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TopClicks
Ancient Civilizations
Ancient City of Athens - This colorful site presents a photographic archive of the archaeological and architectural remains of ancient Athens, Greece. The owner of the Web page, Kevin Glowacki, is also one of the photographers. He gives rights to students to use these images, as long as the source is cited. The photographs are all GIF images and illustrate the topography and monuments of ancient Athens. Further details are given. This is a landmark site for any student studying ancient Greece. However, there are a lot of color illustrations, so be patient waiting for the page to load. It's well worth the wait!
Ancient Greece - Not only can you find out about the daily life, language, and sports of ancient Greece, but you can also read the complete text of Greek classics such as the "Iliad" as well as the "Odyssey". Get to know the Greek gods and heroes; then puzzle over the history (and spelling) of the Peloponnesian war. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
AncientSites: Take Your Place in History - Did you ever feel like you were born in the wrong century? Want to return to the past? Try on another lifetime by exploring one of the realms of AncientSites. You can take guided 3-D tours of Rome, Athens, and Egypt. Learn about history, play simulation games, and participate in trivia contests. To do some of these things, you have to become a member, but it's free. They ask for your name and address, although many people just make up something rather than give personal information. After you register, you can select a city, for example, Rome. Now select a character name, and choose a family. But read the descriptions of the families, because some of them might be nicer to join than others. You can even pick an avatar, which is a physical screen representation of your character. Once you're a registered member, you can also choose a 3-D "house" in Rome and make it your home page. You can participate in chats and discussions on Latin, among other things. The folks here debate grammatical points with the same enthusiasm that others might discuss baseball! As in all online chat and discussion areas, parents should monitor use.
ArchNet: WWW Virtual Library - Archaeology - ArchNet, housed at the University of Connecticut, is a virtual library for all things archaeological. Look up resources by geographic region or by subject. This is a don't-miss site for budding archaeologists. Indiana Jones probably stops here all the time!
Archaeology - How do archaeologists take a few items from a pile of rubble and re-create an entire picture of how people lived long ago? This explanation from the TV show "Newton's Apple" includes many resource ideas as well as a glossary. There are also some hands-on activities to help you learn how historic sites are surveyed and, sometimes, excavated.
CMCC - Mysteries of Egypt - Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, contained over 3,000 wonderful things, including a golden mask of the boy king himself. Although he became king at age 9, he was dead by about age 17. What really happened to Tutankhamun? What was his life like? Was he murdered? Find out possible answers here. Gaze in awe at the treasures found, displayed for you in the virtual galleries. If you have the right plug-ins, you can manipulate artifacts to see them better, or take a virtual reality tour of a tomb. There are also many additional links collected at this excellent site.
CMCC - Mystery of the Maya - Did you know there are about six million Maya today? Most live in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Besides loss of culture, they face many political and environmental problems. This sensitive site will tell you about the Maya culture as it exists today, as well as teach you all about the ancient Maya, whose civilization flourished about A.D. 250.
CMCC - Retracing an Archaeological Expedition - Canada's arctic Northwest Territories are very remote. They are at the northwest corner of the continent of North America. People have lived in this region for thousands of years, but archaeologists have been studying it for only a short time. This site follows a group of archaeologists and the progress of their research over almost a decade. See how an expedition is planned, what happens, and how conclusions are reached based on the artifacts found. Sometimes scientists change their minds as more discoveries are made! This site is in both French and English, and you can ask for brief or detailed information on most of the resources.
Cleveland Museum of Art Pharaohs Exhibition - See kings and queens, pharaohs, and their treasures. See statues and carvings from long ago. Learn some fun facts about the pharaohs. Did you know that some of them were women? Follow your guide, Rosetta Stone, and learn how to construct a paper model of a pharaoh (the pattern is printable) or go on an expedition to find out more about animals of ancient Egypt. Hut, hut, go King Tut!
Diggin' Up the Facts About Archaeology - What is archaeology, anyway? Isn't it just a lot of dusty old artifacts and broken pottery? You're partially right, but learning about past civilizations can be fun, too. Find out how archaeologists work to make great discoveries such as the pyramids. Read interviews with archaeologists; then play a word search and try a quiz. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
EgyptWorld - You may be familiar with the Pyramids at Giza, but did you know these monuments are spread throughout Egypt? Take a tour of them as you explore this graphically rich site. Along the way there's a time line, various media kiosks, and games. Learn about the Rosetta stone, which gave the key to unlock the secrets of hieroglyphics. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures - Move the mouse, click the buttons, and be prepared to enter a different world. Eight cultures from the past can help you to understand the cultural diversity of today. Go on a journey through time to visit the following ancient cultures: the Near East, India, Egypt, China, Greece, the Roman Empire, the Islamic World, and Medieval Europe. Although the text is very dense, you'll get a lot of information from the photos and thoughtful links to other places on the Net.
Flints and Stones - Do you have the "right stuff" to survive in Stone Age times? Meet the shaman, who will show you what life is like in his village of Ice Age hunters and gatherers. You'll also meet the archaeologist, who will show you how he interprets the lives of the village folk from the objects, art, and other signs they have left behind. Everyone thinks cavemen were big, hairy guys who carried clubs and dragged women around by the hair. This site explodes that myth and others. You'll also be able to take a Stone Age food quiz--hmmm, should you eat that mushroom or not?
MayaQuest `98 - Who were the Maya, and what happened to their civilization? This site tells you all about the history and cultures of this lost nation. The ancient Maya had an apparently healthy culture from around A.D. 250. They were masters of mathematics, building huge pyramids in the jungles of what is now Mexico and Central America. They had complex astronomical calendars and engineering for improving agriculture. During the ninth century, their civilization collapsed. No one knows exactly where they went or what happened to them. From this site, you can follow an expedition team called MayaQuest, searching the jungle for archaeological answers in 1998, or check the archives available for earlier expeditions.
Mr. Donn's Ancient History Page - Look no further for information on ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, India, Africa, Inca, Maya, Canada, Holidays, Map Skills, and more. Online resources, games, lesson plans, quizzes--they're all here!
Odyssey Online - Explore the ancient cultures of the Near East, Greece, Rome, and Egypt via cool puzzles and games. For example, click on Greece and find out all about famous Greek heroes, rulers, and athletes. Examine artifacts and see if you can guess which ones relate to athletic events or prizes. In other games, you try to put fragments of statues back together--don't forget to bring your superglue on this adventure!
Perseus Project - The Perseus Project is "an evolving digital library on Ancient Greece" headquartered at the Department of Classics at Tufts University. Information is offered about art and archaeology, and primary texts and Greek dictionaries are available. Included are 16,000 pictures and descriptions of coins, vases, sites, and buildings. There's lots of new information about Julius Caesar. This is a don't-miss site for anyone studying ancient Greece.
ROMARCH: Roman Art and Archaeology - ROMARCH, housed at the University of Michigan, is the home to Web resources about Roman art and archaeology from 1000 B.C. to A.D. 700. General-interest resources include central sources of information and images, museums, society, as well as culture, religion, law, and war. Resources that are especially good for students are marked. A geographic approach to the sources is available, but beware: you may accidentally stumble into a site in another language!
See Your Name in Hieroglyphic Language (Egypt's Tourism Net) - If you want to know how you'd have to sign your homework if you were in ancient Egypt, go here. " Net-mom" looks like a squiggle, an arm, a half circle, a couple of falcons, and a baby chick. What does your name look like?
The Ancient World Web - This site is chock-full of links to information about the ancient world. Topics include ancient documents, architecture, and cooking. In addition, links are provided to information about geography, history, the history of science, military, money, music, sciences, theater, towns, and cities.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - Everyone's heard about them, but who can name them? Well, there are the Pyramids, of course, and uh hmmm. Luckily, there is a list of all of them here, along with pictures and links. Since there are not many of the ancient wonders of the world around anymore, you'll also find a list of the Modern Wonders of the World, as well as the Natural Wonders of the World. There are also pictures and links for wonders such as these: the Great Wall of China, Victoria Falls, and the Eiffel Tower.
The Viking Network Web - Experience the Viking way of life: raiding, trading, and exploration. This site is aimed at kids and teachers all over the world who are interested in Viking heritage and culture. Did they wear horns on their helmets, or not? Perhaps you can find out here. Meanwhile there are Viking musical instruments to explore, notes on clothing and daily life, and for extra fun, check out the Viking math quiz.
Travel to the Roman Empire - How much do you know about Roman emperors? You have heard of Julius Caesar, and maybe Nero--but did you know there were almost 80 more of them? The last one was a woman named Irene; in fact, she is considered a saint by the Greek Orthodox church. Explore this site to learn about 800 years of Roman rule. But the coolest thing on this site is watching "yesterday's" pictures of famous Roman sites morph into those of "today." This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
UCSB Anthropology Web Links - The study of families, cultures, and communities is called cultural anthropology. There's also physical anthropology and archaeology. This colorful, well-designed page has unearthed many of the most interesting and important anthropological sites, annotating and organizing them for easy accessibility. Here you'll find links described and cataloged in alphabetical order, by topical and geographical focus, and by departmental and museum sites. Looking for a listing of all the stone circles in Scotland? Confused by the Maya calendar? Interested in tribal masks? All this and more are available at this don't-miss resource.
Vatican Exhibit Rome Reborn - Rome is one of the most glorious cities in the world. Today, millions of visitors go to admire its architecture, art, and history and to find peace in St. Peter's Basilica. It has not always been that way, though: once it was a miserable village! Explore the past in this exhibit of materials from the Vatican Library's most precious manuscripts, books, and maps. This exhibit was at the Library of Congress in 1993, but it lives on--on the Net.
Virtual Excavation Medieval Archaeology - What do archaeologists do? They find ancient artifacts such as tools, pottery, bones, or other debris and try to find out about the people who left these things. At this site, you'll learn how archaeologists do their jobs, and you'll have a chance to go on a virtual excavation of a medieval monastery. Can you find the room that served as the hospital?
Wonders of the African World - Discover a wealth of African history and culture. Explore ancient African civilizations on this journey from Zanzibar to Timbuktu, the Nile River Valley to Great Zimbabwe, the slave coast of Guinea to the medieval monasteries of Ethiopia in search of the lost wonders of the African world.
Write Like a Babylonian - In ancient Babylonia they didn't have pen and ink, so they inscribed symbols in wet clay whenever they wanted to write something down. This language is called cuneiform, and it was used for about 3,000 years prior to the first century B.C. The clay tablets were baked in order to make them permanent. (Wouldn't it be funny to tell your teacher your homework was "still in the oven!") Type in your initials and have the ancient scribes translate your name into cuneiform.
You Be the Historian - This site isn't really about ancient times; it's about an American family's life in the 1700s. By examining artifacts and documents at this site you may be able to get a fairly good picture of what life was like for Thomas and Elizabeth Springer's family in New Castle, Delaware, 200 years ago. Compare your guesses to what historians have concluded. What could future archaeologists and historians learn about your family from what's on the floor of your closet, under your bed, or in your trash?
You Be the Judge on Hammurabi's Code - Whenever people decide to form a community, they have to agree on acceptable social behavior in order for things to work smoothly. Hammurabi, the "Priest-King," ruled ancient Babylon (ca. 1792-1750 B.C.) and united Mesopotamia under a code of law. There were 282 laws dealing with a variety of crimes and abuses. Solve some of the problems Hammurabi faced; for example, what should happen if a boy slaps his father?
Art- Ed
A Resource for Glass - No one knows who first made glass. Pliny, the Roman historian, said the first glass was made by mistake. According to his account, Phoenician sailors landed on a beach to make a cooking fire. They propped up their pot using a block of natron , a naturally occurring alkali used in the mummification process, which they were carrying as cargo. As the fire got hotter, the sand beneath it melted. When it later cooled, the material hardened into glass. This site, from the Corning Museum of Glass, will tell you about the history of glassmaking and the properties of glass. Learn how making fudge can teach you about the making of glass!
Art Studio Chalkboard - Wondering about "one point perspective"? What type of paintbrush offers which effect? Confused by color theory? This excellent tutorial focuses on the technical fundamentals of perspective, shading, and color in drawing and painting. There is also an illustrated section on human figure drawing.
ArtLex - Dictionary of Visual Art - From Baroque to Pop Art, from Realism to Renaissance--all those confusing art terms are defined here, along with notes on how to pronounce them. Included are over 2,800 techniques, styles, and art history words. Here's the best part: the dictionary is illustrated, and not only that, there are links to other Web pages with more information.
ArtsEdge - The National Arts and Education Information Network - If you dig deep enough at this site, you'll find a very nice selection of links about the arts. The "arts" doesn't just mean drawing and painting; it also includes performing arts, such as music, dance, and theater. You'll find discussion areas for students and teachers, news flashes, and even showcases of art by kids; teachers will enjoy the curriculum guides. There's a section for online exhibits, museums, and galleries.
Early Childhood Art Lessons - There are a lot of crafty activities at this site, for example, how about painting without a paintbrush? Even the littlest artists will love dipping popcorn, lettuce, cotton balls, and other objects into the paint. The results can be astounding, and messy, so put on some old clothes first!
Sanford and a Lifetime of Color's Art Education Resources and ArtEdventures - It doesn't matter if you're picking up crayons for the first time, or if you're a portrait painting pro, you will find something of interest at this Web page. Explore color mixing and matching activities and learn how the "mood" of a painting changes if you magically switch to different colors. Learn about proportions and portrait techniques. Little children will enjoy the color wheel game, while bigger ones (and adults, too) will be fascinated with chasing down the evil Dr. Gray and his Dechromatizers!
The Chauvet Cave - Admit it, you would love to draw all over the walls in your home. The only problem is that you would get in trouble. A long time ago, kids your age didn't have crayons or finger paint. In fact, ancient civilizations apparently encouraged drawing on the walls. At least 30,000 years ago, cave people drew all over this cave, and their artwork can still be seen today. These paintings were discovered by archeologists in the Ardiche gorges of southern France. The photographs are gorgeous, too.
Astronomy & Space
3-D Starmaps - Hey! You in the Alpha sector! Any idea at all how I get to the Gamma Quadrant? Hopelessly lost in space? No problem. Get your space tourist maps right here. As this site says, "Science fiction fans and authors of SF novels have often wondered `where everything is.' Is Sirius closer to Procyon than Tau Ceti? Is 82 Eridani safely within the Terran Federation, or is it perilously close to the dreaded Blortch Empire? And just where exactly is Babylon 5?" A fascinating site!
Abrams Planetarium - Would you like to know what interesting events are happening in the night sky? Visit this site for a day-by-day list of what to look for and where to look for it. The list is updated each month and includes an archive of past diaries. Check out the archive near the end of the month to take a peek at next month's diary.
Asteroid Comet Impact Hazards - Fueled by recent blockbuster disaster movies, worries about the possibility of a huge chunk of space rock crashing into Earth are on our minds. Will this occur in the future? If it does, what happens to us? This site helps separate the facts from the hype. Check the very complete Links section for more.
Asteroids: Deadly Impact @ Nationalgeographic.com - Can you solve the mystery in this adventure? Were the craters left by comets, meteors, or something els e? Log in and see what you can discover. Here's your mission: "TOP SECRET -- LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE REQUIRED -- CLASSIFIED DATA. Welcome back, Agent Your Name Here. Sorry to clutter your desk in your absence, but I need you on these mysterious cases. All involve extraterrestrial perpetrators. You know the drill: examine the evidence in the files and on your desk, and then finger the most probable culprits. Close every case correctly and you'll get to download a clip from National Geographic Television's classified videotape of `Asteroids: Deadly Impact.' I know you'll get to the bottom of these cases. Click here to destroy this message. --The Director."
Astronomy Online - Explore the Mysterious Universe - This site's stunningng sequence will leave you breathless! Once you recover, you'll be able to explore photos of many of the solar system's greatest hits. There's also a huge fact file per planet, plus a discussion board, and more links than we could count. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Today we see an image of NGC 4261, a Hubble Space Telescope photo of a neighboring galaxy that has a giant black hole at its center. Tomorrow will be a picture called "24 hours from Jupiter." Guess we'll have to return tomorrow to see that one. The descriptive captions are peppered with links to other materials.
Astronomy Without a Telescope - If you're seriously interested in astronomy, you should read this introductory essay. It will give you older kids a good perspective on what astronomy is all about. It starts with the concept of time and distance, which is important if you want to learn the whys and hows of astronomy. If there's something you don't understand, try reading it with your parents and then explain it to them. We're sure they will appreciate it. ;-)
Auroras: Paintings in the Sky - The Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco is famous for its outstanding online exhibits, and this one is no exception. View spectacular photos of aurora from Earth and from space. Find out why no two aurora are alike and why they come in different colors. One of the neat features of this site is the audio explanations, so you don't have to read; you can just listen and enjoy the dazzling pictures.
Biosphere 2 - Did you know there is a rain forest in the middle of the Arizona desert? There's also an ocean. It's true, and the most amazing part: they are both indoors! Biosphere 2 is a 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and space frame structure, and inside are seven wilderness ecosystems, or biomes, including a rain forest and a 900,000-gallon ocean. The idea was to find out how people could survive inside a sealed environment, in case we wanted to colonize other planets. Could they grow all their own food? Manufacture their own air? Recycle their own waste? The first crew of biospherians (four women and four men) entered Biosphere 2 on September 26, 1991. They remained inside for two years, emerging again on September 26, 1993. Biosphere's original experiments were very controversial, but the results were undisputed: we don't know how to successfully accomplish this mission--yet. Columbia University now operates the facility as a learning center about the greenhouse effect. See what they are up to and take a cybertour. Go into the Home section to check up on temperature, humidity, and other sensors around the building.
Blast from the Past Home Page - Sixty-five million years ago, it was a very bad day for dinosaurs and a lot of other living things on Earth. That day, a huge asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, near what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula. The hypothesis is that the asteroid, which was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide, vaporized on impact, but the collision blasted trillions of tons of debris into the atmosphere. All this stuff, plus ash and soot, managed to create a dark day. In fact, there were so many dark days in a row that plants couldn't get sunlight to grow, the plant eaters didn't have anything to nibble on, and lots of them couldn't survive. Read why we know what we think we know here.
Bradford Robotic Telescope - OK, here's the deal. You register (free) with this site, and then you get to use their telescope. Unfortunately, the 46-centimeter `scope is high on the moors in West Yorkshire, England. Fortunately, the Bradford Robotic Telescope is robotic, and an astronomer does not need to be present. Anyone can direct the telescope to look at anything in the northern night sky. The observations are completed as time allows, so be prepared to wait awhile for your results. If you don't want to wait that long, you can browse through some of the completed jobs. Oh wow, look at that! Wait, who's that waving from the Moon?
Chandra Xray Observatory Center - In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist, discovered something really strange. It was so strange he called it X-radiation. It was sort of like light, except it went right through things. These days, we have found many uses for X-radiation. X-rays are useful to see if bones are broken or if your teeth have cavities. Did you know X-ray astronomy is really hot? Scientists know X-rays are emitted from things like black holes, neutron stars, and other interesting stellar objects. The only problem is, the Earth's atmosphere absorbs X-rays coming in from space. So, astrophysicists have to use special off-Earth telescopes in order to study these more exotic locales. The Chandra telescope is the premier X-ray observatory to date. Its images will be 25 times sharper than previous X-ray pictures. "Chandra's improved sensitivity will make possible more detailed studies of black holes, supernovas, and dark matter and increase our understanding of the origin, evolution, and destiny of the universe," according to this page. Follow Chandra's mission here. You can also sign up for a free newsletter, play some Chandra-related games, and even ask a question at the Ask an Astrophysicist area.
Comet Hale-Bopp's Memorable Performance - Zinging its way through the sky at two million miles per hour is Comet Hale-Bopp, and lots of kids saw it in spring of 1997, when it was "nearby." If you weren't one of them, it's not too late! You can see a GIF of it here and read lots of information on this spectacular visitor to our solar system.
Comet Introduction - Comets! They're made up of rock particles and frozen gases (it's cold out there in space). They move around the Sun in highly elliptical orbits, which take them very close to the Sun, then very, very far away. The show starts when they get close enough to the Sun for their frozen gases to start to "boil" away. These boiling gases are part of what forms the bright tail that blazes across the sky. Find out more about comets, and look at pictures of some of our recent visitors, including Comet West, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Halley's Comet, and others.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy Home Page (JPL) - For centuries, comets have been well known by the astronomers who scan the night skies searching for its mysteries. Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy spotted something on March 24, 1993, which was to become a major event. The comet they identified was found to have an orbit around Jupiter. Only this time, it was on a collision course! The fragmented comet, P/Shoemaker-Levy 9, after intense observation and study, collided with Jupiter between July 16 and July 24, 1994. It took over a week for all the fragments to reach the planet, but it provided a light show for anyone with a strong enough telescope pointed in the right direction. See the results here.
Comets and Meteor Showers - Are any comets currently visible? Find out at this page, which gives you the latest news about sitings around the world. There's a nice selection of links too, one of which explains the difference between a comet and a meteor. Comets are made of ice and dust, and it's important to realize that they are not on fire. As they get close to the Sun, some of the ice melts and the released dust particles form the comet's distinctive tail. Meteors are tiny dust specks that orbit the Sun and come to our attention only when they hit our atmosphere and burn up. Comets can be tracked, meteors can not.
Cosmic Dust: Mankind's Journey into the Unknown - Just like you, the first humans looked up at the starry night sky and said, "Wow!" Early cultures such as Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, and others developed calendars from astronomical observations and calculations. Find out more about these early astronomers and how their discoveries helped future astronomers. Explore an illustrated time line of space research from the 1950s to the present, and then learn about space objects and cosmic phenomena. This beautifully designed site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Earth and Moon Viewer - When it's 10 A.M. and bright and sunny in Florida, what's it like in Japan? Stop by this site and ask the server, which will show where it's light and dark anyplace in the world. You can choose the satellite location to view from, or you can tell it to look at Earth from the Sun's or Moon's perspective. You can even create a custom request and specify the desired longitude and latitude you want to see; the computer then picks the best viewpoint.
EarthKAM - Kids have taken over the space shuttle! Not the whole shuttle, just a special camera on several of the shuttle missions. This NASA project teams middle school and high school kids with mission specialists. Read about past projects and look out for new ones on upcoming missions.
Eclipses for Students and Beginners - Have you ever seen an eclipse? It's certainly an eerie event. It takes the Moon, the Sun, and Earth to make an eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon gets between Earth and the Sun and casts a shadow on Earth. A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth gets between the Moon and the Sun and casts a shadow on the Moon. All three objects have to be lined up just right in the sky for this to happen. Read about eclipses and discover the special words astronomers use to describe the event.
Exploring Mars - If it's a windy day on Mars, you'd better hang onto your rover--wind speeds have been measured as high as 80 mph. It gets cold at night, too--almost 200 degrees below zero! Get the facts about the planet, the history of the spacecraft to visit it, and the future of man on Mars.
Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses - Did you know that it's dangerous to look directly at a solar eclipse? The infrared and ultraviolet light can be very bad for your eyes! Visit this NASA site to learn how you can safely watch a projected image of an eclipse using a straw hat, a big leafy tree, or even your interlaced fingers.
Frequently Asked Questions About NASA - Want to know how to become an astronaut? Maybe you just want to get those cool space mission patches to sew onto your backpack. Or you've just got to know if the space shuttle has a bathroom. You might say that NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has the mother ship of all space pages. The answers are here!
History of Space Exploration - Humans have been observing the stars for hundreds of years. It wasn't until 1959, with Luna 1, that we were able to actually break away from the gravity of Earth to visit another heavenly body--the Moon. In 1968, Apollo 8 made the first manned space flight around the Moon. Read about all the other spacecraft that we have launched in our quest for knowledge about our universe.
How Big Is the Solar System? - Let's say you had a bowling ball to represent the Sun and a peppercorn to represent Earth, and you chose other objects to stand in for the other planets. Do you think you could make a scale model of the solar system that would fit on a tabletop? No. Well then, would it fit in your classroom? Still no. OK, how about your school playground? Truth is, you would need 1,000 yards (or slightly less than 1 kilometer in the metric version) to perform this fascinating and unforgettable "planet walk." This is a great activity for a family picnic, too, since it's fun for both children and adults. Complete instructions are provided here.
Hubble Space Telescope News and Greatest Hits Gallery - They say on a clear day, you can see forever. However, astronomers would rather do without the air, no matter how clear. Light waves become distorted as they travel through the air, and it's hard to get a good picture when you're trying to see very far away. That's the idea behind the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). With a powerful telescope in orbit above the atmosphere, scientists can get a much better picture of our universe. The images are sent back to Earth electronically. This way, they are not affected by the atmosphere. Be sure to check out the telescope's greatest hits!
J-Track Satellite Tracking - OK, so maybe you already have seen the Mir tracking page, but what about all those other satellites and spacecraft spinning around in the sky? Where would you look to see, say, the current position of the Hubble Space Telescope, or one of those NOAA weather satellites? Right here!
Jim Lovell and the Flight of Apollo 13 - This is a brief biography of astronaut Jim Lovell, from his childhood to his retirement. Read about how his interest in rocketry developed into a love for flying and space travel. Jim's most famous mission was the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight to the Moon. This disastrous flight ended with the crew "escaping" back to Earth by way of the lunar module that was supposed to land on the Moon. Various links are included that explain more about some of the terms used in the story.
Loch Ness Productions: Planetarium Web Sites - Have you ever been to a planetarium show? You sink back in your seat, and then the lights go down and the stars come out across the domed ceiling of the planetarium. It's a special treat each and every time you go. Here is a list of Web sites from planetariums around the world, sorted by location. Find the planetarium closest to you to see what shows are available. If you're going on a trip, check out the schedule of a planetarium near your destination. Enjoy the show.
Make Asteroid Potatoes - This activity explains where asteroids come from and gives a recipe to make edible asteroids, complete with realistic-looking craters. If you don't want to eat the result of this experiment, you can always keep your new asteroid as a pet. It won't eat much, we guarantee!
Mars Academy - If it were up to you to design a space mission to Mars, how would you start? You'd have to make a lot of decisions. Where will you land? Who will be your crew and what kinds of skills will they have? What sort of propulsion system will your spacecraft use? When should you launch and what should your trajectory be? Follow along as kids make these decisions, guided by scientists. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Mars Atlas Home Page - Fasten your seat belts. The Mars shuttle will be leaving just as soon as you get the courage to start clicking! You'll soon be served with a map of Mars that you can click to zoom in on. Then move around by selecting directional arrows. Stay as long as you like on Mars. You can either pack a lunch or just go to the fridge if you get hungry. (Hint: The actual map link is farther down the page, in the To Use This section.)
Mars Exploration - Everything you ever wanted to know about Mars is here, including the most up to date information on Mars missions, including photos. Find out about Mars history, architecture and surveyor programs.
Mission and Spacecraft Library - There have been over 5,000 orbital spacecraft launches and attempted launches since the beginning of the Space Age. It's sometimes hard to imagine what various kinds of spacecraft really look like. For example, what does the Hubble Space Telescope look like? If you're curious, you can search this site by name or by mission. See if you can find the GPS satellites! You'll find out who made the equipment, when it was launched, what its mission is, its orbit, and more. This database is small but growing.
Mission to Mars Homepage - This exemplary site won the 1998 ThinkQuest competition's Math and Science category, entirely built by kids. You can learn all sorts of information about Mars, the Red Planet, here at Mars Academy. But the real fun starts when you can outfit and fly your own mission! You have to know a lot to design your mission, so you'd better go back to the Academy and make sure you did all the assigned homework. This site takes a long time to explore, and your mission may take many visits to complete.
NASA Astronaut Biographies and How to Become an Astronaut - Being an astronaut must be a cool job. How do you get to be one? Getting a Ph.D. and being a flight pilot are two very important qualifications for becoming an astronaut. Good eyesight and excellent physical condition are also a must. Also, don't be shy--astronauts need to be able to speak to the public. This page tells you all about astronauts past, present, and future (maybe you!). Find out about living in space, how to contact an astronaut for an appearance at your school, and lots more.
NASA Human Spaceflight - Looking for the latest on the International Space Station? It's at this site, as well as current info on any recent space shuttle flights. Real-time data, video feeds, and viewing opportunities for satellites and shuttle spotting are also available. Check the Space History section for details on Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and other missions. Official status reports and NASA News make this site a must!
One Giant Leap...The 30th Anniversary of Apollo 11 - The history of the Apollo Space Program, with many articles and links to other sites. World Book editors have compiles a collection of articles that celebrate the Apollo program.
Our Solar System - Ms Davis' 4th grade class has researched and written about our solar system. All the kids did research on factual information about the planets and outer space.They have also written science fiction stories and poetry about space.
Primer on the Solar Space Environment - How well do you know our nearest star? Have you ever wondered how long the Sun will last before it burns out? How big are sunspots? Are they bigger than your school? Visit this site for a comprehensive description of the Sun as an energy source and its effects on life on Earth. Did you know that geomagnetic storms on the Sun can alter current flow in pipelines and really confuse homing pigeons?
Quest Learning Technologies Channel - Tour The International Space Station. Learn what it is like to eat, sleep and work in a Microgravity environment for sustained periods of time.
SEDS Messier Database - This would definitely make E.T. feel homesick: 110 images of the brightest and most beautiful objects in the night skies. This is the Messier catalog of star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. Charles Messier started this catalog in the eighteenth century as a collection of objects that were most often mistaken for comets. It serves as an excellent reference list for both beginner and seasoned astronomers. You'll also find the celestial position for each object, which will help you locate it in the sky. Stars: they are hot stuff!
Sign Up for a Round Trip on STARDUST - The Jet Propulsion Lab invited kids to send their name to a comet. STARDUST launched in February 1999 to visit Comet Wild-2 to collect particles and return them to Earth -- for analysis. The names were placed on two microchips, which will be carried back to Earth after the dance through the comet. This won't be until 2006. Until then, maybe you can find your name on the microchips--check it out! You can also find out where STARDUST is now on its three billion mile journey.
Sky and Telescope - Make Your Own LED Light - If you ever go to a public star party sponsored by a local astronomy society, you'll find no lights on anywhere. Whatever you do, don't use a flashlight to see where you're going! The bright light impairs people's "night vision"--that's when your eye pupils arewidest to admit the most light from distant stars. Show everyone you care. You can either put red cellophane over your regular flashlight lens, or to be really cool, make this simple electronic project using a red LED.
Sky and Telescope - Mir Predictions (U.S.A., Canada, Mexico) - The Mir space station might be tooling about overhead, and you don't even know it. What if you wanted to contact the crew on your ham radio, and you needed to know when there would be a near pass? Or heck, what if you just wanted to go outside and wave? Just check in here first! Click on a state or province and see when Mir's coming to visit.
Sky and Telescope - Touring the Moon with Binoculars - If you have a pair of binoculars, you can take a good look at the Moon and explore the dusty "seas," the rocky craters, and the craggy mountain ranges. This site offers a good lunar map, viewing instructions, and more. Watch out for the Terminator!
Sky and Telescope - What's a Blue Moon? - We've always heard that if there are two full moons in the same calendar month, the second is called the blue moon. Sky & Telescope, the authority on astronomy, has investigated the source of this popular belief. Turns out that in the past, blue moons were figured a different way. Read about the controversy here, and then celebrate blue moons both ways!
Sky and Telescope Magazine - If you really want to know what's up in the sky this week, today, NOW!, then you've got to visit this site. It's from the publisher of Sky & Telescope magazine and other magazines, books, star atlases, and much more. Included are check tips for backyard astronomers, including how to find and see satellites and spacecraft in the night sky overhead. You can also track the latest comet sightings, meteor forecasts, and eclipse data. There is a fabulous collection of links, too. If it's happening in space or astronomy this week, you'll find something about it here.
Small Bodies - Did you ever make a wish on a "falling star"? It isn't a star, of course, but a meteor--a bit of rock captured by Earth's gravity, burning as it enters our atmosphere. Sometimes these space rocks don't burn completely, and they can reach Earth. When this happens, they are known as meteorites. You can get a close-up look at some well-traveled rocks at this site, which also features fascinating Hubble Space Telescope photos of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments hitting Jupiter in 1994. Compare various portraits of Comet Halley, the world's most famous comet, which swings by Earth about every 75 or 76 years. The spectacular 1910 appearance over Flagstaff, Arizona, makes the more recent 1986 visitation look like a fizzled firecracker.
Solar Eclipse: Stories from the Path of Totality - It was a dark day in Aruba on February 26, 1998. No, the weather wasn't bad--it was a total solar eclipse! Scientists and astronomers traveled there from all over the world just to get a good look. To see the rare event that caused all this excitement, check out this site.
Solar Learning Activities - You don't even need a sunny day to try some of these projects! Make your own color wheel out of paper plates and different colored cellophane and discover why scientists use color filters to examine space. Figure out how high a satellite's orbit is, examine the rotation of the Earth, and make a sundial you can wear around your neck.
Solar System Live - This is Solar System Live, and they mean it! You can tell the computer to draw a picture of the solar system almost any way you'd like it. You can even see what the solar system looked like in the past or what it will look like sometime in the future, by giving the computer that date. If you're adventurous, you can get a stereo view, but you'll need to train yourself in how to look at the twin pictures--this may take a bit of practice or help from someone older, but it's worth it. You can even include a comet in the drawing to discover how it travels through the solar system on its long journey.
Space Calendar (JPL) - Keep this calendar on hand if you like to keep up with what's happening in space. How close will that asteroid come to Earth? When will the Orionids Meteor Shower peak? It's all here! The calendar also lists anniversaries of past space events, along with upcoming earthly meetings and conventions of space-related activities.
