Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey "will map in detail one-quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects" as well as "measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars." The website details the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) mapmaking strategies, timelines, survey progress, and project goals. Visitors can view the many fantastic images collected at the Apache Point Observatory, the site of the SDSS tel
AP Biology: Glenbrook South High School
This Web site is one of a number of online resources created for AP Biology students at Glenbrook South High School in Illinois. Fortunately, this comprehensive collection of classroom lectures based on Neil Campbell's Biology (5th edition) is accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Students enrolled in AP Biology or introductory college-level biology courses may find these PowerPoint lecture slides particularly useful, especially as Campbell's Biology is a commonly used textbook. The
Sky Station
While satellites are the current backbone of telecommunications and wireless infrastructure, the company that maintains this Web site envisions a completely new technology. The Stratospheric Telecommunications Service (STS) relies on "lighter-than-air platforms which are held in a geo-stationary position in the stratosphere (approximately 21Km) over a major metropolitan area." The Sky Station company documents much of the STS theory online, as well as maintaining news and information articles ab
Bush Cites Need to Develop Affordable Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cells
In his State of the Union Address on January 28, 2003, President Bush made a case for further fuel cell development. Current efforts in this area have not determined how to efficiently produce or extract hydrogen for the cells. In hopes of solving this problem, Bush proposed a $1.2 billion FreedomFUEL initiative. The first site discusses the initiative and its potential to create a nearly pollution-free method of electricity generation.
Gender and Science Digital Library
A new project from the Gender & Diversities Institute and the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, the Gender and Science Digital Library (GSDL) is a major initiative to create an interactive digital library of high quality gender and science resources. The library will assist K-12 educators in providing equitable science education by raising awareness of the effects that gender has on learning science and sharing teaching methods to address gender differences. The site is currently seeking educat
The Solar Decathlon
In October 2002, teams of students from universities around the US competed in the Solar Decathlon, an eleven-day event that challenges the participants "to design, build, and operate the most effective and efficient solar-powered house." The Solar Decathlon homepage features information about the contest, the different designs, and the experiences of each team. Contestants also share their insight into energy conservation and solar power by providing some tips for consumers. An especially inter
Ocean's Alive!
Presented by the Museum of Science, Boston, the Ocean's Alive Web site takes a look into the fascinating world of oceans. The Water Planet link has information about the physical features of oceans, how they've been created, the water cycle, and ocean profiles. Other links explain ocean currents, winds and waves, tides, life in the sea, and scientists who study the oceans. The site contains good and easy-to-read descriptions, along with unique and interesting illustrations that make it fun to ex
Food Security Learning Center
From World Hunger Year (WHY), this online Food Security Learning Center was created to provide site visitors "with an in-depth look at common hunger and poverty issues facing many U.S. communities." The Food Security Learning Center contains subject categories regarding Rural Poverty, Domestic Hunger & Federal Food Programs, Family Farms, Migrant & Seasonal Farms Workers, and Nutrition. The site also contains a Community Food Security section with subcategories pertaining to Community Supported
BrainPop: Science
Brainpop describes itself as the leading producer of educational animated movies. Their Web site has a science page that currently contains sixty-five animated movies, with a large portion of them being physical science related. Each subject contains a 3-4 minute Movie, an Interactive Quiz, an Experiment, a Comic Strip, a How-to hands-on application, a Timeline, and a printable Activity Page. Visitors can play three movies per day for free (all of which begin by a somewhat annoying ad for subscr
Fairly Fundamental Facts about Forces and Structures
Students are introduced to the five fundamental loads: compression, tension, shear, bending and torsion.
Digital Bridges
"The Digital Bridges Web site consists of a collection of thirty representative 19th century American bridge engineering monographs, manuals, and documents from the Lehigh University Libraries' Special Collections." The archive provides an interesting retrospective into the beginnings of major bridge projects; the material is complete with high-resolution photographs and text scanned from original books. In addition to historical literature, Digital Bridges also features brief accounts of notabl
University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Department of Statistics
The Department of Statistics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has an impressive Web site with a lot of good research information. The Research section of the site is divided into five different group areas, consisting of applied statistics, applied probability, medical statistics, Bayesian statistics, and bioinformatics. Each of these has a statement of the work performed and a list of recent publications. The Postgraduate Study section discusses a number of research projects currently u
PBS-American Field Guide: Primary and Secondary Succession in America's Forests
From PBS-American Field Guide, this website offers high school educators a multimedia lesson plan on Primary and Secondary Succession in America's Forests. The lesson plan utilizes hyperlinked video clips to introduce students "to several different North American Forests while learning about concepts associated with succession in both natural and disturbed environments." The site contains descriptions of two 30-minute, in-class activities, as well as a slightly longer outdoor observation activit
San Francisco State University: Richmond Bridge Harbor Seal Survey
The Richmond Bridge Harbor Seal Survey (RBHSS) is a collaborative research project between San Francisco State University, and the California Department of Transportation examining possible effects of seismic-related bridge construction on resident harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) in the San Francisco Bay. The RBHSS website provides an overview of the project; brief information about the observation sites, and tracking and tagging activities; and a simple Map of Bay Area Harbor Seal Haul-
Nutrition Cafe
Developed jointly by the Pacific Science Center and the Washington State Dairy Council, Nutrition Cafe offers students three interactive games to explore the world of nutrition. The first game, Nutrient Sleuth, is an entertaining hangman-style game where students try to discover what nutrients different characters are missing based on clues and letter guesses. Another enjoyable offering is Grab A Grape, a Jeopardy-style game where site visitors try to match nutrition-related questions with answe
Build Your Own Mobile
This activity allows children to construct something themselves and be creative while learning about the concept of the center of mass.
Tessellation Tutorials
A complete guide to templates and tutorials for making tessellations is available here. Includes scholarly information on tessellations and their connections to math, geography and history. Some lessons feature ClarisWorks, Geometer, HyperCard, HyperStudio, LogoWriter, PCPaintbrush or PCPaint software programs. This site also includes a forum for teacher feedback and examples of student work.
Using technology to support Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) students' learning experiences
This article examines the challenges and rewards related to using technology as a tool to increase learning for limited English-proficient (LEP) students. The article is based on the belief that students' content, linguistic, and technology skills should be developed in tandem. Strategies and standards for technology use are featured along with suggestions for enhancing LEP students comfort level in content classes. Access and equity and the redefinition of teacher roles are also discussed. Impr
Who Gets the Job?
Each job candidate can see the other two candidates' black or red dots but not his own. Whoever can figure out the color of his own dot gets the job.
Dividing Fractions
Divide fractions using area models. Adjust the numerators and denominators of the divisor and dividend and see how the area model and calculation change.
