Digital Resources

Britannica School offers encyclopedia articles and educational videos, images, magazine and journal articles, learning games, and more. Their materials are available through one of three access levels - elementary, middle, or high school - and each article can be scaled to different reading levels. Content is updated by the vendor monthly.

Try the LaunchPacks - these curated mini collections of articles, images, and videos have been developed with teachers in mind and are designed to support grade-appropriate learning areas. Access them from the Britannica homepage by clicking on "Your Britannica Resources" in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and then selecting LaunchPacks.

Grades K-12

Unlimited, simultaneous use

Canadian Points of View Reference Centre (powered by EBSCO) is an online collection covering hundreds of current topics relevant to Canada, each with an overview (objective background / description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument) for critical analysis.

Try the Browse by category feature with students as a starting place for narrowing down a topic of interest for further research.

Grades 7-12

Unlimited, simultaneous use

EBSCO databases provide access to online content from journals, magazines, newspapers, and reference sources on a variety of curriculum-related topics. Clicking the EBSCO link on the student UGCloud landing page will take you to the EBSCO homepage, where you can opt to search all content areas simultaneously or select from the list of subject-specific databases. 

Try EBSCO's Research & Writing Tips for Students - this page provides links to helpful resources to guide teaching and learning about the research process. 

Grades 7-12

Unlimited, simultaneous use

Explora (powered by EBSCO) is a database providing access to articles from popular children’s magazines, encyclopedia articles, primary sources and over 1.8 million images. Content covers a wide variety of curriculum topics and the interface is simple and easy to navigate - great for younger researchers.

Try the Explore topics or the Discover popular topics features to springboard inquiry-based learning for students who aren't quite sure what they're looking for yet.

Grades 3-8

Unlimited, simultaneous use

Gale is a collection of online databases providing access to full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files, and links to vetted websites covering a wide range of curriculum topics. 

Try the Power Search bar to search for a topic across all Gale databases, or select a specific database from the homepage based on content area. 

Grades 7-12

Unlimited, simultaneous use

PebbleGo provides easy-to-navigate articles on science and social studies topics with vocabulary support and natural read-aloud. Articles include images and videos to support multimodal learning.

Try the Educator Resources - this site is linked at the bottom of all pages in PebbleGo and provides access to ready-made resources to accompany different articles, all freely reproducible.

Grades K-4

Unlimited, simultaneous use

The suite of three PowerKnowledge Science databases provide access to articles on Earth and space science topics, life science topics, and physical science topics with vocabulary support and automated read-aloud. Students can search with keywords or navigate through the topic menus.

Toggle between the three databases while in the same platform - click above the "PowerKnowledge" title icon in the upper left-hand corner of any page to switch between content areas.

Grades 3-6

Unlimited, simultaneous use

Teen Health & Wellness provides teens with expertly-reviewed and accessible articles about high-interest health and wellness topics, including nutrition, diseases, and drugs and alcohol. Content is reviewed and updated on a continual basis by professionals in medicine, nutrition, guidance, and career counseling.

Try the Librarian/Educator Resources - they are linked at the bottom of all pages in Teen Health & Wellness and provide access to ready-made resources to accompany different topic areas, including lesson plans, program ideas, and promotional materials.

Grades 7-12

Unlimited, simultaneous use