Space Day - Every year, Space Day is celebrated on the Thursday before the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to "land a man on the moon and return him to the Earth." There are loads of related online events that day, but the official Web page is fun any time. Try the Night Watchman and see if you can click and drag the constellations to the correct place in the sky (if you've got sound, you'll even hear the crickets!). In The Phaser you'll learn all about the phases of the Moon (hope you know your waxing from your waning gibbous; if not, this site will teach you). And don't forget to send your friends some space postcards to show that you really get around.
Space Environment Center - Check out today's space weather! Here's a partial listing: "The geomagnetic field should remain disturbed for the next three days. Generally active to minor storm conditions are forecast. Periods of major storming are expected for high latitudes. Energetic electron fluxes at geosynchronous orbit should increase to high levels later this week." Not exactly what you might hear on TV, but it's how the weather in space is described by the scientists who study it. You'll also find images of the Sun and charts showing how strong X-rays from space are today. Don't forget to wear your shades!
Space Place - Care for some El Nin'o pudding? Or perhaps some Asteroid potatoes? Want to make a meat tray nanorover? Or a super sound cone? This can only be the Space Place from the Jet Propulsion Lab. Lots of cool crafts, puzzles, and information that is really "out there." We loved it.
Spacelink - Comets Asteroids and Meteoroids - Do you want just an overview of facts about comets and meteors? Check here for basic text coverage, including such information as how many meteors fall to Earth each day (tons!), how many meteors you can expect to see an hour during the Perseid shower every August (68 at the most), and what the heck a tektite is (a glassy rock that may be the remains of a meteor or a comet fragment--scientists are still arguing about it).
Star Journey: The Heavens - Star Chart @ Nationalgeographic.com - Explore a map of visible stars as they appear from the North and South Poles. All 2,844 of these stars (plus nebulae and star clusters also pictured on the map) can be seen with the unaided eye. As you click on the various quadrants, you'll come across special blue squares. That means a Hubble Space Telescope photo of that star is available to view as a close-up. Letters from the Greek alphabet are used to describe the apparent brightness of various stars within a constellation. Alpha is the brightest, followed by beta, gamma, and so on. It's all explained in the Star Chart Notes section.
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers - This is a wonderful beginner's guide to astronomy. It's written for younger children and presents itself in an easy-to-read text. This site includes sections on general astronomy, Earth, planets, stars, galaxies, the Sun, and more. Use these pages to introduce a child (or brother or sister) to the wonders of space. You may even learn some new stuff yourself.
Sun - It's big, it's hot, and it's the brightest thing around. No, we're not talking about glow-in-the-dark slime. We're talking about our very own star: the Sun. The Sun makes plants grow and keeps us warm. It's over 4.6 billion years old and is big enough to hold 1.3 million Earths. Read all about what it's made of and how it works.
Telescopes - Read all about reflection, refraction, parabolic mirrors, and spherical aberration. These are some of the definitions used to describe the features of telescopes and how they are made. Telescopes need to magnify light from weak, distant sources and make the images visible to the observer. There's a lot more available on astronomy if you click on "Return to lecture notes homepage" at the bottom of the page.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific - So, you think you might be interested in astronomy? Well, things are looking up! The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is here to help. This organization has been serving astronomers for over 100 years. They publish The Mercury, a monthly magazine, and The Universe in the Classroom, a free quarterly newsletter for teachers. Of course, there's also loads of information for astronomers here on their Web site.
The Astronomy Cafe - Do you have what it takes to be an astronomer? Do you have the same interests and curiosities that astronomers have? Ask the Astronomer, and you might just find the answers right here. Dr. Sten Odenwald starts by telling you about his childhood and how a TV show sparked his own interest in astronomy. He tells you how his knowledge of mathematics and astronomy developed through college and then describes his career as a research scientist and astronomer. You can also read about the experiences of other astronomers and how they became interested in astronomy. Lots of links, articles, and other astronomy resources for you here!
The Aurora Page - Shimmering curtains of light in the night sky--it's the aurora borealis. Find out about aurora borealis sightings and forecasts. Various aurora maps and images are here, including images taken from the space shuttle. Ever heard the northern lights? They also make sounds! Learn all about the theories on why this happens. There's even a survey for those lucky people who have "heard" one.
The Natural History Museum, London - The Cosmic Football - Scientists often explore the ice of Antarctica for micrometeorites. These tiny space travelers are so small, you need a microscope to see them! They have to be collected and studied under very special conditions so that they are not contaminated. This is the story of one very unusual micrometeorite and the British scientist who unraveled its mystery. See if you can follow the clues and make the correct hypothesis about how it got its distinctive shape.
The Nine Planets - Here's a site with pictures of all the planets and their moons and much, much more. How did they get their names? Find out what planets are made of and which are most dense, brightest in the sky, and so on. Many of the words are linked to a glossary; just click on a highlighted word for an explanation. Also find out which planets have the best prospects for supporting life. Earth is listed first!
The Planetary Society - This nonprofit group was founded by astronomer Carl Sagan and others. Its mission is to encourage planetary exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life. Naturally, the Web site has links to the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) pages, and now you can use your computer to help look for ET! You'll be doing some real science, and wouldn't it be cool if YOUR computer found the signal pattern that means off-Earth intelligence? But there's more. How about building your own Mars rover, which distant kids can control (don't worry, you can also drive their rovers).
The Singularity - Seems you've signed on to visit a black hole on this space mission. Too late to back out now! This takes awhile to load, so don't give up on it too soon. Your first mate navigates your ship to several types of stars before you meet up with...the singularity. Will you survive?
The Space Shuttle Clickable Map - Isn't it amazing how much stuff we recycle these days, when we used to throw it away? NASA is doing the same thing with the space shuttle. NASA recycles its booster rockets after they fall into the ocean, and they fly the main cabin and cargo bay back to Earth to use again and again. This page has a clickable picture of a space shuttle, which will take you on a descriptive tour of its different parts. Explore the shuttle and find out what makes it click, er, tick.
The Sun - It's pretty hot stuff! With a temperature of 15 million degrees Kelvin at its center, the Sun is the source of energy for all life on Earth. Each second, the Sun burns enough fuel to produce 386 billion-billion megawatts of energy (that's a lot of lightbulbs!). But don't worry, it has enough fuel to burn another five billion years. There are many more interesting facts here to discover about the Sun.
The Sun: Man's Friend & Foe - The Sun: should it stay or should it go? Most people would say STAY, but the Sun is also a force behind terrible weather conditions and other disruptions. Find out science facts about our nearest star as well as cultural influences the Sun has had over the centuries. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
The Ultimate Field Trip - Section 1 - Here's a field trip that you're unlikely to forget. Astronaut Kathy Sullivan is your host and guide on this incredible journey. She tells you about her decision to switch careers from marine biologist to astronaut. As she talks about her experiences as mission specialist aboard the space shuttle, she guides you on a tour of Earth photos taken from the shuttle. Kathy describes each photo in her own personal way, which gives you a special insight into her own experience.
Total Eclipse of the Sun - When's the next solar or lunar eclipse? Where is the best place in the world to see it? Check this site! You'll also find a calendar of space events, a mailing list so you can keep up on eclipses, meteor showers, occultations, sightings, sunspots, rumors, and more. Lots of eclipse Web pages have great photography, and this one is no exception. But how many sites offer audio files? No, you can't hear the Sun say, "Hey Moon! Get out of my way!" but the assembled crowd of astronomers and spectators does have a reaction, and you can hear it here if you use Internet Explorer.
Views of the Solar System - What do you think of when you hear the word "Mars"? Mars, ah yes, one of my favorite candy bars. How about "Pluto"? Hey, that's Mickey's pet dog! "Saturn"? My dad's got one of those in the garage! OK, now what do they all have in common? They're all planets, of course. Did you know Mars has volcanoes and the biggest one is 16 miles high (the biggest one on Earth is only 6 miles high)? Did you know that for 20 years out of its 249-year orbit Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune? (This won't happen again until 2226.) Scientists also think that Pluto's atmosphere freezes and falls to the ground when Pluto gets farther away from the Sun--imagine shoveling clouds off your front walk! Did you know that you can drive a Saturn, but you can't make it sink? At least not the pla Net--it floats! There's lots more here, including many images and animations of planets, comets, and asteroids.
Welcome to the Mars Millennium Project - Your mission is to design an off-world community to support 100 humans arriving on Mars in 2030. Got any ideas? This might make a great family, class, or club project. If you submit your registered project with NASA by June, 2000, it will be sent to Mars on a special microchip. Registration will also make you eligible for additional events. This project has numerous sponsors, so you'll probably be hearing a lot about it.
Welcome to the Planets - This collection centers on images taken from NASA's planetary exploration program. There are different annotated views of each planet, including close-ups. You'll also find pictures and facts about the spacecraft NASA used to take these photos, including Mariner, Viking, Voyager, Magellan, Galileo, and the Hubble Space Telescope.
What's Up Tonight? - Hey, did you see how clear it is tonight? I wonder what that star is over there--gosh, it's bright! Maybe it's a planet. Anyone got a clue? Anyone got a URL? Try this one--there's a picture of what the sky looks like from your backyard tonight! And don't miss the planet roundup, which explains where they all are, and whether they are visible tonight or not.
Woman in the Moon - You may have heard of the Man in the Moon, but have you ever seen the Woman in the Moon? Some people think she's actually easier to see! She looks a little like Wilma Flintstone to us, but study the pictures here and see what you think.
World Builders - If you could create your own planet, starting with a handful of stellar dust, what would you build? Maybe a water planet, or a desert planet? What sorts of animal and plant life would develop? What elements would make up the atmosphere, and--here's the big question--what kind of fast-food restaurants would be there? OK, we were kidding about that last question. But some college kids took a course in world building, and this page documents their results. See what you think about these virtual worlds; then follow the instructions and see if you can create your own planet!
Biology
Access Excellence - This site is renowned for its design, content, and collaborative activities. Focusing on the biological sciences, the activities collection is truly excellent. Online "seminars" put you in touch with scientists and science teachers. Offerings include "Local Habitats," "Science of Amber," and "Emerging Diseases." Collaborative classroom projects like "Acid Rain/Acid Snow" build enthusiasm as distant classrooms share data and results with each other.
Beginner's Guide to Molecular Biology: Cell Structure - This site features the basics of cell structure, complete with colorful drawings and photographs. You'll learn about not only the parts of a cell but also their functions and chemistry.
Biology Labs On-Line - A series of interactive, inquiry-based biology simulations and exercises designed for college and AP high school biology majors.
Cell Basics - Cells are the basic building blocks of life. You need a microscope to see most cells and the tiny structures inside them, which are called organelles . This page, part of a biology hypertextbook for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gives you an overview of cell biology. If you're really into it, go back to the home page for this resource and learn about photosynthesis, genetics, and more!
Fun with Lichens - Lichens are a combination of a fungus and an alga that combine to form a unique third type of organism. You see lichens growing on rocks, on trees--pretty much everywhere. The lichen needs sunlight in order to manufacture food for itself, and they won't grow where the air pollution is bad. There are lots of useful things to know about lichens, including the fact that they are used to make medicine and dye wool. Some of them grow only a teeny bit each year. At this site you'll learn all about lichens and their diversity around the world.
Infection, Detection, Protection - Meet the microbes! They are everywhere, and they are among the oldest life-forms on Earth. At this site you'll learn about bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Some of these can cause diseases, but over 95 percent of them are harmless. Use the Size-o-Meter to get a sense of how small these critters actually are, and then go on a microbe quest in the cafeteria and try to solve the microbe riddle. Learn how Lou got the flu, and try playing detective in the Case of the Mixed-Up Microbes.
Interactive Genetics - Learn about genetics using cute little virtual mice! This simulation requires Shockwave. First you'll have to answer some questions about statistics and probability, but don't worry, there's a cool little tutorial that will have you flipping virtual coins in no time. When you think you know a gene from a chromosome, just enter the Simple Mouse House and breed some critters. When you've got that one figured out, move on to the trickier Advanced Mouse House. Can you discover how to make a pink-eyed black mouse?
Kids World - Plant Nutrition - You know that a plant needs light and water--but what other sorts of nutrients help a plant to grow? There are 16 of them, divided into those that are mineral and nonmineral. Nonminerals needed are hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Minerals include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, among many others. Find out what each does to grow a healthy plant. There's also information on how to read a fertilizer label. Don't miss the game, quiz, and coloring book.
The Mysteries of Genetics - Explore the inside of a cell, and then learn about more than 100 years of history in genetics research. Some diseases are genetically linked, and you can read about cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and hemophilia, among others. Check out various topics in genetic engineering. Are those engineered tomatoes safe to eat? Not always--discover why at this site. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Virtual Flylab - Have you heard someone say "he has his father's eyes" or "his mother's smile"? That's because a child is made from genetic instructions contributed by each parent. They combine in different ways, so you'll notice people in the same family look similar to each other but not exactly the same--well, unless they are twins. Confused yet? This science is called genetics, and scientists learned a lot about its rules by studying fruit flies and their offspring (that's their kids). We know it sounds weird. You can try it yourself here. What happens when you mate a purple-eyed fruit fly to one with fluffy wings?
You Can with Beakman and Jax - Put on your thinking cap and visit this site. Discover the answers to important questions, like "What are fingernails made of?" and "Why do I hear weird sounds at night?" There are some neat animations, too--for example. check out "How the Internet Works."
Chemistry
Bread Chemistry - Everyone likes bread: it's great as toast, makes for good sandwiches, and sometimes is excellent for missiles in a food fight. Bread, though, is a good lesson in chemistry. Every time bread is made, all kinds of interesting chemical reactions result. Don't loaf around! Check out this episode from the award-winning Newton's Apple TV program for a lesson in bread as science.
Chem4Kids - Chem4Kids! The web site that teaches chemistry fundamentals to children and adults. From the basics to the advanced, this site tells all-- and it's fun too... I know you don't believe me, so check it out for yourself!
ChemWeb 2000 - One-stop high school chemistry, this way! Acids and bases, balancing equations, gas laws--it's all here. There are also several multimedia movies of various chemistry experiments. For example, what is that gel-like absorbent material used in diapers? What's elephant toothpaste? Check the handy calculators to convert a gram to a mole and back, or to help you with your titrations. And don't miss the mad-lib! This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Home Experiments - What do you mean there's nothing to do. Why, with Mom or Dad and a few simple household ingredients, you could bend water, collapse an aluminum can, float soap bubbles in an aquarium full of carbon dioxide, or even remove tarnish from silver! Is it magic? No, just chemistry, physics, or both. There are also links to even more home experiments to try.
HyperChemistry on the Web - Do you think early humans knew anything about chemistry? Even fire--the simple process of fuel, air, and spark called combustion--is considered a chemical reaction. Learn about the history of chemistry from those early times right up to the Nobel Prize winners of the twentieth century. There's a nice section on chemical experiments you can try at home (with an adult). Visit the Periodic Table to learn about the history of each element as well as its physical properties. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Miami Museum of Science - The pH Factor - Is something an acid or a base? You need to know that if you're going to the lab! Use the online "pH panel" machine to explore the pH of common household solutions such as virtual lemon juice, borax, vinegar, and Lava soap. Then check out the real experiments you can try with an adult. Some involve toothpicks and gumdrops, while others require more elaborate preparations.
Molecule of the Month - Some parts of chemistry are, well, a mystery! For example, what do molecules really look like? When someone mentions ozone, vitamin B12, or even something as simple as water--are these chemical structures hard for you to visualize? No worries. Just visit the Molecule of the Month archive. Note that you will need a special plug-in (available at this site) to see the 3-D versions of the molecules.
NSTA: Scope, Sequence, and Coordination - It can be dangerous to work with chemicals, even household chemicals. So, there are various standard lab methods you need to learn so that everyone stays safe. This site shows you the correct way to read a thermometer, light a Bunsen burner, use a pipette to transfer liquids, and perform other special lab techniques.
Science Experiments for Kids - Would you like to demonstrate the iso- and thixo-trophic properties of certain emulsions? Or would you just like to play with SLIME, the greatest polymer of them all? That's only one of the experiments you can try at this gooey site that also explains paper airplanes, Cartesian divers, air pressure, and more.
The Comic Book Periodic Table of the Elements - Why should you bother knowing anything about the elements or their arrangement in the periodic table? One reason is the frequent occurrence of elements in--comic books. After all, you need to know things like what's radioactive, what blows up when you add water, and what's really valuable. Is there really such a thing as kryptonite, destroyer of Superman's powers? Check it out.
The World of Chemistry - The Chemical Institute of Canada and the Halifax West High School have teamed up to present 15 different experiments you can try at home or in school. For example, how do chemists test substances to find out what they are made of? Try the Unknown Powder experiment--you'll need an adult to help you set it up, so you don't already know which powder is which! (Hint: The secrets behind all the experiments are in the Teacher's Notes sections, which are in the Investigation areas.) This site is available in English and French.
Colleges & Universities
College Board Online - The College Board is the organization that prepares the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) taken by college-bound high school students. At this site you'll discover that the College Board offers a lot more than academic acheivement tests. There is lots of information for frazzled parents seeking financial aid, and worried students seeking admission. If you're only interested in learning about the SATs, there's a calendar of upcoming testing dates and sample questions.
CollegeQuest - Before you register for free membership, be sure to read the privacy policy. If you disagree, you can always register under a false name. But you'll probably want to use the correct name once you discover everything you can do. Search for a college online. When you find one you like, take a virtual tour of campus facts. Some college Web pages are also linked into the mini tours. You can even apply online! There's also information on financial aid, handy calculators, campus news, and lots more to help you organize all your college research in one place.
Graduation... Now What? - High school seniors may have a lot of choices in front of them. This site sorts it all out and puts the steps to selecting a college into a logical order. Plenty of good advice may be found here. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Peterson's - Your family may be familiar with this resource. Have your parents and older brothers and sisters been investigating colleges, distance learning, or semester abroad programs? Peterson's is a wonderful site for that, but did you know it can also be used to find a summer job (maybe at a summer camp) and to explore the world of work?
Earth Science
23 Peaks - Phil Buck had a dream. He wanted to be the first person to climb the tallest mountains in all nations in North America, Central America, and South America. In May 1998, he realized his goal, but along his ten-year journey he encountered land mines, civil war, poisonous snakes and spiders, tropical diseases, avalanches, hidden crevasses, and recently, frostbite. You can follow along in his trip diaries, ask questions, and add to the resources available in this very intriguing site. What goal will Phil tackle next?
A Gem of a Story - Gems and jewels: before they become treasures, they look like, well, rocks. You might be able to spot a future gemstone if you study this site. You'll see a collection of pictures and descriptions of rocks and minerals from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. You can also click on each small picture to get a larger picture of that mineral.
A Kid Visits Costa Rica - This neat story of a fifth grader's trip to Costa Rica is filled with details about the rain forest and its inhabitants. After dodging iguanas around the hotel pool, the author moved into the jungle to sleep 85 feet in the air on a tree platform! In the morning, there were howler monkeys all around. There's more to his adventure--check it out. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
Amazon Life: Learning Ecology Through Amazon Rain Forest - Learn about the biodiversity of the Amazon ecosystem, including plants, birds, and animals. Find out about deforestation, gold mining, and other forms of human impacts on this ancient area. The Brazilian government is building SIVAM (Surveillance System of Amazon) to try and monitor changes. It will be fully operational in 2002, but you can study its progress now at this page. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
America's Roof - The highest points in the United States are listed here, and guess what--many of these mountains and peaks have webcams on them so you can see the view without ever having to pack your water bottle and trail food.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - When you hear the word "desert," does it conjure up visions of sand dunes? Even Africa's Namib, perhaps the sandiest desert in the world, is only about 30 percent dunes. In Arizona's Sonora Desert, sand covers only 1 or 2 percent of the area. It doesn't mean there are no plants, either. Sloping and flat desert lands host so many plants, you can't walk without bumping into bushes! Also, flowers bloom most of the year. Learn more about the interrelationships of the plants, animals, and geology of this arid environment, as presented by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
BLM's Resource Explorers - It's 120 degrees outside, but inside New Mexico's Endless Cave it's cool and comfortable. Here in the "twilight" section of the cave--where sunlight filters in--we'll see mice, rattlesnakes, and even a few ringtail cats. Further into the cave, it's dark all the time, and most of the creatures we'll see are colorless and have no eyes. They don't need eyes because there is nothing to see--however, their other senses tell them what's going on nearby. Learn more about this cave and the people who explore it.
Baileys' Eco-Regions - Net-mom was interested to know that she lives in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest region of the U.S., characterized by rolling hills, oaks and wildflowers, and squirrels everywhere. This is in contrast to the Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe, where there are rugged mountains, spruce and fir, and all kinds of large mammals like elk and bear. All of the above is really different from the Hawaiian Islands Province, with its tropical climate and ohia and koa trees. What eco-region do you live in? There are more than 50 described and pictured here.
Biosphere 2 - Did you know there is a rain forest in the middle of the Arizona desert? There's also an ocean. It's true, and the most amazing part: they are both indoors! Biosphere 2 is a 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and space frame structure, and inside are seven wilderness ecosystems, or biomes, including a rain forest and a 900,000-gallon ocean. The idea was to find out how people could survive inside a sealed environment, in case we wanted to colonize other planets. Could they grow all their own food? Manufacture their own air? Recycle their own waste? The first crew of biospherians (four women and four men) entered Biosphere 2 on September 26, 1991. They remained inside for two years, emerging again on September 26, 1993. Biosphere's original experiments were very controversial, but the results were undisputed: we don't know how to successfully accomplish this mission--yet. Columbia University now operates the facility as a learning center about the greenhouse effect. See what they are up to and take a cybertour. Go into the Home section to check up on temperature, humidity, and other sensors around the building.
Can the Everglades Survive? - It's not really a swamp and not really a bog: it's known as the River of Grass, and there is no other place like it in the world. Birds, alligators, fish, amphibians, and reptiles make it their home. You can find out about the challenges facing this important Florida watershed at this official National Park Service site.
Canadian Rockhound: Junior Rockhound Magazine - If you've ever wanted to start a mineral collection, this is a good place to explore. If you've already collected boxes of rocks and would like to try to identify and organize them, you'll really like this site (almost as much as your parents will!). About 3,000 minerals have been identified, but the good news is most rock collectors will only come across about 60 of them in the field. This site offers a lot about geology in general, too, including plate tectonics, earthquakes, and the geologic time scale.
Charlotte, the Vermont Whale: Directory of Exhibits - Just how did a whale get in the state of Vermont, which has no seacoast? Find how the bones of this 12-foot beluga whale ended up buried in Charlotte, Vermont, about 10,000 years ago. Very nice descriptions with drawings show how the whale probably died and was eventually preserved and fossilized in the sediment.
Contrasts in Blue - On coral reefs of the Bahamas and the rocky shore of Maine, the marine ecosystems are very different. Do you know why? This edition of Art to Zoo , a publication of the Smithsonian Institution, will help you understand, and it provides lots of interesting projects to make this fun!
Coral Reef Protection: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Corals are called sessile animals because they stay in one place and don't move around. They do build empires around themselves, using a special secretion called calcium carbonate. Eventually this builds up into a coral reef. Healthy coral reefs are characterized by lots of fish and other forms of marine life. Find out about coral reefs as well as the problems facing them worldwide.
Coral Reefs - A World of Their Own - There are many different kinds of coral reefs, but all of them support special types of ecosystems. They may be made up of algae, mollusks, or special animals called coral. An atoll is a ring of coral that encloses a circular lagoon. Most often, atolls are formed on the crater of a volcano that has sunk below the surface of the sea. Read more about the world of the coral at this site.
Destination: Himalayas - Where Earth Meets Sky - This ThinkQuest contest grand prize winner was created by a team of geographically and culturally diverse kids. It gives an overview of the Himalayan region, its flora and fauna, and its environmental problems. Himalaya is a Sanskrit word that literally means "Abode of Snow." You'll find multimedia if you choose the high-bandwidth version; otherwise, the text will inform and enlighten. This is an excellent site that proves what value kids bring to the Net.
Diamonds in the Rough - Wouldn't it be fun to try to find some diamonds yourself? These kids did! They visited the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas and brought along a camera so you can see what they saw. They also interviewed three successful diamond hunters about their techniques, which include looking on the soil surface, sifting through a screen, and washing soil and rocks with water. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
Discovery Centre, Fossils Cyber-Display - Royal Ontario Museum - A fossil is a sort of stone souvenir from the past. When you hold a fossil in your hand, you're really looking at an animal or plant that was buried on a beach, in a mud puddle, or on a sandbar of long, long ago. If you need a quick refresher course on fossils and how they form, better start here. There are also sections on where fossils are found and how they are prepared and preserved by scientists. We liked the fossil game: see if you can match a fossil with its modern-day equivalent creature. This is harder than you'd think--how well can you do?
Discovery Online Earth Alert - Attention! It's time for the weekly update on the state of the planet. Gather `round this map as I point to various icons and explain them. This one means there's a wildfire in Alaska, while this one marks a flood in India. Here's a rare breed of deer reintroduced to China, and a new turtle refuge in the United Arab Emirates. This squiggle over here is, hmm. I'm not sure. Oops, I think it's mustard from my lunch.
EDF - Environmental Defense Fund WorldWide - You can learn a lot about our environment at this home page of the Environmental Defense Fund. There's a special area for kids called Earth to Kids that has lots of neat things--like an Alpha Bestiary. Don't know what that is? Then check this site. Don't miss the animal Concentration game called Kokoto. It's fun to play, and you'll learn something about the birds and beasts as you make your match.
Earth and Moon Viewer - When it's 10 A.M. and bright and sunny in Florida, what's it like in Japan? Stop by this site and ask the server, which will show where it's light and dark anyplace in the world. You can choose the satellite location to view from, or you can tell it to look at Earth from the Sun's or Moon's perspective. You can even create a custom request and specify the desired longitude and latitude you want to see; the computer then picks the best viewpoint.
Earth in the Balance - People are changing the planet, and not always for the better. There's that hole in the ozone, for example. Don't forget the extinction of plant and animal species, to say nothing of their habitat. And then there's air and water pollution. Learn all about these environmental crises at this site. Then try some classroom activities that put you in the places of those who could make a difference. Here's a sample: "Pretend you are a manager of a nature preserve that contains rare trees scientists want to cut down in order to obtain a lifesaving drug. The trees are endangered, and disturbing the area might also threaten several endangered animals. What would you do? Why?"
Earthwatch Teacher & Student Homepage - Earthwatch takes ordinary people on extraordinary research expeditions. Of course, you pay for the privilege of counting katydids or helping to save a coral reef. But when you get back, you'll have a great story to tell about how you spent your summer vacation! This page archives some of the field notes and lesson plans developed from past trips, and it's interesting to see which ecological hot spots they will attend to next. There are also a few virtual field trips online, where you don't even have to get your boots wet.
Environmental Protection Agency - Teachers & Students - Check out these excellent handouts on the functions of a wetland, the various types, and the threats facing wetlands today. You can find out how to adopt a nearby wetland and help protect it. Tothese files you will need an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) reader. The Adobe Acrobat reader can be downloaded for free if you don't already have it.
Everest, Crown of the World - Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, at 29,028 feet. Most people in Nepal call it Sagarmtha , meaning "Forehead in the Sky." Tibetans call it Chomolungma , meaning "Goddess, Mother of the World." This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition. See route maps, learn about great climbing successes and tragedies, and find out some very cool facts about the history of Mount Everest.
Evergreen Project Adventures - This site from the Missouri Botanical Gardens is awesome. A biome is the collection of creatures and plants living in a particular region. In What's It Like Where You Live? you can explore six different biomes: grassland, rain forest, taiga, deciduous forest, desert, and tundra. You'll learn about the features of each area and its plants and animals. You don't have a clue what living in the taiga is like? Ask a kid at a school in Finland or Russia--links to schools in each biome area are included here. Other sections of the site offer plant projects and stories.
Explore the Fantastic Forest @ Nationalgeographic.com - You may want to tell people to leaf you alone while you trek through this fantastic forest, picking up clues along with maple leaves. We encountered a deer, a woodchuck, and some running buffalo clover. You can learn a lot about the forest and its inhabitants by spending an afternoon here. Remember to pack out your trash, if you have any.
Explore the GLOBE Program - GLOBE stands for Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. It's an environmental education and science partnership of students, teachers, and scientists. Through collaboration, they try to increase environmental awareness throughout the world and to contribute to a better understanding of Earth. Students take measurements and make observations of the weather and environment around their schools. This data is shared via the Internet with other students and scientists around the world. All the details are patched together to make a view of the world as it's seen through the student findings at 6,500 schools in over 80 countries.
Fantastic Journeys: Yellowstone @ Nationalgeographic.com - Hey, what's all that mist up ahead? Wait--it's steam. Hold on, hear that gurgling and rumbling noise? RUN! Oops. This is the Net, isn't it. That's not a real geyser; that's QuickTime virtual reality. That glopping sound you hear is coming from a virtual mudpot. Still, it's pretty exciting to see and hear the various things that can happen when you mix hot water and minerals together. Don't forget to put on your wet suit and dive down into the depths of the Grand Prismatic Spring to see what's below.
Frequently Asked Questions and Myths About Glaciers - If you've ever wondered why glaciers look blue, or if glacier ice is any colder than regular ice, or if glacier ice is really ancient ice--then you should check out this page. Also, are ice worms myth or fact? Find out here.
Fynbos - Kingdom Threatened - Fynbos refers to "the characteristic shrubland of the southwestern and southern Cape of South Africa." To continue to amaze you, we offer this tidbit: "The 470 square kilometers of the Cape Peninsula, including Table Mountain, is home to 2,256 different plant species--more than the whole of Great Britain (which only supports 1,500 species), an area 5,000 times bigger!" This outstanding site will introduce you to Fynbos and its plant life. You'll also learn about the threats to this shrubland, which include everything from humans to alien plants. The best part is that the entire site was done by kids--it was a winner in 1998's CyberFair, and for good reason.
GORP - Okefenokee - National Wildlife Refuge - Between northern Florida and southern Georgia lie the 700 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp, home to critters as diverse as coral snakes, alligators, and--yes--tourists! You'll be amazed at the dark, mirrorlike water of the swamp, with its overhanging trees draped in swaying strands of Spanish moss. Explore old Seminole canoe routes and learn about the fragile ecology of this very special area. Just remember, don't turn your back on that gator!
Geysers - A geyser is simply a hot spring that erupts, shooting water into the air. There are only about 700 geysers left in the world. Four hundred of them are located in Yellowstone National Park, but they can also be found in such faraway places as Siberia and Chile. Find out how a geyser builds up steam, and discover why geothermal energy production has destroyed many of the geyser fields and threatens some of the few remaining ones. See what happens when they leave the water running? ;-)
Glacier - Antarctica is the coldest and driest place on Earth--why do scientists and tourists go there? What's the attraction? How do you get there, anyway, and once you're there, what's it like? See what life is like at the major research stations, and don't forget to dress warmly when you visit this site!
He Ain't Nothing but a Rock Hound, a Diggin' All the Time - Elvis was spotted digging around on this page recently. If you have rocks in your head and love to collect minerals, fossils, and crystals, you will love this site and its extensive information on collecting and studying rocks. There's also a neat rock hound's crossword puzzle.
History of the Earth - Step right up to Eternity Canyon. Not too close, there, sonny! I'll be your guide to the major geological time periods as we tour the canyon today. I'll be pointing out representative plant and animal life, describing conditions as they were then, and in general trying to give you an overview of each eon, era, period, epoch, and age. Now, I must warn you that it could get a little dusty as we tour Precambrian time, but if you'll just walk this way And please note the sign up ahead: "This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition."
International Year of the Reef - The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is the largest structure on Earth that was created by living things. It is the only such structure that can be seen from space. Coral reefs have been called "the rain forests of the sea" because they support almost a million kinds of sea life. Find out about the Top Ten coral reefs as well as fun facts about them.
Mammoth Cave National Park - "Captain, Spock here. According to the informative sign, I am exploring the longest recorded cave system in the world. There seem to be more than 336 miles mapped, but sensors indicate much more to this labyrinth. I chart my location as Kentucky. My Star Fleet tricorder reads ambient temperature at 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Here is a sign; I will read it aloud: `Violet City Lantern Tour, 3 hours, 3 miles (strenuous). A nostalgic tour into a section of the cave that is not electrically lit. The tour features saltpeter mining, prehistoric exploration, historic tuberculosis hospital huts, and some of the largest rooms and passage ways in the cave. The first half-mile follows the Historic Tour route. Do not bring flashlights. Restrooms not available.' No rest rooms? Illogical. Beam me up. No, wait--it says that other tours are available; some are handicapped-accessible and some are short, fun walks for kids, too. And they have rest rooms!"
Massachusetts Maple Producers Association - Did you know that, depending on the sweetness of the sap, it can take anywhere from 25 gallons to 75 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? The average, though, is 40 gallons raw to 1 gallon finished. It doesn't hurt the tree to be tapped, as long as you do it the right way. This page explains how you can make your own maple syrup. If you'd rather visit a commercial "sugar bush" and see how it's done, there's a directory of maple producers as well as lots of sticky links.
