Dating tip

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This American site that is just full of information for people having fun doing their homework.

Fact Monster is a giant educational site aimed fair and square at the American school kid.

But do not let that put you off, because there is tons of stuff here for anyone, anywhere. I liked the Atlas that gives you all the background information about a country you could need.

There are quizzes on just about every subject which you can try out when you get bored with the atlas.

But my favourite part was in the science area; an interactive periodic table that allows you to click on an element and it tells you all you need to know, everything from the element’s atomic weight to its discovery date.

And if you have trouble telling your inert gasses from your alkali metals it is all here too.

And because it is American it also has the uniquely American spelling of aluminium - aluminum.

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Fact Monster started me thinking about words, and why there are two spellings for aluminium, so I went to my favourite words site.

We looked at World Wide Words a couple of years ago and it is well worth a revisit.

If there is anything in the English language you want to know you should try here first. And sure enough there is a piece on how the two spellings came about.

It is a pretty wordy site so for goodness sake don’t come here for the pictures.

All the same you can lose the afternoon just wandering around the site reading the various discussions like where the phrase Top Dog comes from and the fantastic “linguistic legacy of Star Trek”, which alone is worth a visit to the site.

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Words and pictures now as we move on to a medical site - not for you or me, you , but for animals.

It has one of my favourite names for a site - Animal Doc Com!

The site has been put together by the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia and is aimed at children who are interested in becoming vets.

It is well written and makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the wellbeing of the animals as they pass through the Veterinary College.

The “How do they operate on a horse” section takes us through the different medical procedures from anaesthetizing the horse to apparently dangling it by its hooves.

And then there is the very engaging “A day in the life of a veterinarian”. Also a very page about dog behaviour that should save us a few bites and nips.

The only disappointment about these pages is that it seems they aren’t being updated much - most of the links on the links page are out of date and the interactive section doesn’t work - but they’re still worth a visit for any budding vet.

And if you like it let them know!

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Sticking with kids, animals and America, another terrific site is the Kids section of the American Humane Association.

Again it is aimed at children of all ages and offers hints and tips on caring for animals.

The American Humane association has been going since the late 1800s. It was formed to prevent cruelty to children and animals, and is at the forefront of lobbying on these issues.

This section for children is mostly aimed at looking after pets and helping wildlife in your garden.

If you want to know what kind of cat would be your best companion, or want suggestions on growing a mini lawn for your cat to nibble on, this is the place for you.

And lastly, for children looking to work with animals when they grow up there is a list of careers in the “ways to help” section.