Science Teachers’ Grab Bag

The Sally Ride Science Blog

Designed for grades four through eight, this blog includes ideas to help educators engage students as they explore the world of science. It features a series of science-themed entries to help teachers illustrate real-world applications of science concepts and spark lively classroom discussions.

Hubble Telescope Podcasts

Discover the marvels of the universe with a Hubble scientist, find constellations visible from your own backyard, and discover a treasure trove of other cosmic revelations. The Hubble’s Universe video podcasts bring these and other Hubble-related events and materials directly to your screen.

Sustainable Choices

This guide makes reducing your carbon footprint as easy as reaching into your pocket. Sustainable Choices folds down to the size of a business card, yet it lays out environmentally conscious suggestions for changing behaviors at home, in stores, and on the road. Ideas range in difficulty from easy (take shorter showers) to challenging (grow your own food). The guide’s website includes additional tips and detailed information about why these choices will help the environment.

TeacherTube

This website combines the sharing and community-building aspects of YouTube with the needs of educators. Browse through the posted science education videos (how about shaving cream in a vacuum?) and then add your own contribution.

Celebrate Darwin Day on February 12

This February 12 marks the 199th birthday of Charles Darwin, the English naturalist and major proponent of evolutionary theory. Mark the occasion with the Annenberg Channel's resources related to Darwin and evolution.
Check out the ideas posted on Access Excellence, a cyber-education program from the National Health Museum, for ways to recognize Charles Darwin's birthday--February 12--with your class. Search using the keyword "Darwin" and you'll find 64 Darwin-related links that contain information about Darwin and classroom activities related to his work. Here's an example:�
High school biology teacher Rich Benz tells how to create an explorer’s "field bag" filled with things Darwin might have seen on his trip around the world on the H.M.S. Beagle. He also provides a Darwin classroom poster at www.accessexcellence.org/AE/ATG/data/released/0486-RichBenz.

Songs for Teaching

In the past three years, nearly 200 artists have contributed to this website that offers music related to science, other academic subjects, and classroom management. Creative teachers can use these songs to teach content across the curriculum and to students of all ages. The website contains lyrics and sound clips, along with practical suggestions based on the latest in brain-based research.

PEAK Student Website

PEAK is a comprehensive educational program designed to empower and provide elementary and middle school students with the knowledge to manage energy use in their homes, schools, and communities. Students learn about shifting energy usage from peak-demand times, renewable energy sources, energy conservation, and cutting-edge, energy-efficient technologies. PEAK’s interactive website for kids includes games, quizzes, contests, and discussion boards.

Biology Browser

At this website, you’ll find useful life sciences information collected from a variety of sources, along with links to current science news stories and relevant websites. Browse by organism, subject, and geography. Users can access such resources as the Nomenclature Glossary for Zoology and the Zoological Record Thesaurus.

Middle School Debate Guide

This practical and accessible article from the Middle School Journal presents a clear framework for using debate in the middle school classroom. The author, a teacher herself, reviews the rules of debate and then suggests ways to adapt them to your particular students and classroom in�“The Instructional Use of Argument Across the Curriculum.”

SkyServer

Current instrumentation allows astronomers to gather huge amounts of data. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is a good example. It is an optical survey of the northern sky, gathering data to create a high-quality 3-D map of the universe. Now the SkyServer website makes the entire survey available to both researchers and the public. With SkyServer, you can study the same stars and galaxies that professional astronomers are studying, using the same database and online visual analysis tools. Lesson plans and student activities for middle school and up are available to download, as well as information about contests, games, and links to other astronomy sites.

Designing Effective Science Instruction

This set of session materials from a Teacher-to-Teacher workshop organizes and clarifies teaching methods that work, identifies their strengths and weaknesses, and outlines how to quickly develop and design lessons that truly teach objectives.

Online Science Resources

A website from the Thomson Scientific company offers a wealth of information on science. Users can find links to websites on organisms, science topics, and geography; access Science Watch (a newsletter on current science topics); and read Sci-Bytes (a weekly update of new research in science).

The Encyclopedia of Earth

The authors of this electronic reference about the Earth seek to make it “the largest reliable information resource on the environment in history.” Content is contributed by expert authorities, with hundreds of articles ranging from “Absorption of toxicants” to “Zooxanthellae.”

Project Exchange

Explore the project-based learning units developed by teachers and then shared at this website. In one activity, students choose a myth rather than a traditional scientific question to prove or disprove using scientific and problem-solving means, similar to the Discovery Channel Mythbusters series. These high school-level materials can easily be adapted for middle school classes. Teachers can access project samples and accompanying instructional activities, resources, and assessments.

The Chlorine Tree

The Chlorine Chemistry Council has produced this web-based tool to help kids understand the ways that chlorine chemistry affects their everyday lives. Visitors to the site can “explore the branches of the chlorine tree” through activities that feature photographs, videos, animation, sound, and text.

WIRED Science Website

The weekly PBS television series now offers an online presence featuring web-exclusive stories, additional video, blogs, columns, interviews, a discussion area, and regular contests. The website also offers a collection of related, teacher-developed science activities for the classroom. Read teacher-posted tips on how to use WIRED Science in the classroom, peruse student and teacher profiles, and check out the Careers in Science section.

Chemistry Lessons Teach Students About Fire

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has partnered with Discovery Education to create a new in-school program geared to high school chemistry students titled The Chemistry of Fire. The program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The program teaches students the science behind fire as a way for students to fully understand the dangers of fire. The interactive program includes a teachers guide with five lesson plans, a DVD that demonstrates experiments included in the lessons, three classroom posters, and a website where teachers and students can find more classroom and career resources. The program is aligned to national science standards for grades 9-12.
As of today, about 1,000 copies of the complete kit and about 1,000 copies of the DVD-only version are available. The DVD version has all of the information from the kit, but it is on a file on the DVD. Request a copy by e-mailing [email protected].

Spectrum Analysis Charts

The University of Wisconsin–Stout has made available on its physics department’s website 17 examples of visible, emission, and absorption spectra, including lithium, chlorophyll, and oxyhemoglobin.

Engineering Faster Bikes

Lighter, stronger, faster—that’s the kind of bike that an engineer would hope to create. In this 5-minute film, viewers learn how science, mathematics, engineering, and innovative testing go into producing some of the fastest bikes on the road as they gain a rare glimpse inside a real test laboratory.

KnowH2O

This interactive, educational website from PlayPumps International allows students and educators to learn about the world water crisis. The KnowH20 site includes teacher-tested tools and interactive resources such as online videos, water-resource maps, web banners, and games.

Journal Focusing on Evolution Education

A special issue of the McGill Journal of Education dealing with the teaching and learning of biological (and geological and cosmological) evolution is now available online. Articles contributed by internationally known experts on evolution education make this journal an important resource. Additional information can be found on the National Center for Science Education website.

Sharks: Predators With a Purpose

The Oceanic Research Group has produced a 17-minute educational film about the importance of sharks to the marine ecosystem and their current plight—shark population numbers are dropping worldwide.