Mount St. Helens - Imagine that you're living near Mount St. Helens, a sleeping volcano, and suddenly it blows up! There's dust and debris everywhere, mud slides, and boulders shooting into the air. Read exciting stories from people who were there on May 18, 1980. Sponsored by Educational Service District 112 in Vancouver, Washington, this graphics-intensive site provides maps, photos, and classroom projects to help bring this devastating eruption to life. Particularly compelling is a climb to the summit with QuickTime VR at the top. The site is also supported by NASA, the National Forest Service, and Volcano World.
Mount St. Helens & Other Volcanoes, Ape Cave - Ape Cave is a special geologic formation called a lava tube. Formed when Mount St. Helens (Amboy, Washington) erupted 1,900 years ago, it is 12,810 feet long--that's almost two and a half miles! It is the longest intact lava tube in the United States and the second longest in the world. You can read all about its amazing features, such as sand castles, "lava-sicles," and lava balls. Don't miss the creatures of Ape Cave, which include cockroaches, millipedes, and cave slime. There have never been any apes in Ape Cave, however. The name came from a local youth group that explored Mount St. Helens, climbing all over it like monkeys!
NOVA Online - Warnings from the Ice - If scientists drill down into very deep ice, they come back up with a core sample of the ice. This cylindrical sample preserves the ice and its layers. Each layer represents a year (or sometimes a single season) of ice deposit. Along with the ice, plant material, dust, and other debris may be found. By studying this material scientists are able to look at global climate change through time. Some of the dust might have come from a volcanic eruption, or a violent desert sandstorm. More recently, radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has turned up in ice cores. What can we learn that might help us predict the global impact of events of today? Visit the Ice Core Timeline to discover more.
National Christmas Tree Association - Too bad they don't have "smell attribute" plug-ins (yet). If they did, this site would smell terrific! The National Christmas Tree Growers page provides a dictionary of 16 evergreen types, from the Arizona cypress to the white spruce. You'll also find a directory of tree farms close to you (if you want to cut your own), selection tips, and interesting facts and figures.
National Wildlife Federation's for Kids! - Looking for projects and information on a variety of environmental subjects? Check these out: water, wetlands, endangered species, and our public lands. Sound good? Each topic includes general background information, activities, fun facts, and a glossary of terms. How about a riddle from Ranger Rick? Or a challenging game? And perhaps your class or family could become an EarthSavers Habitat Helper--find out what other kids are doing to clean up and restore habitat for wildlife.
Northern Wisconsin / Northwoods Activity Calendar Main Index Page - You don't have to live in Wisconsin to download this activity calendar and have way too much fun! In November, the daily suggestions include examining resin from a pine tree, making origami animals, and creating a musical rattle out of a gourd. Other months suggest seeing how far a grain of popcorn will pop, learning how to make rock candy, and stuffing a pillow with cattail fluff.
Ocean Planet Homepage - Pollution is a serious threat to the oceans and marine life. Oil pollution, dangerous debris, toxic chemicals--all contribute to a perilous situation. Add to that wetland destruction, overfishing, and coastal development, and you have the makings of an ecological disaster. What's being done? Visit the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and their Ocean Planet exhibit, where you can read about these problems and much more.
Ocean98 Victor the Vector - Victor the Vector is searching for his mother. Seems they caught different ocean currents, and he's traveling the seas to find her again. If you hitch a ride with Victor, you'll learn all about the great currents of the world and maybe a little bit about geography, too.
Oceans and Coastal Protection: Kids' Page - This page from the Environmental Protection Agency houses a whole tidal pool of interesting links for you to pick up and ponder. Get out your crayons for the Louisiana Coastal Coloring Book, splash into the Center for Marine Conservation Wading Pool for some really fun games, and dive into the Non-point Source Kids' Page to help out Darby Duck and the Aquatic Crusaders. All of the above is just skimming the surface!
Plants and Our Environment - If you don't know a sepal from a cotyledon, this is the place for you! Learn all about plants at this site, which was one of the finalists in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior competition. The handy A- to- Z glossary reveals that the cotyledon is the hard outer case of the seed, which holds the embryo (baby part of the plant) and gives it a food supply, whereas the sepals are the outer green parts of the base of the flower. Sepals protect the flower bud before it. The entire process of growth is explained, and the site includes lots of great graphics.
Rainforest Action Network - You may have already heard that there are more kinds of plants and animals in tropical rain forests than anywhere else on Earth. And you probably already know that about half of all the world's species live in rain forests. But did you also know that in the rain forest you can find an antelope that's as small as a rabbit, a snake that can fly, and a spider that eats birds? The Kids' Corner is packed with just this kind of wild information about the rain forest, and it has lots of pictures of the creatures and native people living there. We all have a big problem, though: rain forests might be gone by the time you grow up. They're already disappearing at the rate of 150 acres per minute! Find out what you can do to help.
Rainforest Alliance - Keep up with current news about the rain forest and those who are trying to save it at the "Rainforest Alliance" level of this site. Below is the URL for the kids' section, where you can learn about all kinds of frogs, make rain forest crafts, print out coloring pages, and find out where to get more information on everything from leaf cutter ants to medicinal plants.
Savage Earth Online - What's great about this resource from PBS are the wonderful animations! You'll gasp as lava erupts and flows. You'll be shocked as a tsunami attacks a lighthouse. You'll quake as faults happen and roads are misaligned. Besides that, there's a lot of useful information, links, and other illustrations here as well.
Secrets@Sea - Assume the role of a spunky detective as you investigate strange whale behavior around Alanamorris Strait. Could it have something to do with those toxic waste barrels? Where did you put your bus schedule--it's time to ace the case! This wonderful adventure game from the Vancouver Aquarium will keep you busy for a long time as you examine your field guide, collect creature cards, and examine your notes. Can you crack the code and save the whales?
Seuss Lorax Introduction - "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!" Even very little children will have fun trying to catch seeds in this Shockwave game inspired by Dr. Seuss. Use your mouse to position your basket just right. If you catch ten seeds, you'll be able to replant the Truffula Forest, and the Truffula Forest is what everyone needs.
Shades of Green: Earth's Forests - Learn about all different types of forests: tropical and temperate rain forests, broadleaf forests, and coniferous forests. Find out what types of trees, plants, and animals live in them. Explore a virtual forest walk and examine diagrams such as a cross-section of a tree. What threatens these forests today? Pollution, fire, deforestation, erosion, and climate change are only a few of the problems you can learn about here. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Shangri La Home Page - Welcome to a real-life Shangri-La! Around long before people created boundaries, the Himalayas are not just rock and snow but a breathtaking range of mountains teeming with life. The exclusive home of the spiny babbler bird, they also lay claim to some impressive records, including the highest mountain and the deepest canyon. Learn more about the geography and inhabitants of this beautiful region, and discover how humankind has left a mark on these majestic peaks.
Stromboli On-line - Between Sicily and southern Italy lie the Aeolian Islands. Stromboli is the northernmost of this volcanic chain, and it has an active volcano called--Stromboli. On the main page you can find out everything from the current eruption conditions to the current weather. However, you'll be most interested in the virtual climb to the summit. Remember, if you don't like heights, you can always click the browser's Back button. If you do get to the summit, sign the guest book. This page is in English, Italian, and German.
Teeth, Tusks, and Tarpits 1 - Early scientists thought fossils were carved by ancient artists or were seeds dropped from stars. Chicago's famous Field Museum of Natural History explains fossils and gives a recipe for making your own. Of course, you'll need a dead animal or plant and a million years or so to wait, but go ahead, try it at home!
Terry the Prairie Dog Home Page - Follow Terry the Prairie Dog and discover facts about the plants and animals that live on the tallgrass prairie in the American Midwest. This page was created by fourth graders for the CyberFair `98 contest. You'll love the animated drawings the kids made to help you learn about this ecosystem. They do take a long time to load, but it's worth the effort. Can you guess who might want to start a prairie fire?
The Amazing Story of Kudzu - Love it or hate it, you can't ignore kudzu--the vine that ate the South! It's not a native plant, but it now covers over seven million acres, climbing up and over everything in sight. How did it all start? Where did kudzu come from, and more importantly, where is it going? (What's that climbing up your leg?) Is there any use for the stuff? Find out here.
The Greenhouse Effect - Someone in a colder climate might think the greenhouse effect is a good thing, especially for those who don't like feeling chilly. However, there are consequences connected with having more planetwide heat than usual, and this doesn't just mean less snow to play in. Find out all about the greenhouse effect from the fact sheet at the Australian Greenhouse Office.
The Microbe Zoo - Dirtland - Did you know that you have a fabulous microbe zoo running wild in your yard, in your food, even on your clothes? Microbes are so small, you can't see them without a microscope, but they affect your life daily, in a big way. Zoom in on the invisible world of these small creatures and learn how they interact with the larger world around them. And don't forget to thank them for that last chocolate bar you ate or root beer you drank--they helped make it!
The Nature of Diamonds - Diamonds are rare and exotic, formed deep below the ground and transported closer to the surface by volcanoes and other cataclysmic events. If you have one, it is probably the oldest item you will ever own. According to this site, it's likely your diamond is three billion years old, two-thirds the age of the whole Earth! Learn all about diamonds: their physical and chemical properties, how they are mined, and what beautiful gemstones they make.
The Ozone Hole Tour - Ozone occurs naturally in our atmosphere. Near the surface of the Earth, it's considered air pollution and hazardous to health. But up in the stratosphere, ozone is necessary to protect life on the surface of the planet. That's why, in the 1970s, when a hole was discovered over Antarctica, scientists took notice. What is being done to halt ozone depletion? What's the current status? Find out at this multimedia-rich site.
The Prairie Pothole Region - The "potholes" dotting the prairie are sometimes filled with water, supporting a lively wetland environment. At other times, they dry up completely. In winter they are subjected to subzero temperatures. Prairie wildfires sometimes destroy everything in the vicinity. But in the spring, there are wildflowers in abundance once again. The prairie is a land of extremes, and you can learn more about it and its grasses and wildlife at this site.
The Rain Forest - This site gives you a kid's-eye view of the insects, birds, and animals that inhabit the rain forests. There are more ants in the rain forest than any other creature. Learn about them as well as Goliath beetles, termites, and other things that creep and crawl. Plant life is as abundant as you'd expect. Discover pictures and facts about bromeliads, epiphytes, and liana vines, among others. It turns out that you really can't swing on them like Tarzan does in the movies. Liana vines grow from the ground up, making them unsuitable for trapeze tricks!
The Tide Pool Page - Exploring a tide pool can be exciting! You never know what you're going to find. There could be a green anemone, a starfish, or maybe even a hermit crab. It's important to know some safety tips first: don't turn your back on the sea because a wave could sneak up on you. Another tip is to be careful and watch where you step because rocks can be slippery. This site offers a virtual tour to the various intertidal zones and shows which creatures you might expect to find there.
The Water Cycle - How much do you know about water? It's great to drink a cool glass of it on a hot day, you like to swim in it, your little sister likes to play with her boats in the bathtub--these are some of the things you know about water. But do you know about the water cycle? That's the path water takes as it passes through the environment. First there is condensation in the clouds, then precipitation as it rains. Runoff from the rain goes into our lakes and reservoirs, and some of it drips down into the ground and becomes ground water. Ground water helps feed streams and rivers, which flow to the lakes and the ocean. Water evaporates into the air, where it later condenses in the clouds, and the whole process starts again. Did you know it is solar powered? Without the sun, water wouldn't evaporate and go into the atmosphere to fall again as rain!
UW - Medicinal Herb Garden - Visit the medicinal herb garden tour at the University of Washington in Seattle. Look up a plant by its common or botanical name, and see a picture. There are also links to further information on the medicinal uses of the plant, but you should check with your own doctor for the best advice. While you're visiting the garden, you notice a peculiar odor. Make that ODOR. Find out what really stinks in the greenhouse! (Hint: It is a very rare flower, which has only bloomed ten times before, anywhere in the U.S.)
Undersea and Oversee - If you want to investigate an ecosystem, be prepared to get wet and dirty. These kids did! They explored the seashore with their teachers, took samples, performed research, and tried some fun experiments and activities. They illustrated the Web site with wonderful crayon drawings so you can enjoy what they saw. There's a terrific selection of links for more information, selected by The Franklin Institute.
Virtual Antarctica - This is a slick resource, with audio and cool Web graphics sure to grab your attention. This site documents an expedition to Antarctica as seen through the eyes, cameras, diaries, and e-mail of the participants. You'll find lots here on geology, weather, and wildlife, as well as history.
Volcano World - How do you become a volcanologist? Just ask Mr. Spock for lessons, of course! Well, not quite. Look at this site to find out what becoming a volcanologist is all about and what courses you'll need to take. Oh yeah, there's also the BEST information here about volcanoes, including lessons and activities for teachers and students. You can also subscribe to e-mail updates about currently erupting volcanoes.
Volcanoes Online - Not all volcanic eruptions are created equal--this site identifies seven different kinds. Hawaiian eruptions flow gently, while Strombolian eruptions are characterized by explosive lava chunks raining down on the surrounding area. There's an encyclopedia of volcanoes around the world and a neat Save the Village game--but don't try it unless you have explored the site first. We warned you! This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Volcanoes in the Learning Web - From here, it's safe to explore several different volcano labs, including Cascades Volcano Observatory, Alaska Volcano Observatory, and Hawaii Volcano Observatory. At the Hawaiian site, you might feel some heat, but that's probably just your computer monitor! In Alaska, things are also hot. See which volcanoes are being tracked, and follow along with "A Day in the Life of an AVO Scientist." You'll see satellite maps of activities and plume trails almost as they occur at this amazing site.
WaterWorks - Oh, the magic of water fountains. Some are tall, some are wide, others squirt in many directions at once. Discover what makes a fountain work and the forces it takes to make water do its tricks. Pictures of different types of fountains are shown, along with some that were made by students. There are even movies and sounds of the different fountains available. (Caution: The files are big!)
What's It Like Where You Live? - Deserts - What is a desert like? It's a land of temperature extremes, usually very rocky and dry. How do deserts form? What kind of plants and animals live there? Because it's so hot during the day, many desert animals live underground most of the time, and others are active only during the cool night. These are the types of questions answered at this page, prepared by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Visit other deserts the easy way--in the links section!
What's It Like Where You Live? - Rain Forests - When you think about a rain forest, you probably think about a tropical jungle, right? Sure, this site will tell you all about those kinds of rain forests. But did you know that a temperate kind of rain forest exists in cooler parts of the world? These types are located along sea coastlines. In the U.S., you'll find one that stretches for 1,200 miles between Alaska and Oregon. In this type of forest, you will find redwoods, the world's tallest trees! Explore the features and creatures of all kinds of rain forests at this page, prepared by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Don't miss the extensive list of links to info on rain forests both tropical and temperate.
Why Is the Ocean Salty? - You could describe seawater as being a very diluted soup of pretty much everything on Earth: minerals, organic matter, even synthetic chemicals. Here's the strange thing: the ocean has the same degree of saltiness everywhere. There isn't one place that is saltier than another. Where did the salt come from? If freshwater rivers and streams keep flowing into the sea, why doesn't the sea become less salty? Find out here!
Wise Use of Water - Brochures - The world is three-quarters water, isn't it? That means there is plenty to go around, right? Well, if you're talking about water that's healthy for us to drink, it's really in short supply. Consider the millions of people in the world, all of them thirsty. Now think of all the animals and birds in the world, all of them thirsty. Hmmm--better use that water wisely. Here's a list of tips and ideas to help you conserve this natural resource for future dried-out kids on hot, summer days. This site is also available in French.
World Wildlife Fund: North America's Living Legacy - It always seems that some of the most spectacular places in the world are so far away. This site wants to show you ten of the "coolest places you've never seen"--all in the United States. They range from Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base in Southern California, to the Eckert James River Bat Cave in Texas. You'll learn about their ecosystems and what you can do to help protect them. When you think you're ready, take the quiz and see how well you do.
You Can & Acid Rain - How can rain be an acid? It starts out as regular rain, but then it falls through air pollution. It becomes a weak acid that can dissolve marble, kill trees, and ruin a lake's entire ecosystem. You can help. Here's how to make an acid finder and how to test rainwater. Let Beakman and Jax explain this phenomenon, first identified in England in 1872. Smoke from burning coal was the cause then, as it remains now.
English
Common Errors in English - Plenty of people use common words and phrases the wrong way, and this page aims to set them all straight. Learn when to use "its" and when to rely on "it's." Discover why being "very unique" is impossible. Is it "loose" or "lose"? "Immigrate" or "emigrate"? Could you "care less"? Find out here.
Grammar and Style Notes - Are you a little shaky on the parts of speech? Can you tell a preposition from a present participle? The names may be strange, but you use these elements in everyday conversation. A preposition usually describes the object of the sentence and its location in time, space, or relationship to the rest of the sentence. For example, in the next sentence, the prepositions are capitalized: BEFORE the alarm rang, the cat was ON the table. A present participle just adds "-ing" to the rest of the verb: singing, sitting, walking. This resource teaches the parts of speech in a fun and easy way. You'll also learn about punctuation, building sentences and paragraphs, and yes--even spelling! Knowing the correct names for these grammatical terms becomes very important when you begin to learn another language. You'll want to know what the teacher means when talking about French subjunctives and superlatives!
How Does a Word Get in the Dictionary? - Have you ever wondered how editors of dictionaries choose which words to list and which definitions to use to describe words? This page explains how Merriam-Webster does it, and they should know the best way, because they have been doing it since the 1880s. There are almost 15 million citations for word uses in their database today.
SchoolHouse Rock - Grammar Rock - Not only will you find the lyrics of the songs at this site, but you'll also be able to hear the songs and view the video.
Explorers & Exploring
1492 Exhibit - This Library of Congress display examines Columbus, the man and the myth. Why do we talk about the "discovery" of America when people were living there all along? What was life like in the America that Columbus encountered? What changes, immediate and long term, befell both the Europeans and the people of the Americas?
Antartic Explorers - Soon after the North Pole was reached by Robert E. Peary in 1909, the race was on to see who could get to the South Pole first. This page looks at three explorers: Ernest Shackleton, Robert Scott, and Roald Amundsen. All three attempted to reach the South Pole in the early 1900s, but only Amundsen and Scott made it. Investigate their strategies and what went wrong, or right, in each case.
Exploration of the Americas - This shows that kids can create a Web site where no other exists! A fifth-grade class in New York has created an encyclopedia of exploration that has no rivals on the Net. It's divided into sections: northeastern North America, southeastern North America, Mexico and western North America, and South America. Some of the explorers you'll read about include Cabot, Hudson, La Salle, Ponce de Leon, and Cortes.
FAQ on Antarctica - Read astronomer Chris Bero's hilarious FAQ on life in Antarctica. Here's a sample: "How much are you paid for going to the South Pole?" "Not enough! Trust me kids, get it in writing before you start working at the pole. Also, don't make the same mistake I made. There is no such thing as Antarctic dollars!" (In 1996, souvenir Antarctican dollars were printed, but they are not considered legal tender. See "Ron Wise's World Paper Money Homepage" in the MONEY section.)
Forbidden Territory @ Nationalgeographic.com - "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Who said those famous words, and what were the circumstances? Between 1841 and 1873, a Scots missionary named David Livingstone made several journeys to Africa, at a time when the continent was largely unexplored. He was the first European to see many of Africa's sights, including Victoria Falls, which he named in honor of his sovereign, Queen Victoria. His writings about his exploits were always eagerly awaited back home. In 1866, Livingstone set off to discover the source of the Nile, the world's longest river. He was 53. No news came for years. Finally, in 1869, a reporter named Henry Morton Stanley was sent to look for Livingstone. According to this site, "On October 27, 1871, Stanley `discovered' Livingstone at the village of Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, greeting him with the now-famous words: `Dr. Livingstone, I presume?'" What happened next? Visit this Web page to find out.
Global Online Adventure Learning Site - Magellan, de Soto, Columbus. You've already heard of these famous explorers from the past. Right now, all over the world, people are still exploring and having adventures! You can catch up with them and read their travel reports on the Net. For example, there's the Laffitte family, sailing the South Pacific for two years. You can read about their experiences, plus lots of other trips, here.
La Salle Shipwreck Project of the Texas Historical Commission - The Texas Historical Commission has quite a find on their hands! They are excavating a shipwreck believed to be that of the Belle, one of the ships brought by the French explorer Ren Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. La Salle was the explorer who claimed the Mississippi and all its tributaries for France. His ship was lost in 1686. It lies in about 12 feet of water in a bay about halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi. Archaeologists built a special double-walled coffer dam around the wreck, then pumped out the water in the middle of this "doughnut." They were then free to explore and carefully record their findings. You can read about La Salle and the recovery of his ship and its artifacts at this very special site.
Main Menu @ Nationalgeographic.com - Take a road trip with National Geographic as they take you on a series of adventures around the world. Tour the fantastic forest, discover dinosaur eggs, and even stop at the White House. These people are exploring professionals!
Mars Exploration - Everything you ever wanted to know about Mars is here, including the most up to date information on Mars missions, including photos. Find out about Mars history, architecture and surveyor programs.
New South Polar Times - This site offers a dramatic account of man's touch on the Antarctic continent, from the earliest explorers, who went by dogsled, to modern scientists in airplanes. Fascinating stuff--the story is better than Saturday superhero cartoons, and it's all true! There are a lot of great stories on traveling to the South Pole, so plan on spending some time at this site.
Quia! Explorers of North America - If you need to learn your explorers and what regions they discovered, test yourself at this site. There are flash cards you can flip, a word search, Concentration, and matching games to make sure you know your de Soto from your Cartier.
Rune Stone - Columbus was a latecomer to the Americas; the Vikings had been there long before. Want proof? Look at the Heavener Rune Stone, in a state park near Heavener, Oklahoma. A Viking land claim was apparently made there about A.D. 750. It is believed that these Norse explorers crossed the Atlantic, sailed around Florida into the Gulf of Mexico, and entered the Mississippi River. From there, they explored its tributaries, the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers, leaving five or so rune stones along the way. At least, that's the theory. See what you think!
Terraquest - Tired of reading about all those musty old explorers from long ago? This site allows you to go along on some fantastic present-day journeys. You'll find pictures, virtual reality panoramas, audio, and text that document real expeditions with real people just like you! Try virtual Antarctica and discover the wonders of the South Pole. Or perhaps you'd like a sea voyage to the virtual Galapagos Islands--learn about how these remote islands' unique animals helped Charles Darwin formulate his theories of evolution. If that's not enough, tag along with blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer as he scales the 3,000-foot sheer wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
The Journeys and Expeditions of Marquette, Drake, Columbus, Cortez, and DeSoto - You've heard good and bad things about Columbus, but how much do you know about these other explorers: de Soto, Cortez, Drake, and Marquette? At this site, each explorer tells of his life and exploits in his own words. Kids illustrated the stories with crayon drawings. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
The Mariners' Museum - Newport News, Virginia - This is a very handy time line of exploration, which starts with 3200 B.C., when Pharaoh Snefru brought 40 ships from Byblus to Phoenicia. From there, you can trace events and explorers, including Marco Polo, Magellan, and James Cook, among others. Some explorer descriptions have additional links where you can go to find out more. For example, Cook was one of the first to carry a chronometer--a special device that helped captains figure out their positions on the sea, before the days of GPS satellite navigation.
Farming and Agriculture
ARS Science 4 Kids! - The Agriculture Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to plant some information in your brain to see if it takes root. At this site you'll learn about aquaculture and how fish farmers raise bighead carp for market. You will also discover why some farmers have radar guns under their tractors and others rely on GPS satellite systems to help them find their bees. Click around on the illustration and see what you can pull up, or choose Contents and see a list of all the articles.
Ag's Cool Commodities - North Carolina, "The Tarheel State," produces lots of crops, also called commodities, and at this site you can learn about them. They include corn, cotton, beef cattle, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, eggs, and soybeans. There are some unusual products listed too, such as emu. Each item has a page of its own. You'll find out about various types of crops, as well as their history, production, shipping, and nutritional value. There's a glossary of words associated with each item, so you'll know right away that a pullet is a young hen.
Agricultural Ideas for Science Fair Projects - What affects the speed of ripening fruit? What results can you expect from different fertilizers? Does seed size matter? These are only a few of the great science fair ideas for those interested in things that grow. Learn how to prepare a great science fair project with an agricultural theme.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park - If you're one of those people who thinks a cactus is just a prickly, ugly weed and the desert is a dry wasteland of sand, may we suggest taking a cyberwalk through Arizona's Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum? There's not very much water to go around in the desert, but most deserts are not deserted! Many scientists think the variety of life in the desert is second only to that found in the tropics. You won't want to miss the cactus garden, with its 800 different cacti, including tall saguaros, ground-covering prickly pears, and squat, spiky hedgehogs. So that the cactus can conserve what little water it has, some of its flowers last only one day--and that day happens to be captured here in lots of beautiful pictures.
CyberSpace Farm - Tina Tractor is your shuttle guide to the Agri solar system, and although she may look a little strange, she really knows how to zoom in on the highlights. Visit Milo Moon, for example, and learn all about grain sorghum. The U.S. is the world's largest producer of this crop, used mostly for livestock feed. Or take a side trip to the Sunflower Sun and find out about the differences between oilseed sunflowers and confectionery ones. The former type is processed into cooking oils and bird seed, while the confectionery ones we eat as snacks. Be sure to check out the Pig Planet and Space Sheep before you come in for a landing at Cyberspace Farm and discover why it takes three years to make a hamburger.
Did You Know... - President Harry Truman once said, "No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs." Even if you don't have political aspirations, you can learn a lot about pigs here. Peruse pig trivia, discover porcine pithy sayings, and meditate on the history of pork. Hogwash? Not here.
Farm School - Farmers need lots of skills to run a successful operation. They have to be good at math, for example. Want to see how well you'd do? This Web site lets you figure out how much that new combine equipment will cost, if you take out a loan from the bank. And farmers have to know quite a bit about the farm's ecosystem--how the animals relate to the water system, how the weeds relate to the soil, and other connections. Can you draw a chain connecting that box of cereal on your shelf to the corn crop in the field? After you visit this site you'll be able to do that and much more.
Jim's Farming Page - If you don't live close to a farm, you probably have no idea what a "harrower" is or how corn and beans are grown and harvested. Farmer Jim takes you on a tour of his fields through the growing season. See the big equipment Jim uses. If you explore this resource a little further, you can "Ask a Farmer" a question and see some neat agricultural links.
John Deere Kids - Around the farm you have to be very careful, and Ready the Rooster will show you that sometimes it's OK "to be a little chicken." Don't ask for a ride on a tractor, watch out around large animals, and keep away from farm chemicals. Also, that big pile of grain looks fun to play in, but it's not--you could suffocate! See how many of the safety rules you already know and which ones are new to you. There's also a fun story called Johnny Tractor and his Pals (Dicky Disk, Henry Harrow, and Perry Plow, among others). It explains what each type of machinery does and how they must all work together to get the job done.
Kansas Wheathearts Educational Web Site - Wacky Wheat takes you on a guided tour to Kansas wheat country. Visit three farms and read the planting and harvest diaries of the families who live on them. Look inside a "prairie skyscraper" (also known as a grain elevator) and play some super wheat trivia. You'll be convinced there is such a thing as flour power.
Kids Farm - Any idea what the difference is between alfalfa and regular grass? Familiar with the sounds a turkey makes? Did you know you should stay away from the back of a horse and the front of a bull? You'll know the answers to these perennial questions if you visit this site. You'll also become an expert on farm equipment and learn all about hay baling and other fun on a working Colorado farm.
Kidz Korner - Farm kids in Michigan share their stories of life on the farm. You can learn about chicken and dairy farming, maple syrup producing, and more. In the County Fair area, visit the link called Crops to learn about how Michigan grows those luscious blueberries and cherries. Follow the path of sugar from the sugar beet in the ground to the sugar bowl on your table. Michigan is also the largest grower of Easter lilies in the United States. Find out how they get them to bloom all at the same time. It's not magic, it's science!
Lundberg Family Farms - The Lundbergs have been growing rice on their Northern California family farm since 1937. Follow along as they explain how they enrich the soil with cover crops and attract waterfowl and other wildlife to naturally supplement the fertility of the fields. Before they plant, they carefully put stakes around any pheasant or other nests, so they can avoid them with the big machinery. Stored rice is sometimes infused with carbon dioxide to keep bugs out. Rice is nice!
Massachusetts Maple Producers Association - Did you know that depending on the sweetness of the sap, it can take anywhere from 25 to 75 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? The average, though, is 40 gallons raw to 1 gallon finished. It doesn't hurt the tree to be tapped, as long as you do it the right way. This page explains how you can make your own maple syrup. If you'd rather visit a commercial "sugar bush" and see how it's done, there's a directory of maple producers as well as lots of sticky links.
The Corn Growers Guidebook (Purdue University) - The corniest people in the United States bring you everything you need to know about the top crop: corn. Maybe you want to raise corn, or you need a corn recipe or a corn song. Perhaps you want to find out what products have corn in them or which ancient civilizations used corn. Well, you've corn to the right place. When you have had your fill of corn, you can link to the maize page and read about--more corn.
The Kelp Forest - Have you ever heard of a kelp forest? At the Monterey Bay Aquarium site, you can see photos and learn about this interesting forest, which is home to hundreds. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the gray whales who sometimes pass through, to tiny hermit crabs on the sea floor below. You can even see some of these species through the "kelp cam."
The New York Botanical Garden - Back before there was a New York City, a forest covered the whole island of Manhattan. Of course, there isn't much of a forest left these days, but 40 acres of the natural, uncut, 200-year-old forest has been saved at the New York Botanical Garden just as it was. The garden, one of the oldest and biggest in the world, also has 27 specialty gardens featuring everything from rocks to roses, all of which you can visit online. Make sure you read all about the garden's scientists, who travel the world looking for medicinal plants that may help to fight cancer and other diseases.
The Wonderful World of Trees - This resource has several sections. Let's explore A Year in the Life of a Tree. Did you know that trees have flowers? Some are so small we don't even notice them, but they are necessary for the tree to reproduce. At this site, follow a Canadian tree through its four seasons. Click on the buds, the branches, the roots, and the leaves, and see what's going on at each time. In the Formidable Forms section, you can learn how to classify trees by the properties they have in common. Other areas of this site discuss protecting trees, paper recycling, and an update on the devastating ice storms of the winter of 1997-1998. (Hint: Click on the camera icon toan encyclopedia of trees, with photos and information on each. If you click on the tic-tac-toe icon, you'll discover several tree-related games and word-find puzzles. The file-folder icon reveals a table of contents for the entire site.) Check it out, otherwise you'll miss something.
Trees - Did you ever wonder why trees have different shapes? You can tell a palm tree from a pine tree, but what makes them look so dissimilar? Read about tree shapes, and then try designing your own tree based on the clues you are given about the environment in which it will grow. Other sections include lessons on the ways trees spread their seeds.
U.S. Department of Agriculture for Kids - From this vantage point you can meet Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, Twig Walkingstick, Rus the Surfin' Squirrel, and S. K. Worm. You'll also learn about the History of U.S. Agriculture ), Facts About Agriculture, and a whole bushel of information about the food pyramid. Did you know there are really two nutritional pyramids? One is for young children and one is for Everyone Else. No, Twinkies are not on either one.
For Emergency Homework Help
B. J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper - "Beege" is 12 years old and has collected over 550 resources that he uses with his school homework. Maybe they will work for you, too. You'll find everything from biographical dictionaries to flags of the world.
ICONnect - KidsConnect - You've got a question, and no one seems to have an answer--not your mother or your grandpa or your uncle. Just head to this site and pose your question to one of the school library media specialists throughout the world. They provide direct assistance to any student looking for resources. They'll help you learn how to use the Internet effectively for your class work, and you can tell Mom, Grandpa, and your uncle that you've got the answer! Try the FAQs (frequently asked questions) for answers to questions other kids have asked. Maybe your question has already been answered.
Languages from the BBC - The British Broadcasting Corporation offers tutorials in French, Spanish, German, and Italian. Let's look at Italian. Pick Ice Cream Shop from among the many choices. Activity One is a Shockwave game where you drag the correct Italian phrase over its corresponding cartoon. See those kids waving? They are saying " Ciao ," or good-bye, I bet. Hey look, we got a green check mark, and now there is the sound of everyone cheering! Activity Two makes us listen to a Real Audio conversation about ice cream and drag the right words into the correct sentence gaps. This is fun! There are also English as a Second Language lessons for you to try.
LibrarySpot - Acronym dictionaries, biographical dictionaries, inventions, useful calculators (how much grass seed to buy, how to convert cooking measurements)--all are here for your use. There are also links to hundreds of library card catalogs all over the world. Explore numerous magazines and newspapers, phone books, mapping programs, and more.
Multnomah County Library - Homework Center - This well-organized collection of links will pay off for you when the library's closed, when your CD-ROM encyclopedia won't load, and when your dad's taking a nap and can't help. The brief annotations help you find that diagram of the human eye you need, for example, or information on what kinds of foods were eaten by the ancient Egyptians. Remember to check here--this site was built by librarians.
Research-It! - Your One-Stop Reference Desk - This site's cool! Spell a word, conjugate a verb, find a quote, or locate facts about a famous person. Almost 30 quick reference tools are rolled into one easy-to-use site.
TIME 100: 1900 vs. Now - It's hard to imagine what the year 1900 was like, so this site offers a way to compare the then of yesteryear to the now of today. Back in 1900, 1 in 7 homes had a bathtub, 1 in 13 had a telephone, and a pound of sugar cost 4 cents. Now a pound of sugar is 43 cents, 20 percent of the U.S. is connected to the Internet, and a lot more of us are able to take a bath any time we want. The average weekly wage was $9.70 and now that figure is $435.00. Compare statistics in the U.S. and around the world at this thought-provoking site. Don't forget to visit other parts of this resource, such as The Most Important People of the 20th Century (click on Time 100 Poll).
