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Arty
the Part-Time Astronaut
Grades:
1 – 6. Learning about the planets
is lots of fun with this interactive site. Users can travel to all
nine planets, investigate the seasons, or learn how much they would
weigh if they lived on Mars.
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RATING
Space
Place
Grades:
3 – 7. Space Place presents activities
and information related to the exploration of outer space. Try fun
activities such as making a model of Saturn and constructing a rocket
that really works.
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RATING
Solar
System Simulator
Grades:
4 & up. The Solar System Simulator,
created by NASA with assistance from Jet Propulsion Labs and Caltech,
produces full-color representations of planets and satellites, as
seen from other planets and satellites, at whatever day, year, and
hour the user chooses. Thus, users can view Mars from Jupiter during
the hour they were born, or the Earth as viewed from the Galileo
Spacecraft right now, or the moon as viewed from Titania two hundred
years from now.
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RATING
Auroras:
Paintings in the Sky
Grades: 8 & up.
Developed by a high school teacher and the San Francisco Exploratorium
museum staff, this site introduces students to auroras through a
self-guided tour. The high quality photographs, audio clips, and
videos are sure to interest young people in these beautiful atmospheric
lights. VIEW
RATING
J-Track
Satellite Tracking
Grades: 5 & up. Another fine NASA site, this resource
allows space enthusiasts to track the movement and positions of
their favorite spacecraft, weather patterns, search satellites,
and amateur radio enthusiast satellites. A must for astronomy lovers.
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RATING
Your Sky
Grades 6 & up. Use this site to create a map of your local night sky or of any major city in the world.
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RATING
| Biology/Genetics/Veterinary
Science |
ASPCA's
Animaland
Grades: K – 7. This site offers games, animal videos, animal
care tips, interviews with people who work with animals, a question-and-answer
service for animal-related questions, and more. Younger users will
love the animal images and sounds. VIEW
RATING
WhaleNet
Grades: 3 & up. WhaleNet focuses on whales and marine
research. It provides whale tracking information and tells the stories
of a number of rescued or tracked sea animals. It also has an “Ask
a Scientist” section. VIEW
RATING
Sheep
Brain Dissection
Grades: 6 & up.
In response to the popularity of the Exploratorium's sheep brain
dissection exhibit, the museum has created this interactive, virtual
dissection for young people who cannot visit the museum itself.
Much faster and less detailed than available CD-ROM dissection tools,
this site is more appropriate for leisure use than for formal school
study. VIEW
RATING
DNA
for Dinner
Grades: 9 & up. In this collaborative classroom activity,
groups of students work together to analyze issues surrounding the
genetic engineering of food. Based on their research efforts, students
present their findings to their group members, and each group then
writes a related congressional bill. Although this site is a good
example of strong collaboration, a rigid grading rubric makes it
weak on flexibility. VIEW
RATING
DNA
from the Beginning
Grades: 6 & up. This introduction to genetics is largely
a tribute to Mendel's work. It includes text, photographs, illustrations,
animation, audio clips, video clips, and an animated, interactive
genetics problem to solve. VIEW
RATING
The
Digital First 9 Months
Grades: 9 & up. Especially strong on contextuality and
graphic/multimedia concentration, this site follows the prenatal
development of Emma Katherine Moore, born in January 1999. Simple
text and stunning photographs transform the nine-month human development
process into a tender and fascinating story. However, this site
may load slowly on some computers. VIEW
RATING
Polymers:
They're Everywhere
Grades: 3 – 8.
Polymers: They're Everywhere is a National Geographic site that
presents a basic discussion of polymers in everyday life. It also
includes a section on recycling plastics. VIEW
RATING
Marie
Curie and the History of Radioactivity
Grades: 4 & up. This
short but interesting biography of Marie Curie has links to her
husband's and daughter's biographies. It also includes electronic
copies of personal archival objects, such as family photographs
and a glass beaker that Curie used in her lab.
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RATING
An
Atlas of Cyberspaces
Grades: 10 & up.
This site describes itself as "an atlas of maps and graphic representations
of the geographies of the new electronic territories of the Internet,
the World Wide Web and other emerging cyberspaces." Its emphasis
on visually-based information and de-emphasis on text-based information
make it a fine example of graphic/multimedia concentration.
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RATING
4000
Years of Women in Science
Grades: 4 & up.
This site provides biographies of more than 100 female scientists.
Biographical entries vary in length from one sentence to multiple
paragraphs and a photo or portrait. VIEW
RATING
GirlTech
Grades: 3 – 8.