Scrub Club

This interactive website makes it fun to learn proper handwashing methods. In a game that features the evil villain Influenza Enzo, the Scrub Club heroes teach children how the flu is spread and how to prevent it. Each Scrub Club hero represents one of the six steps in the handwashing process; Scruff, for example, reminds kids to clean around their nails.

Your Climate, Your Future

The World Wildlife Fund has developed an interdisciplinary curriculum titled Your Climate, Your Future to help teachers better communicate the complexities of climate change. The high school-level curriculum is divided into 15 lessons that include handouts, a glossary of terms, and additional resources for discussion and research. It is available online or you can request a printed copy by contacting Kate Graves.

BrainPOP on Superbugs

A new animated educational movie for kids in grades K–12 explains the evolution of “superbugs” like MRSA, including where they come from, why they’re so dangerous, and what we can do to reduce their incidence. The movie is hosted by the slightly germ-phobic robot Moby and his teen companion Tim.

COSEE Great Lakes Online Workshop

Journey North

This internet-based program allows K–12 teachers and students to explore the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. This spring, students across the country will monitor migration patterns of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, and other animals; the blooming of plants; and changing sunlight, temperatures, and other signs of the season. They share data collected locally online, and connect with field scientists in the process. Projects feature links to numerous resources, including lesson plans, photos and video clips, weekly migration updates, and interactive maps.

9 Ways to Have Success at School

This booklet produced by ADDitude Magazine is designed for students and families affected by ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities. It presents tips to help guide parents and children through the school year more effectively, improving time management and reducing aggravation.

Podcasting tutorial and VoiceThread training

Learn how to edit sound recordings for posting on a website or for sharing with parents and other audiences via e-mail and CDs. A tutorial at the Education World website, written specifically with teachers in mind, explains how to get started in podcasting. An even simpler option can be found online at VoiceThread, where teachers and students can record audio and add visual images without any equipment at all.

TheScoopOnSmoking

This website from the American Council on Science and Health presents what every teenager should know about tobacco in a highly accessible, interactive manner. Detailed facts about the health consequences of tobacco use go beyond the typical warning that smoking is “dangerous.” Visitors to the site will find specific details of tobacco’s impact on every site of the body and on every organ system. True stories, quizzes, and information about quitting are included.

Simple experiments from Shakhashiri

A chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Bassam Shakhashiri presents a collection of simple science activities on his website. From candy chromatography to chemiluminescence, these are experiments that children can do at home with readily available materials. Each one is presented with detailed instructions.

Nourishing the Planet in the 21st Century

This new curriculum supplement explores soil and plant science and engages students in real-world issues like population growth, food production, and environmental resource management. Developed by BSCS, the six-lesson supplement comes in either a middle school or high school version. A corresponding web module allows students to join in a role-playing exercise to explore the scientific, global, social, and economic issues surrounding food production.

What Is Cancer?

This teacher-created lesson for high school students explores cell regulation and the differences between cancerous cells and non-cancerous cells. Related lessons involve students in raising funds to fight childhood cancer.

Operation: Monster Storms

This new, online science curriculum from The JASON Project connects classrooms to leading scientists as they explore the mechanics of weather to improve forecasting and help people avoid dangerous storms. Students get to know prominent scientists doing the research—whether flying into a hurricane’s eye or chasing twisters in Tornado Alley—and they receive background briefing on related science concepts, conduct hands-on experiments, and then apply the concepts they’ve learned to a real-world scenario. The five- to nine-week unit is designed for grades 5–8, but can be adapted for higher or lower grades. Register online to join the adventure.

Meet the Author of "Stop Faking It: Chemistry Basics"

In NSTA’s seventh Behind the Books podcast, listen in as Stop Faking It: Chemistry Basics author Bill Robertson shares his approach to learning chemistry: a hands-on approach that uses chemicals you can find under your kitchen sink--assuming it's equipped with more than a stack of dirty sponges--and a heavy emphasis on why things happen in a certain way, as opposed to memorizing chemistry principles. You will learn not just how to balance chemical equations, but also why in the world you would want to!

Environmental education guidelines

The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education has developed a series of guidelines for providing high-quality environmental education. They set the standards that should be met in order to develop balanced, scientifically accurate, and comprehensive programs. The most recent Guidelines for Excellence can be downloaded.

Star Light, Star Bright

In this online activity, students in grades 6–9 explore the nature of the electromagnetic spectrum. Students identify the different properties of waves and the relationships that exist among energy, wavelength, and frequency. Students will correlate images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and other astronomical instruments to the wavelength, color, and temperature information that can be found in the spectrum. An Educator’s Guide accompanies the activity.�

Poster set

The Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University has produced a set of 9 posters that focus on key concepts in the natural sciences. Topics include the science of change, scale and size, and cosmic evolution. You can view the posters online. To receive a set of wall-sized posters and accompanying teacher’s guides, mail a request on school letterhead stationery to Wright Center, Department P, Room 267c, 4 Colby St., Medford, MA 02155; requests from international school sites are welcome. E-mail requests for posters will not be accepted.

Collaborative science projects online

Visitors to this website will learn about ways to work on a science project collaboratively with partners that are geographically distant. Students in grades K–12 can parallel the way that professional scientists from around the world work together. Project ideas and teacher resources are also included.

Resources from Teachers’ Domain

Open Educational Resources, a new feature available on the Teachers’ Domain website, offers video segments, activities, and lessons that are downloadable, sharable, and remixable. Comprised of carefully chosen and edited online resources, multimedia learning tools, and corresponding lesson plans from PBS programs, the resources cover key topics in Earth science, engineering, life science, and physical science. If you’re not already registered, you can “take a test drive.”

Online game about natural hazards

A pilot game from the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction teaches children ages 9–16 how to protect towns and cities through disaster-risk planning and management. The game includes five natural-hazard scenarios (flooding, tsunami, wildfire, hurricane, and earthquake) with different levels of difficulty. Teachers and students can test the pilot game online.

SciCentr website

This site features multi-user virtual-world technology for informal science and technology outreach. In addition to linking teenagers with college students, scientists, and professionals, SciCentr maintains a collection of web-based exhibits on scientific topics and research findings from Cornell University. Materials span the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

KidWings website

This website offers background information, games, photographs, bird calls, and poetry in an effort to excite and educate children about birds. The interactive teaching materials include a virtual owl pellet dissection.

Smithsonian resources

The Smithsonian website now offers an updated teaching tool, one that features access to more than 1,300 educational resources aligned with standards of learning in every state. Users enter their state’s name into the search engine to find lesson plans, virtual exhibitions, photographs and artwork, and databases of research information that apply directly to their state curriculum in a particular subject at a given grade level.

Lab tips from Flinn Scientific

Two tools to help teachers design a new lab or improve an existing lab are now available from Flinn. The Laboratory Design Information Packet contains problem-solving ideas and helpful suggestions, including priority lists, sample designs, and safety and equipment checklists. In addition, Flinn’s Laboratory Design Specialist can offer advice specific to a given school and budget. Request a packet�and/or contact Flinn’s Laboratory Design Specialist by e-mail at [email protected].

