Britannica School Online

Schools in the Cairns Diocese are very fortunate to have an online subscription to Britannica School Online .
This is an online encyclopedia from Encylopedia Britannica, with thousands of articles, biographies, videos, games, interactives, maps and more.
Signing Up
To begin, students will need to set up an account. Click on the Britannica Online tab in the school's Online Catalogue.  Click Online Subscriptions.  You are then directed to sign up through Google - students will need to click on Sign up as a new user (under the blue tab).  They sign up using their Google email address which is their username@cnsstu.catholic.edu.au.

Great Features in Tools Bar:
1. SAVING FAVOURITES:  To save an article, click on the star in the tools bar.  Create a tag or an an existing tag to your content.  To find your saved favourites, click on My Content in top right corner. This way students do not lose the content they are reading when they log off.

2.  EMAIL SEARCH RESULTS:  Students are able to email search results to themselves, or teachers can email articles they request the students to read.  Simply click on the envelope in the tools bar and enter the required email address.
3.  CITE SOURCES:  This is a great help for students when writing a bibiography.  Click on the site button in the tools bar (square with tick inside) and then select the style of citation you require.  Schools commonly use APA style.  Students can then copy the citation
4.  FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:  Through this site you are able to make the font size bigger or smaller by pressing the + or - button in the tools bar.  You are also able to have the text read aloud by pressing the play button in the brown tab above the text.

For Teachers
An added bonus for teachers when using Britannica Online is the ability to relate searches to the Australian Curriculum.  Click on the Teacher tab under the tools bar.  You can select the year level you are looking for and the content descriptors will be displayed.  Under each description is a link to interactive resources related to that particular area.

3 Levels of Content
Each level of content has it's own features.
Primary 

The top of the page is interactive with News of the Day, Word Walls, Name the Image, Do you Know etc.

Students can then select the following:

Articles - topics included are animals, English, Plants & Living Things, HSIE, World Religions, Fine Arts, Places, Science & Maths, HPE.

Media - includes images and videos on the same topics as above

World Atlas - includes a zoom function.  A summary and profile of the chosen place is displayed

Compare Countries -  Compare population, area and other important facts by entering the names of 2 countries

Animal Kingdom - explore animals by group or habitat or search A-Z

Early Learners -  Explore, play, read and draw

Learning Games -  choose games from English, Maths, Science and more

Middle

The top of the page invites students in with a Feature Article.  There is also a Biography of the Day, Daily Buzzword which is great for learning new vocabulary and a Did you Know video clip.  Students can also search through news items on BTN and CBBC.
Students can then select from the following in Discover Britannica:
Article Browse - topics include Animals, Earth & Geography, Life Processes, Philosophy & Religion, Science & Mathematics, HPE, English & Fine Arts, History, Living Things, Plants, Society  and Technology
Media Browse - under the same topics
Biographies - you can search an era, nationality or what they are known for
World Atlas - same features as in Primary section
Compare Countries - same features as in Primary section
Tour Australia - same features as World Atlas, but focus on Australia
Interactive Resources  - learning games, study guides, interactive lessons, visual learning and manipulatives in the subjects of Maths, English, Science and History.

High

This section contains most of the features of the Middle section, with an added Feature Video and On This Day.  Students are also able to search for news from ABC, BBC and the New York Times, and have access to the most Popular Searches by other users.