Subject: Science
 Topic: Animal Adaptation
 Web Page Title: Animal Adaptations
 Web Site address (URL):   URL:http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/animal/invest.htm

Type and Purpose of Web Page
It was an informational web page that not only explained Science concepts of adaptation but it also engaged young readers to contribute to the animal reports section. At the same time, the online activity that was injected allowed readers to learn adaptation through specific examples, namely sharks, foxes, raccoons and bears.

The information provided was especially catered to the young readers because the content aimed to explain a single concept that was animal adaptation in different ways. For instance, adaptation of body covering and camouflage. Though the language use is simple, the concepts were clearly explained and this makes the content very good.The web page was suitable to teachers, children and parents as well. For children, I feel that the content was most suitable in teaching Science, in particular, Especially Suited For The Environment for Primary 6 pupils. The children will have a wonderful time learning the concepts because it was very precise and entertaining. Children can simple navigate through the pages with no difficulties at all.

The website was effective in teaching children the concept of animal adaptation, however they are setbacks as well. For instance, the examples given were not common animals that are found in Singapore such as sharks and foxes. Because of that, some children may not be able to scrutinise the animals available in the pond or the field as they are not discussed here. However, there may be times when children who may discuss about common animals like snails and frogs in their contribution to the report page. Secondly, there are certainly other forms of adaptation such as mimicry which are not discussed or no links given for further exploration. All in all, I would recommend it to fellow teachers to use the materials as a tuning-in activity or to allow the pupils to engage in discovery learning. After which discussions can be made to discuss other forms of adaptation and animals that uses such forms of adaptation.

I feel that the format was good because the information was not cluttered. The graphics were placed on the side of each section while the text was next to it. The icons are all placed at the top of the page and this format was consistent through the various links provided. In addition, the fonts were the right size and it was a standard font, Times New Roman, which makes reading really easy for all levels of audience. The keywords however, should be highlighted so that it would stand out from the main text. There was also no choice of frames/ no frames. However, I feel that it did not really matter as it the text was organised well on each web page. At the same time, I do feel that more links should be given to the audience for them to engage in further research. Here there were no links and so no description for each link was present. This should be made available for the audience.Also, I think that the organization of page was excellent and so it would not frustrate the audience when information needed to be found. At the same time, the tone was really casually and this can actually lead to incidental learning for some children, especially those who do had not taken Science.


Authority
The web page was placed under the wing of a famous book publisher for children, Scholastic and thus, this would make the content really credible. Scholastic also was responsible for a Science TV programme and book, The Magic School-bus.


Audience
The main intended audience were young children. The responsibility of text was not shifted to the reader. This I felt was because the intention of the web page was to seriously explain a Science concept. Nevertheless, teachers and parents may want to do a " stop and check" to discuss other animals and other forms of adaptation of animals. I feel that they treat the reader as an ally in the discovery process and this was apparent through the use of action verbs such as "look at the shark" or " take the artic bear". This, the web site was almost a medium to explore real-life phenomena in animals.


Effectiveness of design
The URL does reflect and live up to its intended purpose which is to give information about a form of animal adaptation through example of animals. The main audience was the children and so both the textual and the content features were excellent.

At the same time, there were relevant information, although the teacher or the parent may need to supplement the information with thorough discussion or the use of real books. There was good graphics that attracts reader’s attention. Nevertheless, there were some setbacks. Firstly, the absence of hyperlinks to explore and secondly the limitation of examples. Perhaps, if the 2 setbacks were taken into consideration when designing the web page then certainly this would make the information presented more exhaustive.


A short general annotation for this web site:
Perhaps, the readers may be given a choice between frames and no frames, text or graphic versions