Astronomy Education Review

The 11th issue of this web-based journal is now available. Focusing on astronomy education and outreach, the publication presents articles with new ideas and practical help for educators. Submissions for future issues are welcomed.

Education guidance by grade level

Visitors to the Education.com website will find collections of articles addressing what typically happens in a child’s life during every year from preschool through fifth grade. The middle school and high school years are also presented, grouped as separate categories. Topics covered include academic expectations, developmental milestones, and typical social issues, as well as age-appropriate educational activities. Just click on “The Parent’s Guide” at the desired grade level.

Archival footage from NBC

NBC News is opening its video vault to share over 70 years of historic news archives with K–12 educators. Students can see footage of momentous events in space exploration, for example, or watch recent video of disintegrating arctic ice shelves. Designed to engage students in active learning and to provide primary-source content beyond what is available in traditional textbooks, this opportunity is provided by NBC through HotChalk, a learning-management system: Sign up; it’s free through January 2008.

ChemFax! activities

Two new selections from Flinn Scientific’s series of chemistry experiments are now available online. “Instant Light” is a simple luminol chemiluminescence demonstration. The blue light produced by the oxidation of luminol allows students to witness a chemical reaction that emits light, but not heat. “Frozen Fire” offers a memorable example of exothermic reactions and decomposition. Teachers can access these demos at http://flinnsci.com/chemfaxpr2008.asp.

NCBYS web portal

The National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS) wants to ensure that blind students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, or math have access to the best resources available. This web portal directs educators to the lesson plans and teaching tools that will help inspire and enable blind students to follow their interests. Links lead to such items as Braille periodic tables and talking thermometers. Camps and study programs for blind students are also described.

"Green Christmas, a Global Warning"

Elf Cottage Music presents a new environmental holiday song, "GREEN CHRISTMAS, A Global Warning!"�A�video that accompanies the song can be viewed on�youtube.�It's from�the company's�production Hole at the Pole, The Green Christmas Musical.�Here's wishing you a healthy GREEN CHRISTMAS!

Student Engineering and Design Community

The Autodesk software company has launched this online resource for teachers and students interested in architecture, mechanical and civil engineering, industrial design, and animation and games. The site provides access to popular 2-D and 3-D design software, as well as other tools to help promote project-based learning. Materials include curricula, a teachers-only discussion forum, projects, and homework help for students.

SciTerp videos

Science students at the University of Maryland, College Park, created short videos aimed at middle school students for a campus-wide contest. The videos explained what the undergraduates were studying in their science, engineering and technology classes, presenting the science and technology content in ways that younger kids could understand and enjoy. Topics range from space-suit research to improving dorm-room fire safety. The 3–4-minute videos can be found at www.newsdesk.umd.edu/uniini/release.cfm?ArticleID=1444.�
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YouInnovate21.net

A new website developed by the National Governors Association (NGA) and Scholastic Inc. introduces middle school students to the benefits and excitement of innovation, and prompts them to explore their own innovative ideas. With standards-based content embedded in games and activities, the site shows students the relevance of science, technology, engineering, and math to their everyday lives. Users can follow a virtual career pathway, finding out what they’ll need to know and where in their state they can go to learn it. Information for teachers is also included.

Podcasts from award-winning educators

Cable in the Classroom (CIC) runs the Leaders in Learning awards program to recognize innovative, successful approaches to education. In this collection of podcasts, the 2007 awardees discuss their work, covering such topics as establishing an online educational community that attracts middle school girls to science and math, and what it’s like to participate in the NASA Explorer School program.

Science in School

The newest issue of this European publication is now available to read and download. Designed to promote inspiring science teaching, the journal highlights both practical ideas and cutting-edge research, focusing on interdisciplinary work. This edition includes an article that connects chemistry and history through an exploration of the ink used by medieval monks.

Jonathan Bird's BlueWorld

Segments of Jonathan Bird's Blue World, a family-oriented, underwater adventure television series, can now be viewed online. Host Jonathan Bird introduces a new marine animal or science topic in each 8- to 10-minute segment. A downloadable teacher’s guide accompanies each episode. Students might see sharks swarming around a shipwreck off North Carolina, for example, or watch sperm whales socialize by using sonar.

ACASE website

The Association for the Cooperative Advancement of Science and Education (ACASE) is a group of scientists and teachers that develops new assessment methods and uses the data generated to inform instructional decision-making. The ACASE website features related research studies, as well as two sample assessment activities outlined in detail, “Cubes and Liquids” and “Sun and Shadows.”

Explorations oceanography e-magazine

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has created Explorations, a new monthly e-magazine that covers ocean and Earth science news and information. The publication includes feature stories on current research presented in multimedia formats, as well as more than 50 downloadable archived articles from the last 13 years. The Voyager for Kids section tackles complex topics such as tsunamis in a manner that is understandable and engaging to readers of all ages, and it also outlines science activities and experiments.

Middle school demos

Flinn Scientific has made two middle-level demonstrations available online. “Biological Currency” capitalizes on students’ interest in money by using a microscope focused on currency to teach observation and measurement skills. “Making Homemade Glue” requires only milk, vinegar, and baking soda and lets students practice basic measurement skills as they learn about the properties of matter and chemical reactions.

CSTA Source website

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) has launched an online database, providing access to a vast store of K–12 computer science teaching materials. Educators can access lesson plans, learning modules, presentations, and information about how to promote computing courses. All materials in the database have been categorized by content and student learning levels, and all have been reviewed by educators. The Source invites submissions and is open to viewing by anyone, but full-text downloads are restricted to CSTA members (membership is free).

Guide to gender-fair counseling

Developed by the NSF-funded Counseling for Gender Equity Project, this guide is intended for K-12 school counselors, teachers, and administrators and focuses on equitable counseling practices for girls relating to science, technology, engineering, and math. The field-tested guide includes chapters on bias-free counseling strategies, preventing harassment, the importance of technology, working with teachers and parents, and support programs. Download or view�A Guide to Gender Fair Counseling for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Teaching activities connected with trade books

An updated collection of teaching activities that complement elementary-level Sylvan Dell trade book titles is now available. Each book's "Teaching Activities" supplement includes related activities in science, math, language arts, and geography. For Earth science, for example, 31 BINGO cards with Earth science terms accompany the book Julie the Rockhound.

2007–2008 Snow Spotter Network

Weather Works, a private meteorological consulting firm, will be coordinating the Snow Spotter Network for the upcoming winter season (through March 2008). High schools and middle schools are invited to participate in this entirely web-based program. Each school should have one designated snow spotter (teacher or student) responsible for taking a snowfall measurement at home after each snowfall, and then submitting the report by logging on to the website. Questions or requests for additional information can be directed to Sean Rowland at�800-427-3456.

National Wildlife Federation e-newsletter

A monthly e-newsletter from the NWF offers educators hands-on activities, new ideas, resources, and strategies for getting kids outside to learn about the natural world. Each issue also includes a link to download the latest Ranger Rick Educator’s Guide as well as access to archived copies. Go to www.nwf.org/kidzone, click on “Ranger Rick” and then on “Educator’s Guide.”