The History Channel - Who says history's boring? If you get this cable channel, you know the truth is out there! Even if you don't have cable, you can visit this Web site. Try This Day in History (little menu bar box at the top of the page--click, and on the next screen, type the date you want), and get historical facts, plus the top ten in music for past years (select What Else Happened Today). Even if you think you have no interest in history, stop in--we think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Unit Converter - This great resource will convert distance (such as miles to kilometers), mass (or weights, including pounds to kilograms), temperature (for example, Celsius to Fahrenheit), speed (such as kilometers per hour to miles per hour), and other types of measurements.
Welcome to TheBig6.com - Would you like to be able to answer any question? Try this methodical approach. There are six steps: 1. Define the problem; 2. Brainstorm how you might find answers; 3. Figure out where the resources might be, and get them; 4. Read the information and take notes; 5. Organize your information and present it; and 6. Evaluate your product and how effective it is in communicating the answers to the problem. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? It's amazing how many people can't even get started on a project. This method lets you break down your research into manageable steps. At the official site, you'll find lots more detail, examples, and sample lesson plans. Forget study tricks: go Big Six!
You Don't Have to Play Football to Score a Touchdown - Although this study skills page was designed for high school and college students, anyone can learn from these short tips. Did you know the best time to study is right after class? Did you know that when taking a test you should skip the hard questions, do the easy ones, and then return to spend time figuring out the more difficult problems? This page will help you take notes, manage your time, and learn to do your best to make and meet your goals. Be sure to take the link to Study Skills Help Page for more.
For More Homework Help
A+ Math : Homework Helper - Homework helper allows you to input a math problem and your solution. It will then tell you if you have the correct answer. This is a great tool for checking homework papers!
America's Story from America's Library! - "America's Story from America's Library" wants you to have fun with history while learning at the same time. We want to put the story back in history and show you some things that you've never heard or seen before. The stuff you see comes from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library is the largest in the world and has millions of amazing things that will surprise you.
Ask Jeeves for Kids! - Why doesn't someone invent a kid-safe search engine that lets you type in a real question rather than all those plusses and minuses and quotes and other weird terms? So, you could just type in "I want information on the SuperSoaker 3000," and you'd get back just a few targeted sites, not 23,000 choices! And if you weren't the World's Greatest Speller, the search engine would check the spelling of your question, too. You could type in "I need a map of Arizonia," and it would ask you if you really wanted Arizona. Why doesn't someone invent a search tool like that? Guess what, someone did. Why not go and Ask Jeeves?
Ask an Expert Page - Got a question no one seems to know how to answer? Maybe you need to call in an expert. Experts are people who know a lot about a certain topic--so much, in fact, that they often write the textbooks themselves! Many scientists and others have offered to answer questions about science, math, medicine, history, and other topics. You won't usually get an answer overnight, though, so think ahead.
Blue Web'n Learning Sites Library - This site collects the cream of the crop of learning-oriented Web sites. All sites are rated and categorized by area, audience, and type. Each subject category has links to related tutorials, activities, projects, lesson plans, and more. You can also use their keyword search to explore their collection. Want more? Join the free mailing list for weekly updates. We found the sites listed here to be excellent resources for eager learners as well as educators looking for teaching materials.
FreeZone - Where Kids Connect - This place is so cool that you'll need to spend an entire afternoon just checking it out. For example, in BrainStorm you can do a puzzle, write a poem, and learn weird facts. In Homework Helpers (also in BrainStorm) you can find someone to assist you in the most difficult problem a teacher assigns. You can create your own home page, head to the fully supervised chat box, or find an E-pal. You can find out about your favorite band, TV show, or movie and even write a review. Time to check this place out! TTYL. (You've got to go to the Slang Translator in the Pop Culture area to find out what that means.) Son of Net-mom highly recommends this site's chat room.
Internet Public Library Reference Center - Online Public Library with tons of resources including newspapers & magazines. Here you can ask a reference question or browse a specific section of a collection. Don't forget the IPL Pathfinders-your guide to getting started on research in numerous subject areas, both in print and online.
Notetaking Strategies - Have you noticed you can't just listen to the teacher or read a book and remember EVERYTHING? Eventually you see other kids making notes about what's being said, or what happens in the book. Notes are good because you can refer to them later when you are studying, both to refresh your memory about what you learned and to help you prepare for a test. This site will help you learn how to take notes. Be sure to take the link back to General Purpose Learning Strategies for many other tips on learning to learn.
Study WEB - Whatever your homework assignment is, this site is sure to have something you can use, with "over 100,000" research-quality links, listed by subject category. The Reference Shelf is a good place to start, but the brief reviews of each site will also help you select just the right place to look. Tell your parents and teachers about this site too, because there is some neat stuff for them here as well.
For Teachers
21st Century Teachers Network - Do you know technology? Why not share your knowledge and help mentor up to five newcomers? If you're new to the Net, become a member (free!) here and find a mentor of your own. This all-volunteer teacher-to-teacher network will help build your expertise while exchanging information with other front-line teachers. There's also a link library, event listing, and lots of resources for educators.
A Black History Treasure Hunt - This is a fun and educational Black History Month activity--a treasure hunt that will take you all over the Web to find the answers. Don't worry, there are suggested Web sites for you to try first. Be sure to choose the right hunt for your grade level. There are four different treasure hunts: one for fourth grade and below, one for fifth and sixth graders, one for seventh and eighth graders, and one for ninth graders and above. Sample question for fourth graders: "This person refused to give up a seat on the bus. That led to a 382-day bus boycott by black people in Montgomery, Alabama." Do you know the answer? Find out here.
A Resource for Glass - No one knows who first made glass. Pliny, the Roman historian, said the first glass was made by mistake. According to his account, Phoenician sailors landed on a beach to make a cooking fire. They propped up their pot using a block of natron , a naturally occurring alkali used in the mummification process, which they were carrying as cargo. As the fire got hotter, the sand beneath it melted. When it later cooled, the material hardened into glass. This site, from the Corning Museum of Glass, will tell you about the history of glassmaking and the properties of glass. Learn how making fudge can teach you about the making of glass!
Access Excellence - This site is renowned for its design, content, and collaborative activities. Focusing on the biological sciences, the activities collection is truly excellent. Online "seminars" put you in touch with scientists and science teachers. Offerings include "Local Habitats," "Science of Amber," and "Emerging Diseases." Collaborative classroom projects like "Acid Rain/Acid Snow" build enthusiasm as distant classrooms share data and results with each other.
AskERIC - Custom-build your own curriculum! The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a vast collection of data, ideas, research, lesson plans, literature, and more. This site will be of interest to parents who want to supplement their child's education at home or learn about parenting techniques. Teachers will find classroom ideas that go above and beyond textbook-type learning as well as professional information. They can also use the renowned AskERIC service. If you're an education professional (librarian, teacher, administrator, homeschooler, and so on) you can e-mail questions to AskERIC's Net-savvy information specialists; within 48 hours, you'll have suggestions and solutions drawn from customized ERIC database searches, ERIC digests, and Internet resources. If you've always wanted to talk to the reference librarian of the Internet, you can start with these folks. If you want to browse on your own, check AskERIC's Virtual Library, which contains over 1,200 lesson plans plus InfoGuides on hot topics like school violence, gender equity, at-risk students, year-round education, and more.
Blue Web'n Learning Sites Library - This site collects the cream of the crop of learning-oriented Web sites. All sites are rated and categorized by area, audience, and type. Each subject category has links to related tutorials, activities, projects, lesson plans, and more. You can also use their keyword search to explore their collection. Want more? Join the free mailing list for weekly updates. We found the sites listed here to be excellent resources for eager learners as well as educators looking for teaching materials.
Book Adventure - Lots of kids like to read books because it's fun. Other kids need a little incentive to read. A free reading club-with prizes!-might be a good summer activity for families. Here's the deal. Your child registers a user name and picks a password. Giving a parent's e-mail address at the time of registration is an option, but you can always go back and add it in later. Your child then goes into the Facemaker section to create a silly face to adorn her new reading "account." After that, use the Book Finder section to select some books to read. Choose grade, reading level, and preferred types of books to generate a reading list. There are over 3,000 books in the database; many have one-sentence annotations, too. Print it out, take the resulting list to the library, and grab some books! After your child has read them, she can log on to her account at Book Adventure and try a short multiple-choice quiz on each book. If she doesn't do well at first, she can go back to the book to check out the answers, then take the quiz again. But beware, she can take each quiz only twice. She will rack up points for each correct answer. Points may be traded for prizes, which range from "instant win" printable things (like bookmarks), to gift certificates at Barnes & Noble bookstores. Other prizes include movie passes, a free game of miniature golf, and even shoe discounts at Kmart, among other things. Parental permission is required before these gift certificates are sent to kids, that's why the parent's e-mail address is needed. I signed up, took a quick quiz on a familiar book, and won a quick 100 points. That was good enough to allow me to print out a very cool paper airplane. But if I want the $5 Barnes & Noble certificate, I'll need a total of 1,500 points. Oh, and I have to be in kindergarten through eighth grade!
BookHive: Your Guide to Children's Literature & Books - BookHive was created by librarians at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. You'll discover age-level-recommended books for ages birth through age 12. Or, choose a category like Mystery, Folklore, or Biography and you'll get brief reviews and pictures of the book covers.
Classroom Connect's Connected Teacher - Classroom Connect is one of our favorite magazines. Their Connected Teacher Web site doesn't disappoint, either. Check it out for info on upcoming conferences, a jumpstation to great Web links, feature articles about getting started with online projects, loads of lesson plans, and more. You can also become a member (free!) and participate in discussion boards.
Earthwatch Teacher & Student Homepage - Earthwatch takes ordinary people on extraordinary research expeditions. Of course, you pay for the privilege of counting katydids or helping to save a coral reef. But when you get back, you'll have a great story to tell about how you spent your summer vacation! This page archives some of the field notes and lesson plans developed from past trips, and it's interesting to see which ecological hot spots they will attend to next. There are also a few virtual field trips online, where you don't even have to get your boots wet.
Educational Web Adventures: Our Adventures and Web Sites - Discover the world of art, science, nature and social studies with our Web adventures and online activities
FamilyEducation Network - FamilyEducation Network is an interactive learning community that links parents, teachers, students and schools to timely resources, to educational activities and to each other.
Free Spirit Publishing - An award-winning publisher of books and other learning materials for children and teens, parents, educators, counselors, and everyone else who cares about kids.
From Now On - The Educational Technology Journal - Internet use policies. Assessment. Libraries of the future. Grants. Parenting. This site tackles all those topics and more. It is a vast collection of feature articles, Web sites, and other resources for the home, classroom, and community. Learn how to cut out the "mind kandy" and the "new plagiarism" of indiscriminate cut and paste. Jamie McKenzie tells it like it is. Don't waste any more time without visiting his site.
History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers - Wow! Finally, an easy way to learn and teach social studies. Subjects available in the menu include archaeology, diversity sources, electronic texts, genealogy, geography, government, and kids and students. Also included are general history, non-Western history, European history, American history, and news and current events. Announcements and relevant TV specials are also listed. Impress your social studies teacher by introducing him or her to this excellent site.
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - The links in this guide are organized according to subject area. In History, for instance, you'll get a breakdown of Web pages, from "American History" to "World History." Each month, a list of new resources will point you to the latest and greatest.
Kidde Home Safety Foundation Internet Site - Take a look at the Java games at this new resource promoting fire safety. It's presented by a company that makes extinguishers and alarms of various types. Captain Kidde, a colorful superhero, teaches children about fire protection equipment, how to conduct fire safety checks and fire drills, and ways to save themselves and others in the event of a fire. We had fun creating blueprints of imaginary houses and dragging around various appliances, smoke alarms, and fire extinguishers until we figured we'd done a pretty good job. Captain Kidde evaluated our work, and luckily he agreed. There are various games for ages 5 to 13 and lots of information for parents, too. Teachers will find lesson plans designed for grades K-8 and safety tips on preventing fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. There are also home safety education tools for firefighters to use during communityhouses, in-school visits, and similar outreach activities. You'll find loads of links, too.
Kids Can Learn - Helping parents, teachers, and homeschoolers help kids become motivated students--from kindergarten to primary to secondary schools!
National Network For Childcare - NNCC unites the expertise of many of the nation's leading universities through the outreach system of Cooperative Extension. NNCC's goal is to share knowledge about children and child care from the vast resources of the landgrant universities with parents, professionals, practioners, and the general public. They network with committed individuals around the country to bring you practical information and resources that will be useful to you in your everyday work with children.
Our Solar System - Ms Davis' 4th grade class has researched and written about our solar system. All the kids did research on factual information about the planets and outer space.They have also written science fiction stories and poetry about space.
Reader's Theater Editions - Looking for a play you can perform with the rest of your class? This site has 23 complete plays for grades two through eight. A wide range of subjects is covered, from folktales to science fiction. Most are adapted from short stories by Aaron Shepard.
Study WEB - Whatever your homework assignment is, this site is sure to have something you can use, with "over 100,000" research-quality links, listed by subject category. The Reference Shelf is a good place to start, but the brief reviews of each site will also help you select just the right place to look. Tell your parents and teachers about this site too, because there is some neat stuff for them here as well.
ThinkQuest - ThinkQuest gives away over $1 million in scholarship money EVERY YEAR. There are several contests: one for elementary grades, called ThinkQuest Junior, and the original one for older kids. There's also a new contest for teachers. At this site you can explore past winners' sites and get information about the latest ThinkQuest competition schedule.
USFA Kids Homepage - The U.S. Fire Administration wants everyone to be safe from fire, including you. Every year, kids start over 100,000 fires--don't be one of them! This site explains smoke alarms, home fire safety, and escape plans. There is also a Parent-Teacher Lounge with lesson plans and more resources to help clear the smoke on fire safety.
USGS: What Do Maps Show - This site has comprehensive lesson plans and hands-on student activity sheets for students--all related to understanding maps. You can also download student map packets, which you can print out for use with the lessons. This is a great geography teaching and learning tool.
Geography
"Pole to Pole" Projects - What would happen if you started at the North Pole, picked any line of longitude, and walked along it until you came to the South Pole? You'd travel through many different countries, need lots of different types of clothing, eat quantities of unusual foods, and carry numerous types of strange bills and coins. A class of fifth and sixth graders in the Netherlands pretended to do just that, and they wrote reports about their virtual travels. See how it's done at this interesting page.
23 Peaks - Phil Buck had a dream. He wanted to be the first person to climb the tallest mountains in all nations in North America, Central America, and South America. In May 1998, he realized his goal, but along his ten-year journey he encountered land mines, civil war, poisonous snakes and spiders, tropical diseases, avalanches, hidden crevasses, and recently, frostbite. You can follow along in his trip diaries, ask questions, and add to the resources available in this very intriguing site. What goal will Phil tackle next?
3D Atlas Online Geographic Glossary - If you've forgotten what a fjord is, or you're wondering how to define a delta, visit this site's handy dictionary of geographical terms. There are plenty of hyperlinks to help you keep your definitions "strait."
3D Atlas Online Home - What on earth are you looking for? It doesn't matter--you'll find it here. Check out research links for every country, current news, and a geographic glossary. For example, in Zimbabwe, you can see a photo of a mud hut home with a thatched roof, learn about the country's plateau and savanna, view its colorful flag, and link to other Zimbabwe sites. Also find an index to maps for each country and resources for students and teachers.
Exploration of the Americas - This shows that kids can create a Web site where no other exists! A fifth-grade class in New York has created an encyclopedia of exploration that has no rivals on the Net. It's divided into sections: northeastern North America, southeastern North America, Mexico and western North America, and South America. Some of the explorers you'll read about include Cabot, Hudson, La Salle, Ponce de Leon, and Cortes.
GeoBee Challenge @ Nationalgeographic.com - Each year, thousands of schools participate in the Geography Bee, using materials and questions prepared by the National Geographic Society. Millions of kids compete for a chance at winning a $25,000 scholarship and other prizes. Some of the questions are easy, and some are real stumpers! How many of these questions can you get right? They change them every day, so play often.
Map Machine @ Nationalgeographic.com - Everyone knows how wonderful the National Geographic Society's maps are. Now many of them are online. Need a quick map, facts about a country, state, or province, and a picture of its flag? You'll find it right here at the Map Machine Atlas. Try the selection View From Above (then click on the spinning globe) for colorful maps of the world pieced together from satellite images, digitally enhanced to make it a global cloudless day! You can also get political and physical maps (useful for school reports).
Operation Webfoot - It's always more interesting to learn about a far-off place from someone who has actually been there. How would you like to learn about geography from a stuffed animal? Tweety Bird, Miss Piggy, Gumby, and Kermit are just a few of the toys now traveling the world and sending back reports. As teacher Paul Meyers says, "Operation Webfoot originated as an idea to help stimulate young minds in the area of geography, history, and science. Stuffed animals traveled around the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Guam, and Israel, to various host families. These families took the animals on outings in their local areas, wrote in journals about the animal's experiences, and sent pictures and postcards and/or e-mail from their local area to Cucamonga Middle School in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The host families then mailed the animal to another host family." Follow along on the Web site and see where they will be next. Maybe your school or family can host one of them in the future.
Perry-Castareda Library Map Collection - Available from the University of Texas Library, this collection includes maps from around the world and links to some of the best map collections on the Internet. Check out the historical maps and the current events maps of Kosovo or whatever world hotspot is in the news. If you need a map, check here!
Quia! U.S. State Capitals - Do you have to memorize the state capitals for school? This neat site offers you online flashcards, concentration games, and other ways for you to commit to memory everything from Montgomery, Alabama, to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Rare Map Collection - Of course, maps have been around for a long time. You can view one of the finest collections of historic maps on the Internet at this University of Georgia Web site. Included are some great maps of U.S. Civil War battlefields, as well as material on Colonial and Revolutionary America.
Star Journey: The Heavens - Star Chart @ Nationalgeographic.com - Explore a map of visible stars as they appear from the North and South Poles. All 2,844 of these stars (plus nebulae and star clusters also pictured on the map) can be seen with the unaided eye. As you click on the various quadrants, you'll come across special blue squares. That means a Hubble Space Telescope photo of that star is available to view as a close-up. Letters from the Greek alphabet are used to describe the apparent brightness of various stars within a constellation. "Alpha" is the brightest, followed by beta, gamma, and so on. It's all explained in the Star Chart Notes section.
Stately Knowledge - This site offers information on every state (and Washington, D.C.). There are basic facts about each state, comparative statistics, and suggested books and other resources. You can play a state capitals game or a state flags game, too.
TIGER Mapping Service - The "Coast to Coast" Digital Map Database - This site will give you color maps with cities, highways, lakes, and other features clearly marked, based on 1992 data. Try searching by ZIP code, latitude and longitude, as well as city name. You can mark your maps with a variety of symbols. The site is also linked to the Census Bureau's U.S. Gazetteer, with information on population. You can save your map as a GIF image (select that button; then click on the map itself) and print it. Enclose it with your next letter to Santa or your relatives or anyone else who needs directions to your house!
The Professor's Postcards - The Professor takes trips to UNESCO World Heritage sites all over the world, and she's great about sending postcards back to her friends. Unfortunately, she always seems to leave out the most important words--like where she is! Can you figure it out from the clues on the postcards?
USGS: What Do Maps Show - This site has comprehensive lesson plans and hands-on student activity sheets for students--all related to understanding maps. You can also download student map packets, which you can print out for use with the lessons. This is a great geography teaching and learning tool.
Welcome to MapQuest! - Get customized maps for places all over the world, using the interactive atlas. You can get street-level information and door-to-door directions for many places. It's outstanding, it's fun, and it's free! There's also a TripQuest driving planner. How long have you been begging Mom and Dad to drive you to Disneyland? Maybe they say, "Oh, it's so far, and we'd get lost on the way." No problem. Just go to this site, type in the name of your town, and type in the nearest city to Disneyland (Anaheim, California, is close enough). Magically, you'll get back not only a map but also detailed driving directions, complete with the mileage of each segment! It works for the United States and Canada only (driving to Disneyland from Halifax, Nova Scotia, is 3,618.7 miles). Unfortunately, you can't drive from Hawaii, but you get the idea.
Xpeditions @ Nationalgeographic.com - Quick--you need an emergency map of Idaho to complete your homework! Relax, this site offers a fast way to get one onto your screen, and then you can save it or print it. (Note: National Geographic's Map Machine, described below, will get you a color map plus information on each state. The Xpeditions atlas is fast, but you'll just get black-and-white maps.) The atlas at this site offers over 600 maps from around the world, all optimized for printing to paper or screen. In the Xpeditions Hall galleries, explore physical, natural, and cultural aspects of geography, using multimedia and QuickTime virtual reality. There is also a forum to ask and answer geography questions.
Geology
Bob's Rock Shop - There's a real treasure to mine at this site, which is all about rockhounding around the U.S. and Canada. Consider the tale of the kid who found a 1,104-carat sapphire. Mull over Mexico's mystery mineral. Find out how all those facets get on a gemstone. And learn how to wrap a stone in wire to make a pendant--with the help of an adult.
Earthforce - You won't be able to feel it, but the ground is actually moving under your feet. Tremendous forces below the surface of the Earth are constantly tugging and pushing on the planet's crust. Luckily for us, this doesn't usually affect our lives. Sometimes though, it does, as we experience earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, and avalanches. This site from The Franklin Institute offers an introduction to each of these topics as well as an outstanding selection of links to further information.
Earthquakes - The Tech Museum in San Jose, California, has a dynamic online exhibit on earthquakes: what they are, why they occur, and why we can't predict them (yet). It includes an interesting history of the seismograph, used to record earthquake activity. The first one may have been invented in China in A.D. 136. It involved dragon heads positioned around a copper vessel. Each dragon mouth held a ball. Below the dragons weremouthed frogs. In the event of an earthquake, a ball would fall into a frog's mouth. By noting which balls had dropped, one could tell how the ground moved in response to the quake.
Earthquakes - The Terror from Below - The ancient Babylonians believed that the "Jupiter Effect" of planetary alignment somehow caused an increase in earthquake activity on Earth. While that theory has never been scientifically proven, no one really knows how to predict earthquakes. We think we know what causes them, though: plate tectonics. This theory says that the Earth's crust is made up of jigsaw puzzle-like plates floating on a layer of liquid magma below. The plates touch and can slide against each other. The areas where they meet are called fault zones. As plates push against each other, stresses build until suddenly they are released in an event we call an earthquake. That's the simplified version--for more detail, visit this site, created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Electronic Desktop Project - Virtual Earthquake - How do scientists figure out where the starting point, or epicenter, of an earthquake was? In this cool simulation, you pick the general region for your test earthquake (California, Japan, Mexico). Use the easy-to-follow instructions to examine seismograms and pinpoint the epicenter as well as the relative strength of your quake.
International Colored Gemstone Association - If you were going to make a rainbow of gemstones, you'd pick ruby for red, sapphire for blue, and emerald for green--but what about all the other colors? Check out this site for a colorful look at the world of gemstones. You can also view a field guide to various faceted gems and see the difference between a "brilliant" cut and a "trilliant." Gem care tips round out the resources of this site, where you can learn (among other things) that opals should never be placed in an ultrasonic cleaner.
National Earthquake Information Center: Current Earthquake Information - How many earthquakes do you think occur in the world every day? Probably a lot more than you realize. Seismic activity is monitored day and night, and any recorded activity is posted to this site not long after the real time of each event. Check here and you'll be surprised to find there's a whole lot of shakin' goin' on.
Record of the Day - Where in the world was the biggest earthquake today? The answer is just a click away. This site will show you the most recent large earthquake recorded by the Cal Tech Seismological Laboratory in California. You can look at the actual graph that was recorded by their seismograph. Maps show you where the earthquake's epicenter was. Be sure to check often. Earthquakes are happening around the world all the time.
Seismo-Cam - Want to know what's shaking in L.A.--literally? Live shots of a seismograph as it's tracking activity in the Southern California area can be monitored here. If nothing's happening while you're watching, you can look at some archived shots from past events, including some BIG temblors. There are also lots of great links to sites with info on earthquakes, including one at the University of Nevada that explains how seismographs work.
The Down and Dirty Story of the Panama Canal - It seemed like a great idea in the 1870s: cut a water passageway through Panama in order to create a shortcut to the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean. It became a marvelous feat of engineering, but took a toll in lives lost as well as financial cost. Explore a time line of events here, and ponder why the original French construction team might have ordered 10,000 snow shovels to continue its work in the jungle.
The Earth Day Challenge - Enjoy playing an environmental scavenger hunt that challenges students in grades K-6 to learn more about the environment and how to help take care of it. Go to this site for details and to register. This is a free activity--registration is required only if you want to win prizes.
This Dynamic Earth - Contents [USGS] - Have you ever seen a bumper sticker that says "Stop Plate Tectonics!"? It's something that's an impossible task. Although continental land masses look pretty stable, they are actually moving all the time. Sometimes they just drift along very very slowly. Other times they shift or move suddenly, and that causes an earthquake. The plates don't just cruise around at random, but scientists aren't completely sure what's "driving" them, either. This nicely illustrated site will explain it all.
Gifted and Talented
Gifted and Talented (TAG) Resources - Being gifted is being blessed--it means having special talents beyond the average. While being gifted is good, it can also lead to complications. Sometimes school can be boring and unchallenging for gifted kids, and finding other kids who share the same interests can be difficult. The Internet offers a way for gifted children to explore the world in a challenging environment and to find other kids with similar gifts; this is a good place to find information on how to accomplish this.
Historic Sites
Find a Grave - Want to know where Ben Franklin is buried and see a photo of his grave? Or how about Walt Disney, or maybe a baseball great like Ty Cobb. Or say you're going to Concord, Massachusetts, and want to know if anyone famous is buried there. Wow--Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne are in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery among lots of others! Find graves all over the world at this unique site.
Ford's Theater NHS Home Page - The theater where President Lincoln was shot is now a national historic site. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Expanded Home Page, you will learn some fascinating facts about the assassination. Why was there no guard--or was there? Where is the chair Lincoln was sitting in? And where is the bullet that killed him? The surprising answers are all here. This site offers information in 11 languages besides English.
GORP - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages - National Historic Trails - Ever wondered if you could find any of the old pioneer routes, like the Oregon Trail? You can! To this day, some of the old wagon ruts are still visible, and you can walk in the footsteps of early settlers during the westward expansion of the United States. You'll find maps and detailed descriptions of the Oregon Trail, plus the following: Santa Fe Trail; Trail of Tears; Iditarod National Historic Trail; Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail; Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail; Nez Perce National Historic Trail; and the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
Great American Landmarks Adventure - At this page you can download pages of historic landmarks to color. But it's not the usual type of famous landmark. Here you'll find some really weird stuff, such as Independence Rock (Casper, Wyoming), where folks traveling along the Oregon Trail got out of their covered wagons long enough to scratch their names. You'll find the U.S. Capitol here, but you can also choose to color the Taos pueblo. If you send in your drawing, they may put it on the Web. Check it out!
Historic Mile - Take a tour of over 50 famous landmarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You'll visit Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and see Betsy Ross' House, where some say she sewed the very first American flag. Along the way, stop in at the Pretzel Museum for a quick snack.
Independence National Historical Park - Welcome to Independence National Historical Park. Is this your first trip to Philadelphia? Yes? Then you'd better begin your tour at the Visitor Center, where you will see the film Independence . Next you will want to check out the Liberty Bell. No new cracks, please! Do you know when the bell was rung for the last time? You can find out before moving along to Independence Hall. No pushing ahead, there is plenty of time for all of the stops along the way in historic Philadelphia. You'll end at the Deshler Morris House, which served as the official residence for President George Washington during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Enjoy your visit!
Landmarks of Hispanic L.A. - What do you think of when you hear someone say Los Angeles, California? Maybe movie stars come to mind, or surfers, or rock musicians. Los Angeles, though, is a very old center of American Hispanic and Latino culture. To understand Los Angeles, you have to understand its Latin roots. This page is a good place to begin. Here you'll read about some of Los Angeles' earliest history, and you'll see the landmarks where the history took place.
Mount Vernon - The Home of Our First President, George Washington - We know this isn't really in Washington, but it is nearby. And many of Washington's visitors make the short trip to Mount Vernon. Seeing where our first president lived makes him more real to us. Walking up his front steps, lounging on his lawn--these things connect us to a real person instead of a historical figure. Maybe you can't visit Mount Vernon, Virginia, in person, but you can stop in via the Net. At Mount Vernon, you can take a tour, read some astounding facts, and even work out a Washington word search puzzle. You can also learn about archaeology at Mount Vernon and explore related links. The Mount Vernon virtual tour includes the East Front, the large dining room, study, master bedroom, gardens, the Washingtons' tomb, and a slave memorial. Washington was the only one of the Founding Fathers to free his slaves; in his will he gave them their freedom upon his death.
ParkNet: Gateway to the National Park Service - The U.S. National Park Service administers everything from Abraham Lincoln's birthplace national historic site (Kentucky) to Zion National Park (Utah). Between those two sites in the alphabet are hundreds of other monuments, parks, battlefields, trails, seashores, and other places of special importance to Americans. Search the Visit Your Parks area by name, location, or theme.
Temple of Liberty: Building the Capitol for a New Nation - Visit the Capitol, courtesy of the Library of Congress. The U.S. Capitol was envisioned as a "Temple of Liberty" by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Read the various proposals for how this most important of all U.S. public buildings should look. Then study the approved plans and visit the porticoes and the wings of our Capitol as it was built. The original building took 34 years, six architects, and six presidents to build. When you're finished touring this historic site, you'll be an expert, and your feet won't be tired!
The Boston Freedom Trail and Black Heritage Trail - It's only 2.5 miles long, but you'll be walking through years of Boston's history. Check out the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea..."). Don't miss the Boston Massacre site or the Bunker Hill Monument. Bring a cup of tea and take the virtual tour to the Black Heritage Trail as well.
The Light of Liberty - On July 4, 1884, the United States received a monumental birthday gift from France. The 15-story-tall Statue of Liberty was designed by sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. He used his mother as the model! Learn more at this illuminating site.
The Old North Church (Christ Church Boston) - On April 18, 1775, church sexton Robert Newman climbed into the belfry of the Old North Church and hung up two signal lanterns. To Paul Revere, watching from a boat, that meant the British were coming--by sea--up the Charles River towards Lexington. Revere's famous "midnight ride" was immortalized by poet Longfellow. This page tells the history of the church as well as what's going on there today. It's still an active Episcopal church.
The Statue of Liberty - This is part of the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. It was written by Emma Lazarus, and you can learn more about the statue's history at the official National Park Service site.
Vietnam Veteran's Memorial - The U.S. National Park Service administers this memorial site, which is in Washington, D.C. Over 58,000 American men and women died in the Vietnam War, a conflict so controversial it divided the generations as well as the country. All their names are engraved on a mirrorlike granite wall. People leave flowers, poems, military gear, and other objects around the wall. It is a very moving place to visit, and we guarantee you will never forget your experience there.
White House Historical Association - The year 2000 marks the bicentennial year of the White House. This wonderful Web site will tell you the origin of the Oval Office, what White House china looks like, what sorts of souvenirs Lewis and Clark sent to President Jefferson from their expedition, and where you can order White House Christmas decorations. There are games and activities for many age groups; all contain fascinating facts. Coming soon is a Learning Center for K-12 with lesson plans, activities, and other resources to help everyone learn more about the world's most famous house.
White House for Kids - Let Socks, the First Cat, take you on a fascinating kid's-eye tour of the White House in Washington, D.C. Buddy, the First Dog, can come along, too. You'll learn how the White House was built (bricks were made on the front lawn), tour the rooms, and find out about the First Family pets that have lived there (don't miss President Harrison's goat or Caroline Kennedy's pony). We learned something we didn't know before: the president's desk was once part of a ship, abandoned north of the Arctic circle in 1854! The HMS Resolute was later found by the crew of an American whaling ship. It was repaired and refitted, then sent to Queen Victoria as a gesture of goodwill. Later, when the ship was taken out of service and dismantled, a desk was made from some of its timbers. Queen Victoria presented the desk to President Hayes in 1880. The desk has been used by most presidents since then. Socks never gets to sit on it, though. Well, maybe he does, late at night, when no one is around.
History
1492 Exhibit - "1492: An Ongoing Voyage" is an exhibit at the Library of Congress. Explore the New World before the Europeans got there, what happened when they arrived, and how both the Old and New Worlds were forever transformed by their contact. This is a hypertext exhibit that includes both text and images. It's a good resource for information about Columbus and the early history of America.
1930s FrontPage - Created for the American Studies Program at the University of Virginia, this site offers a window to the complexities of the 1930s. It was a decade of crushing economic depression set against the hope of the modern age's dawn. Visit sections on film, print media, and art. Don't miss the audio archive of vintage radio programs.
50 States and Capitals - Pick a state, any state. Or pick a territory; they are here too. You'll get a page with lots of information about each area. For example, look at Nebraska, the Cornhusker State; its capital is Lincoln. See the state flag, the bird, the flower, the song, even links to other information about the state. Hey, did you know Nebraska was the birthplace of President Gerald R. Ford? You do now!
