This issue of KIDS, dated December 3, 1997, was written and produced by eighth grade students of Cherokee Middle School in the Madison Metropolitan School District, located in Madison, Wisconsin.

The KIDS Report is published with the support of the Internet Scout Project and the National Science Foundation.

America's West - Development and History Reviewed by Erica S. and Peter R.

American West is a visually appealing site that contains easy-to-understand information. The site has links to links to links that have large amounts of information. To name a few, the links include Old West Transportation, Expansion Trails, Lewis and Clark, The Battle of the Alamo, Wells Fargo, Robberies, and Gunslingers. The site also includes fun links such as those to John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies. There are links to seemingly every topic related to the American West; from Mountain Men and Fur Traders to Western Forts to Images from the Old West. Straying too far down the site means you'll get to advertisements and movies. Because some links have even more links to topics, you'll want to bookmark the American West site so you don't get lost. It's hard to tell the reading level, but it would probably lean towards older kids. There are, however, always exceptions. If there is anything you want to find out about the American West, this is a good site to check out.
URL: http://www.americanwest.com/index.htm

California Gold Rush Reviewed by Peter Y.

The gold rush in California is still affecting us. San Francisco is a larger city because of it. The 49ers (who the Packers could beat any day) are named after the people who went to California in 1849. This site has information on many famous people like John Sutter and Francisco Lopez, who first discovered gold in California. It is organized by a time line, so it is easy to find what you want. There is at least one picture per page. The information is arranged in small sections, which is a lot easier to read than long paragraphs. In conclusion, this site is very informative and well-organized--you won't get a headache reading it.
URL: http://www.acusd.edu/~jross/goldrush.html

Discovery of Gold by Gen. John A. Sutter Reviewed by Peter R.

The Discovery of Gold by Gen. John A. Sutter, is a very interesting site. It includes a day by day historical calendar that lists events some historians might not even know about. This site has extensive information about the discovery of gold, the aftermath, Chinese workers, technical advancements, and the tools used. There are also interesting pictures from the area. I would recommend this site to anyone doing a project on this topic and to people who like to learn history.
URL: http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html

End Of The Oregon Trail Reviewed by Katie B.

Do you ever wonder what was happening to African Americans during the Westward Expansion? Well, this site has information on that and a whole lot more! Part of this site is an advertisement for a real museum in Oregon. The links that are useful for research are: The History of the Trail, Black Pioneers, The Wagons, Stories, and Other Oregon Trail Sites. Some of the sites include people who talk to you (after you download the sound files). There are a lot of pictures, but most of them are in black and white. I know, after annotating this site, I would definitely visit this quality museum if I was going to Oregon.
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~eotic/

Knowledge Adventure Encyclopedia Reviewed by Brian B.

This site is like an encyclopedia. You could find out about almost anything, but I would suggest going to the United States link. When you get there, you could either find your own link or go to topics like Alamo: Torn Over Texas, Little Big Horn, Westward Ho, or California Here I Come. There are many more great sites besides these. There are not many pictures, but there is plenty of good information. The topics are about one page long. I would recommend it to 5th - 10th graders. Don't click on the flashing picture in the top right corner--it is an advertisement.
URL: http://www.letsfindout.com/

Lonesome Turkey Reviewed by Katie B.

Do you like stories or are you a storyteller? This is a really neat site that is done as a picture book on the web. It is about saving a ranch in the town of Lonesome Turkey. They have to do a turkey drive to save the ranch. It is funny and suspenseful. In the table of contents they have a link where they introduce all of the characters. The site has great pictures and certain vocabulary words, highlighted in blue, are defined. I would recommend this book site to anyone because it is funny and interesting, but I think that little kids and beginning readers would enjoy it the most. The print is big and the words are easy. It's fantastic!
URL: http://www.honeysucklewhite.com/lonesome_turkey/LT_toc.html
[Note: This URL has been updated to reflect a change in address. This is not the original URL reviewed.]

New Perspectives on the West Reviewed by Peter Y.