Activity on alchemy and Isaac Newton

To accompany the NOVA program titled “Newton’s Dark Secrets,” PBS created an activity for middle level and high school students focusing on alchemy. After reading and interpreting a passage from the famous text The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine, students begin to understand the chemistry that Newton and his fellow alchemists practiced. The six-page teacher’s guide for the Secret Symbols activity, along with links to further information, are posted online.

HIV-vaccine lesson plans

The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR) has produced a comprehensive classroom resource that is now available online. The secondary-level lesson plans cover such topics as the life cycle and structure of HIV, vaccine types, ethical issues related to research studies with human participants, and global contexts of vaccine trials.

Retro science songs online

More than 70 songs from the six-album set Ballads for the Age of Science are now available to download. These science-themed folk songs from the late 1950s and early 1960s cover topics from space to weather. Listen to “It’s a Scientific Fact” and “What Does a Bird Have That I Have Not?”.

OER Commons website

At this site, teachers and professors from pre-K to graduate school can find and share high-quality open educational resources (OER) on a variety of science and technology topics. Users participate in the network as they browse and evaluate available materials.�

Classroom resources from Innovative Teaching

Explore resources first published in the online Innovative Teaching Newsletter and now archived at the publisher’s website. Scroll to the bottom to find dozens of categories, covering numerous content areas. For topics from biology to simple machines, websites are recommended and briefly reviewed.

Science fair guide

The Intel ISEF Middle School Science Fair: A Guide for Teachers presents planning strategies and hands-on activities for the 30 weeks leading up to a science fair. Downloadable files include the complete teaching guide (217 pages), plus an accompanying set of transparencies.

GLOBIO Support of "Ranger Rick" content

GLOBIO has partnered with the award-winning children’s magazine Ranger Rick to create free online content to support featured stories in the magazine.�Each month, GLOBIO will add articles to its children's encyclopedia�Glossopedia that complement the magazine by offering photos, video, audio, interactive learning activities, and other multimedia features. Downloadable Learning Activity Guides will support educators integrating the combined content into their lessons.

GLOBIO’s eNewsletter for Educators

GLOBIO eNews offers educators a quick monthly update of all the latest additions to its free online kids’ encyclopedia, Glossopedia. In addition to adding new topical articles and learning activities, GLOBIO eNews will offer free, downloadable Learning Activity Guides that assist educators in integrating Glossopedia multimedia content in their curriculum, outdoor activities, and special projects.

The Virtual Courseware Project

Interactive, online simulations that supplement life science laboratory work or Earth science field studies are now available.�Created by the Virtual Courseware Project, these activities are designed to enhance existing curricula, include online assessments, and can be used in middle school through college-level classrooms. Alignment with national and state standards is described. Topics include radiocarbon dating, genetic inheritance patterns, and global warming.

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Resources on archaeology and Native American history

Educators from the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Colorado have developed a variety of classroom materials that are available online. Study guides and lesson plans focus on such concepts as human migration, chronology, and sampling strategies and are appropriate for grades 4 and up.

Hunting for energy hogs

Some of the biggest sources of energy waste can be found in our own homes, in everything from old refrigerators to drafty windows. A website created by the Alliance to Save Energy offers fun and innovative ways for students in grades 3–6 to locate these so-called energy hogs in their own homes and take practical steps to reduce their own energy waste. A game of “hog-and-seek” anyone?

Gender Chip Project's Resources for Girls

The Gender Chip Project has compiled a variety of resources helpful in guiding girls toward success in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The website includes downloadable materials (including a curriculum for grades 5–9, created in concert with a documentary on the college experience of five women) as well as links to books and articles, videos and games, and related websites.

Environmental Education Station

This website from Centre College in Kentucky offers a collection of teaching materials geared toward environmental and resource economics. Visitors to the site will find downloadable visual aids and course syllabi, instructions for hands-on service activities, active learning exercises, teaching tips, links to internet resources, and textbook information. The site also includes photographs that can be used for educational purposes and links to information on hot topics, such as sustainable development and tradable pollution permits.

Science Fair DVD Kit

Reserve your free science fair DVD kit from Elmer's Products, Inc., and Discovery Education. Loaded with ideas and organizational tips, the�kit and DVD�can help your middle and elementary school students excel while making the process less stressful for students, parents, and you.�Supplies are limited and reserved for teachers who didn't receive a free kit last year. This opportunity is available to you until October 15 or while supplies last.

MicrobeWorld Radio

The American Society for Microbiology produces MicrobeWorld Radio, a daily, 90-second podcast series designed to increase public understanding and appreciation of microbiology and the life sciences. The podcasts highlight the process of discovery, historical changes in research, and a variety of scientific careers in industry, academia, and government. Recent features addressed efforts to eliminate tuberculosis, the use of HIV drug therapies to treat malaria, and the effectiveness of old-fashioned dish washing. Archived programs are available in a searchable database.

Service-Learning Projects on Pediatric Cancer

At a time when an estimated 40,000 children return to school after battling a pediatric cancer, a new website�makes it possible for students and teachers to welcome these young survivors back to the classroom. Inspired by the documentary A Lion in the House, which just earned a primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking, the website provides instant access to information about pediatric cancer and to service-learning projects�in which�classmates can help a peer undergoing cancer treatment. Written by a biology teachers, each project is correlated with national curriculum standards and has a 10-minute clip from�A Lion in the House.

A Lion in the House, which had a national broadcast on the Emmy-award winning series Independent Lens in June 2006, galvanized public attention for childhood cancer by following the stories of five courageous children and their families. Insights from the documentary have been used to develop Mylion.

Mathematical Moments

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) produced the Mathematical Moments program to explain and celebrate the role mathematics plays in science, nature, technology, and human culture. Educators can download the series of PDF files to use as teaching resources. Some files include embedded audio presentations by experts, and some have been translated into Spanish and other languages. The 60+ topics covered include “Predicting Storm Surge,” “Recognizing Speech,” and “Canning Spam.”

Marine Technology Society (MTS) Club

Students in grades 6–12 who are interested in learning about marine technology are invited to join the MTS Club. Members receive a membership card, button, and sticker, as well as a bimonthly newsletter. Members also have access to the MTS Expert Directory, where they can ask questions regarding specific topics in the field.

Adopt-an-Author Program

This free nationwide nonprofit program�aims to�excite middle and high school students about reading. The program combines best-selling thrillers and biographies with free curriculum materials, interactive websites...and direct contact with the authors via e-mail, classroom phone calls, and visits.�Students can surf interactive websites, watch movie trailers, search educational links, and e-mail the author questions, to which they'll receive a personal reply within 48 hours.

Connect Magazine's K-8 Science Teaching Articles

Connect magazine has an online archive of nearly 500 articles, written by teachers, that report on successes, challenges, and insights in teaching K–8 science, math, and integrated technology. In these detailed, reflective articles, the authors explore inquiry, problem solving, assessment, and differentiated instruction to reach all children. Most articles include additional resources and links to children’s literature. The archive can be searched by grade level, key word (topic), category (standard), and author.

