It's time to reinstate my weekly Friday edition of Fresh Look Fridays.  For those unfamiliar with it's history, I've devoted Fridays to reviewing an interactive website that can be used in class, rotating between grade levels and subject areas.  Usually, they're best utilized as an activity center on your SMART Board or other interactive white board.

However, just like so many of the "good" teachers know, you must stay fresh and keep up with new ideas, trends and innovations.  So instead of exclusively posting about interactive websites for Fresh Look Fridays, I've decided to branch out to include interactive apps -- sometimes those available for the iPhone, or, in this case, ones designed for the iPad.

Have no fear, teachers of the non-fundraising schools/those with admin against technology/those who need to buy art supplies instead of iPads! Today is a DOUBLE review day of a company that has...wait for it...both an interactive iPad app AND an interactive website.  Double whammy! And it doesn't cost you a pretty penny to access either!! Woot woot!

And so I give you Part I: Build a Body for the iPad:

Just like the name suggests, the whole point of this app is to have students become more familiar with different systems of the body, and challenge themselves to recreate said systems. Brought to you by the good folks at Spongelab, you can'y go wrong with this app!  Did I mention it's free??

No iPad? No problem.  EVERYONE needs to check out Spongelab's good great AMAZING website for the online version of this interactive, plus a bazillion more animations, interactives, lesson ideas and games. 

I can't even begin to get into how wonderful this site is, even if I did have the luxury of more time and no 6 month old to pull me away from my train of thought.  Everything that I explored seemed really intriguing, educational and perfect for the classroom.  One of my favourite parts of the site is that you gain points and credits for exploring the website, which in turn you use to "purchase" access to activities for one year.  Talk about enticing the video game generation!

So much to explore, both as a teacher and a student!! Some of my faves? Besides the online version of Build a Body, there's also a virtual microscope and tons of awesome animations, such as the one showing how cancer cells divide:

One word of note: the site is currently in beta.  For all the non-techies out there (Mom, I'm talking to you), this means it's essentially a trial version right now and there might be a bug or two still to work out.  If you do find an issue, simply let Spongelab know through their online contact section.  I did, and they were super helpful and got the issue dealt with in less than 24 hours! Wonderful.

As always with Fresh Look Fridays, have a great end to your week and a fantastic weekend! Oh, and an extra special happy Friday the 13th :)

Vanessa