A Colonial Family and Community - Meet the Daggetts, your typical colonial family living on a farm in the eighteenth-century Connecticut. But Sam Daggett did other things besides farm. Look through his account book to see what other jobs he did. View Quick Time movies of family life in the household and on the farm. You'll learn about making maple sugar, socializing at spinning sessions, colonial church services, and militia musters. Visit all the places on the map and find the clues to answer all the questions; then try the "what's wrong with this picture" puzzles. (Hint: There were no Pop-tarts in the eighteenth century!)
Adventures of Wells Fargo - Original Information Superhighway - These days, you can hop on a jet plane and travel the width of the U.S. from coast to coast in five or six hours. In the 1800s, however, there were no planes, so people traveled as far as they could by rail, ship, and other transportation, then made the rest of the trip by a bouncy overland stagecoach pulled by a team of horses. They often began their stagecoach journey from places halfway across the country, such as St. Louis, Missouri. The trip from St. Louis to San Francisco, California, generally took about 24 days! Wells Fargo was one of the companies to offer this form of travel, and they present some maps, stories, and tall tales about it all here.
America @ War! - Motivated by the propaganda posters in the Gallery, you decide either to join up as a virtual soldier or help the war effort on the home front. Gone for a soldier? You'll experience boot camp training, several main battles, and all the horror that is war. Along the way you'll hear how the soldiers felt about the war via audio interviews and see what happened by viewing the many historic photos. Don't forget to look at the list of links for further study. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
American Memory from the Library of Congress - You have memories of your own life. Your parents have memories of their lives, and your grandparents have memories of theirs. Wouldn't it be great to find a place to archive all those memories, so they wouldn't be lost when someone died? You could call it the American Memory Project! Look no further. Browse through 25,000 turn-of-the-century postcards; maybe some are from your hometown. Go to the Collection Finder and look in the Photos and Prints Division under Detroit Publishing Company (show this to your parents--they will love it). Check old movies of New York City made by Edison himself in 1903. Look into the eyes of the immigrants coming to America--so much hope is expressed there. The historical periods covered are from the Civil War to World War II. Each collection is annotated, and broad topics are listed. This is an excellent source for students looking for nonprint sources to accompany an American history report. Don't forget to remember American Memory.
Anne Frank Online - She was a kid just like you. Her diary helps us remember that she lived and then died in a German concentration camp. Who is she? Anne Frank. Here is her history, along with photos of Anne and her family. Read some of the things she wrote in her small red-and-white plaid diary. Maybe you would like to start keeping a journal about your life.
Behind the Stonewall - 360 Degree Panoramic Images from Civil War Battlefields - If you're having trouble visualizing the battlefields and the strategic advantages gained or lost, visit this site. You'll be treated to a 360-degree panoramic image of each location. About 40 Civil War sites have been mapped in this way. Some of them contain detailed descriptions to put the view into historical perspective.
Chicano! - Mexican-Americans have had a long struggle to assert their civil rights. The most turbulent period was 1965-1975. A PBS television series traced the events of that period, and you can read about some of them at this site. There are also biographies and photos of prominent figures such as Cesar Chavez, Ruben Salazar, and Elizabeth Martinez.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation - What would it be like to be suddenly transported back in time to the 1700s? For fun, you would play cards and board games, or you'd work at puzzles; outside, you would roll hoops, walk on stilts, and play a rousing game of ninepins bowling. What kinds of foods would you eat? How would people behave--are manners the same now as they were back then? What kind of job would you have? Experience the eighteenth century by visiting this site. Colonial Williamsburg is a living history museum in Virginia, where the people dress and act as if they were living in colonial times. They have to know a lot about history to do that, and some kids work at the museum, playing the roles of kids back in the 1700s. This is a great site to learn how people lived in early times in America.
Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark - In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson looked out the window and said, "Hmm, I wonder if there is a water route, maybe a river or something, that goes all the way across the continent and ends up at the Pacific Ocean? Something we could navigate with boats, so we could get supplies there, and settle, and eventually build theme parks." OK, so he didn't really say that. But he did want the West explored, and Lewis and Clark were just the guys to take on the task. Want to join their expedition and see what happens?
D-Day - This archive of World War II facts, pictures, movies, and memories was built by students at Patch American High School, located at the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. You'll find battle plans, newsreel footage, and famous speeches connected with D-Day and World War II.
Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents - You know the Declaration of Independence was first signed on July 4, 1776. It begins this way: "When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another...." The colonists didn't one day just wake up and decide to send this letter to King George III of England. This Library of Congress exhibit presents a chronology of events. You'll find fascinating information about how the documents were drafted, plus photos of important objects. Some of these include fragments of the earliest known draft, the original draft, and various prints relevant to the exhibit, as well as correspondence from Thomas Jefferson. Did you know he was the one who wrote the original?
DeeT's 70s Page - Take a ride on the time machine and step back into the 1970s. Some things haven't changed much. Kids watched Sesame Street and The Electric Company on television, and back then Gilligan's Island was being shown for the first time. If you'd like to see these and lots of other `70s stuff, Dee T's is the place to be.
Deer Creek School: Our Gold Country Community - In 1850, gold was discovered in Nevada County, California. This award-winning Web site commemorating the event was produced by students who did extensive research, conducted interviews, and even visited a mine. Learn about placer, hydraulic, and hardrock mining. Read the exciting story of the Whopper, an 18-pound nugget found at a local mine. It made a class visit, and the kids photographed it. Using QuickTime VR, you can rotate it and examine it from all sides. See artwork and photos from the gold rush era. This site is a real gem!
EDUNet's Timemachine - What happened 50 years ago in India? What about 25 years ago in Australia? Or can you guess what happened 5,000 years ago in the Mediterranean? You can learn so much traveling back and forth on the time line at this site that all your friends and family members will think you are a genius! You probably are if you take our advice and give this site a try.
Education First: Black History Activities - This comprehensive and thoughtful collection of links will take you all over the Web on a treasure hunt to find the answers to some very big questions. What was the Tuskegee Tragedy? Who were the Little Rock 9? This site has study questions and activities for classes as well.
EuroDocs: Western European Primary Historical Documents - Venetian sailing directions from 1499? A medieval illuminated manuscript? If you're looking for something newer, how about a World War I archive, or D-Day documents from World War II? The links at this Brigham Young University (Utah) Library home page connect to Western European historical documents that are transcribed, scanned in, or translated. The documents are in the public domain. This home page is an excellent starting place for students who are researching Western European history and want to use primary source material.
Events for ... - Ho hum, today is just another day, right? It seems there are so few special days--like Christmas, your birthday, or the Fourth of July. Actually, every single day has been important in history, or there is some momentous event taking place somewhere, or someone great was born. To see why today is important, take a look here. Maybe you can use the information here as a good excuse for a party!
Exploring Ancient World Cultures - Move the mouse, click the buttons, and be prepared to enter a different world. Eight cultures from the past can help you to understand the cultural diversity of today. Go on a journey through time to visit the following ancient cultures: the Near East, India, Egypt, China, Greece, the Roman Empire, the Islamic World, and Medieval Europe. Although the text is very dense, you'll get a lot of information from the photos and thoughtful links to other places on the Net.
From Revolution to Reconstruction - The main body of this home page comes from the booklet "An Outline of American History," distributed by the United States Information Agency. The text is illustrated with stamps. It has very dense text, so you may want to look at this site for heavier research only. Additional original sources with hypertext links (which go all over the Net) have been added. This site covers American history from the colonial period until modern times. Check it out; it's fun just to know there was a stamp with the Carolina Charter on it.
GORP - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages - National Historic Trails - Ever wondered if you could find any of the old pioneer routes, like the Oregon Trail? You can! To this day, some of the old wagon ruts are still visible, and you can walk in the footsteps of early settlers during the westward expansion of the United States. You'll find maps and detailed descriptions of the Oregon Trail, plus the following: Santa Fe Trail; Trail of Tears; Iditarod National Historic Trail; Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail; Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail; Nez Perce National Historic Trail; and the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
Going, Going, Gone - The Way Things Used to Be - Have you ever had to make your own soap? In the old days, that's what they did. They saved scraps of fat until they had enough, then cooked the fat until it was melted and smooth. They saved ashes too, and they poured water over them to release the lye. Then they added the lye water to the rendered fat. They cooked and stirred for several more hours, and the soap was then poured out into molds and left to harden. Those days are gone, because now we all buy scented soap in the store. What other things are different now than they used to be? Check out a fascinating list of them here.
Gold Rush - Written by Son of Net-mom for a sixth-grade project, this site provides details about the California gold rush, which began after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in January, 1848. It took over six months for the news to reach the east coast, and by then it was too late in the year to set out via wagon. Some took ships and went around the tip of South America. Others took a dugout canoe shortcut through the jungles and wetlands where the Panama Canal is today, but this route was dangerous and travelers often caught malaria and other diseases. Many waited until the following spring of 1849 and set off in overloaded wagons, heading for the gold fields. This site will teach you about the various routes and what could be expected on the journeys. You'll also find information on sourdough bread--staple food of the miners. There is also a nice set of links to other useful gold rush sites.
Gone for a Soldier - See uniforms and other artifacts from the Civil War exhibits at the Atlanta History Museum. Volunteers hurried to enlist, believing it would be a short, heroic war. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Soldiers spent most of their time in camp. With close and wretched quarters, two-thirds of all the war deaths were due to diseases, not bullets. Learn more at this informative site.
History Happens - History would be much easier to learn if you could just watch a music video about, say, Pearl Harbor, the Underground Railroad, or the Civil War. Your worries are over--this historical music video site lists many of the lyrics and has Real Audio so you can hear the songs. There's also an excellent selection of links.
History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers - Wow! Finally, an easy way to learn and teach social studies. Subjects available in the menu include archaeology, diversity sources, electronic texts, genealogy, geography, government, and kids and students. Also included are general history, non-Western history, European history, American history, and news and current events. Announcements and relevant TV specials are also listed. Impress your social studies teacher by introducing him or her to this excellent site.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States - George Washington's second-term inaugural speech remains the shortest on record, requiring only 135 words. William Henry Harrison delivered one of the longest, speaking for an hour and 45 minutes in a blinding snowstorm. He then stood in the cold and greeted well-wishers all day; he died a month later, of pneumonia. Read the speech here, but make sure you keep your hat on! Project Bartleby, at Columbia University in New York, houses a home page containing the inaugural addresses of the presidents. Also included is an article about presidents sworn in but not inaugurated and the Oath of Office itself. This is a good site for finding inaugural factoids, such as the revelation that Geronimo, the great Apache, attended the inauguration of Teddy Roosevelt and that attendees at Grover Cleveland's second inaugural ball were all agog at the new invention: electric lights!
Introduction - The Mammoth Saga - This virtual exhibition of mammoths, other animals, and plants of the ice ages is based on an exhibition held at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, Sweden. In it, you'll explore the U.S. Midwest of 16,000 years ago and take a look at a woolly rhinoceros, a sabertooth cat, and ancient reindeer. Siberian nomads lived in huts made of mammoth bones, and you can see a re-creation of one here! There are also nice links to other places on the Web that will help you learn more.
Journey Through the Middle Ages - On your quest to rise from a squire to a knight you'll have to solve puzzles and answer questions relating to medieval history and castle life. The answers are all on this site, and never fear, because you'll have James the Jingling Jester to help you out with some clues. This site, created by kids, was a finalist in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior contest.
La Salle Shipwreck Project - The Texas Historical Commission has quite a find on their hands! They are excavating a shipwreck believed to be that of the Belle, one of the ships brought by the French explorer Ren Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. La Salle was the explorer who claimed the Mississippi and all its tributaries for France. His ship was lost in 1686. It lies in about 12 feet of water in a bay about halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi. Archaeologists built a special double-walled coffer dam around the wreck, then pumped out the water in the middle of this "doughnut." They were then free to explore and carefully record their findings. You can read about La Salle and the recovery of his ship and its artifacts at this very special site.
Labyrinth Home Page - Welcome to the Labyrinth, a World Wide Web server for medieval studies, located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The Middle Ages are those years after the Fall of the Roman Empire and before the Renaissance, so think the years 500-1500 (some authorities say 1300 or 1400). You can navigate the Labyrinth by selecting a main menu item or by using the search engine to search all Labyrinth files. Sources available include bibliographies, text, images, and archives. Also offered are Daedalus' guides to the Net and Web. Find your own Ariadne's thread to hold onto as you surf the Labyrinth!
Landmarks of Hispanic L.A. - What do you think of when you hear someone say Los Angeles, California? Maybe movie stars come to mind, or surfers, or rock musicians. Los Angeles, though, is a very old center of American Hispanic and Latino culture. To understand Los Angeles, you have to understand its Latin roots. This page is a good place to begin. Here you'll read about some of Los Angeles' earliest history, and you'll see the landmarks where the history took place.
Liberty! The American Revolution - Visit this PBS site for a time line of the Revolution from 1760--when King George ascended the throne in England--to 1791, when the Bill of Rights was passed by the first American Congress. Read The Chronicle of the Revolution, with its "newspaper" accounts of the events of the times. There is information on a colonist's daily life, as well as that of both a British and a colonial soldier. There's also a quiz game called The Road to Revolution you can try, but make sure you do some reading at this site first.
Library of Congress Home Page - The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, uses the World Wide Web to present materials from its collections so that people all over the world can see them without traveling to Washington, D.C. You can view exhibits, search and view documents in digitized historical collections, search the LC card catalog, and learn about Congress and the government by using the collection known as Thomas. This is an excellent starting point to find information about the U.S. government and history, both present and past.
Modern World History: Main Menu - Take a tour through the political and other events that shaped world history during the twentieth century. Follow the time line stretching from World War I in 1914 through the Wall Street crash in 1929, to the rise of Hitler and the end of World War II. This site, created by the BBC, is illustrated with many photos and activities to help you understand each period in time.
Modernism Timeline, 1890-1940 - This time line highlights significant events from 1890 to 1940. When you click on a year, you get a list of events that happened in that year, including political and literary events and social customs. For example, in 1917, bobbed hair was popular, the Senate rejected Wilson's suffrage bill, Freud's Introduction to Psychoanalysis was published, and there was a famine in Germany. The issue of what is significant is up for grabs here, and you can make suggestions for additions to the list.
National Archives Online Exhibit Hall - The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is a nationwide system that preserves U.S. government records of permanent value. The online exhibits help to bring some of the rich and varied holdings of the National Archives to the public. In the Exhibit Hall, you will find some cool special exhibits; for example, "The Charters of Freedom" features the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. You'll also find a special exhibit on the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, which ended slavery. Other featured documents include the Nineteenth Amendment and Japanese surrender documents. Visit this site for firsthand looks at the historic documents of the United States, several of them written in longhand!
New Deal Network - As America struggled to get back on its economic feet after the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the New Deal during the presidential race of 1932. It pledged many new government projects to increase financial stability and help along social reform. Remember, one out of four people was unemployed at this time, and many schools had to close because they didn't have the funds to stay Poor children wrote to the president's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and begged her for cast-off clothing for themselves and their parents. Read some of the children's letters, and Mrs. Roosevelt's responses, at this site. You'll also learn about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camps and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) water projects, which brought affordable electricity to many Americans for the first time.
New Perspectives on the West - This is a companion site to the eight-part PBS television series The West. It is a history of the expansion of the American West, and we are including it because of the rich biographical information about famous Native Americans. Just click on People in the West. You'll find short biographies about Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Chief Seattle, Crazy Horse, Sacagawea, and more.
Old Abe the War Eagle - During the Civil War, many military units adopted an animal mascot. Usually it was a dog or a goat, but the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment had something really unique: a bald eagle, which they named "Old Abe," after President Abraham Lincoln. You can read about Old Abe's war stories and see pictures. Old Abe's legacy lives on in the logos of Wisconsin companies, in replicas at the Wisconsin State Assembly and elsewhere, and in the names of school sports teams. Additionally, the insignia patch of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, originally formed in Wisconsin during World War I, carries a graphic of Old Abe. According to this page, the "Screaming Eagles" saw extensive action in World War II and the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars.
Old Sturbridge Village - Do you think it would be fun to live in the past? Why not visit the nineteenth century and see how you like it? You can experience the sights and sounds of this re-created New England village by taking a virtual visit. Let's visit the blacksmith shop--can you hear the clang of the hammer on the anvil? Listen for the team of horses pulling a sleigh. Why not stroll over to the confectionery shop for some horehound drops or rock candy? Got a question? Ask Jack in the Kids Club, where you'll also find puzzles. If you visit the real Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, you'll find a fascinating living history museum, where all the kids and other villagers dress, talk, and act like they are living in 1830.
Pioneer Spirit - In the 1800s, many settlers left the east coast and headed west to make better lives for themselves. Trying to carve out places of their own from wilderness prairie wasn't easy. This excellent site shows in pictures and words the struggles of the Dakota pioneers. You'll read a diary written by a physician in the 1870s Dakota territory. And you will be fascinated by a series of "then and now" photographs comparing photos of long ago to the same spot in photos from today. How things have changed!
Pioneers - This beautifully illustrated site was a finalist in the 1999 ThinkQuest Junior competition. It answers the questions you may have about who the pioneers were, why they went west, where they traveled to, and what trails they used to get there. You'll be interested to find out what they took with them and what life was like along the route of the wagon trains. Look for the directions for making a "whimmydiddle"--a popular trail toy.
Plimoth-on-Web - Take a virtual tour of "Plimoth Plantation." In this living history museum, all the employees dress and act as Pilgrims would have in 1627. Visit the re-created village and farm site, learn about the voyage of the Mayflower , find out about seventeenth-century shoemaking, Thanksgiving, and lots more.
Presidential Libraries - This site's mission is to help bring presidential library materials to the Internet for improved public access and to link America's past to her future. Presidential libraries from Herbert Hoover through President Clinton and Vice President Gore are included. Some of the more recent libraries have their own home pages. Other parts of the site offer presidential Web sites.
Religious Freedom - Beginning with the U.S. Bill of Rights and continuing onward through the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, religious freedom has been a cornerstone of progressive government worldwide. This well-designed, nondenominational Web site, sponsored by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, explores what religious freedom really means and looks at the phenomenon both nationally and globally. It takes the viewpoint that individuals should be informed and educated about their rights whether they practice a religion or not.
Resources for Arts of Colonial America - In one place, you'll find resources on eighteenth-century life, art, and culture. Listen to some colonial era music. Find out about Valley Forge and the terrible winter General Washington and his men spent there. Check out period drama and theatrical costumes of the time. There's also a section on the architecture of the day that includes buildings in Philadelphia, Mount Vernon, and Virginia.
Roanoke: A Mystery in History - This 1998 ThinkQuest Junior finalist explores the lost colony of Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina. In 1586 it was a tiny garrison of 15 men, but it was later found abandoned in July of 1587. One mysterious human skeleton was found on the beach, but no other trace was found. Ninety-one men, women, and children arrived from England and started fixing up the fort so they could live in it. They had the beginnings of a thriving settlement and had begun to make friends with the Native Americans. In August, some of the colonists went back to England for more supplies. Because England was at war with Spain, no ships could be spared to resupply Roanoke until three years later. When the search party arrived in 1590, no one could be found, although a large fire blazed on the north end of the island. Where did the colonists go? Examine some of the theories at this site, and see what seems believable to you.
Roaring 1920s Concert Extravaganza - Before television, people gathered around the radio to listen to live concerts from distant places. This popular form of entertainment is re-created here, as you listen to minute-long sound files from such 1920s artists as Al Jolson, Maurice Chevalier, Fanny Brice, and Helen Kane, "the Boop Boop A Doop Girl."
Save Our History: The Star Spangled Banner Project - It's 42 feet across and 30 feet high, and it was a major sewing job for Mary Pickersgill back in 1813. She was commissioned to make a huge flag to fly over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Little did she know her stitches created the original "star-spangled banner" that would later be sung about in the U.S. national anthem. It's on display at the National Museum of American History, and an effort is under way to clean and conserve it. Find out more here.
SchoolHouse Rock - America Rock - Not only will you find the lyrics of these popular educational songs at this site, but you'll also be able to hear the songs and view the video. There is also trivia associated with some of the videos--be sure to look for that.
Stand Up for Your Rights - Religious freedom. Voting rights for women. School desegregation. Explore the history of these rights in interactive feature stories, games, and engaging graphic presentations. In Buzz you can read interviews with people who were there and experienced these events firsthand. For example, meet Melba Beals, one of the "Little Rock Nine"--the first African American kids to attend Central High School. That was in 1957. There's much more--visit and see!
Technology in 1900 - You know how much technology affects your life now, what with telephones, television, computers, and other things you take for granted. What about kids living 100 years ago? What was considered high tech back then? According to this site, kids would have been drooling to get their hands on a phonograph record! And electricity really hadn't even made its way to many places yet. What predictions for the future did people make? How many of them have come true? Why did phone companies stop using boys as operators and start hiring girls instead? The answer may surprise you.
The 1939-40 New York World's Fair - Come on, let's visit the 1939 World's Fair, in Flushing Meadows, New York. Look, it's the big ball and tower known as the Trylon and Perisphere. That's supposed to symbolize purity of form in the world of tomorrow. Hey, it says here you can go inside and see the future! There are loads of illustrations and lots of information. Sounds good--let's get a lemonade first though; it sure is hot!
The African American Journey - This excellent site from the editors of World Book Encyclopedia traces the history of African Americans from slavery to freedom. It offers information on the civil rights movement as well as a brief history of Black History Month itself. The idea began all the way back in 1926, with the observance of Negro History Week. It was originally proposed by Carter G. Woodson, among others. Woodson was a black historian and is now known as the "Father of Black History." Black History Week began during the early 1970s, and Black History Month was first celebrated in 1976. It is sponsored each year by the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in Washington, D.C., which Woodson founded in 1915.
The American Century - The Whitney Museum of Art presents this fascinating exhibit of art created in the twentieth century. Included are examples of painting, sculpture, decorative arts, film, and even architecture. If you have the right plug-ins, you can listen to a tour narrated by the director of the museum. Otherwise, plunge right in and enter the exhibit. In the Learning Center there are activities for families and kids aged 5-10. The concentration matching game is a good way to learn about a few significant artworks of the last century--and it's fun, too! Or, you can make your own artwork by dragging shapes onto a virtual canvas and manipulating them by stretching, rotating, or changing their colors. Save your work to the virtual gallery and become part of the exhibit yourself.
The American Experience | WayBack - Gold Rush - After gold was discovered in 1848 in California's American River, the news traveled slowly. The great influx of people didn't get there until 1849--another name for the gold-seekers was the forty-niners. Find out about the "affliction" known as gold fever, the various routes to the gold fields (getting there was no picnic), and what happened when the would-be miners got there. Meet famous people from the gold rush era, and (in the Joke Space) discover how hard it is to make up humor about this period of history.
The American Experience: Riding the Rails - It was a hard time to be a teenager in the 1930s. There was widespread poverty and many troubled families. Over 250,000 teens ran away from home, looking for better lives. Unfortunately, life on the road was often more desperate and lonely than the lives they left. Although it was dangerous and illegal, many crisscrossed the country by hopping the freight trains of the time. These "kids" are now in their 70s and 80s, and they told their stories for a PBS television program. You can read them at this site.
The American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl - The dust storms during the 1930s were horrendous. People thought the world was at an end. Being inside was the safest, but dust sifted in behind closed doors, getting into the dishes, glassware, food, and water. The people of Kansas were being pelted with the landscape of Oklahoma and even Texas. When the dust storm was over, people found their homes and farms buried. A reporter called it the "Dust Bowl." Although some left for better lives elsewhere, others stayed on waiting for the rains to come. They would wait five years. Why was there so much dust? Blame it on the wheat production for World War I. Farmers plowed under the intricate weave of prairie grasses in their zeal to increase food production to help win the war. After the harvest, and without the roots of those grasses, nothing could hold the dry soil in place. Could it happen again?
The Battle of Gettysburg - How did the war begin? Who were the major players and what were the most important battles? This heavily illustrated site will help further your understanding of the Civil War as you follow along day by day. Numerous quotes from primary sources help to give you a clear picture of the events. In the Aftermath section there are photographs of war casualties, and this section is not for the sensitive. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
The Battle of Gettysburg: The Turning Point Of The Civil War - It was the turning point of the Civil War: on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, more men fought and died than in any other battle on North American soil. A total of 51,000 were killed or wounded. Today, the battlefield is a national military park, with over 1,000 monuments. Follow the maps of the battles and explore other Civil War links from this site.
The Birth of a Nation - This site won the social science division in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior contest. You can learn all about the events of April 18-19, 1775. You remember, that's when Paul Revere rode to warn the countryside that "the British are coming!" If you're not up to speed on the minutemen, this site will give you an overview of the important names, places, and deeds. There's also a neat game on daily eighteenth-century wear for men, women, and kids. You can mix and match parts of the photos and try to come up with a complete historical costume.
The British Invasion - Encyclopedia Britannica offers you a front-row seat to the Beatles' "invasion" of America in February 1964. You'll swoon as Paul steps up to the mike. You'll scream as Ringo flashes his trademark jewelry. You'll puzzle over John's inscrutable artwork and writings. And you'll collect everything with George's name on it. The Beatles changed everything, and this Web site is here to show you how and why. There is also information on other British invaders, such as the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Yardbirds, and more. In Fashion Fun there's a Shockwave model you can dress up in gear clothing so she'll look fab! Send your friends (or your mom) some Beatles trading cards postcards while you're here.
The Century: America's Timeline - Choose a decade and go! For example, let's pick 1900-1909. From there, click on 1900 to find out about that year's first Davis Cup in tennis, the first auto show in New York, the invention of the hamburger in Connecticut, and the Carry Nation anti-alcohol bar-smashing tour of Kansas. Everything has hyperlinks to other parts of the History Channel site if you need more in-depth information.
The Day of the Black Blizzard - "To talk about April the 14th, 1935...it was a beautiful clear Sunday afternoon, and I was out skipping rocks on the horse pond," recalls Harley "Doc" Holladay. Although the temperature was 90 degrees that Palm Sunday, over a few hours it dropped more than 50 degrees. Suddenly, a "black as coal" cloud of dust rolled into town. People couldn't see to cross the street. You couldn't walk anywhere because the flying sand and dirt would sting your face and legs. Be sure to listen to the audio files of people who lived through this event.
The Declaration of Independence - The History Channel offers this special online exhibit about the creation and signing of one of America's most treasured documents. Find out about the history leading up to all those famous signatures on the bottom of the parchment. Preserved today at the National Archives, the treasure has not beend for 50 years. It is sealed in a bronze and bullet-proof glass container, pumped full of humidified helium. Hubble Telescope technology monitors its condition every day. A new encasement strategy is being planned, involving a new titanium case and argon gas. When it is finallyd, the document will be examined carefully and conservation efforts will be made if they are needed. A new visitor's gallery is planned so that more people will be able to see this cornerstone of American history. The project's expected completion date is 2003.
The Fifties - The History Channel has a lot of really good facts about the squeaky-clean era some call "vibrant and wholesome." You will learn a lot and might even find an idea for a school term paper right here. After all, in the `50s, a general was the president, and television came in two colors only: black and white!
The Gettysburg Address - The Library of Congress has devoted this page to President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was invited to dedicate the Union cemetery only three weeks before the ceremony, so he did not have much time to write the speech. View the working drafts of the eloquent speech Lincoln eventually delivered. You'll also see the only known photo of Lincoln taken at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. These precious original documents have been preserved for future generations. Find out how.
The History Channel - Who says history's boring? If you get this cable channel, you know the truth is out there! Even if you don't have cable, you can visit this Web site. Try This Day in History (little menu bar box at the top of the page--click, and on the next screen, type the date you want), and get historical facts, plus the top ten in music for past years (select What Else Happened Today). Even if you think you have no interest in history, stop in--we think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
The History Channel - Great Speeches - Hear some of the words that changed the world. You'll be able to hear speeches made by Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Douglas MacArthur, as well as historic words like those from Apollo 13: "Houston, we've had a problem." (Hint: For this one, look under John L. Swigert, Jr.)
The History Index - This page, part of the World-Wide Web Virtual Library, contains history resources indexed by country, region, historical era, and historical subtopics. Some of the latter include Government, Natural History, and Religion.
The History and Making of the Atomic Bomb - Is the atomic bomb an instrument of destruction or a maintainer of world peace? Was its creation a giant achievement for the scientific minds of the day or a huge step backwards for humanity? This site examines the creation of the atomic bomb, its scientific principles, and its subsequent testing and use during World War II. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
The History of the United States Postal Service 1775-1993 - The Continental Congress named Benjamin Franklin the first postmaster general in 1775. The mail was critical to government matters as well as to the growth of commerce. It was also fun to get a letter that would offer a new job, pledge a betrothal, or just say hi. The history of the U.S. postal service mirrors the development of the nation. Learn about the Pony Express, the rural free delivery program, and lots more at this site that leaves its own stamp on history.
The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy - This award-winning site was created by high school students as part of the ThinkQuest competition. It traces the roots, events, and legacy of the worst of times, when many European civilians, especially Jews, were killed by the Nazis during World War II. You can visit a VRML concentration camp, and while you're in that area see how you would react when faced with making a terrible decision. Parents: This site is not for young children.
The Magna Carta - In 1215, the English barons were fed up. They thought their king had gone too far, on more than one occasion. They wanted a line drawn that would explain the difference between a king and a tyrant. They defined laws and customs that the king himself had to respect when dealing with free subjects. That charter is called the Magna Carta. It's made it all the way from 1215 to the Net, as part of the Treasures Digitisation Project at the British Library. You can view the whole manuscript and read a translation of it. A brief history and further reading are included. From the main page, click on Digital Library to find the Magna Carta.
The Mayflower Web Pages - In 1620, the Mayflower set off on a 66-day voyage from England to the New World. At least 30 of the passengers were under age 17. The kids on board got into all sorts of trouble, which was recounted in journals of the time. Read about it at this site: one of the boys shot off a gun and set part of the ship on fire! By the way, boys and girls wore almost the same type of clothes--long dresslike garments! At this well-researched page, you'll also find historical information, books and journals by the Pilgrims, myths about the Mayflower, and all sorts of details about the voyage.
The Middle Ages - We think of Camelot and King Arthur, brave knights and beautiful ladies, wily wizards and comical jesters--but what were the Middle Ages really like? This site aims to give you a complete look at the age of feudalism, with both its diamonds and fleas. Check out sections on clothing, housing, town life, arts, health, and religion. This is a resource from the Annenberg/CPB Projects Exhibits Collection.
The National Women's History Project - Let's celebrate! That's what the National Women's History Project is all about. It celebrates women's diverse lives and historic contributions to society. The background of Women's History Month (in March) is here, along with links to each of the states showcasing their activities. Here's one quick question from the Test Your Knowledge section. Name the First Lady who traveled the country and the world to gather information about the problems and concerns of workers, children, minorities, and the poor. She wrote a daily newspaper column and made frequent radio broadcasts. Time's up. Did you guess Eleanor Roosevelt? If you did, head to the quiz for more interesting questions. If you didn't guess right, go there anyway. You've got a lot to learn.
The Presidents of the United States - For some kids growing up in the United States, becoming president is the highest ambition. So far, only a few people have achieved that goal, and the job of president is a tough one. At this site, you can read quick facts about each president, find links to other informative Web pages, and get a sense of the times and struggles of each leader of the U.S. Who knows, maybe some day you'll grow up to be president, and your picture will be on these Web pages!
The Quest for Equality: Women's History - Meet women trailblazers and pioneers in science, the arts, aviation, politics, education, sports, and other fields. Learn about the struggle for equality in the 1700s and 1800s as women sought the right to become full citizens and vote. More recent movements sought equity in employment opportunities and wages. This excellent site is presented by World Book encyclopedia.
The Renaissance - When you think about the Renaissance, you might think of famous painters, or gothic cathedrals, or maybe well-known composers. But beyond that, we have a flat picture of that period of history. This site adds new dimensions to our view with information on exploration and trade, printing and thinking, art, architecture, and music. There is also a special feature on Florence, Italy. This is a resource from the Annenberg/CPB Projects Exhibits Collection.
The Revolutionary War: A Journey Towards Freedom - The Infopedia has it all. Take a virtual tour of Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge. Check a history of the American flag. There are even some colonial recipes: Yankee pot roast--yum! There are some neat games too. Answer the questions quickly in order to move Paul Revere forward to warn the colonists. Otherwise the British will win! This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
The Second World War: The Pacific Theatre - Although much attention is given to the European theater of war, this site is focused on the war in the Pacific. There's a quick summary of events as well as a time line, in-depth articles about major battles, and pages about weapons, aircraft, and aircraft carriers. There are interesting audio interviews with veterans of the war. One was only 16 when he joined up. A library of photos and a memorial page rounds out the offerings at this very special site. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
This Day in History - From the Archives of the History Channel - The date is May 4. The year is 1979. Do you know what was happening in world history? Margaret Thatcher was being elected prime minister of England. This Day in History will let you time-travel anywhere you want. In 1626 on this day, Governor Peter Minuit made a great deal on his purchase of a 20,000-acre island--what is now Manhattan, New York City. The price was $24 worth of cloth and brass buttons. Just punch in any date and year, and see what bit of history you can learn.
Today in History - Want to know who shares your birthday or what famous events throughout history happened the day you were born? Just visit this site and type in the month and year you want. For example, famous people born on February 8 include author Jules Verne, actor James Dean, and actress Audrey Meadows, who played Alice in The Honeymooners . Find out when and where these folks were born, too; Meadows, for example, was born in China. You can also find out who died on this day (Mary, Queen of Scots) and find out what important historical events took place. On February 8, the Boy Scouts organization was incorporated (1910), radio first came to the White House (1922), and Walt Disney Studios was formed (1926). Know anyone with a brand-new baby? Give the proud parents a printout of their baby's birth date.