Colony Collapse Disorder article

This article from Wikipedia discusses the risk that the pollinating-bee population may be shrinking rapidly. Middle level teachers can use it to develop a lesson plan on the subject.

"Seeing in the Dark" Website and Internet Telescope

Seeing in the Dark, a new PBS special by award-winning journalist and author Timothy Ferris, explores the delights and rewards of amateur astronomy and chronicles the contributions that amateurs are making to the science and art of astronomy. Accompanying the show is an interactive website,�made possible through support from the National Science Foundation,�that allows you to

•����view or print "Your Sky Tonight", a chart of any part of the sky, showing planets, stars, and deep space objects, as seen from any location and time you wish to set

Watersheds: Connecting Weather to the Environment

The National Environmental Education Foundation—in partnership with the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, & Training—has released the first in a series of free online courses relating weather to the environment. The course can serve as a primer on how weather events relate to the health of a watershed and how the public can take simple actions to protect watershed health. Free registration is required.

WhaleNet--Interactive Education

The WhaleNet website�, focusing on whales and marine research, is dedicated to interdisciplinary education and aims to foster excitement about learning and the environment.�WhaleNet offers real-time satellite tagging data on marine mammals and turtles, whale research data, and right whale sightings online.�Educational resources for students and educators and curriculum units for all levels are also available online.

WhaleNet has a new program to "Track Erden."�Erden is circumnavigating the world by human power.�He is presently rowing from the United States to Australia.�Join Erden via WhaleNet and learn more about the marine and ecological systems.

WhaleNet is sponsored by Wheelock College and grants, and was initiated with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Materials From the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academies of Science

The museum houses three exhibits: Wonders of Science; Global Warming: Facts and Our Future; and Infectious Diseases: Evolving Challenges to Human Health. At the section for teachers, you'll find teacher-tested classroom resources to integrate in lesson planning, including activities and webquests (for grades six through college) related to global warming and infectious disease. Teachers can engage students through virtual and in-house field trips for middle and high school students.

AV Is Cool! Teachers Resource

If you’re a middle school or high school teacher who is seeking ways to make your lessons relevant, craft a lesson on the real world of audiovisual (AV)�technology, which is all around us and directly correlates to the science concepts you teach.�InfoComm International�has published a 24-page Teachers Resource to help you accomplish this. InfoComm can also try to connect you with an AV professional in your community�who can�visit your classroom. For answers to your questions, e-mail InfoComm International.

Study guides to accompany the film Sharkwater

Now showing in Canada and coming to the United States on September&#nbsp;21, this documentary follows filmmaker and biologist Rob Stewart through 15 countries as he chases poachers, avoids arrest, and swims with sharks to debunk stereotypes that sharks are human-eating monsters. Students watching the film can gain knowledge of what’s happening in the world’s oceans and the impact on humans. The Education Section of the film's website has study guides for grades four and up.

Vernier Software & Technology’s Workshops

Vernier Software & Technology offers science and math educators across the country a series of free hands-on workshops in data-collection technology using computers and calculators. Educators will spend a four-hour session learning how to integrate the data-collection technology into their chemistry, biology, physics, math, middle school science, physical science, and Earth science curriculum. Graduate credit will be available. Register�online, or sign up to be notified by e-mail when registration opens for specific workshops.

EstuaryLive 2007 Virtual Field Trips

EstuaryLive�kicked off National Estuaries Day celebrations on September 29 by presenting free, live internet field trips to four different estuaries around the country. These archived online field trips—hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Estuarine Research Reserves in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Estuary Programs—give students a new way to learn about unique estuarine ecosystems.

Clean Up the Classroom Kits

Clorox is donating thousands of Clean Up the Classroom kits to schools (one kit per classroom while supplies last). The information includes tips for teachers on helping maintain a clean classroom, as well as instructional DVDs for teachers and children about the importance of good hygiene. Free tips for parents and students are also available on the website.

Chemistry Comes Alive!

This award-winning collection from the Journal of Chemical Education presents 16 short videos, including such titles as “Denaturation of Protein,” “Oxidation of Glycerin,” and “Like Dissolves Like.”

Barbara Morgan, Educator Astronaut Poster

Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan makes her first spaceflight on STS-118. Educator Astronauts are teachers with expertise in K–12 classrooms who are selected by NASA to become fully qualified astronauts. With their backgrounds, they will help lead NASA in the development of new ways to connect space exploration with the classroom and to inspire the next generation of explorers. The back of the poster lists information for teachers on how and where to obtain NASA resources.

Pollinator Week Resources

The Pollinator Partnership�announces National Pollinator Week has been made official by the U.S. Senate (S.Res. 580) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.�The website offers�some resources for teachers and students, as well as a listing of Pollinator Week events happening across the country.

The Ansari EGGS PRIZE

This contest, modeled after the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE, is designed for middle school learners. A supporting curriculum prepares students for the competition with a series of activities that require students to focus on the math, science, and technology concepts needed to solve a design problem over an eight-week period. EGGS PRIZE winners must build and launch a water rocket to an altitude of at least 30 meters, and a raw egg aboard the rocket must survive the flight unbroken.

The Burning Question

Four teacher-created classroom resources from balance manufacturer Adam Equipment are available to download and photocopy. The newest selection, titled The Burning Question: A Conservation of Matter Experiment, introduces a safe yet effective method for demonstrating the law of conservation of matter, using burning steel wool in both an open and closed environment. The experiments, developed and tested by teachers in the field, come with reproducible student sheets and a teacher support guide. Other topics covered include density and osmosis.

Monitors for Studying the Sun

How do you convince students at underprivileged schools that science is cool? Give them high-tech tools to study the Sun. Deborah Scherrer, education director at Stanford University’s Solar Center, heads a project to produce and distribute instruments that monitor the Sun's impact on the ionosphere. She and her colleagues hope that these small and easy-to-use tools will encourage underprivileged students here and in developing countries to get involved in science. The project is actively soliciting high school and community college teachers around the world who would like to have a monitor for their class. Supplies are limited, and monitors are most frequently placed in schools serving underrepresented students.

Hotlinks for Middle School Resources

This website from Kean University in New Jersey offers middle level educators weblinks to more than 400 sites chosen for their quality and special relevance to teaching middle school students. The science section includes links to government, university, museum, and private educational resource websites.

Four NETS for Better Searching

Four NETS for Better Searching offers a simple four-part approach to improving the success of students’ research on the web: start narrow, find exact phrases, trim back the URL, and look for similar pages. The simple, instructional site works best with each student or pair of students working at their own computer.

Astronomy Education Review

This web-based publication for people involved in astronomy education and outreach celebrates its fifth anniversary with its largest issue yet. Featured papers and articles in this issue cover the educational uses of online telescopes, guidelines to help teachers and curriculum developers cover concepts related to gravity, and a roundtable look at the educational implications of the new definition of a planet. Announcements of conferences, awards, and other opportunities are also included. Go to the website, click on “back issues” and then on “vol. 5, no. 2.”