GirlTech provides a forum for girls and young women around the world
to discuss issues of interest, not limited to technology-related
topics. It also introduces girls to female role models in a variety
of professions and encourages them to create stories and inventions.
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RATING
Ontario
Science Centre Online
Grades: 3 – 8.
Explore questions such as, “Why is the sky blue?” and
“Why are two eyes better than one?” with these interactive
online exhibits. VIEW
RATING
Square
of Life: Studies in Local and Global Environments
Grades: 1 – 6.
For this collaborative classroom/Web activity, students investigate
one square meter of their schoolyard, observing and classifying
plants, animals, and non-living objects. They share their results
via the Web with other students around the world. VIEW
RATING
Popular
Science's Best of What's New Grades:
8 & up. This continually updated
site enables users to see and read about amazing new scientific
and technological products. Items profiled include robotic dogs,
avalanche survival gear, and brain cell repair medicine.
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RATING
Women
in Science
Grades: 6 & up.
In addition to illustrated biographies of past and current female
scientists, Women in Science contains a "Future Scientists" section
into which a student can enter her name, school, and school URL.
She also can enter an explanation of how she plans to affect science
in the future. VIEW
RATING
Exploratorium's
Online Exhibits
Grades: 3 – 10.
This collection of online science exhibits is comprised of informative
and fun little science bites. For example, "If You're Going to Rob
a Bank, Wear a Wig" mixes and matches partial photographs of famous
people's heads (such as Washington's face with Elvis' hair) to show
that human memories tend to store more detailed information about
upper sections of faces than lower sections. VIEW
RATING
The
Why Files
Grades: 10 & up.
Characterized by a folksy narrative style and well-researched information,
this site reveals the science, math, and technology behind the news.
For example, enormous headlines reading, "I lost 84 lbs. in 7 days!"
and "I chewed my way into a size 2!" introduce a section dedicated
to the chemicals used in weight loss drugs. VIEW
RATING
Mad
Sci Network
Grades: K & up.
Drawing on a volunteer crew of more than 500 scientists across the
globe, the Mad Sci Network answers online science queries. An archive
of past answers is available for searching. With its emphasis on
connecting youth and scientists through electronic means, this site
is a prime example of strong social connectivity.VIEW
RATING
Boston
Museum of Science Online Exhibits
Grades: 6 & up.
These online exhibits are notable for their easy-to-use self-paced
tours, the depth of the information provided, and an intense use
of graphic and multimedia content. Because of its high-quality photographs
and animated GIFs, Leading Young Women to the Sciences and Technology
focus group participants found this site to be especially strong
on design. VIEW
RATING
Extreme
Science
Grades: 7 & up.
Ex-NASA scientist Elizabeth Keller created Extreme Science as a
resource for helping young people learn to love science. Using the
concepts of superlative size, power, and speed, etc., as hooks,
this site covers the topics of time, space, weather, earth science,
creatures, and maps and atlases. VIEW
RATING |
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| Geology/Geography/Environmental
Science/Weather |
National
Geographic WildWorld
Grades: 4 & up.
Interactive maps teach users about the earth’s ecosystems.
Video, audio, and images abound. VIEW
RATING
Scorecard
Grades: 7 & up.
Enter your zip code into the Scorecard to get detailed facts about
the pollution levels in your community. You can also learn about
major environmental issues and discuss them with others in your
community. VIEW
RATING
Topo
Zone
Grades: 6 & up.
Calling itself "The Web's first interactive topo map of the entire
United States," Topo Zone provides U.S. topographical maps in various
magnifications and sizes. Because it allows the user to move freely
from map to map without a prescribed search path, this site exemplifies
strong flexibility. VIEW
RATING
Shell
Island Dilemma
Grades: 4 – 11.
This extended-length classroom activity is an environmental pollution
case study. Because students work in teams to make development and
conservation decisions, this resource is strong on collaboration.
However, users of some computer systems may find that its video
clips load extremely slowly. VIEW
RATING
Xpeditions
Grades: K – 12.
National Geographic's Xpeditions is an enormous and varied resource
for studying the earth and its people. Of particular interest is
a 3-D virtual version of the Society's Explorer's Hall, located
in Washington, D.C. Users can navigate the virtual museum to visit
its many online science exhibits. VIEW
RATING
Coolmath.com
Grades: 3 & up.
With sections for younger kids and for older kids age 13 and older,
this site offers a wealth of interactive math games. VIEW
RATING
Figure
This!
Grades: 4 – 10.
This site provides math story problems for families to solve together.
