American Museum of Natural History: Ology: Zoology www.amnh.org/ology/zoology

The kids’ section of the American Museum of National History (for elementary and middle-school kids) covers anthropology, marine biology, paleontology, and this zoology section. Visit to explore Extreme Mammals, Butterfly Kingdom, or to make a horse gait flipbook. With quizzes, singalongs, crafts projects, experiments, and online games, this engaging site is a sure hit.

eNature www.enature.com/home

The FieldGuides to more than 5,500 species of animals and plants are the core content here. The species are searchable by keyword, color, size, region, and even ZIP code. For kid stuff, mouse on over to Fun & Games, where you’ll find quizzes and species flashcards. These flash cards are snippets of code you can paste on your website or blog that will display a photo and a description of an animal. Great for online school reports or just for showing off your favorite animals.

National Geographic: Animals animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals

Being a cat person, I first checked out the feature Little Kitties for Big Cats. Want to see your little kitty featured on the site? Share a snapshot of your cat, along with a minimum $5 donation to National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative. Very cute, and all for a good cause! Other worthwhile sections include Animals A-Z (quick fact pages) and the animal photo gallery.

National Zoo www.nationalzoo.si.edu

Meet the animals at the National Zoo by visiting the Photo Galleries, Live Cams, or the virtual Exhibits. The 20 live cams are a perennial favorite, but you need to visit during Eastern Daylight Time daylight hours. Here’s a short list of animals you’ll find on the webcams: pandas, sloth bears, naked mole rates, orangutans, tigers, gorillas, and lion cubs.

University of Michigan: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site

“Animal Diversity Web is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan.’’ It includes a comprehensive, searchable encyclopedia, a virtual museum, and a parallel site for upper-elementary students called BioKIDS. To reach BioKIDS, click on Teaching/Resources for K-12 and then follow the link in the opening paragraph.