The Black-Footed Ferret

In this five-minute-long movie, wildlife biologists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service explain their efforts to save the black-footed ferret, an endangered species once thought to be extinct. From breeding ferret offspring to preparing them for release back into the wild, the work of these scientists provides a resource rich in math and science connections. An accompanying lesson plan for grades 6–12 offers a related problem-solving exercise.

Countertop Chemistry

Teachers, parents, and kids can go to The Science House: Countertop Chemistry to find instructions for experiments that don’t require fancy equipment. Grouped in six broad categories—Properties of Matter; Properties of Gases; Micro-Chemistry Reactions; Properties of Solutions, Suspensions, and Colloids; Acids, Bases, and Indicators; and Games—these activities for K–12 students include “Dancing Spaghetti,” “Formulas Poker,” and “Oobleck.” The site was designed by an outreach program at the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at North Carolina State University.

Mummy science

The AwesomeStories website, which gathers and presents primary-source information useful to educators, has compiled 10 chapters on the history and science of mummies. Topics include Incan mummies, the frozen mummies of crewmembers from an ill-fated Arctic expedition (links lead to photographs), and of course, King Tut. Some material is available only to site members, but subscriptions are free.

Compliance strategies for the lab

EH&E, a provider of health-and-safety and engineering consulting services, has produced an informative report for managers of college and university laboratories. Titled “Three Proven Strategies for Upgrading Your Laboratory Environmental Health and Safety Program,” the publication details three approaches developed by EH&E staff.

Health Museum ask-a-question feature

The Health Museum is an interactive science experience for all ages that promotes understanding and appreciation of the human body and encourages a lifelong commitment to health and wellness. The museum’s mascot, Apple A. Day, gives tips for healthful living and will answer questions about the science of health and the human body.

At-home experiments

Sandia National Laboratories has put together a collection of one-page science activities appropriate for elementary-age children to try at home, with the same activities presented in Spanish on a second page.

Mission: SPACE

The Walt Disney World Resort celebrates the success of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity with its Mission: SPACE attraction, which launches visitors on a simulated space adventure to the Red Planet. The Mission: Space website offers online training for the mission, including descriptions of crewmember roles, an astronaut personality test, a Space School quiz, and the chance to design a mission patch.

Xplora

The European Commission has launched the Xplora portal in an effort to attract more young people to scientific careers. Xplora provides resources for primary and secondary education, and is aimed at teachers, pupils, scientists, communication professionals, and others involved in science education. Key features include a searchable standards-based database of digital learning resources for science education; a series of virtual events with online expert discussions for schools; and science education news, teaching tips, and activity ideas.

MIT Women's Initiative Program

Each January, outstanding female engineering students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Engineering are selected to visit middle and high schools nationwide to speak with young women about the excitement of careers in engineering. The presentations include activities to engage students in thinking about engineering concepts, demonstrations of projects on which the presenters have worked, and information about the fields of engineering and the life of an engineering student. The Women's Initiative program seeks to increase the number of women pursuing careers in engineering and computer science; it is run entirely by MIT students and is completely free for secondary school districts nationwide. Updated deadlines and the application form will be available in late summer, and applications will be accepted in September.

ANOVA Science website

The ANOVA Science website features information about the ANOVA Science Education Corporation’s mission, services, and products (including those based on the Research Investigation Process [RIP] inquiry-based K–12 program), as well as public service materials, such as the National Science Education Standards. It also includes examples of inquiry projects designed and conducted by students and teachers (such as a kindergarten exploration of oil spills) and a bulletin board devoted to discussions on science education and scientific inquiry.

Podcast series from Cable in the Classroom

Kids. Cable. Learning., the official podcast channel of Cable in the Classroom, offers interviews with leaders in education and the cable industry discussing how their fields intersect and can complement one another. Visitors will find more than 20 podcasts, such as an interview with Alton Brown, host of the Food Network’s Good Eats, on why science is a major part of his program and how teachers can apply his techniques to teach real-world science in their classrooms.

Science in School

The fourth issue of this European journal for science teachers is now available to read and download. Contents include articles written by teachers and scientists from nine different countries. Features explore such topics as the ethics of using stem cells and live animals in research, and a project allowing classes to control telescopes with a computer link and take their own astronomical pictures. Examples of ways to excite students about science include the Belgian scientists@work project, French multimedia science workshops, and the outreach work of a toothpaste-researcher.

Biology activities

Teachers can go online to request copies of three activities from BioFax!, a series of demonstrations and teaching ideas for biology and life science. Respiration vs. Photosynthesis challenges students’ critical-thinking skills with a demonstration that includes an apparent reversal of photosynthesis. Diffusion Blues in Agar Cells explores the relationship between diffusion and cell size by experimenting with model cells. In The Lynx Eats the Hare, students discover the link between two populations during a surprisingly realistic activity.

Manufacturing Is Cool

The Manufacturing is Cool website, created by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation, gives students a behind-the-scenes look into manufacturing. To inspire preteens and teens to pursue careers in engineering and manufacturing, the site details how kid favorites–snacks, fashion, cars, and cell phones–are designed and produced by engineers. The site also offers information on SME grants and scholarships, and on STEPS (Science, Technology, and Engineering Preview Summer) camps and academies for middle school and high school students.

University of Wisconsin STEM website

This STEM website from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse provides resources for preK–12 teachers, preservice teachers, librarians, and others interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) education. Links connect to professional teaching societies/organizations, subject-matter standards, appropriate trade books for given topics, and related websites.

LandHelp

With the LandHelp website from Colorado State University, student users can gain easy access to web-based resources on environmental topics. LandHelp contains links to 31 broad categories of information, which link to over 2,600 additional resources. The site provides a convenient, common resource base for emerging issues such as sustainability, agro-forestry, and small-acreage management. Major topics include fish and wildlife, forests, rangelands, pests, emergencies, recreation, and a “Teaching Packages” section.

Science for America

The Science for America website offers resources for planning and implementing science instruction, developing project-based learning curricula, and collaborating with colleagues. It provides submission, rating, and discussion tools so that users can easily find the best materials.

Space Guides

The Indiana State Museum has put together several activity guides focusing on space science education. Each guide addresses a particular grade range (K–2, 3–5, and 6–12) and covers topics from equilibrium to robotic exploration. Additional activities related to fuel cells, rocket power, and lift-off technology are also available to download.

Food Safety Music

The Food Safety Music website presents educational food-safety songs and accompanying materials created by a food toxicologist at the University of California. Visitors can access 27 downloadable tunes (for example, “We Are the Microbes” sung to the tune of “We Are the Champions,” and “Who Left the Food Out?” to the tune of “Who Let the Dogs Out?”), PowerPoint presentations with accompanying lyrics and clip-art, lyric files, and Flash animations. Songs address a wide variety of food safety topics in musical styles ranging from country to rap.

Thinkfinity

The Verizon Foundation’s digital learning platform combines standards-based K–12 educational content and professional development with research and evidence-based resources and practices. The Thinkfinity Calendar, found at the website, features a teachable topic and related lesson plan for every day of the month. Users can also browse the Student Materials Index, a collection of over 540 interactives and other tools that support K–12 learners, or download Teacher’s Guide: Bringing Innovative Ideas Into Your Classroom.