This site, made by PBS, contains information on various topics that have to do with the old west. There is extensive information on Native Americans and Lewis and Clark. There is an interactive time line that shows you the highlights of what happened each year from pre-Columbian times to the early twentieth century. You can skip around if you want information only on let's say, Lewis and Clark or Russians in the west. Some topics are: Places in the West, People in the West, archives of documentary materials, and links to other western sites. There are two trivia games: Who's Who in the West and Where in the West. On Who's Who in the West they ask you trivia questions that have to do with pictures they show you. On Where in the West they give you a picture of a national landmark, and you have to decide what it is. The site has lots of other information on other western subjects, and it is very easy to get around thanks to it's convenient set-up.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/

PBS Online - Lewis and Clark Reviewed by Erica S.

The PBS documentary on the voyage of Lewis and Clark is the topic of this site. The information is pretty easy to understand, but it's best for those over third grade. Other than the small amount of promotional graphics, the site is devoted to all the different aspects of the Lewis and Clark voyage. There are very detailed descriptions on all of the site's pages, but there aren't any links to other pages. There is a page on what it was like inside the journey, how the idea for the voyage came to be, who paid for the journey, and what items Lewis and Clark took with them. There's a page with links to information about the Indian tribes the expedition met up with and what these tribes did to help Lewis and Clark. There's a link to excerpts from the journals of seven members of the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark's expedition) including Lewis and Clark. All in all, this site is extremely informative and is worth the time if you're patient.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/

Pony Express Home Station Reviewed by Peter Y.

How would you get mail in the 1800s? You would go to the Pony Express. It may not be as fast, efficient, or reliable as the US postal service or UPS, but in the 1800s it was the fastest way to send mail. The frames organization at this site is very easy to use. It has information on the riders, the history, the museums, and the stations. There are things like newspaper articles from the 1860s and information on the Pony Express today under Pony Tales. There is a part about today's Pony Express events. There is an extensive list of links. There is a quiz game where if you get the right answer, you go to a page where you can read information on it. The Facts link has lots of great information. The History link shows how significant the Pony Express was in the short time it existed. Anyone who is at all interested in the Pony Express, or who wants detailed information for a report, should go to this site.
URL: http://www.ccnet.com/~xptom/

The Alamo: Shrine of Texas Liberty Reviewed by Peter R.

This site is about the Alamo. It has actual visuals of the Alamo and some pictures of buildings of the time. It has easy to read information including dates, maps (the maps are equal to the actual area during that time period), a time line, events, and biographies about the important people who took action during the battle at the Alamo. This site has a list of link topics to choose from. Even with all of this information, this site is incredibly easy and fun to use. I would recommend this site to anyone who wants to learn about the Alamo.
URL: http://www.numedia.tddc.net/alamo/

The Erie Canal Home Page Reviewed by Katie B.

Do you know where the Erie Canal is? Did you know that the Erie Canal was created by people? The print at this site is small, but the information is really interesting. The whole site is designed to make it look like it is old. There are signs "nailed" to the screen that give a summary of what that link is about. There are many different links on a variety of topics. The topics are: The Buffalo Harbor, Digging the Ditch, The infected District, Canawlers and Sailors, and Canal Folklore. The thing I like best are the maps. They are in black and white, but are very detailed. You can look at them to locate things that they talk about in the writings. They don't even take very long to load! This is a great site with a lot of information. I hope you go and check it out soon!
URL: http://intotem.buffnet.net/bhw/erie-canal/

The Gold Rush Reviewed by Wrede S.

I found this site to be very interesting. The content of the text was very educating, and includes pictures that supplement the information. The site is just a page of links, but if you follow the links according to what you want to learn, you get to places with text. This site has teacher resources, information about the gold rush video previously shown on PBS, and fun facts about the gold rush. There are also great pictures of people mining during the gold rush. I recommend this site to school kids who want to learn facts about the gold rush, and teachers who want ideas on how to teach kids about the gold rush.
URL: http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/home.html

The U.S.- Mexican War, 1846-1848 Reviewed by Erica S.

One topic there isn't a whole lot of information on is the Mexican War. This site is a great source on that topic. Most of the information is in long paragraphs which would be better for grades 6 and up. There are a lot of good facts on what happened before and during the war. One link takes you to a list of the different battles and skirmishes of the war, and other links take you to pages about the war in different states like California, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.
URL: http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/mexwar.htm

These Internet resources were evaluated on the basis of the Site Selection Guidelines that the students developed. Questions and comments can be sent to teacher Cindy Koehn, ckoehn@madison.k12.wi.us

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the KIDS Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison or the National Science Foundation.