Free Rice

Random Fact about me: I have several websites that I routinely check several times a day. CNN.com, Time.com, People.com, facebook, email, etc. I was on the Time website today and read an article titled something like "50 cool websites". I had some downtime and was sufficiently fried from my 10 hour day working with kids, so I clicked through all 50. Among them I came across a few worth passing along:

www.freerice.com: You should really go to this site. It features a vocabulary game, through which 20 grains of rice are donated for every correct answer. The site partners with the UN World Food Program to donate rice. In it's first 5 months as a site, FreeRice generated enough rice to feed 1 million people--so that's pretty sweet. The game gives you a vocab word and possible definitions, from which you have to choose. A good way to spend a few minutes, very educational and helping a worthy cause!

digitalvaults.org: This site is called "National Archives Experience", and has digital records of all kinds of documents that you probably wouldn't normally get to see. For example, I looked at the memo sent after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, describing the success of the bombing and the conditions of the attack. There's all kinds of stuff...Supreme Court decrees, memos, photos, etc.

www.carbonrally.com: This is a site dedicated to cutting carbon emissions and challenging people to live more environmentally friendly lives. It features "challenges", such as "Use the clothesline for a few loads of laundry this month. By line-drying 1 load per week, you will reduce your CO2 emissions by 18.8 lbs after one month." It puts people in competition from different parts of the country and offers a lot of tips. Another challenge: "De-cup your decaf- Challenge: Are coffee cups part of your daily routine? If so, go one week without using any disposable coffee cups. By using your own coffee cup, you will your total CO2 emissions by 1.25 lbs this week." This stuff probably makes a miniscule difference, but I'm sure it all adds up and works toward maintaining an environmentally friendly lifestyle! Wow, I'm not usually such an advocate for this, but it's a site worth browsing!!