Earth: The Living Planet

In preparation for Earth Day, April 22, World Book, Inc., is showcasing the planet in a free, multifaceted content spotlight, Earth: The Living Planet. The Earth content spotlight provides students, educators, and families with a detailed account of the geography, geophysical history, ecology, and exploration of the planet.

The site offers a comprehensive understanding of why Earth is able to support life, how the planet has changed over time, and what geologists and other earth scientists have learned as they've uncovered Earth's history. Biographies of scientists who have studied the planet, including British geologist Sir Charles Lyell, German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner, and Scottish geologist James Hutton, can inspire students and teach them about how different sciences apply to the study of the planets.

Maps, interactive quizzes, illustrations, and photographs support the information presented. Students are encouraged to explore further through links to dozens of government, university, and science�websites reviewed by World Book editors.

Sea Stories

This international online quarterly journal of marine writing and art is published by the conservation organization Blue Ocean Institute. In a recent issue, readers could join children exploring the beach, gaze into the eye of a wild dolphin, or listen in on the daily lives of seabirds. Teachers can use Sea Stories as the basis for classroom projects that integrate writing, science, and environmental awareness; submissions from both teachers and students are welcomed.

Resources to Accompany New PBS Science Series

Free resources that accompany the new PBS children's science series FETCH! With Ruff Ruffman are

• FETCH! Activity Guide, which contains science challenges for small group of students
• FETCH! Challenge Sheets—reproducible pages that can be used at events, workshops, and science club meetings
• FETCH! News Flash, a bimonthly e-newsletter for updates, tips for leading activities, extension ideas, and information on the series’ latest web features

Send an e-mail message containing your postal address to [email protected] to receive these items.

Wild Kids

The Wild Kids website from the Australian Museum in Sydney lets elementary students explore six Australian habitats as well as nearby Antarctica. Detailed information on the wildlife living in these habitats includes photographs, illustrations, and factual descriptions.

Virus lesson plan

This elementary-level lesson originated from the PBS series NOVA episode titled “Ebola—The Plague Fighters.” The simple exercise examines how viruses are spread by simulating and tracing the spread of ebola.

Geology.com

Geology and Earth science teachers and students will find numerous resources at Geology.com, including a set of five maps for each US state and links to satellite imagery. The site also contains views of some of Earth’s largest meteor impact craters, a visual explanation of tsunamis, an online geology dictionary, and information about careers in Earth science.

Cheetahs

This short movie from The Futures Channel provides an introduction to cheetah behavior. Accompanying lesson guides for grades 6–12 cover population equations and growth and explore approaches toward saving the bald eagle.

Interactive Molecules

This online exhibit, titled “Featured Molecules,” highlights interactive images that are linked to molecular structures from articles in the print version of the Journal of Chemical Education. While many such web-based collections exist, here the structures are in a single location and linked to specific articles in the journal.

Student Experiments at Sea (SEAS)

This web-based science education program is for middle level and high school students studying Earth science, life science, oceanography, and related subjects. The SEAS activities use real examples and recent data from deep-sea research, along with interactions with scientists, to teach about the scientific inquiry process. Learning outcomes address the National Science Education Standards, and participation is teacher-directed. The website includes the SEAS curriculum, lab instructions, and a collection of research articles.

Threshold: Exploring the Future of Education

The Winter 2007 issue of this quarterly journal, produced by the US cable industry’s education foundation and the State Educational Technology Directors Association, focuses on personalized education. Topics include strategies and tools for teachers; a discussion with education experts on personalization and technology; assessment tools for personalized instruction; and best practices from a professional development model program in New Mexico.

Teachers guide to wind energy

This 15-page guide from the American Wind Energy Association provides teacher background information, ideas for sparking students’ interest, suggestions for activities to do both inside and outside the classroom, and research tools for teachers and students.

Optics: Light at Work

A new DVD from SPIE (the International Society for Optical Engineering) was designed to generate awareness of and interest in the field of optics and related career opportunities (see a webcast of the video). Intended for students ages 12–13, the video provides examples of optics technology in nano-medicine, space telescopes, and solar energy, and it emphasizes the sheer fun of creating things that people need—and making a career out of it. For a copy of the DVD, e-mail your request to [email protected].

Cosmic Journey: A History of Scientific Cosmology

Educators and historians at the Center for History of Physics developed the Cosmic Journey website, which traces the ways that scientists have explored the structure of the universe. Topics range from ancient Greek philosophers to the peculiar giant telescopes of the 18th century and recent discoveries about dark matter. The site focuses on the big ideas of cosmology, the scientific tools of discovery, and the scientists who used them.

How-to Tips for Teaching High School Science

An experienced teacher has developed a how-to website featuring ideas about how to better teach tricky science concepts and generally relate well to high school students. The information is organized like a Help file, with a Table of Contents, list of topics and subtopics, an index, and a search mechanism.

Global Atlas Images

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, produced by the United Nations Environment Programme, provides a visual presentation of the global environment, shown through remote-sensing imagery produced over three decades. A collection of 405 PowerPoint slides showing images categorized by region and theme (e.g., atmosphere, cropland, and extreme events) can be downloaded. The images show how human actions and geophysical activities have changed the world, from the growth of cities like Las Vegas to the decline of the Aral Sea and Lake Chad.

Forensic science resources

An Australian website offers helpful material to teachers who are exploring forensic science, with links to numerous online resources.

Biology Learning Modules

This new online tool from the Federation of American Scientists illustrates the implications of dual-use biology research through case studies. Undergraduate biology students and advanced high school biology students can use the material to learn about the historical background of bioterrorism; bioweapons; and current laws, regulations, and treaties that apply to biodefense research.

Experimenting with Bill Nye

Bill Nye “the Science Guy” provides easy access to hard science on his television series, and his website has hands-on, educator-designed classroom experiments complete with internet links, downloadable student recording sheets, and assessment rubrics on a wide variety of topics.

Discover Educator’s Guide

Each month from September through May, Discover produces an online Educator’s Guide that provides teachers with supplemental materials to enhance the use of the magazine in their curriculum. The guide features monthly lesson topics, quizzes, and activities focusing on three articles from the current issue of Discover.

Northwest Educational Technology Consortium's Lesson, Unit Plans

Teachers often need to integrate digital technologies into their classroom instruction and 21st-century skills into their curriculum planning. What do successful versions of these integrated lesson and unit plans look like in practice? The Northwest Educational Technology Consortium offers four examples, including all the materials created and used by the teachers and students.

Project Interactivate

The Project Interactivate website offers interactive Java-based courseware for the exploration of math-related science, including activities, lessons, and discussions. The site includes sections for learners and for instructors, dozens of virtual manipulatives that can be used online, and suggestions for aligning the available materials with several popular math textbooks.

Weather Station Education Center

WeatherShack.com features a page that will help science teachers understand how to set up and use an indoor electronic weather station. The guide details the history of weather-observing tools such as the anemometer, thermometer, hygrometer, barometer, and rain gauge; what each instrument measures; and how to properly install them.

