Planning a research project? Stop here!

At the end of the school year, I like to do a research project about a social studies topic. I know it's not the end of the year (we still have 68 days left.. but who's counting?) but I have just started brainstorming some ideas about what to focus the project on.. the American Revolution perhaps? I wanted to share with you a fantastic resource I came across last year which was perfect for elementary students.

It's called Kids Infobits - A database designed especially for students in grades K-5. It can be used to research ALL subject areas and topics of high interest, such as sports, entertainment, and technology. It's very kid friendly and easy to navigate! If you send your precious kiddos searching the internet on their own, you never know what they might manage to come across... and they WILL come across it. They always do. On Kids Infobits there are no ads, and you can rest assured that all of the content is appropriate for children!

Kids Infobits Home Page

You can find the website. However, you will need to buy a subscription. I did see a link for a free trial, but it's very likely that you can get unlimited access and won't need to pay a cent!

I think we can agree that we all payed a pretty penny for our undergraduate and graduate degrees. With that money, our colleges and universities do a number of things, one of them being subscribing to an online database for students through the school library. I use these databases to write research papers. Last year while writing a research paper for a class, I stumbled upon Kids Infobits and thought it was great!

*I cannot guarantee that your school will have purchased this exact journal. I did a search of schools around my area with an education program. All the schools I searched had it, but I cannot assume that your specific college will! I hope they do! 

How you can find it: If you know how to do a research paper, you should already know where to find the databases! I have access to the library databases with my school email. I cannot walk you through how to locate the databases at your college, but I can explain the steps I took, which are most likely very similar! 

1. Go to your school's website. 
2. Go to the Library page
3. There should be a list of options available. I click on Articles and Databases, other links might be: E-Databases, Search Databases, or Databases A-Z. It will likely be similar to that.  

4. They should be listed alphabetically. This database is listed under I -  [Info Trac] Kids Infobits. Click the link and it will take you to the database!

Need more info about the database? Check these out!
Kids Infobits Packet
Kids Infobits Facts

I Hope this is helpful! Does anyone use any other free databases for research projects? Please share them!