U.S. Civil War Center - The Civil War is a fascinating event in American history. Many people have spent a great deal of time studying the war and collecting material on it. The "Civil War related Web Links Index" will lead you to hundreds of sites. Diaries, forts, miniatures, maps, music, and much more are all a click away. This is your starting point for any topic on the Civil War. Pictures? Oh yes, there are plenty of those, too!
U.S. Founding Documents - If you want a transcription of the Declaration of Independence with the original "Dunlap Broadside" capitalizations preserved, visit this site. There are also scanned originals of Thomas Jefferson's drafts of that document. The site also presents other U.S. founding documents such as the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. You can search the Constitution by keyword, too. How many items mentioned in the Bill of Rights (those are the first ten amendments) can you name?
US Historical Documents - The University of Oklahoma Law Center hosts "A Chronology of United States Historical Documents." The chronology begins in the precolonial era, with the Magna Carta and the Iroquois Constitution, and concludes with the State of the Union Address given by President Bill Clinton in 1998. Along the way, you'll find the Mayflower Compact, the famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech by Patrick Henry, the Monroe Doctrine, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Take a peek at the "other" verses of the U.S. national anthem, too (1814):
Vatican Exhibit Rome Reborn - Rome is one of the most glorious cities in the world. Today, millions of visitors go to admire its architecture, art, and history and to find peace in St. Peter's Basilica. It has not always been that way, though: once it was a miserable village! Explore the past in this exhibit of materials from the Vatican Library's most precious manuscripts, books, and maps. This exhibit was at the Library of Congress in 1993, but it lives on--on the Net.
Virtual Renaissance - Built by a class in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, for the ThinkQuest competition, this site allows you to visit such historical locales as the Globe Theater, the Sistine Chapel, and the Tower of London, among others. You'll learn about the sites from people of the Renaissance as they tell of medical knowledge, art techniques, and even games of the times. There are also links to more Renaissance materials around the Web.
WPA Life Histories - In the late 1930s, Federal Work Project Administration writers were employed to go around and take "life histories" of Americans in order to preserve folklore and memories of the past. Reports from over 20 states are online for your reading pleasure. You'll find out about life in the `30s, but it's also fun to search for "tall tales" and read some of the amazing stories that have been passed down through the generations--now to you!
Wiarton Willie Home Page - Lest you think Canadians don't have a weather rodent (en Francais, m t o marmotte) of their own, meet Wee Willie, an albino marmot. Son of the lately departed Wiarton Willie, Wee Willie stands poised to pick up the weather forecasting duties where his dad left off: "Born on the 45th parallel, exactly midway between the Equator and the North Pole, this white groundhog has the uncanny ability to signal the end of winter. Weather watchers around the world look to Willie's shadow and its 90 percent accuracy rate to see just how long winter is going to continue!" You can even send him e-mail (he must have a modem in his burrow). Come join the fun in southwestern Ontario on Lake Huron.
Women of the West Museum - Be sure to visit the online exhibit "There are no Renters Here" and follow the story of one Nebraska farm family and their lives in a prairie sod house. Read letters and diary entries to learn about one year's incredible crop of watermelons and find out what families used for fuel. (Hint: Buffalo chips aren't something you eat.)
World History: HyperHistory - Hey, your mom says you can have some friends over for lunch! She says to invite three people you admire from history--which heroes would you choose? You might get some ideas here. This site will teach you about important people from 1000 B.C. to the present. You'll find scientists, artists, musicians, authors, politicians, explorers, and many others. But that is not all: you can also trace events through history as well as look at important maps of time periods and the spread of civilizations.
World War II, An American Scrapbook - World War II has been in the news in recent years since it has reached its 50th anniversary. One school's assignment was to develop a Web site on World War II and to get the information for it by talking to family members who had been involved in the war. They shared their memories, and here they are! You can also explore links to a number of other World War II Web sites. This site was a finalist in the ThinkQuest Junior competition. The students are from McRoberts School in Katy, Texas.
World War Web: An Online World War I Simulator and Educator - World War I ) had far-reaching social, political, and economic effects. Click on Biographies and read about 12 major figures in World War I, from the principal world leaders to fighter pilots Eddie Rickenbacker (U.S.) and Raoul Lufbery (France). Check the Armory to see the weapons, aircraft, land units, and naval units on both sides. Find out how the war started and what were its outcomes. There's also a Shockwave game and links for further exploration. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Homeschooling
AskERIC - Custom-build your own curriculum! The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a vast collection of data, ideas, research, lesson plans, literature, and more. This site will be of interest to parents who want to supplement their child's education at home or learn about parenting techniques. Teachers will find classroom ideas that go above and beyond textbook-type learning as well as professional information. They can also use the renowned AskERIC service. If you're an education professional (librarian, teacher, administrator, homeschooler, and so on) you can e-mail questions to AskERIC's Net-savvy information specialists; within 48 hours, you'll have suggestions and solutions drawn from customized ERIC database searches, ERIC digests, and Internet resources. If you've always wanted to talk to the reference librarian of the Internet, you can start with these folks. If you want to browse on your own, check AskERIC's Virtual Library, which contains over 1,200 lesson plans plus InfoGuides on hot topics like school violence, gender equity, at-risk students, year-round education, and more.
Christian Homeschool Forum - If you were to decide to homeschool, how would you get started? This information desk has tips to help you take the plunge. In the FAQ, you'll also find answers to questions you might have, lists of books and magazines, links to support groups, and lots of tips. You'll find plenty of encouragement here, whether or not you homeschool from a Christian perspective.
Homeschool World - Some kids don't "go" to school; they stay home. Every state in the U.S. and many foreign countries permit homeschooling in some form. If you're thinking of making the switch to more independent learning at home or if you already teach your kids at home, you'll find lots of ideas, news, links, and more at this site from the publishers of Practical Homeschooling.
Homeschooling Information - Visit this excellent selection of homeschooling resources for an overview of what's current and what's useful. You'll find thoughtful, briefly annotated links to homeschooling associations, magazines, newsgroups, and more. Some of the most interesting are a site started by a teenager about how to "do high school" at home and Real Audio files with interviews of interest to homeschooling families. For example, you can listen to Susannah Sheffer, author of A Sense of Self: Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girls. Don't miss the links to selected high-energy homeschooling families, and scroll to the bottom to find some great software to support homeschooling (and other) families.
Homeschooling Information and Resource Pages - This is a fine ecumenical resource with information about everything you want to know about homeschooling and unschooling, sponsored by Home Education magazine and its online version. You can get a free copy of the "Homeschooling Information and Resource Guide" as well as explore many carefully organized links to homeschooling resources around the Net. The site offers numerous free information files, which may be ordered for delivery by an e-mail autoresponder.
Jon's Homeschool Resource Page - Will your children fit into the "real world" if they don't go to school? Will they do as well academically in homeschool? Will they be able to get into college? Research shows that the answer to all of these questions is a loud Yes! This site also has a collection of home pages and photos from families; check out what they're doing and learning.
The Teel Family Web Site - Brrrr! Snow is falling all around, and you're harnessing the dogs to the sled. Get ready for a trip to Alaska to visit the Teel family. There is no such thing as a typical homeschooling family, but you'll find out what interests the Teels on their homeschool Web page. See what curriculum they are working on this week, and explore some of their favorite links. Watch out for the polar bears, though!
K-12
"Here, Madam,": An Exploration of Inspiration - Philosophy means "love of wisdom," and it deals with the basic questions of life: what is truth, what is our purpose on earth, what is beauty, and other puzzles. There have been many famous philosophers through time, starting with Greeks such as Sophocles and Plato. Other notable deep thinkers include Kant and Nietzsche. Meet them all here and learn about their answers to some of these questions. Other parts of the site explain the five main divisions of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, logic, aesthetics, and ethics. You'll get an overview of each one. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
"I Think...Therefore...M.I." - "It's not how smart you are, it's how you are smart," says this site. Did you know that people learn and think differently? Howard Gardner of Harvard University came up with this theory of "multiple intelligences"--and so far he has identified nine different ways people learn. These include kids who learn visually, or through activity, music, or other mode. How do these multiple intelligences work? This site offers ten links per intelligence category so you can get a feeling for each one. In which categories does your child fit?
Ask Judy's Rat - Did your school get some money for technology and networking? Need a little help figuring out how to get networking cable through the school walls? This rat can help. She has been trained to pull wire via the shortest route from classroom to classroom, and she works for candy gummi bears! We are not making this up. This is a very cute site, and you'll be a fan of Judy's Rat right away! Be sure to check out the theme song.
BookHive: Your Guide to Children's Literature & Books - BookHive was created by librarians at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. You'll discover age-level-recommended books for ages birth through age 12. Or, choose a category like Mystery, Folklore, or Biography and you'll get brief reviews and pictures of the book covers.
Brain Teasers - If you're looking for some cool puzzles to stretch your brain cells, try this site. Every week you'll find new brain teasers, arranged by grade level. Typical puzzles include map reading, word problems, and puzzles that require a genuinely different outlook. Stumped? If you need a clue, the solutions are provided.
Copernicus - The Nation's K-12 Home Page - Visit this nice clearinghouse of projects, lesson plans, daily education news, and links. There's a section on scholarships and contest opportunities, too.
Harcourt School Publishers - The Learning Site - Enter this site for a spectacular collection of entertaining and educational games for all age levels. In Science, for example, go to Explore into Activities and try The Resource Trail (for third graders). Move the ant from start to finish based on your answers to questions like "What resource is used to produce forests?" Is it mineral, plant, animal, air, water, or some other resource? There are spelling, reading, math, social studies, art, health, and other games and activities that you can use for free.
Inclusion: School as a Caring Community - Kids with special needs are no longer in "special ed." classes--they are welcomed into the "ordinary ed." classroom. This is called inclusion. If you're a teacher, you wonder how this works, and if you're a parent, you're concerned for your child. This site puts many questions to rest as you hear success stories from teachers with inclusive classrooms in elementary through secondary schools. Read the Handbook to find out specifics. The message here is "You are not alone."
KIDLINK: Global Networking for Youth Through the Age of 15 - You know the world's got some big problems: pollution, hunger, poverty. Why not talk to other kids and see if you can help solve some of them? Make new friends, and have some fun with kids from 129 different countries on the KIDCAFE discussions. Take a look at the KIDLINK mailing list page, and start e-mailing new friends. Show this to your teacher and parents, too. They'll find lots of good information about how to share a project with a class in another country. Many of the discussions are held in languages other than English, too!
Kids Can Learn - Helping parents, teachers, and homeschoolers help kids become motivated students--from kindergarten to primary to secondary schools!
Learning Planet Kids Page - Choose a level: pre-K, grades 1-3 or grades 4-6+. In the earliest level, preschoolers can guess what number comes next as they load up train cars, count chickens, and explore an interactive alphabet. Older kids can play geography, fractions, and other games.
NASA's K-12 Quest Project - Teachers and parents alike will be interested in the Bring the Internet to Your Classroom area. NASA offers an up-to-date listing of grants and grantsmakers, a wide selection of videos on how schools use the Net, and loads of links to educational resources. Check the links to NASA's own online interactive projects--new ones every year! Past projects have included "Live from Antarctica," "Online Jupiter," and "Earth to Mars Activities." Ask the scientists questions, enter contests, and see how you and your kids can get involved with NASA.
SchoolHouse Rock - This is not an official site, but you'll probably find everything you're looking for here. We know you want the lyrics to songs from Grammar Rock, Multiplication Rock, America Rock, and more. Not only will you find the lyrics of the songs at this site, but you'll also be able to hear the songs and view the video!
TeachersFirst - Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans for K-12 Teachers - If you need some Web site resources to go along with today's headlines, try here. This rich resource is on top of things when you need lesson plans on hot topics or classic curriculum. There are also some useful Internet tutorials that explain the basics of browsers and the infinite playground of plug-ins.
The Global Schoolhouse - "Student Ambassadors," "Woodsy Woodchuck TravelBuddy Project," "International CyberFair"--does any of that sound interesting? The folks in charge of GSN just keep collecting and coming up with more terrific ideas all the time. Always fresh and exciting, this is where K-12 innovation lives on the Net! Kids can find new contest announcements at this site, including ThinkQuest and other opportunities.
ThinkQuest - Would you like to win thousands of dollars in scholarship money? Do you have a great idea for a new Web resource? You might be a fabulous C++ programmer, but you can't write interesting English prose very well. Or maybe you're terrific at graphics but can't code. Maybe you're not a computer nut at all, but you really know how to research a topic. There is a place for all of you at ThinkQuest. First, you have to create a team to work on your project. Advertise your skills and your ideas at the Team Maker part of the site. Typically, teams are formed with two or three kids from all over the world; they have usually never met, and they usually come from schools or homeschools with widely varying levels of technology. You also need a coach or three, usually teachers or parents, but it could be someone else. You decide how to tackle the project, and then spend many months building your Web resource on the server space provided by ThinkQuest. You and your team members use chat rooms to discuss the project as well as e-mail and other forms of communication. Eventually the contest deadline rolls around, and your project is frozen in time so that the judges can take a look. If your site is chosen as a finalist, you and your team (and your coaches) are flown (all expenses paid) to the site of the finals. Your site is inspected by the finals judges. You and your team are interviewed, and at long last, winners are chosen and placements are made. The winning team members each get $25,000 scholarships, and many of the finalist teams who place lower get substantial scholarships as well. ThinkQuest gives away over $1 million in scholarship money EVERY YEAR. There are several contests: one for elementary grades, called ThinkQuest Junior, and the original one for older kids. There's also a new contest for teachers. At this site you can explore past winners' sites and get information about the latest ThinkQuest competition schedule.
US Charter Schools - This site provides a definition of a charter school, from Education Week: "The basic charter concept is simple: Allow a group of teachers or other would-be educators to apply for permission toa school. Give them dollar for dollar what a public school gets for each student. Free them from the bureaucracy that cripples learning and stifles innovation at so many public schools....The school generally operate[s] under a `charter' or contract with the local school board or the state. And while exempt from most state and local laws and regulations, to gain charter renewal, the schools must prove that their students have gained the educational skills specified in that initial contract." Would you like to learn more and perhaps start a charter school in your community? This site will help you through the process of starting a school, running it, and evaluating it. There are also discussion groups so you can talk to others sharing similar experiences.
Urban Education Web - UEweb is connected with the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) clearinghouses. They offer vast numbers of articles, manuals, and other publications about urban education. Just one example is their "Strong Families, Strong Schools" handbook (click on "Urban/Minority Families"). One of UEweb's best features is its searchable ERIC databases. These hold lesson plans, publications, and educational research.
Welcome to Thinking Fountain! - From A to Z , you're going to find a lot of wonderful ideas and information at the Thinking Fountain. Allow us to demonstrate! A --Read about Anansi the Spider, and then find out how to make your own sliding spider toy. G --Golf-O-Rama, a book about miniature golf, complete with everything you need but the ball and the putter, and a story about some kids who made their own mini-mini golf course. N --Noodle-ing around: learn to build a structure out of spaghetti. (Don't believe it? The secret is in the mini-marshmallows). Z --Zoo Machines: invent a machine to take care of all those animals. Keep going; you're sure to find lots more activities and ideas, galleries to show your work, books you can use, and surprises inspired by the Thinking Fountain.
eScore.com - eScore is a leading online resource to help parents play a more active role in their children's learning, growth and development.
Languages
A Basic Guide to ASL - If you have the QuickTime plug-in for your browser, you can see animations of many American Sign Language words. Every word is also described in text, so if the animation doesn't run, you'll still be able to learn that the sign for "home," for example, is made like this: "The closed fingers of the right hand are first placed against the lips (eat), thend to a flat palm and placed on right cheek (sleep)."
A.Word.A.Day - Do you love words? Then you'll want to get on the A Word a Day (AWAD) mailing list. It's free! Each day you'll get a new word, definition, and brief quote showing how the word is used. Net-mom's on the AWAD list, along with 200,000 other people! The home page has sample words from today and yesterday, or you can look through the archives to see what the list is like.
ASL for Kids - This nice little introduction to American Sign Language features animated GIF images so you can see what a signed word actually looks like. Try the game--can you guess the name of the animal from its sign language equivalent? This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
AltaVista Translations - This great Web page is also known as Babelfish. You may not need it right now, but it's a good one to remember, just in case. Say you're exploring the Web and your search engine turns up a resource that looks useful for your school report--at least it looks that way because of the pictures. If you could only understand the language the page is written in! But you don't speak German, or French, or Spanish, or Italian, or even Portuguese. Ask Babelfish. He speaks those languages, and if you give him a Web page address, he will do his best to return a translated page to you. This is fun to try--check it out. Remember, if your original search was using the AltaVista search engine there is a handy Translate button next to the appropriate foreign-language hit. It will automatically take you to Babelfish to perform the translation.
Braille: History, Use, and Current Research - Imagine if you could read words by the way they feel to your touch. That's one of the ways blind people read, by feeling the little bumps, which represent letters. This is Braille, and you can learn about it at this page. There are also sources for fonts, equipment, and even music in Braille.
Chinese Multimedia Tutorial - This little tutorial is divided into three sections: greetings, expressing thanks, and some phrases about food. For each, you can see the sentence and hear it if you have audio capabilities. Now you know how to order another glass of orange juice in Mandarin!
Dave's ESL Cafe - If your first language isn't English, you'll find a lot of company at Dave's ESL Cafe. ESL is shorthand for English as a Second Language. Check out the hints for both learning and teaching, and have some fun with Hangman and other games. Ever heard of an idiom? That's a word or phrase used in a somewhat unusual way, and there is a dictionary of English idioms at this site. For example, sometimes moms say, "There, there" to comfort their crying kids. That may make a new learner of English say, "Huh? There--where, where?" Or how about this one: you ask for a cookie and you get a really small one. You say, "That's a pretty small cookie." A new learner of English would wonder if you meant the cookie was beautiful. Even if you're not a new learner, you'll enjoy Dave's site, since he puts so much energy and fun into everything he does.
ESL Home Page - A new family has moved into your neighborhood. You and your sister decide to visit them and invite them to play. As you knock on the door, three kids race to greet you. They don't speak English, but they want to learn! Here's a page to help you teach them. One of the best ways to learn a language is to hang around other kids. Bet you'll pick up some of their language, too. You'll find links to lots of ESL-related info around the Web.
Ernie's Learn to Speak a Little Hawaiian - (thank you very much), Ernie, for this page, which teaches just a little Hawaiian. You'll find pronunciation notes and a little glossary.
Esperanto: Multilingual Information Center - Esperanto is a fairly new language as these things go: it's been around 100 years or so. It is no one's native language. Rather, it's an attempt to have a common world language many people can easily learn to speak. According to the information at this resource, "About 75 percent of Esperanto's vocabulary comes from Romance languages (especially Latin and French), about 20 percent comes from Germanic languages (German and English), and the rest comes mainly from Slavic languages (Russian and Polish) and Greek (mostly scientific terms)." In Esperanto, every word is pronounced exactly as it is spelled. There are no "silent" letters or exceptions. This makes Esperanto one of the easiest languages to learn quickly, according to experts. Here is how to say "I love you" in Esperanto: Mi amas vin . Try it on your mom.
Ethnologue, 13th Edition, 1996 - What languages do they speak in Croatia? Did you know that in Kenya, more than 60 languages are spoken, including Kenyan Sign Language? You can select any of the 228 countries on this page and then discover which languages are spoken there. Also find out how different languages are related, using the language family tree. The Inuit language, Aleut, is related to the Russian Siberian language, Yupik. Do you know why that could be?
Foreign Languages for Travelers - Just select a language you already speak, and then click on a language you'd like to learn. You'll find over 60 of them here, including Hindi, Mandarin, and Zulu. Then you can decide to learn basic words and phrases ("How are you?" "What is your name?" "Where is the bathroom?") or other words or phrases in these categories: numbers, shopping/dining, travel, directions, places, or time/dates. You can read the phrase and hear it (just click on the underlined words). There are also useful links to grammars and translation dictionaries.
French Language Course - The author of this Web page admits his first five lessons on French grammar are b-o-r-i-n-g! But he promises the rest of the lessons will really help you learn to read French street signs, newspapers, and magazines. There are also audio files so you can hear words and brief phrases. Papa? That's French for Daddy. See, it's not so hard.
Friends and Partners - Cyrillic Text - The Russian alphabet is very different from the one we use in English (the Latin alphabet). To get a look at it and learn how to pronounce the letters, try this site. You'll also find links to Cyrillic fonts on the Net and instructions on how to view Web pages in Cyrillic, as well as get them to display the right way on your computer screen.
Gaelic and Gaelic Culture - If you're interested in Irish or Scottish variants of Gaelic or other Celtic languages, check this site. You'll find lots on the various Gaelic languages, plus links to music, products, literature, and more.
Grammar and Style Notes - Are you a little shaky on the parts of speech? Can you tell a preposition from a present participle? The names may be strange, but you use these elements in everyday conversation. A preposition usually describes the object of the sentence and its location in time, space, or relationship to the rest of the sentence. For example, in the next sentence, the prepositions are capitalized: BEFORE the alarm rang, the cat was ON the table. A present participle just adds "-ing" to the rest of the verb: singing, sitting, walking. This resource teaches the parts of speech in a fun and easy way. You'll also learn about punctuation, building sentences and paragraphs, and yes--even spelling. Knowing the correct names for these grammatical terms becomes very important when you begin to learn another language. You'll want to know what the teacher means when talking about French subjunctives and superlatives!
Hindi at SU - Hindi is written from left to right in the Devanagari script, which may look very unusual to you at first. This easy-to-use resource puts the basics of the alphabet, numbers, and color names up front in the first lessons. On the alphabet page, sound files let you hear the names of the letters, and you can see an animation of the intricate strokes used to write each letter. When you get into lessons with longer phrases and dialog, you can hear the audio files at two different speeds: "normal" is how two native speakers would talk, while "slow" allows you to really hear each word separately.
Hot Internet Sites in Espanol - This is an annotated list of Web sites in Spanish, appropriate for kids as well as their teachers. For those a little rusty on their language skills, the page offers a reminder to use the AltaVista Web page translator, Babelfish.
Mama's Learn to Speak Italian - Ragu, maker of Italian sauces and foods, presents Mama to teach you a little useful Italian. Some are actually phrases your parents might use, such as Hai gie fatto il tuo compito per casa ? (Have you done your homework yet?) It's funny and entertaining, plus there are Real Audio files so you can hear what C'i qualcuno che Le ha mai detto che ha una testa come una melanzana? sounds like. By the way, that means "Has anyone ever told you that you have a head like an eggplant?"
Middle Egyptian - Want to be Indiana Jones someday? Better learn about hieroglyphs so you can read the markings inside the pyramids. Hey, where's the exit sign? This is just the site for that, and you can even type in your name and get it back in hieroglyphs. Be sure to check the ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AND ARCHAEOLOGY section of this book for more on ancient Egypt.
Native Languages Page - Would you like to learn a little Navajo or a smattering of Quechua? Maybe you'd like to try using a Cherokee font or learn something about Mayan hieroglyphs. This page offers links to all of this and more.
Native Tongue - Discover the Hawaiian Language - Learn about petroglyphs: ancient pictographs found on rocks all over the Hawaiian Islands. What do they mean? Who left them there for us to discover? Listen to audio clips of Hawaiian vowels and many common words and phrases. Check out this site wiki-wiki (fast)!
Nurit Reshef: Funland - This site is chock-full of fun little Java games to help you practice Hebrew. For example, check out Word Match. There are four pictures of common objects. Click on English and match the words with the pictures. Now click on Hebrew and see if you can do as well! (Hint: Play the audio of each word, listen to how it sounds, and match the picture to the word that looks the closest to what you heard.) Press Score to see how well you did; then click on New to get four new words to try.
Pig Latin Converter.. or Something - Now here's something to confuse your teacher. Go to this site and enter the location of a familiar Web page you've seen a million times. You'll get to the site, all right--but the whole thing will be in Pig Latin! "Oh, teacher, there's something wrong with my browser!" Worse, every link you follow from that site will be in Pig Latin, too. Your only hope is toa new site. Ave-hay un-fay!
Say Hello to the World Project - If you wanted to say "Hello!" to the world, you'd have to speak 2,796 languages, according to the Internet Public Library. Learn to greet others in quite a few languages here, including Tagalog, Swahili, and Mayan. Hear Real Audio files of the words and then practice on your own.
SignWritingSite - Did you know that there is a sign language alphabet? You may be familiar with finger spelling alphabets, but this one is different. It's an alphabet for the motion of the hands and body as well as the facial expressions used in making the sign for a particular word. The result looks somewhat like hieroglyphics to someone seeing it for the first time! This type of notation has been around since the 1960s; the idea came from DanceWriting--a pictorial shorthand for writing down dance movements. Why not do the same type of thing for sign language movements? The results are here. Be sure to see if you can read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and the other children's stories (look in the Library): all the words are in SignWriting.
Speaking Chinese - This site offers three short lessons in Chinese and includes audio files. Learn some useful words and phrases to help you meet new Chinese friends. Don't think you'll ever need to know how to say hello in Chinese? Don't be too sure. Once we used CU-SeeMe's Internet video to meet students in China, and they were very impressed we could at least say, " Ni ha o."
The Dakota Language Homepage - As you were growing up, you learned your language. You heard other people speak, and then you imitated the sounds yourself. Here's a way to do just that while you learn the Dakota language, one of many Native American languages. Native speakers help you make the sounds of the Dakota language as you explore a color-coded language "keyboard."
The Human-Languages Page - Do you like to amaze people by saying things in a different language? Here's the place to get more vocabulary words in your favorite language. There are tons of links to over 100 different tongues. You'll also find lots of translating dictionaries, tutorials, organizations, internships, and much more.
The Japanese Tutor - This extensive guide to Japanese culture and language will let you hear everyday words and phrases, spoken by a native speaker. You'll also learn the polite way to count on your fingers and how to use chopsticks.
The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education - "Can you read this? Thank a teacher." Have you seen that bumper sticker? Lots of kids can't read it because English isn't their first language. The buzzword is that they have Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Bilingual education means classroom instruction is done in two languages. This is important for LEP students because it allows them to keep up with their studies while they learn "academic" English as a second language. It has recently become a hot topic in education, and this site acts as a clearinghouse for starting points, methods, success stories, and more.
Web Spanish Lessons - Sometimes it's tough to learn a new language if you don't know how it sounds. Here are some Spanish lessons, complete with pronunciations that you can hear. This page will also test you on translations of written phrases. It's like having your own built-in Spanish teacher!
Websparol - Did you know that English and Spanish share many similar-sounding and similar-meaning words? For example, the English "delicious" sounds very like the Spanish word for "tastes good"-- delicioso. Over a thousand of these are collected and explained at the Espangl s section of this page (look in the Cognates section). You can hear pronunciation sound files, puzzle over some riddles in Spanish, try some lessons and links, and even get a Spanish-speaking key pal here.
Yamada Language Guides - This is a neatly organized set of guides to 115 languages. Let's say you wanted to learn some Italian because you're going to Italy on vacation. You could look up phrases that you'd need to know, find information about Italian culture and history, get the daily news in Italian, and even dissect a frog in Italian (that last one is really useful!). Besides languages, this gives links to cultural and historical information about the people who speak these languages. Check the Lakota or the Inuit home pages, for example; there are even pages for Klingon and the languages from J. R. R. Tolkien's books!
Learning and Study
Citing Electronic Resources - Using the Net to find information for research projects is great, but how do you give credit to, or cite , all those electronic resources? This useful list of guides from the Internet Public Library will show you the way.
DNA Is an Instruction Manual - DNA, the building block of life, is in almost every cell of your body. At this site, you can zoom in for a closer look at someone's hand until you get to the cell level. See the nucleus? That's the control tower for everything that goes on in the cell. It's also where you'll find the DNA "spaghetti." Check it out, and then explore this excellent site to learn all about the double helix as well as ethical concerns about genetic testing.
How Things Work - Have you ever questioned some aspect of the science of physics? A professor of physics at the University of Virginia has listed answers to many questions, some of which are part of the basic physics courses he teaches at the university. A guide lists previous questions as well as a place where you can ask a new question. The Search button will help you find if one of the previously asked questions is one you might also pose.
SCIMEDIA: Light Microscopy - You'll find a great little diagram here with all the parts of a microscope. This site also has links to info on lenses, electron microscopy, and more.
Study Buddy: Your School Survival Connection! - A wonderful collection of tips on everything from memorizing lines in a play to dealing with procrastination is in store for you at this site. You'll find lots of study "survival" information and a way to get a "study buddy" through a safe pen pal remailer system. It doesn't divulge your real e-mail address, so it's safe as long as you don't disclose it yourself to your pen pal. Ages 6-12, 13-17, whole classrooms, and teacher-to-teacher exchanges are encouraged.
The Mysteries of Genetics - Explore the inside of a cell, and then learn about more than 100 years of history in genetics research. Some diseases are genetically linked, and you can read about cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and hemophilia, among others. Check out various topics in genetic engineering. Are those engineered tomatoes safe to eat? Not always--discover why at this site. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
The One Inch Square Project - What if you don't have a microscope and a lot of fancy equipment? You can still do real science using only one square inch of "something interesting," and your observation and recording skills. Cut out a one square inch window (the directions are at this site) and print out the observation form at this site. Now take your "window" and hold it against a tree trunk, a flower, the ground, even your dad. Then write down details about what you see. Being able to describe your observations is a big part of learning to become a scientist.
Virtual Flylab - Have you heard someone say "he has his father's eyes" or "his mother's smile"? That's because a child is made from genetic instructions contributed by each parent. They combine in different ways, so you'll notice people in the same family look similar to each other but not exactly the same--well, unless they are twins. Confused yet? This science is called genetics, and scientists learned a lot about its rules by studying fruit flies and their offspring (that's their kids). We know it sounds weird. You can try it yourself here. What happens when you mate a purple-eyed fruit fly to one with fluffy wings?
Library
"Do We" Really Know Dewey? - Librarians organize books based on a number of different classification systems. One of the most popular systems for U.S. schools and public libraries is called the Dewey Decimal System. It was created by Melvil Dewey, and you can find out about him and his classification scheme here. By the way--are you confused about the difference between fiction and nonfiction? Just say to yourself, "I can only say `No' once." Then write out these little reminders: NOnfiction = True and Fiction = NOt true. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
America's Story from America's Library! - "America's Story from America's Library" wants you to have fun with history while learning at the same time. We want to put the story back in history and show you some things that you've never heard or seen before. The stuff you see comes from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library is the largest in the world and has millions of amazing things that will surprise you.
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - Are you forever forgetting the Riddle of the Sphinx? Want to know who Apollo was? Can't wait to find out what the Seven Wonders of the ancient and medieval worlds were? The current edition of this classic book is one of Net-mom's favorites, but you have to get the latest edition at the store. The 1894 edition is online and searchable.
Electric Library Personal Edition - As this book goes to press: "The Electric Library currently contains 5,277,563 newspaper articles, 697,457 magazine articles, over 419,011 book chapters, 1,523 maps, 136,419 television and radio transcripts, and 104,894 photos and images!" There's also an encyclopedia, Monarch Notes, and a fair number of reference books. You can search topics for free, but if you want to read the full text of the articles, you must become a member. There's a 30-day free trial offer.
IPL Youth Division - Welcome to the Internet Public Library, or IPL! Visit The Reading Zone. Join the Story Hour to read (and sometimes hear) stories from all over the Web. Got a book report coming up soon? There is a lot of author information at this site as well as links to their home pages.
Internet Public Library Reference Center - Online Public Library with tons of resources including newspapers & magazines. Here you can ask a reference question or browse a specific section of a collection. Don't forget the IPL Pathfinders-your guide to getting started on research in numerous subject areas, both in print and online.
KidsClick! Web Search - Browse almost 5,000 educational and fun Web sites in 15 different categories. All of them have been selected, categorized, and described by a team of librarians who know what kids want. How do they know? Because kids come into their libraries and ask for these types of things! There is a neat and fast search engine to get you where you want to go. You can search for sites by your reading level as well as the amount of graphics you care to load.
LibrarySpot - Acronym dictionaries, biographical dictionaries, inventions, useful calculators (how much grass seed to buy, how to convert cooking measurements)--all are here for your use. There are also links to hundreds of library card catalogs all over the world. Explore numerous magazines and newspapers, phone books, mapping programs, and more.
Research-It! - Your One-Stop Reference Desk - This site's cool! Spell a word, conjugate a verb, find a quote, or locate facts about a famous person. Almost 30 quick reference tools are rolled into one easy-to-use site.
SJCPL's Public Libraries with WWW Services - Public libraries all over the world are active on the Internet. Some have their library online catalogs available, others have Gopher sites, and others have great World Wide Web home pages. To see a list of many public libraries with Internet services, take a look at this site. On most of the public library sites, you'll find links to great resources on the Internet. Maybe you'll see your own neighborhood library on the list!
Smithsonian Institution Libraries - The Smithsonian Institution Libraries in Washington, D.C., are among the world's best libraries. As part of the Smithsonian, these libraries are dedicated to spreading knowledge. Take a look at this home page and see outstanding online exhibits, browse through a huge library catalog, and read unique Smithsonian electronic publications.