New math problems are posted each month. VIEW
RATING
Professor
Freedman's Math Help
Grades: 10 & up.
Professor Ellen Freedman suggests helpful methods for learning basic
math and algebra concepts and for overcoming math anxiety. Her friendly,
direct narrative style will certainly help apprehensive math students
to gain confidence in their abilities. VIEW
RATING
Biographies
of Women Mathematicians
Grades: 4 & up.
This very comprehensive resource includes short, traditional biographies
of women mathematicians from the fifth century B.C. until modern
times. It was created and is maintained by faculty at Agnes Scott
College in Atlanta, GA. VIEW
RATING
Statistics
Grades: 9 & up.
This Annenberg/CPB Multimedia project traces political polling results
during a year-long fictional mayoral race to teach the user about
the role of statistics in everyday life. By presenting statistical
information in a story format, instead of in a textbook style, this
resource epitomizes strong contextuality. VIEW
RATING
Neuroscience
for Kids
Grades: 7 & up.
Maintained by Eric H. Chudler of the University of Washington and
supported by a Science Education Partnership Award from the National
Center of Research Resources, this site teaches young people about
the brain and about the field of neuroscience in general. Best of
all, Neuroscience for Kids combines interactive experiments, activities,
and games with detailed scientific information. VIEW
RATING
Doctors
over Time
Grades: 4 & up.
This PBS Science Odyssey activity uses interactive Shock Wave technology
to show how a doctor working in 1900, a doctor working in 1950,
and a doctor working in 1998 would diagnose and treat three different
medical ailments. The activity is available in a non-Java-based
version for users with older browsers. VIEW
RATING
Building
Big
Grades: 4 & up. Based on
a PBS television series, this site explores large structures and
considers how they are built. Interactive construction models allow
the user to play the role of engineer and to test the laws of physics.
VIEW
RATING
Amusement
Park Physics
Grades: 7 & up. Amusement
Park Physics takes users on a tour of the basic physical principles
at work in an amusement park. An interactive activity allows users
to design and test their own roller coaster designs. VIEW
RATING
Time
Travel
Grades: 8 & up.
This PBS Nova site deals with the scientific possibility of time
travel. Highlights include an interview with Carl Sagan and a history
of time travel in science fiction literature. Unfortunately, the
"Think Like Einstein" quiz section allows for no flexibility whatsoever,
with only one correct answer per question. VIEW
RATING
Contributions
of Women to Physics
Grades: 6 & up.
This well-designed site allows users to select multiple paths for
investigating biographies of female physicists. Since it profiles
women physicists exclusively, it is very strong on inclusion.
VIEW
RATING
| Psychology/Human
Perception |
Space Place
Grades: 3 - 7.
Space Place presents activities and information related to the exploration of outer space. Try fun activities such as making a model of Saturn and constructing a rocket that really works.
VIEW
RATING
Color,
Contrast & Dimension in News Design
Grades: 9 & up.
The Poynter Institute has created an interactive presentation of
color and design theory. Users will learn how to make online design
choices and how to combine colors and contrasts. VIEW
RATING
SodaConstructor
Grades:
4 & up. In this site,
the user builds an animated creature out of lines and then plays
with its gravity and mass. It’s an excellent introduction
to some of the basic principles of engineering. VIEW
RATING
Super
Bridges
Grades: 3 & up.
This NOVA web site offers information, games, and engineering activities.
The “Build a Bridge” activity allows the user to design
a bridge and then test the safety of the design. VIEW
RATING
Inventors
Online Museum
Grades: 3 & up.
With an attractive design, moving images, and entertaining sound
effects, the Inventors Online Museum profiles famous and not-so-famous
inventors and their inventions. Sections dedicated to African American
inventors and to women inventors make this resource a good example
of strong inclusion. VIEW
RATING
Furby
Autopsy
Grades: 10 & up.
When the creators of this irreverent site found that their new Furby
malfunctioned less than a week after they had purchased it, they
decided to deconstruct the toy and to examine its mechanical insides.
Luckily for technology enthusiasts worldwide, the site owners then
posted their Furby Autopsy on the web. Due to the fairly technical
nature of some of the autopsy sections, this resource will be best
appreciated by young people with strong groundings in mechanics
and computer technology. VIEW
RATING
Technology
at Home
Grades: 4 & up.
In another of its many outstanding sites, PBS presents a tour of
twentieth-century technological advances for the home. For example,
as the years pass, users see (and read about) the gramophone being
replaced by the early electric phonograph, which is replaced by
the stereographic phonograph, which is then replaced by the CD player.
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RATING
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