Saw this on lifehacker today. Thanks, Andy Orin! 

Did you know that three dogs survived the Titanic? I just learned that from googling “dog fun facts,” as Google is now delivering fun animal and plant trivia in search results. That and more in today’s news.

• Perhaps it’s not the most important feature update but animal and plant facts now appear at the top of your search results whenever you search for something like “hippo fun facts” or “flower facts.” (By the way, did you know that broccoli is actually a flower? Romantic.) It’s just a fun feature that you can use to entertain kids or yourself. I spend most of my day researching cool dog facts so this news is important to me. [Google]

“But, what if they find inapprorpriate things?!”

I hear this frequently. I get it. The internet can be a scary place for kids…even with Safe-Search enabled. Honestly, I think teachers and parents are more frightened of what students may find on the internet. 

And, the simple truth is that smart filters cannot shield students from all things unsavory on the interwebs. 

Bottom line: we need to teach students to be good digital citizens. I would go one step further to say that digital citizenship is only the first step. Digital collaboration is the next step, with digital creation being the ultimate goal. 

That first step requires that students search for information. Digital citizenship is crucial, and it can be taught. How? Have discussions. Involve parents. Teach best practices. Share strategies. Make it happen.

However, if you want to start with kid-friendly search engines, try one of these with your students:

• Kidrex
• KidzSearch
• Mymunka
• KidsClick!
• Safe Search Kids