The Library of Congress - The U.S. Library of Congress is the world's largest single collection of library materials anywhere. It would be great if everything in the library were available to be viewed on the Internet, but that hasn't happened yet. However, the folks at the Library of Congress have made a large amount of information available here. From their home page on the World Wide Web, you can view beautiful graphic images of exhibits, such as original photographs from the U.S. Civil War, or you can see replicas of documents from Columbus' voyages to America.
Math & Arithmetic
A+ Math : Games - Play exciting games like Concentration and Hidden Picture. Test your math skills with quizes and print your own flash cards. You can even print worksheets to practice with off line. Fun for the whole family!
A+ Math : Homework Helper - Homework helper allows you to input a math problem and your solution. It will then tell you if you have the correct answer. This is a great tool for checking homework papers!
Aritm - This little math trainer is good for practicing your mental math. Choose addition, multiplication, subtraction, or division. How many questions can you answer in a minute? How well do you know your multiplication tables? After using this for a while, you'll be a math whiz!
CTC's Trigonometry Explorer - This site offers a few Java demos from a larger CD-ROM about trigonometry. The easy-to-use applets include a little game of measuring angles with a protractor as well as a brief introduction to angles and their functions and pi. There is a bit on sextants, navigation, and latitude and longitude, too.
Cast Your Vote! - You are about to become a statistic. Before you can learn about how statistical data is developed, you will be asked to complete a survey. Once you've posted your last answer, you will be ushered to an area where you can learn how polls are taken and what factors are used in weighing the results. This is an excellent place to visit if you'd like to understand more about the electoral process and how public opinion affects the end result.
Chapters of the MegaMath Book - Kids from 9 to 90 will have hours of fun playing the thinking games here, which involve flat and topological geometry as well as other math and logical concepts. Everything is presented in a colorful, simplified manner, so you may be surprised by the complexity of thought that is needed for some of these games. The Most Colorful Math of All, Games on Graphs (which can be played on a table or playground), Algorithms and Ice Cream for All, and The Hotel Infinity are some of the activities awaiting you here.
Click on Bricks - Those darn multiplication tables can be so difficult sometimes. It was a real relief to find this ThinkQuest Junior site, where these different-colored bricks can help you learn multiplication from one to four. There are also links to other math sites, so if you need more help, click here. Now if we could only find someone who knows about long division.
Comprehensive School Mathematics Program - Are you suffering the strings and arrows of CSMP (Comprehensive School Mathematics Program) at your school? Here is the home page for the publisher of these math materials. Each month there are new sample problems (and solutions in case you're stumped). If your mom and dad just don't get CSMP, have them read the introductory materials at this site. Then you can subscribe (free) to the CSMP listserv discussion group and talk to other families using these math materials.
Coolmath.com - This is the greatest math site ever. Really, it has no equal. Want to multiply your fun on the Net--as far as arithmetic, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, or calculus goes? You can learn about tessellations and all kinds of other really neat math stuff here, including puzzles and math tricks. There are no limits to what you can do at Cool Math--or are there? See for yourself! We'd add more, but we don't want to take away the surprise.
Dave's Math Tables - Dave must be the smartest guy in the entire universe when it comes to math. He has written down just about everything you could possibly need to know, and he even helps you understand what it's all about. That's more than most mothers and fathers can do. In fact, your parents will probably be thrilled if you let Dave help you understand the solutions to your problems. General math, algebra, trigonometry, calculus--they're all here, and you can even download the information to study at your leisure. This site is in both English and Spanish.
Exploring Emergence - See the pattern "moving" across the screen? Well, it's really not moving, it's just that lights are turning on and off in order to create that appearance. Experiment with the starting pattern yourself and see what happens when you click Start. Does the pattern behave as you predicted? Or does it turn into a chaotic mess?
Fantastic Fractals - For a fabulously fun-filled fling through the fascinating field of fractals, flip no further. Wait a minute! Just what is a fractal? This ThinkQuest site will fill you in on fractals on three different levels: for kids, for advanced kids who understand fractology, and for advanced fractologists (sorry, we just had to make up those words). Now use your newly developed skills and create a fractal using Fantastic Fractals 98. Enter it in their (famous?) fractal contest and you just might win Fantastic Fractals 98 software of your own. At the very least, you will have discovered a lot about this interesting mathematical concept.
Flash Cards for Kids! - This set of flash cards for math was originally developed for an elementary school tech fair. They had so much fun with the program that it was put on the Web so everyone could use it. If you are having problems with a particular aspect of simple mathematics, or if you just like practicing your addition or division or other math tables, stop by here and have some fun!
FunBrain - How about playing some math baseball? You pick how difficult the math questions should be and decide whether you want addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or all of the above. Then the computer will ask you an arithmetic question. Can you get it right? Swing the bat--wow, it's a triple! After that, see how good you are at making change for a dollar. How many pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters should you give back after a certain purchase is made? This site has other fun games, too, including a concentration matching game.
History of Mathematics - Who are the 100 most popular mathematicians of all time? Based on the most frequently requested biographies at this site, the most famous math guy of all was Einstein, followed by Pythagoras. Click on any of these names and you'll find facts about the person as well as a brief biography and photo or portrait, if available. Other wonderful features of this site include information on female mathematicians, a list of lunar craters named after mathematicians, and birthplace maps.
IFSoft Home Page - Fractalina is a program for making fractals, and Franimate! is a program for animating fractals, and you will find them both right here. The programs were developed to allow middle school and high school students to illustrate problems dealing with fractals. Even elementary school students can try it if they wish, although it is beneficial to know at least a little about fractals before you begin using this site.
Lemonade Stand - In this easy-to-learn simulation game of high finance, you start with a fistful of dollars, a dream, and a weather forecast. Balance the cost of rent, lemons, and your advertising budget into your sales price per cup. Watch that weatherperson! Can you squeeze out a lemonade empire, or will you lose all your lemons?
Manipula Math with Java - Did you know everyone learns in different ways? Some kids learn by hearing something explained; other kids have to see something in a drawing or model; still other kids have to manipulate something themselves to really understand it. These wonderful Java applets let you manipulate geometric figures as never before. The Pythagorean theorem was never like this! Don't stop there--try clicking and dragging your way around some trigonometric functions. You'll also find applets in calculus as well as that ever-popular category: miscellaneous.
Math Advantage - Marvelous math games may be manipulated at this site, which offers learning for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade. Younger ones will enjoy sorting numbered bumper cars in Carnival Cars and playing tic-tac-toe with shapes. The eighth-grade challenges include solving extraterrestrial math problems in Cargo Bay and graphing coordinates to make a robot Elvis dance. In between are many more animated and talkative games to add interest.
Math Goodies: Interactive Math Lessons - Check these interactive math lessons, such as understanding percentages or the circumference and area of circles. There are also message boards for both teachers and students, and there's a handy math image gallery if you don't want to have to draw your own illustrations of geometric formulas. Check the link library for a carefully focused collection to more math on the Net.
Math for Kids - A Medieval Adventure in Problem-Solving - Two fourth graders developed this page, and it was a finalist in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior competition. Using a medieval knights and castles theme, they offer lots of sample word problems complete with step-by-step instructions on how to come up with the correct answer. They also have an area where you can determine the proper strategy for solving a word problem. "Sir Godfrey has been collecting gemstones for three years. His favorite gems are rubies. Out of his 233 gems, 75 are rubies. How many gems does he have that are not rubies, if there are three other types of gemstones?" Did you get it? No? Read all the help messages and try again. Then try some of the other problems.
Math for Morons Like Us - Ranging from pre-algebra to geometry to calculus, this site offers simplified explanations, tutorials, and quizzes for the math-challenged. Learn how to tell if lines are parallel, how to solve basic equations, and how to work with square roots. If you're really stuck, ask for help in the message board section, where people gather to discuss the fine points of parabolas and quadratic equations. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Mighty M&M Math - It is important to purchase proper supplies for this math experiment page. Go to the store at once and buy two big bags of M&M candies. One bag is for the homework. The other is to eat. This lesson was developed by a teacher in California who obviously knows a good way to teach fractions and percentages. Now this is our prediction: 100 percent of the students will enjoy 100 percent of the supplies when 100 percent of the work has been completed.
Online Math Applications - Here's a question for you: What does math have in common with investing? How about music, history, science, or travel? Some kids who wanted to enter the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior competition decided to create a Web page about math and its connections with each of these areas. It was so good that it was named one of the finalists. Stop by and learn about Mozart's effect, scientific notation, compound interest, pattern recognition of routes between cities, and lots more. And you thought math was only 2 + 2!
Pi Mathematics - What good is pi anyway? This page answers that question and provides activities to help you learn about this most interesting mathematical constant.
Plane Math - It's not about mathematical planes, it's about airplanes. Find the shortest distance between two cities. How do you figure out capacity so you'll know how many people can board your plane? How do you convert 12-hour clock time to 24-hour clock time? There are also interviews with NASA personnel in which they describe their jobs and encourage young people to follow aeronautics careers.
Questacon - Australia's National Science and Technology Centre has a fabulous online museum. You can explore lots of interactive exhibits, puzzles, games, and more. Dinosaurs, meteors, optical illusions, and clever science activities abound here. This is one of the best sites on the Net for kids interested in science.
Roman Numerals 101 - All those XX's and L's, V's, and I's. With that kind of alphabet soup, how did the Romans ever balance their checkbooks? If you need a refresher on the Roman numeral system, visit this site. Once you've mastered the basics, try some math problems. Don't miss the guessing game, where you'll pick a number and the computer guesses it. It's always right!
SchoolHouse Rock - Multiplication Rock - Not only will you find the lyrics of the songs at this site, but you'll also be able to hear the songs and view the video. Soon you'll be singing along to "My Hero Zero" and "Naughty Number Nine," among others.
Sprott's Fractal Gallery - What is a "Julia set," a "strange attractor," or an "iterated function system"? They are all math equations that generate beautiful fractal images. A fractal drawing is the picture a computer makes as it maps out one of these equations. Sprott's Gallery includes sample programs to download and run on your computer so you can see fractals for yourself. There is a FAQ section and also lots of cool fractal pictures to download. Don't miss the animated GIF attractors!
TI Calculators and Educational Solutions - Some schools require kids to use a Texas Instruments (TI) graphing calculator when they start pre-algebra classes. It has a lot of neat functions and a nice little screen, but what everyone really wants to know is "Where do I get games and software for it?" You get them here. You'll also be able to join a free discussion list on TI calculators and find out what's new on the calculator scene. There are often discount and refund offers at this site; tell your parents.
The Geometry Center - If you're looking for interactive geometry, you've come to the right place. Perhaps you'd prefer manipulating some of the Java or other Web-based geometric drawing programs. You can also download many of these to play on your own computer. One of our favorites is KaleidoTile for the Mac, which lets you create geometric figures you've never heard of before and can't pronounce (fortunately, a voice tells you what they are). The interactive "math you can manipulate" programs have big names, but don't let that put you off. Get into them, and have fun with the unique drawing tools. Check out the directions for building the world's largest 20-sided icosahedron. You probably need one for your room.
The Math Forum - Ask Dr. Math - Mom and Dad don't understand your math homework; neither does your best friend. But you can ask Dr. Math. You'll enjoy finding out the answers to some of the questions that kids have already asked Dr. Math; for instance: What's the name of the "infinity" symbol? Why can't you divide a number by zero? And what happens if you bore a hole through the center of the Earth and drop something down the hole? Where will the item end up? Or down? Or...?
The Math Forum: Student Center - Part of a larger forum devoted to geometry, this page focuses on links that could be useful or of interest to students. Lots of games, projects, and downloadable software can be found here. There is also a Problem of the Week and an Internet Hunt, where you can search for answers to math trivia on the Net. In addition, there is a whole archive of math tricks so you can beat a calculator anytime you want!
The Prime Page - A prime number is one that can be factored only by itself and 1. The primes under 25 are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, and 23. How many prime numbers are there? An infinite number! Find out the history of prime numbers, who's who in prime research, and what to do if you make a fantastic new math discovery.
WebMath: Instant Solutions to Your Math Problems - Are you stuck with a math problem you can't solve? Try this site. It has many "fill in the blanks" calculators that will help you solve everything from a simple problem to one with quadratic equations and more. Got one of those pesky word problems, where you have to figure out stuff like "You have 13 coins totaling $2.75 in your pocket. They are all quarters and dimes. How much of each type of coin do you have?" Plus, it doesn't just give you the answer, an explanation is also provided.
Welcome to the Math League - If this page had been around many years ago, Net-mom might have conquered long division when she was expected to! As it is, she still has trouble when it comes to fractions and decimals. But now that we have this page to practice with, there is renewed hope. There are lots of answers to lots of questions about mathematics here. There is also a great section explaining Math League contests and how to get involved in them. If you are a math whiz, you will love this place. In fact, even if you have problems with math, you're going to love this place!
Physics
Amusement Park Physics - As your free-fall car rises to the top of the drop, you think, "I hope the designer of this ride got an A in physics." As you practice your driving skills on the bumper cars, do you ever take time to thank Newton's third law of motion? Learn the physics behind many popular rides, and you'll never look at an amusement park the same way again.
Bob Miller's Light Walk - This site will really illuminate your knowledge of light and shadow. In fact, it's a bright idea to check it out if you have a science fair project due, since there are project directions for building your own pinhole camera, making your own "light walk," and performing more tricks of light. You'll find a whole spectrum of stuff here and a fascinating look into shadows. Don't be scared, just lighten up!
Bridge and Resonance (Multimedia Physics) - Can you imagine that a bridge could collapse because of a thing called resonance? Those of you who are string instrument players know that if you pluck a note on one string, another string matching that note often vibrates slightly too. The first string "talks" to the second string, which "answers." In 1940, the force of the wind got the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Washington) swinging and swaying, and pretty soon the waves of the wind's frequency matched the natural resonance of the structure, and...well, you've got to see it to believe it.
Bubbles - Bet you didn't know that soap bubbles can teach you a lot about light and optics, right? Check the Light and Optics Activities to explore light, refraction, lenses, and lasers. Practice tricks with bubbles, including how to make a bubble within a bubble! You'll also find the secret to making long-lasting "tough" bubble mix here.
Build It & Bust It - Engineers figure out how to build bridges that stay up, tunnels that don't collapse, and buildings that rise to the sky without tumbling down. At this site you can try building your own joint and beam structures and then test them for stability. If you have a hard time, just go to the Testing area and load someone else's bridge and apply forces to it. Will it stand up or go falling down, falling down? This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Cleco: Fun and Educational Electric Information - Follow the path of electricity from the power plant to town, to your neighborhood, to your house, and finally to your room lights. Learn some very cool facts about electricity, its early history, and important inventors. Be sure to visit the safety zone to discover how to be safe around electricity in the bathroom, kitchen, and outside.
Energy Information Administration - Country Analysis Briefs - In the past century, our world has developed a tremendous thirst for energy. Cars and trucks, factories, and petroleum-based products, to name a few, have become a necessary part of our civilization. The Energy Information Administration has assembled analysis reports on countries around the world, collecting information such as a country's energy consumption, energy resources, and political and economic situations as they affect its energy situation. If all this sounds complicated, it most definitely is, but these reports can help give you a unique insight on a country, which might earn an A+ for your next school project.
Energy Quest - Energy Education from the California Energy Commission - What was Ben Franklin's energy-saving invention? Join Ben in a word game to find out the answer. He also has other games, crafts, and even a Declaration of (Energy) Independence. This site has activities and games about different kinds of energy, from wind to solar and nuclear to hydroelectric. Find out who got "Devoured by the Dark." This site is a must for the energy efficient.
Guided Tour on Wind Energy - The Danish Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association wants you to breeze in and learn about how we can harness the wind's energy and put it to work for us. First though, you'll learn about the winds of the world as well as local winds, such as sea breezes and mountain air currents. Check out the inner workings of a wind turbine and find the answers to questions like "Are wind turbines noisy?"
Interactive Experiments - Part of a larger site called Little Shop of Physics (see earlier entry under PHYSICS--EXPERIMENTS), this lets you experience two weird Shockwave demonstrations. The first is an illusion in sound--pure sound, that is. Do you hear the notes as going up or going down? Check the science behind this very strange auditory foolery! The second demonstration explains how they make that emergency broadcast signal sound so annoying. Check it out.
Little Shop of Physics Online - Welcome to the Little Shop of Physics: nothing here will harm you (well, you might want to stay away from that disreputable-looking plant over in the corner!). They have concocted some interesting demonstrations using everyday objects that might amuse you and teach you something about physics. There are optical and auditory illusions plus lots of special effects you can try right on your computer screen. Come closer!
Magnetism - What's the attraction? Magnetism helps us find our way with a compass. It's what makes electric motors run. Did you know it's also responsible for the northern lights--the aurora borealis? Read about the history of magnetism and how it works. Drawings show how magnetic fields are made up of invisible field lines. There are also facts about the contributions of Michael Faraday and James Maxwell to the field of magnetism. May the force be with you!
Maine Solar House - This is Bill Lord's solar house. He built this house in southern Maine, on a property specially chosen for the project. Everything was planned with the goal of constructing a house that would make the most out of solar energy. Descriptions and diagrams show how he uses heat from the sun to warm the house and produce his own electricity. He even sells electricity to the power company when he has a surplus!
Miami Museum of Science - The Atoms Family - How many times can you cut a 28-centimeter piece of paper in half? If you could do it 31 times, that would be the size of one atom! Most people can't get beyond cutting 10 times, but go ahead, give it a shot. The directions are here. This wonderful site leads you through the rather odd world of the Atoms Family: Frankenstein's Lightning Lab, Dracula's Library (he wants to know all he can about light, so he can avoid it, I guess), and the Phantom's Portrait Parlor (matter, atoms, that paper cutting activity, and molecules).
Optics for Kids - Why should we care about controlling light, anyway? It's pretty important when you consider how your own eyes work. It's also critical for eyeglasses, binoculars, telescopes, microscopes, even CD players. They all work by controlling light in various ways. Learn about the optics of reflection and refraction right here. There's also a nice section on how lasers work.
Overview of the Lasers Site - How many lasers do you think you encounter in a day? Go to the checkout line at the grocery store: lasers read the prices coded on those zebra-striped labels. Climb into the car and crank up some tunes on the CD player--lasers again. Every CD player has a tiny laser in it to read the digital code on the CD. Visit this site for more close encounters of the laser kind.
Percussion for Kids - Is pure rhythm really music, or is it just a cacophony of noise? If you go to a performance of STOMP, you will see and hear the cast members "play" Zippo lighters, push brooms, trash cans, newspapers, and other common objects. Visit this Web site to see and hear audio from the show and learn more about the science of rhythm. There are also some neat activities, like making a "rain stick" out of paper towel tubes, toothpicks, and lentils.
Physics Experiments You Can Do at Home - How quickly do you react when someone throws you a ball or when a book drops from a table? Reaction time is one of several home experiments you can try, developed by a University of Wisconsin professor as part of a program he calls Wonders of Physics. Learn about the Doppler effect, take a "random walk," or try a vortex experiment. You'll soon be discovering lots of interesting new things.
Rocket Principles - This isn't exactly rocket science, but then again, this is where it all starts. Read all about Newton's first, second, and third laws of motion and forces and how they relate to rocketry. These basic laws rule all motion, not just rocketry. They explain why a basketball bounces, why a baseball goes so far when you hit it with a bat, and why you go over the handlebars if you run into a tree with your bike (you don't have to try the last one--just take our word for it). Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Rocket Activity Page, where you'll find some cool experiments to help you understand the laws of motion. Our personal favorite is the balloon-powered rocket pinwheel!
Soap Bubbles - Have you ever noticed that bubbles are always round, no matter what shape the wand you blow through is? Is that because your breath is shaped like a circle as it comes out of your lips? No. A bubble is round because of physical forces you can learn about here. You'll also learn that when a bubble looks gray or black, it is about to pop. Why does it lose its pretty colors? Find out here, and don't miss the Internet Resources section for more good, clean fun.
The Bubblesphere - You don't need a lot of skills to learn to blow soap bubbles, right? So what is with this guy who calls himself "Professor"? Turns out he really is an expert. At his home page, he reveals the ultimate soap solution for making the most colorful, sturdy bubbles. He explains how to make your own bubble-blowing tools from soup cans and coat hangers (ask your parents for help). You don't even need anything special--he teaches you how to blow bubbles using only your HANDS! But wait, there's more. Check the bubble FAQ, bubble games, and the other wonders of the Bubblesphere.
The Internet Guide to Electronics - Do you know the difference between a parallel electrical circuit and one that is in series? You will within moments ofng this Web page and clicking on Theory. It's a real beginner's guide to the topic and includes many illustrations and clear explanations. There are also some cool calculators for Ohm's law and other topics, plus a guide to multimeter use and a handy chart of schematic symbols.
The Internet Webseum of Holography - Lasers can do some pretty amazing things. Did you know they are used to make interesting 3-D pictures that allow you to "look inside" and see around objects? That's called holography. Although lasers are needed to make a hologram, you don't need a laser to view one. You can view laser shows and holograms right here if you have the right plug-in. If you don't, there are links to get you the free software, so don't worry. Think it's all too complicated? Not at the Holo-kids area, which you can reach by clicking on Kids Page. Learn how to make a shoe-box hologram using those inexpensive laser pointers.
The Science Behind a Home Run - Time to grab a bag of peanuts, crank up the radio or TV, and listen to the sweet sound of the baseball bat against the ball as another one flies out of the park. Did you ever wonder how a person holding a narrow wooden bat could hit a baseball so hard that it could fly several hundred feet? It happens every day all across the country during the baseball season, and now you can read how physics and forces make it all happen. Remember the magic words "viscosity" and "density," take a gulp of fresh air, and read on.
The Shocking Truth About Electricity - How much do you depend on electricity? It powers your alarm clock, your hair dryer, your TV, and your lights. It may also make your water hot, cook your food, and wash your clothes. Did you ever wonder where electricity comes from? What's the deal with watts, anyway? We know that the news may be electrifying, but it's true: you can make a lightbulb light using lemons as the source of energy. Find out how at this site, created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
The Soundry - This site uses wonderful interactive demonstrations to demonstrate how we hear what we hear. Start off with the structure of the ear, move into physics and the characteristics of a sound wave, and learn about the history of recorded sound. Don't miss the applets in the Sound Lab. Create a sound "scene" or movie using only sounds arranged in a particular order. Listen to a few of the samples, such as "Tarzan Has an Accident." You'll get the idea. Other applets include the Doppler effect, harmonics, waves, and beats. In fact, no one could beat this site. The 1998 ThinkQuest Grand Prize winner was created by kids!
Theater of Electricity - Did you ever get zapped by touching a metal doorknob at home? Where'd the electricity come from? Static electricity built up on your shoes as you walked across a carpet. Scientists who need a lot of static electricity for an experiment use a Van de Graaff generator, which makes electricity from a revolving belt inside one of its towers. Read about its history and construction and all about lightning and electricity. You can see the huge original generator, built by Dr. Robert J. Van de Graaff, in the Theater of Electricity at the Museum of Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and on this Web site. You probably won't have a generator like this at home, but at this site you'll find some experiments you can do with balloons, paper bunnies, and static electricity!
You Can & Levers - The basic principles of levers are explained nicely here by Beakman and Jax. All three classes of levers are shown in easy-to-understand diagrams. Did you know that many household devices are levers? Nail clippers, pliers, nutcrackers, and fly swatters are just a few. After reading this page, see if you can tell to which class of levers each device belongs.
Pollution
Air Junk - Ever wondered about all those dust particles you see floating around in the air? Here's some news--it's probably not just dust, but animal and human skin flakes and dandruff, sand, pollen, and mold. Build some particle traps--the directions are here--and use your magnifying glass and this page to identify that "dust."
Air Pollution - According to this site, "Americans make the equivalent of 3 million trips to the moon and back each year in cars, using up natural resources and polluting the air." Find out about the major kinds of air pollution and what you can do to help. There are lots of classroom activities, too--how about putting on a play about pollution? Maybe you can get the part of reporter Connie Lung!
Campaign for Dark Skies - "The light from the rest of the Universe takes hundreds, thousands, or millions of years to reach our eyes. What a pity to lose it on the last moment of its journey!" Yet that's what happens when light from Earth "pollutes" the night sky. Instead of stars, we see a glowing sky, as light from cities, street lamps, and other terrestrial sources streaks upwards instead of down on the ground where we need it. This useless light is scattered by moisture and dust particles in the atmosphere, which produces the glowing effect. This is important to astronomers, who need as much darkness as possible, but it's also important to everyone else. A dark night sky, spangled with stars, is our heritage as humans. Read all about the various campaigns that say, "Let there be dark!"
Dumptown Game - Welcome to Dumptown! Look around--there's litter and pollution, lots of garbage cans and dumpsters, but no way to recycle. You can save Dumptown. You can make things better, but you've got to do so in a cost-effective way. It won't be easy, but you can discover how proper management of resources can make a difference in saving this community. There will be lots of help, because this site is run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA - Acid Rain Program - Acid rain is a scientific puzzle that was not easy to solve. It takes years for acid rain to cause problems, so its existence remained unknown for a long time. It can cause acid levels in lakes to increase so that fish and plant life cannot survive. Acid rain can also slowly eat away at buildings and structures, causing long-term damage. Where does it come from? What can be done about it? Two major chemicals combine to cause acid rain: sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. Although there are many sources of these two chemicals, coal-burning plants, cars, and trucks are the major contributors. This page, from the Acid Rain Program of the Environmental Protection Agency, describes some of the things that are being done to stop acid rain and the destruction it causes. For handy student resources, click on Students and Teachers.
Environmental Defense Fund WorldWide - You can learn a lot about our environment at this home page of the Environmental Defense Fund. Do take the link to Hog Watch to learn about pollution caused by hog farm runoff. Parts of the site are not for the sensitive, so go on back to the EDF site and visit the Earth to Kids area. It has lots of neat things--like an Alpha Bestiary. Don't know what that is? Then check this site. Don't miss the animal concentration game called Kokoto--it's fun to play, and you'll learn something about the birds and beasts as you make your match.
Garbage - The average American generates about four pounds of solid waste each day. We are generating waste products faster than nature can break them down. We're also using up resources faster than they can be replaced. At this site you can learn about the various types of waste and how we can begin to turn the tide. Don't miss the links on this site (which, by the way, is made from 100 percent recycled electrons).
Noise Center - A jet aircraft taking off. A loud "boom car" driving by. Lawn mowers. Leaf blowers. All of these can produce noise pollution. So what? So it can damage your hearing! Studies also show that test scores go down when there is lots of noise in the environment. What can you do to reduce noise pollution? Choose quieter toys, turn down the volume on your CD player, and follow this site's advice for dealing with noise problems in the neighborhood.
Non-point Source Kid's Page - Point source pollution is easy to see. It's a stream of chemicals dripping from an industrial pipe, or smoke billowing from a dirty smokestack. Nonpoint source pollution is another way of saying polluted runoff. This could be water running from a farm where fertilizers have been overused. Or water in the street that has picked up oil and gas from the pavement. Eventually nonpoint source pollution ends up in our waterways just the same, but it's sometimes hard to identify where it came from. This site offers an impressive set of activities and links to resources about drinking water and how it is kept safe.
Ocean Planet: Oceans in Peril - Did you know U.S. sewage treatment plants discharge more oil into the ocean than spills from oil tankers do? Medical waste, plastics, and other debris threaten not only water quality but also sea creatures' lives. You can learn more facts about pollution of the ocean and waterways by taking a look at this exhibit, presented by the Smithsonian Institution as part of a larger Internet exhibition on the ocean. You'll never think the same about water draining from your kitchen sink!
Rot Web Home Composting Information Site - This is the lowdown on dirt (for those of you who have a sense of humus). It gives basic information about home composting. You can find out how to build compost heaps of every description--some even including worms. If you want to see a heap in action, there's a nationwide list of composting demo sites. It's a "rotten" Web site, and that's why we've included it!
Rotten Truth (About Garbage) - When you throw something "away," where does it go? This site makes the point that there is no such thing as "away" when we have only one planet to live on. Learn the rotten truth about garbage, and then do something about it. Make a worm bin. Construct a soda bottle bioreactor. Organize a local landfill tour. There are lots of ideas and activities here.
The Consumer Recycling Guide: Commonly Recycled Materials - You recycle, right? Do you have questions about those cryptic markings on the bottoms of plastic containers--what do they mean? You'll find a description of them here. Also, you can learn what to do with items such as used motor oil or spent NiCad batteries. This is the one-stop answer place for recycling questions.
U.S. EPA Explorers Club - Do you know what the EPA is? It's a governmental entity (how's that for a big word!) called the Environmental Protection Agency, and it makes sure everyone works to keep the air, land, and water safe and pure. We headed to the recycling section and found a lot of neat things about how we can reuse and recycle materials. There are a lot of other sites on this page that can help you understand the environment and our impact on it. This place is guaranteed to make you more aware of your surroundings so you and others can grow up in an environment that is safe for everyone.
Water Pollution - From the National Wildlife Federation, these fun K-8 activities teach the sources of pollution, the reach of a watershed, and the problems of discarded plastics in the sea. Can you solve the mystery of who is polluting the neighborhood's water? There's also a quick tutorial on water pollution. Sure sounds like a fun way of learning!
Water Quality - This is a collection of reports to Congress that define the quality of U.S. lake, river, and stream water. The reports reveal findings about the different types of pollutants, such as metals and pesticides. There are sections on the sources of water pollution, ocean waters, wetlands, and groundwater. The information is presented in graphics and text and is good material for a school project on water pollution. You can also find out about water quality in your state, although you need the free PDF Reader to view it (you'll find a link here to obtain the free PDF software).
Reading
Book Adventure - Lots of kids like to read books because it's fun. Other kids need a little incentive to read. A free reading club-with prizes!-might be a good summer activity for families. Here's the deal. Your child registers a user name and picks a password. Giving a parent's e-mail address at the time of registration is an option, but you can always go back and add it in later. Your child then goes into the Facemaker section to create a silly face to adorn her new reading "account." After that, use the Book Finder section to select some books to read. Choose grade, reading level, and preferred types of books to generate a reading list. There are over 3,000 books in the database; many have one-sentence annotations, too. Print it out, take the resulting list to the library, and grab some books! After your child has read them, she can log on to her account at Book Adventure and try a short multiple-choice quiz on each book. If she doesn't do well at first, she can go back to the book to check out the answers, then take the quiz again. But beware, she can take each quiz only twice. She will rack up points for each correct answer. Points may be traded for prizes, which range from "instant win" printable things (like bookmarks), to gift certificates at Barnes & Noble bookstores. Other prizes include movie passes, a free game of miniature golf, and even shoe discounts at Kmart, among other things. Parental permission is required before these gift certificates are sent to kids, that's why the parent's e-mail address is needed. I signed up, took a quick quiz on a familiar book, and won a quick 100 points. That was good enough to allow me to print out a very cool paper airplane. But if I want the $5 Barnes & Noble certificate, I'll need a total of 1,500 points. Oh, and I have to be in kindergarten through eighth grade!
BookHive: Your Guide to Children's Literature & Books - BookHive was created by librarians at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. You'll discover age-level-recommended books for ages birth through age 12. Or, choose a category like Mystery, Folklore, or Biography and you'll get brief reviews and pictures of the book covers.
Literacy Resources Online - What can parents do to help their kids become readers? This Web site offers pointers to several pamphlets and articles on how to prevent reading difficulties in young children as well as how to encourage reading in older kids. For example, there is a link to the Department of Education's Web page, "Simple Things You Can Do to Help All Children Read Well And Independently By The End of Third Grade." It's divided into things parents, schools, grandparents, caregivers, and community groups can do to promote literacy. One of these tips is the following: "Ask your children to describe events in their lives. Talking about their experiences makes children think about them. Giving detailed descriptions and telling complete stories also helps children learn about how stories are written and what the stories they read mean."
Reference Tools
"Do We" Really Know Dewey? - Librarians organize books based on a number of different classification systems. One of the most popular systems for U.S. schools and public libraries is called the Dewey Decimal System. It was created by Melvil Dewey, and you can find out about him and his classification scheme here. By the way--are you confused about the difference between fiction and nonfiction? Just say to yourself, "I can only say `No' once." Then write out these little reminders: NOnfiction = True and Fiction = NOt true. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition.
A Basic Guide to ASL - If you have the QuickTime plug-in for your browser, you can see animations of many American Sign Language words. Every word is also described in text, so if the animation doesn't run, you'll still be able to learn that the sign for "home," for example, is made like this: "The closed fingers of the right hand are first placed against the lips (eat), thend to a flat palm and placed on right cheek (sleep)."
A Web of On-line Dictionaries - This exceptional resource collects links to over 800 online dictionaries and word lists in over 160 different languages. You'll also find other reference sources, such as thesauri, rhyming dictionaries, grammars, and more.
Acronym Finder - Do you know what an acronym is? It's a word that is formed by the letters or syllables of other words. For example, let's say we created an organization called American Cats Resting On New Yarn Mattresses--its acronym could be ACRONYM! If you want to look up and see what some real acronyms stand for (try UNESCO or PTA for fun), take a glimpse at this site.
Ask Jeeves for Kids! - Why doesn't someone invent a kid-safe search engine that lets you type in a real question rather than all those plusses and minuses and quotes and other weird terms? So, you could just type in "I want information on the SuperSoaker 3000," and you'd get back just a few targeted sites, not 23,000 choices! And if you weren't the World's Greatest Speller, the search engine would check the spelling of your question, too. You could type in "I need a map of Arizonia," and it would ask you if you really wanted Arizona. Why doesn't someone invent a search tool like that? Guess what, someone did. Why not go and Ask Jeeves?
