which can be used across many subject areas such as Ancient and Modern History, English, Science, Art and Music. The site is called the British Library interactive timeline. It allows you to explore collection items chronologically, from medieval times to the present day.


It includes a diverse range of resources divided into the following categories:

• Politics, power and rebellion
• Literature, Music and Entertainment
• Everyday
• Sacred texts
• Medicine, Science and Technology

Once you have chosen the category and the item you can explore further by viewing the image, video or transcript. You can print or download the information as a pdf file.

Here are a few Interactive timelines more worth looking at:



British History

NASA Historical Timeline

Sea Monsters a Prehistoric Adventure

Benjamin Franklin’s Interactive Timeline

Timeline of Google

Australian Screen interactive Timeline

Warhol Interactive Timeline

This site gives information about Andy Warhol and the major events in the world during the 1920s – 1960s.

Interactive Timelines for Art History

Smart History

Art History

Timeline of European Painters

Furbles

This is a great site I heard about at the Blast Conference I recently presented at. It is called Furbles, the site offers demo versions to work with. It is a great way to engage young students in maths activities by looking at shapes, numbers and colours. Students can also see the relationship between data and visual interpretations such as bar graphs, tables and pie charts. These would be great activities to use on an Interactive Whiteboard.

You select the number of furbles you want, the colours, shapes and number of eyes.

The eyes move as you move your mouse around, students love this!

If you select the bar graph option along the bottom bar, you can select the category you wish to look at in bar graph form. Here is an example of one using colour. The furbles move themselves into place to create a bar graph.

The same happens when you select the table format or the pie chart.

If you select the shoe icon, students can move the furbles themselves to form different groups according to the colour, shape or eyes. This would be a great interactive whiteboard activity.

Poisson Rouge

http://www.poissonrouge.com/

This is an engaging interactive site with a lot of potential. It includes music, art, colours, matching games, astronomy, letters, numbers and time to just name a few. You can click on each image to take you to a game.

When you click on the keyboard it takes you to a music game.  When you click on a key on the keyboard the note is written on the staff above. 

When you click on the clock, you go to this game where you can move the hands on the clock and the corresponding digital time is displayed.

Being an art teacher I love this one, when you click on the stain glass window with the fish on it, you go to a virtual art gallery.  You can then look at four different artworks created by Pollock, Warhol, Mondrian and Escher.  When you click on each one you can interact or create a work.

Create a Jackson Pollock inspired work or

alter the colours on Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe prints

When you click on the little people you can create your own choir and harmony.

Click on the telescope and discover constellations.

Click on the picture and explore optical illusions.

The paint and brush will take you to a colouring activity.

You can even mix colours and clean your brush in the water.

There are many more activities available on this site.  I spent hours on it, imagine how engaged children world be.