Ask an Expert Page - Got a question no one seems to know how to answer? Maybe you need to call in an expert. Experts are people who know a lot about a certain topic--so much, in fact, that they often write the textbooks themselves! Many scientists and others have offered to answer questions about science, math, medicine, history, and other topics. You won't usually get an answer overnight, though, so think ahead.
B. J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper - "Beege" is 12 years old and has collected over 550 resources that he uses with his school homework. Maybe they will work for you, too. You'll find everything from biographical dictionaries to flags of the world.
Bottom Dollar - Find the best price for a book, CD, toy, movie, hardware, software, or other merchandise. For example, just type in the name of the book you want, and the search engine queries several online bookstores to discover the lowest price.
Classic 164 Currency Converter - When is a dollar not a dollar? Wait a minute. Where did you get that dollar? Is that a U.S. dollar, or an Australian dollar, or a Namibian dollar? If it's a Namibian dollar, then it is likely worth less than half the U.S. dollar. The Australian dollar is worth more than the Namibian dollar but is still not worth as much as the U.S. dollar. Confused yet? What about the German mark, the Japanese yen, or the Slovenian tolar? Whoa! This stuff can get confusing. Luckily, at this site, with just a couple of clicks, you can compare 164 currencies all over the world, from their values in 1990 through today. Try it!
Conversion of Units - This is another HUGE measurement converter. Written in English and German, at this site you'll be able to get the formulas to convert just about anything. Included are electronic measures, such as amperage and watts. Remember, this one doesn't convert--it just gives the formula.
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - Are you forever forgetting the Riddle of the Sphinx? Want to know who Apollo was? Can't wait to find out what the Seven Wonders of the ancient and medieval worlds were? The current edition of this classic book is one of Net-mom's favorites, but you have to get it at the store. The 1894 edition is online and searchable.
Electric Library Personal Edition - As this book goes to press: "The Electric Library currently contains 5,277,563 newspaper articles, 697,457 magazine articles, over 419,011 book chapters, 1,523 maps, 136,419 television and radio transcripts, and 104,894 photos and images!" There's also an encyclopedia, Monarch Notes, and a fair number of reference books. You can search topics for free, but if you want to read the full text of the articles, you must become a member. There's a 30-day free trial offer.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online - The Encyclopedia Britannica is available on the Internet. All those great articles on science, history, and geography are obtainable by point and click--the whole enchilada is here! However (and this is a big however), it costs money to subscribe to this service. You can, though, sample the Britannica Online to see if you want to purchase access. Use the Sample Search area to get partial information in answer to any question; sometimes that's enough. Also, all the details for cost and other subscription information are available. If you think you might be interested, take a look. Try the link to Britannica.com for an excellent list of annotated links on all sorts of subjects.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian - For 150 years, the Smithsonian Institution collections have been a treasure trove. They house many wonders of history, science, and the natural world. Thousands of people visit the museums of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where the staff hears the same questions over and over. The Smithsonian folks took the answers to many of those questions and put them in an encyclopedia format on the Internet. You can get information on the history of the U.S. flag, great lists of books on animals, the inside scoop on the Titanic , and loads of other info.
GTE SuperPages : Yellow Pages - Search for a business phone number by category, name, or state. There are also "idea" pages with suggestions on whom to contact for back-to-school supplies, travel information, and lots more. One of the ideas is an expedition into your closet to have a "try-on day" to see what still fits before you shop for new school clothes. Maybe your little brother can fit into your old stuff now.
Governments on the WWW - And now for the political side of the Web: here is a collection of government sites for all the countries of the world. Links are included on parliaments, ministries, agencies, law courts, embassies, consulates, political parties, parliamentary groups, and youth organizations of political parties. All the government sites are grouped by continent, but you can also browse other categories such as multinational organizations and institutional sites on broadcasting, elections, statistics, tourism, and more.
How Far Is It? - In the not-too-distant past, finding the distance from one part of the globe to another took a fair amount of work. It involved using complicated tables and converting map scales. Now, we have an alternative. On this page, all you need to know is the name of two locations, and the distance between the two is calculated for you. This service provides distance for almost all places in the United States and a good number of major cities elsewhere. If a city doesn't appear to be in the database, just put in the name of the country and see what cities are available.
ICONnect - KidsConnect - You've got a question, and no one seems to have an answer--not your mother or your grandpa or your uncle. Just head to this site and pose your question to one of the school library media specialists throughout the world. They provide direct assistance to any student looking for resources. They'll help you learn how to use the Internet effectively for your class work, and you can tell Mom, Grandpa, and your uncle that you've got the answer! Try the FAQs (frequently asked questions) for answers to questions other kids have asked. Maybe your question has already been answered.
Infonation - This very interesting site lets you campare statistics on up to seven different countries at a time. Select the countries you want. Then click on up to four data sets. These can be things like population, unemployment, life expectancy, or more than 40 other choices. Then click on View Info to see how your countries compare with each other. Amazing! If you need a descripion of a category item, there's a Definition of Terms that describes them all.
Information Please Kids' Almanac - This is great! We typed in "longest river" and up came a list starting with the Nile, about 4,180 miles in length. Then we tried typing "Michael Jordan birthday." BAM! He was born February 17, 1963. You can build your vocabulary with Word of the Day and find out whose birthday is celebrated today. Don't miss this site.
Karla's Guide to Citation Style Guides - Using the net to find information for research projects is great, but how do you give credit to, or cite, all of those electronic resources? Try this guide.
KidsClick! Web Search - Browse almost 5,000 educational and fun Web sites in 15 different categories. All of them have been selected, categorized, and described by a team of librarians who know what kids want. How do they know? Because kids come into their libraries and ask for these types of things! There is a neat and fast search engine to get you where you want to go. You can search for sites by your reading level as well as the amount of graphics you care to load.
Learn2.com - Do you know how to use chopsticks, or clean a freshly caught fish? Could you use a lesson in putting a golf ball or breaking in a new baseball mitt? How about tips on folding a shirt or cleaning up a stain? This truly great site will teach you all of the above and more.
LibrarySpot - LibrarySpot is the library and reference information portal of the Web. Find top dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, maps, genealogy tools and much more in one user-friendly spot.
Little Explorers by Enchanted Learning Software - Try this on very little kids. They can click on any letter in the alphabet and link to lots of Web sites and activities that begin with that letter. This is an interactive picture dictionary, with hours of fun just waiting behind the letters. This page also has English-French, English-German, English-Portuguese, and English-Spanish versions. Much of the site is also available in Japanese.
Martindale's "The Reference Desk" - Hotlist this one now. First off, find out what time it is, not only where you live but all over the world. You'll learn what the weather is, where the earthquakes are, and where the surf's up. Then move on to the calculators. There are over 6,400 of them. In fact, there is so much compelling information here we bet you can't take just one link! Unfortunately, each time you go back for a new one, the entire page has to reload, and it's very frustrating. Perhaps by the time you read this, Martindale will have divided up the Web site a little more for your navigating pleasure.
Martindale's `The Reference Desk: Calculators On-line' - Sure, you get the usual converted units: feet to meters, Celsius to Fahrenheit, and more. But then you go from the commonplace to the exotic: automotive, loan and budget, math and engineering, medical, and even fabulous miscellaneous calculators (calculate the size of the fish tank you need). You can definitely count on this Web site!
Modern World History: Main Menu - Take a tour through the political and other events that shaped world history during the twentieth century. Follow the time line stretching from World War I in 1914 through the Wall Street crash in 1929, to the rise of Hitler and the end of World War II. This site, created by the BBC, is illustrated with many photos and activities to help you understand each period in time.
Modernism Timeline, 1890-1940 - This time line highlights significant events from 1890 to 1940. When you click on a year, you get a list of events that happened in that year, including political and literary events and social customs. For example, in 1917, bobbed hair was popular, the Senate rejected Wilson's suffrage bill, Freud's Introduction to Psychoanalysis was published, and there was a famine in Germany. The issue of what is significant is up for grabs here, and you can make suggestions for additions to the list.
National Christmas Tree Association - Too bad they don't have "smell attribute" plug-ins (yet). If they did, this site would smell terrific! The National Christmas Tree Growers page provides a dictionary of 16 evergreen types, from the Arizona cypress to the white spruce. You'll also find a directory of tree farms close to you (if you want to cut your own), selection tips, and interesting facts and figures.
Partnership for Family Involvement In Education - Learning is a partnership between schools, parents, communities, and religious groups. Discover how all of these stakeholders working together can improve education for your child. Keep up with the latest initiatives, news, and more.
Perry-Castareda Library Map Collection - Available from the University of Texas Library, this collection includes maps from around the world and links to some of the best map collections on the Internet. Check out the historical maps and the current events maps of Kosovo or whatever world hotspot is in the news. If you need a map, check here!
Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus - This resource offers a Java-based way to see relationships in English words. Imagine the starting word at the center of the screen, floating in space. Around it are the various synonyms of that word, arranged like spokes on a wheel. If you click on one of those words, you will see that word drift to the center, while new spokes for it appear. The link to the original word is still there for you to see, too. It's a visual dictionary. No, it's a flight simulator. No, it's just fun!
Purdue OWL: Writing Resources - Are those commas confusing? How about nouns, verbs, and adjectives--do they puzzle you? Are apostrophes getting you mixed up every time? And what's a preposition, anyway? Come to this writing lab to figure out how you should use all these things. Your reports, letters, and tests will look impressive! There are also many resources aimed at writers who want to be published authors.
Rare Map Collection - Of course, maps have been around for a long time. You can view one of the finest collections of historic maps on the Internet at this University of Georgia Web site. Included are some great maps of U.S. Civil War battlefields, as well as material on Colonial and Revolutionary America.
Rare Map Collection - Of course, maps have been around for a long time. You can view one of the finest collections of historic maps on the Internet at this University of Georgia Web site. Included are some great maps of U.S. Civil War battlefields, as well as material on Colonial and Revolutionary America.
Reggio Emilia - This is a very hot topic in preschool education these days. Reggio Emilia is a city in northern Italy. The educational philosophy there is that children have many "languages" besides words to express themselves. These may take the form of art, music, or other creative works. Reggio schools are more homelike than schoollike, and in fact a beautiful environment is thought of as "the third teacher." The first two teachers are the parents and the classroom teacher, who work in collaboration. The idea is that kids are empowered to do their own learning, with the teacher and parent as guides. At the same time, it is important to document this learning, although the documentation may take many forms. Reggio Emilia's methods offer a challenge to revisit entrenched educational views. Check some of the links here and see what you think.
Study Web - To colon or semicolon, that is the question. For the answer, dash over here and capitalize on the grammar tips and tricks that punctuate this site. A variety of sources will help you organize your paragraphs, straighten your sentences, check your spelling, and keep those too-common commas and rogue apostrophes from running amok across the pages of your next assignment. Be sure to look in the Grammar and Composition section.
Sunrise/Sunset Computation - Sometimes you have to get up awfully early to watch the sun rise. Exactly when the sun or moon rises or sets depends on where you live and the time of year. You can take the mystery out of when old Sol (that's another name for the sun) takes off in the morning by using this page from the U.S. Naval Observatory. All you have to do is plug in a date and a place, and through the magic of computers, the time of sun (and moon) rise and set is provided. For fun, enter your birthday and birthplace or pick an interesting date, like December 31, 1999. You'll also find out when the solstices and equinoxes are through the year 2005.
TIME 100: 1900 vs. Now - It's hard to imagine what the year 1900 was like, so this site offers a way to compare the then of yesteryear to the now of today. Back in 1900, 1 in 7 homes had a bathtub, 1 in 13 had a telephone, and a pound of sugar cost 4 cents. Now a pound of sugar is 43 cents, 20 percent of the U.S. is connected to the Internet, and a lot more of us are able to take a bath any time we want. The average weekly wage was $9.70 and now that figure is $435.00. Compare statistics in the U.S. and around the world at this thought-provoking site. Don't forget to visit other parts of this resource, such as The Most Important People of the 20th Century (click on Time 100 Poll).
The Century: America's Timeline - Choose a decade and go! For example, let's pick 1900-1909. From there, click on 1900 to find out about that year's first Davis Cup in tennis, the first auto show in New York, the invention of the hamburger in Connecticut, and the Carry Nation anti-alcohol bar-smashing tour of Kansas. Everything has hyperlinks to other parts of the History Channel site if you need more in-depth information.
The Elements of Style - This little book of grammar was written a long time ago, but writers use it to this day, often referring to it as their "bible." You might be interested in checking the list of words and phrases commonly misused and misspelled.
The Library of Congress - The U.S. Library of Congress is the world's largest single collection of library materials anywhere. It would be great if everything in the library were available to be viewed on the Internet, but that hasn't happened yet. However, the folks at the Library of Congress have made a large amount of information available here. From their home page on the World Wide Web, you can view beautiful graphic images of exhibits, such as original photographs from the U.S. Civil War, or you can see replicas of documents from Columbus' voyages to America.
The Mnemonic Number Alphabet - Mnemonics are handy little devices for jogging our memories. For example, the first letters of "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles" gives the initials, in order, of the nine planets. "Lucy Can't Drink Milk" provides the Roman numerals in order for 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. Some of these mnemonics have been helping students breeze through tests for years; now it's your turn to use them! Do you have trouble remembering dates in history class? Try the mnemonic alphabet system, which replaces numbers with consonants. Maybe you can make up some of your own, too.
The National PTA - One hundred years ago, the National PTA was founded by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the National Congress of Mothers. Birney said, "Let us have no more croaking as to what cannot be done; let us see what can be done." Today, this large organization is doing many things. Here, you can get more information about educational initiatives, health and welfare programs, and legislative issues.
The U.S. Department of Education - The Department of Education has an easy-to-use site with some useful and welcome features. This site is worth a look if you're concerned with any of the following topics: improving education on a local or national level, learning from other schools in other communities, application procedures for education grants, and student financial aid. The Picks Of the Month section highlights important resources you won't see elsewhere.
The UVic Writer's Guide - Your teacher assigns you a choice: you can write either an expository essay or a persuasive one. Huh? She explained it, but you still don't understand. This Web site introduces various types of essays, then gives advice on how to get started writing an essay, how to proofread it, and how to solve common writing problems. If you're not up to writing a whole essay yet, there's a section on how to write paragraphs. Can't write a whole paragraph? Stick to the part about how to write a good topic sentence. There is something here for everyone! You'll also find a huge glossary of literary terms and grammar basics.
The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus - Why no one on the Web ever thought of this before, we don't know. This resource combines a dictionary with a thesaurus, so you can find synonyms and antonyms, as well as definitions. There are also regular contests, interesting word lists, and other diversions from folks who are obviously in love with language.
Today's Calendar and Clock Page - Today is Friday, August 13, 1999. EDT is 5:28 P.M. This is the 225th day of the year. Year of the Earth Rabbit. Month of the Water Monkey. Day of the Fire Cock. Hour of the Earth Cock. Year 224 of American independence. 48th year of H.M. Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. 3rd year of the 694th Olympiad ...and much more! Did anything interesting happen today in history, movies, or literary history? What's the current population of the world? What's the total national debt? Know about the moon phase? How about tidal charts? How much time until the next space shuttle launch? It's all collected for you here.
U.S. Census Bureau - Do you know what Obi-wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars , when he had a question about the population of the United States? "Use the Source, Luke!" For such questions, go right to the source: the U.S. Census Bureau. How do they count the number of people in the U.S.? Find out here; plus learn lots of statistical info on jobs, housing, health, crime, income, education, marriage and family, race and ethnicity, aging, transportation and travel, and recreation.
U.S. POPClock Projection - The current estimated U.S. population is found at this site. The U.S. Census Bureau starts with the 1990 census and adds the births and subtracts the deaths. Then they factor in their best guesses about trends and come up with this estimated result. In case you wondered, only residents in the U.S. and the District of Columbia are counted and not families of military serving overseas or others living abroad.
WWWebster Dictionary - Sure, you can look up words online and get the definitions from this famous dictionary publisher. But you can also read some of the fascinating features about interesting words and scratch your head over some perplexing word puzzles. See what words Shakespeare coined, or trace the history of the word "phat." Find out how words get into the dictionary, too. This page explains how Merriam-Webster does it, and they should know the best way, because they have been doing it since the 1880s. There are more than 15 million citations for word uses in their database today. For their "just for kids" version and a student dictionary, try Word Central.
World POPClock Projection - Quick! If you wanted to send a letter to everyone in the world, how many stamps would you need? See an estimate of the world's current population at this site. You'll also find out how many births and deaths occur each minute.
Science
A Science Odyssey - Just visit this site. You will not be disappointed. Check out the Shockwave simulations in the You Try It section. In the Technology at Home area, you can scroll through the twentieth century and see what changes happen in the virtual home. Appliances appear and disappear, telephone equipment changes--what else will you notice? You can mouse over each item and see some facts about it: what it is, who invented it, and when it came into vogue or went out of style. Now try the other explorations: human evolution, radio transmission, probe the brain, atomic structure, and several more. When you get done with those, read the On the Edge comic books about various scientists and their discoveries. Did radio astronomer Jocelyn Bell really think she received a message from little green men in outer space? Find out here. Don't miss the hit game show That's My Theory! You can question the three contestants to see which one is the real Einstein, the real Freud, and the real ENIAC.
Agricultural Ideas for Science Fair Projects - What affects the speed of ripening fruit? What results can you expect from different fertilizers? Does seed size matter? These are only a few of the great science fair ideas for those interested in things that grow. Learn how to prepare a great science fair project with an agricultural theme.
BBC - Science in Action - Try some great online activities and explore air, forces, light, microbes, and mixtures. In Mixtures, learn about the Bonneville salt flats, and then try mixing up some virtual "solutes and solvents" yourself in the Action Lab.
Bill Nye the Science Guy's Nye Labs Online - It's Bill Nye the Science Guy, and is he loaded with science goodies to show you! Check out Today's Demo or visit the U-Nye-Verse to see what's happening in Bill's world of science. Lots of experiments and lessons on things scientific can be found here--plenty of fodder for your next science fair project. TV listings are also available if you want to find out when he's on the tube. There is even a Real Audio section with all those goofy scientific songs from the show.
BrainPop - Watch entertaining and educational animated cartoons that explain lots of scientific things, such as how your eyes work and how your sense of smell operates. There are other topics, too, such as the water cycle, electricity, and rainbows. Try some experiments with Bob, the Ex-lab Rat, or register (it's free) to ask questions of your own. The more activities and features you read, the more points you can get. Collect enough points, and you win a T-shirt and are entered in prize drawings.
CMS - Science Fair 97 - Are you stumped trying to think of an interesting project for the science fair at school? The Cyberspace Middle School's resource page will give you a great start. Lots of science fair ideas, projects, and tips are collected here. If your school doesn't have a science fair and you'd like to start one, several suggested books contain everything you'll need to know.
Comparing Alternative Energy Forms - It's an energetic world out there, with powerful nuclear reactors, hydroelectric stations, wind turbines, and even solar collectors. This resource offers an overview of each type of system and how it works. But it doesn't stop there. You'll also learn the history of each method of producing energy, as well as the geographic location of, say, many of the 440 nuclear power stations in the world. There are also some nice charts so you can compare the various types of energy. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Do Science! - This page offers "things to do while waiting for the food to come" in a restaurant, but Net-mom suggests you try these at home because some involve a possible mess if done the wrong way. You'll find lots of annoying things you can do with straws, how to make a lava lamp (sort of), and plenty of fodder for science fair magic.
Edible/Inedible Experiments Archive - Can you learn about earth science by observing cracks in cheese? Can you chew light? Is it possible to learn anything about static electricity from Rice Krispies? Absolutely. And the best part is that after the experiment is over, you can eat it.
Energy Quest Games - OK, these are educational games, but they really will spark your curiosity about electricity and solar, wind, and nuclear power. Don't miss playing the hilarious game called Watt's That? If you run out of energy, take a nap and come back later for more fun.
Environmental Atlas - Are you interested in the environment and concerned about conservation and resource depletion? So is the Green Plan Center of the Resource Renewal Institute. They have treated this environmental atlas as an Inter Net-based tool for researching environmental policy worldwide. The atlas lets you view information about a country's environmental policies--just click on the appropriate continent. Stop at this site for a profile of your country's major environmental problems, a brief chronology of its environmental history, and any recent policy developments. Learn if global conditions are affecting your country's environment and how it is cooperating on environmental issues with neighboring countries and the world community. Preserving our world's natural resources is a global issue.
Exploratorium: ExploraNet - Do you know what makes a fruit fly grow legs out of its head? How would you like to take a "light walk" and explore the world of shadows? The Exploratorium, in San Francisco, California, is a huge hands-on science laboratory for kids of all ages. Discover the many interesting wonders that they have ported to the Web!
Exploratorium: Frogs - I hope you brought a flashlight. That's the only way we're going to be able to track frogs in this swamp tonight. Shine your light over THERE. What's that, a carpenter frog? Hear how his call sounds like a person hammering or chopping wood? Hold on, what's THAT? Whew, just a Pine Barrens tree frog. Um, was that your foot I just stepped on? No? I hope it wasn't a bullfrog!
Explore Science - People learn in different ways--some people like to hear explanations, other people like to read them. Still others like to physically interact with a problem, and this page is for those folks (and anyone else who wants to have fun!). We hope you have Shockwave because most of these little science demonstrations require that plug-in. Examine physics, mechanics, waves, optics, and much more. If you do nothing else, try the six-sided snowflake designer.
Explorezone.com: Earth, Space, and Weather News and Reference - If it's about science and it's in the news, you can find a story about it here. A recent visit taught us that there's an "e-Nose" in our future (a portable nose to sniff out the ripest fruit) and provided an article about a frozen sea on a moon of Saturn. Want to quickly find news on recent earthquakes, weather happenings, or even the latest from the Hubble Space Telescope? Try this site. It even has sky events for tonight.
Extreme Science - This one is all about scientific extremes: the highest and lowest elevation on Earth, the biggest mountain, the deepest cave, the greatest earthquake, and--well, you get the idea. Don't forget to check the Creature World section for the largest snake, deadliest creature, and more records from those that creep, swim, walk, and fly. You can also meet cool scientists, take some online adventures, and explore many fun science links.
Frank Potter's Science Gems - This treasure chest of science gems includes links to resources on physical sciences, earth science, life science, engineering, and math. There are over 3,100 links here, which makes one wonder what Frank's life is like! The Web pages are arranged by subject and ordered by grade level. In some sections, a handy list shows which sites are popular and are most often "clicked."
Guided Tour on Wind Energy - The Danish Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association wants you to breeze in and learn about how we can harness the wind's energy and put it to work for us. First though, you'll learn about the winds of the world as well as local winds, such as sea breezes and mountain air currents. Check out the inner workings of a wind turbine and find the answers to questions like "Are wind turbines noisy?"
Helping Your Child Learn Science - OK, it's really a brochure for parents, but you should check out the experiments here, because some of them would make neat science fair projects. You'll find lots of kitchen chemistry tricks and fun with static electricity, and don't miss "celery stalks at midnight"!
Home Experiments - What do you mean there's nothing to do. Why, with Mom or Dad and a few simple household ingredients, you could bend water, collapse an aluminum can, float soap bubbles in an aquarium full of carbon dioxide, or even remove tarnish from silver! Is it magic? No, just chemistry, physics, or both. There are also links to even more home experiments to try.
How to Do a Science Fair Project - This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest Junior competition. A fifth grader offers advice on the best way to plan and carry out your science fair project. He has also collected links to science fair ideas and archives from around the Net.
How to Make a Great Poster - The biggest problem with science fair posters is that the print isn't large enough to be seen from a few feet away. Don't make the judges squint! Make BIG letters. Also, don't make your poster too "busy" with material and information that's not of primary importance. This Web site explains it all and suggests many ways to make your poster the best ever.
How to Use a Compass - On a hike, a compass will help you find your way, but first you have to learn to use one properly. You can learn in your own backyard, or in a park, or in a school playground. This site gives you a guided tour to a compass and its use. There are also tips on how to find your way in very difficult conditions, like fog or snow whiteouts.
IPL Science Fair Project Resource Guide - This is your first science fair project, and you're not really sure where to begin. The folks at the Internet Public Library can help: they have collected a lot of good information to get you going. You can even search by grade level, then by topic.
Journey North - Migration occurs every year with all kinds of animals, birds, and insects (even some grandparents like to go south for the winter). Journey North is a project where the Internet really shines. Each year, monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the U.S. to their wintering grounds in Mexico and California. In the spring, they start their journey north again. Where are they now? Go outside--see any monarch butterflies? OK, now go back inside, and log on to this site to report your findings. Click on Help Track Spring's Journey North. Your results will be combined with other reports from all over the U.S., and a map will be created to show where the migratory monarchs have landed. Butterflies aren't the only things monitored here. Besides tracking various animals and birds, this site tracks when the ice goes out of various lakes and rivers, where the tulips are blooming, and where the spring frogs are peeping.
MadSciNet: The 24-hour Exploding Laboratory - Do you have a question about science that is stumping everyone you ask? Or maybe you have a really simple question you're too embarrassed to bring up in class. Look no further. You have just stumbled onto the solution. This site is a collaboration of scientists around the world, gathered to answer your questions. You can search the archives and see if your question, or one like it, has already been answered. There's also a library of experiments you can try, as well as links to more resources.
Maine Solar House - This is Bill Lord's solar house. He built this house in southern Maine, on a property specially chosen for the project. Everything was planned with the goal of constructing a house that would make the most out of solar energy. Descriptions and diagrams show how he uses heat from the sun to warm the house and produce his own electricity. He even sells electricity to the power company when he has a surplus!
Newton's Apple Index - This is the Newton's Apple home page. It is full of science-related lessons and experiments from the TV show. The lesson on "Arctic Nutrition" explains why Arctic explorers need a carbohydrate-rich diet to maintain their strength. Another lesson explains why you don't get a strong smell from garlic until it is cut or crushed. You'll find lots more here: experiment and learn, and you'll be sure to have fun!
OMSI Science Whatzit! - You name the topic, the Oregon Museum of Science has the info. Is there wood so dense it won't float? Why is Earth round? How many stars are out there? How do fireflies light up? If you have a question, see if it's been answered at this site. If not, go ahead and ask it here.
Planet Ag - Agricultural science may be the path for you if you're into plants, animals, biochemistry, engineering, or health. This site explains 40 such careers and offers many links to other agricultural information as well as science fair ideas.
Questacon - Down under in Australia they've come up with a really neat way to understand math and science. The Questacon National Science and Technology Centre shares much of the excitement at this Web site, including a really interesting Williams family photo session that turns out to be something of a logic problem. You see, there are all of these kids and the photographer is trying to line them up from tallest to shortest and...well, maybe you'd better head there yourself and help them figure it all out. It's in the Fun Zone under Puzzles.
Real-Time Data Access Page - Do you know what real time is? It's right now, as you're reading this. Want to see some live, real-time scientific observations? Check the current moon phase, see a map of where Mir space station is, gaze at radar weather maps, view volcano cams to see what's smokin', and more. Every time we visit here, there's more to see.
Real-Time Experiments - Amazing physics experiments you can do with common household items, things to try right on your computer, and amazing tricks with Shockwave--these things and more are waiting for you, courtesy of the Little Shop of Physics.
Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab - It sure is dusty here in Reeko's basement science lab. Better put on this lab coat to keep your clothes clean, and this pair of goggles might not be a bad idea, either. Fun educational experiments in astronomy, chemistry, physics, and earth science may be found here if you look around a bit. In the archives, you can examine the experiments by level of difficulty or by category. Reeko has a fun sense of humor, too. Consider the description for Rocket Powered Pennies: "Ok, so maybe the term rocket powered is taking it a little too far. But we still get to propel an object. All we need for this simple experiment is an empty soda bottle and a penny (unless you are getting your Mad Scientist supplies from Dad, in which case--ask for a quarter)."
SchoolHouse Rock - Science Rock - Not only will you find the lyrics of the songs at this site, but you'll also be able to hear the songs and view the video.
Science: Physical Sciences - Many fascinating science experiments are explained here in great detail. For example, a raw egg soaked in vinegar for several days will actually bounce (just don't try this on the new living room carpet)!
The Down and Dirty Story of the Panama Canal - It seemed like a great idea in the 1870s: cut a water passageway through Panama in order to create a shortcut to the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean. It became a marvelous feat of engineering, but took a toll in lives lost as well as financial cost. Explore a time line of events here, and ponder why the original French construction team might have ordered 10,000 snow shovels to continue its work in the jungle.
The JASON Project - Ever heard of The JASON Project? It was founded in Massachusetts in 1989, and here's how it got started. Dr. Robert D. Ballard had just discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic . When he got back, he was overwhelmed by the letters he received from interested kids. He decided to develop a way for kids to interact with real science and take part in global field trips. Past JASON projects have let kids control deep-sea submarines and make other real observations. You never know what JASON's going to do next!
The Lost Museum of Sciences - No, they didn't lose the museum--the idea here is for you to get lost. No, we don't mean GET LOST, just lose yourself amidst all the stuff you'll find here. Now you're starting to get the picture. By the time you do find your way back, if you find your way back, you're sure to have learned something. No, we don't mean you'll learn how to find your way back, we mean you'll learn something scientific. Oops! If you like to be challenged, you can always play "Find the Exhibit." The first one to find it gets his or her name displayed here for all to see.
The Macrogalleria - A Cyberwonderland of Polymer Fun - You know, polymers are everywhere. Just explore this online mall. Check out Rodney the Roadie's Music Store, for example. The electric guitar's pick guards are made of polystyrene, some strings are made of nylon, and even the circuit boards in the amps are made of epoxy resins. All of these are polymers! We've only explored one of these stores; let's try another. Maybe Helpful Harry's Hardware Heaven or Tons o' Toys--let's go, the polymers are waiting.
The Microbe Zoo - Dirtland - Did you know that you have a fabulous microbe zoo running wild in your yard, in your food, even on your clothes? Microbes are so small, you can't see them without a microscope, but they affect your life daily, in a big way. Zoom in on the invisible world of these small creatures and learn how they interact with the larger world around them. And don't forget to thank them for that last chocolate bar you ate or root beer you drank--they helped make it!
The Ultimate Science Fair Resource - This site will help you find a great idea for an experiment and plan your project. Written in simple language, you'll find display hints, advice on writing your report, and loads of links to more great advice.
The Why Files - Your coach has really gone crazy this time. He's climbed to the top of the backboard, and he's dropping a round basketball and a flat basketball (with no air in it) at the same time. Which one will hit the floor first? Everybody guesses one or the other, but the answer is that they will strike the floor at the same time. Why? The answer is at this site, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. You'll also find current science news for kids, as well as archives of past whys (and wise) answers.
Treehomes - Trees are beautiful for us to see, but they are also homes for many animals and birds. Explore this small grove and see what you find hidden among the trees. We found at least 13 things, including a red-headed woodpecker and a little mouse.
Virtual Science Fair - If you're looking for a way to dazzle the rest of the class with your science fair know-how, put your safety goggles on and take a look in here. You'll find out how objects float, how to grow crystals, and how to tell if something is an acid or a base. Most of these kitchen chemistry experiments were designed by kids.
Welcome to Thinking Fountain! - From A to Z , you're going to find a lot of wonderful ideas and information at the Thinking Fountain. Allow us to demonstrate! A --Read about Anansi the Spider, and then find out how to make your own sliding spider toy. G --Golf-O-Rama, a book about miniature golf, complete with everything you need but the ball and the putter, and a story about some kids who made their own mini-mini golf course. N --Noodle-ing around: learn to build a structure out of spaghetti. (Don't believe it? The secret is in the mini-marshmallows). Z --Zoo Machines: invent a machine to take care of all those animals. Keep going; you're sure to find lots more activities and ideas, galleries to show your work, books you can use, and surprises inspired by the Thinking Fountain.
Whelmers - Before we go further, answer this: Is there iron in your cereal? Can a penny dance on the top of a soda bottle? Want to find out? Try these "whelmers"--activities that catch the mind and the eye of every student. At this really cool site, you canup 20 different whelmers and have a lot of fun while actually learning some useful information! It will require gathering some simple materials and then reading instructions on how to complete the task. Remember, you can never be too whelmed by science, although you can be overwhelmed with homework.
Windmills and Whirlygigs - Meet Vollis (and his dogs and ducks) and explore his magical world of spinning whirligigs, or wind toys. You can take a virtual tour to the yard and the shop and try some fun wind power activities, including making whirligigs from plastic soda bottles. If you just want an overview, take the Whirlwind Tour, but watch out for the spitting fungus!
YES Mag - Canada's science magazine for kids has an electronic version. It includes book and software reviews, in-depth articles, and science news and projects. We particularly liked the How Does That Work? section, where we learned lots about telescopes, cameras, submarines, and other inventions.
You Can with Beakman and Jax - Put on your thinking cap and visit this site. Discover the answers to important questions, like "What are fingernails made of?" and "Why do I hear weird sounds at night?" There are some neat animations, too--for example. check out "How the Internet Works."
Zoology Resource Guide - Did you know that you're a Homo sapiens ? That's the scientific classification name for humans. All life can be organized and classified this way, using a system of scientific naming, or nomenclature. Visit the Zoological Record Home Page, where you'll find information on the ordering of organisms into groups based on their relationships. You'll find the order, class, and kingdom for everything here, from people to dinosaurs. In addition, you'll find reports containing the symbol, scientific name, common name, and family for each member of the animal kingdom.
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