Resources for English-language learners

A teacher from Sacramento, California, has compiled a collection of categorized science-related links and resources helpful to teachers of English-language learners.

Marine biology website

This marine biology site comes from a nonprofit volunteer organization of marine biologists, students, professors, and conservation advocates working together to share the wonders of the ocean realm. It includes links to the latest marine biology news, research, and discoveries; games for kids; ocean history and mysteries; information on marine biology camps, internships, and field trips; and active message boards.

At-home astronomy activities

Middle level and high school students can explore astronomy at home with their families with a set of 10 experiments from the Center for Science Education @ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California-Berkeley. Activities include building a lunar settlement, learning how to make and use a simple astrolabe, and investigating meteoroids and the craters they make.

The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science

Scientists contributed to this collection of dozens of examples of science being misused and misrepresented in the political arena. Information on such topics as childhood lead poisoning, toxic mercury contamination, and endangered species can be viewed by alphabetical list, issue area, timeline, or agency/department. Produced by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Web 2.0 movies

Two new professional-development videos created for educators offer a basic introduction to blogs and wikis. Blog If You Love Learning and Wiki While You Work (both QuickTime) were prepared for the 2006 K–12 Online Conference, a web-based gathering of more than 40,000 educators worldwide. The videos and other resources prepared for the conference can be viewed online or downloaded.

Categorizing Celestial Objects

A lesson plan and additional resources, appropriate for grades 9–12, address the controversy over Pluto’s changing planetary status and include background information from public broadcasting’s NewsHour With Jim Lehrer program, along with activities and handouts for a 45-minute lesson. Correlations with the National Science Education Standards are outlined.

The iWASwondering.org website

This National Academy of Sciences project showcases the accomplishments of contemporary women in science as it highlights the varied and intriguing careers of some of today’s most prominent scientists. The site draws from and accompanies the publication of a 10-volume series of biographies for middle level students entitled Women's Adventures in Science. The scientists profiled in the books contributed to the website content. So if you were wondering whether a lobster can smell things underwater, find out at iWASwondering.org.

CAPCO Science Class Challenge Kit

The Consumer Aerosol Products Council (CAPCO) offers a kit that contains all of the materials necessary to teach your students about the Earth's protective upper ozone layer, CFCs, and aerosol products. The kit includes a teachers guide, classroom activities, experiments, homework assignments, and the DVD Another Awesome Aerosol Adventure. The kit can serve as a companion to CAPCO's Science Class Challenge, a competition in which you can design your own creative method of teaching important environmental issues. Through the Science Class Challenge, teachers can earn $250–$5,000 for their schools as well as a pizza party for their class.

Teacher magazine

This independent publication is now published six times per year, and teachers can register for free online access to the magazine as well as e-newsletters, blogs, chats, and other companion materials. Teacher hopes to give its readers the information and tools they need to become leaders in their schools.

Charlotte’s Web—The Story Behind the Movie

The movie version of Charlotte’s Web has prompted the folks at Awesome Stories to assemble background information—including science information—about the book and the film. Students can learn about spiders like Charlotte (how they spin their webs, eat, lay eggs, and balloon), as well as pigs (like Wilbur) and rats (like Templeton). The site also offers links to lesson plans and scientific links for older students.

EnviroHealth Connections website

The site houses resources created to support middle and high school teachers and students in exploring the relationship between the environment and human health. You’ll find comprehensive lesson plans and activities, a discussion board, and educational resources for the classroom.

Resources and activities on ocean life

The online guide and activities from the American Museum of Natural History’s Milstein Hall of Ocean Life explain key concepts related to the ocean’s diverse and complex web of life and includes an easy-to-navigate database of K–12 educational materials.

OLogy website

Check out a page devoted to “the study of” many things in the Kids and Families section of the American Museum of Natural History website. It features hands-on activities, articles, games, and OLogy cards that kids ages 7–12 can collect, organize, and save on their own homepages. A downloadable guide for educators is also available.

KidsHealth in the Classroom

This site hosts health education materials for all grade levels, including more than 100 teachers guides that offer activities, reproducible handouts, and quizzes, all aligned to the national health education standards. A guide recently featured here covered eating disorders for students in grades 9–12. In addition, a free, grade-specific e-newsletter service offers current health education news and curricula.

ScienCentral newscasts

The independent news bureau for ScienCentral reports on medical, environmental, and technological issues in features that are broadcast on local stations. Afterward their initial appearance, these 90-second stories are made available for online viewing. Recent videos covered cloned beef safety and cell phone viruses.

National Zoo’s Conservation Central

This habitat education program explores the temperate forest, home of the giant panda and black bear, through online activities. Features include a middle school conservation curriculum, a walk through a virtual forest, and an exercise on designing a panda habitat.

Cornell University's Environmental Inquiry website

This Cornell University website offers ideas and downloadable resources for high school students doing projects in environmental science. Features include specific research protocols; forms that can help students design experiments and then analyze, interpret, and present their results; and discussion boards and an online peer review forum. Links to numerous resources support the books in the Cornell Scientific Inquiry Series (published by NSTA): Assessing Toxic Risk, Invasion Ecology, Decay and Renewal, and Watershed Dynamics.

Curriculum resources from Cornell

Resources written by Cornell University graduate and undergraduate students working with middle and high schools through a National Science Foundation fellowship program can be downloaded from this Cornell science education website. Topics cover everything from latent heat in “hungry” hurricanes to the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Composting in the Classroom

This comprehensive guide for teachers interested in guiding composting research projects for high school students is now available as a free download. The 116-page book was positively reviewed by NSTA.

Exploratorium website

The Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry has launched a new website that offers guides for professional development workshops, a library of recommended resources, and other tools that can help the science education community reap the benefits of the institute’s decades of experience with inquiry-based teaching and learning. The institute seeks to support the effort to provide high-quality science education programs for students at all levels. Downloadable guidelines for presenting 10 different workshops are supported by previews of each one.

TryScience website

This global science resource offers instant access to information and interactive experiments from more than 600 of the world’s finest science and technology museums. Features include science experiments, virtual field trips to science centers worldwide, and a section for teachers on how to use TryScience in the classroom. The newly revised site has more powerful navigational tools that allow users to explore the site and its content without leaving the homepage. Language translations include German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Arabic, and Portuguese.

Online conference resource

Teachers and other educators staged an online conference last fall presenting classroom-tested ideas and perspectives emphasizing 21st-century teaching strategies. Sample topics included finding and using free web tools and learning to podcast. All presentations are archived and can be viewed at any time; a list of available topics appears on the agenda page.

Making Science Accessible to English Learners

A new book titled Making Science Accessible to English Learners: A Guidebook for Teachers illustrates practical ways to teach science content and scientific language to English learners in grades 6–12. Teachers can access the chapter that covers techniques and accommodations for fair and accurate classroom assessment for these students.

Measure an ecological footprint

Elementary and middle school students can use this website to measure their own ecological footprints to see what kind of effect their choices have on the environment. A quiz to determine footprint size features a character named Bobbie Bigfoot. A longer quiz, better suited for older kids and adults, is also available.

MicrobeWorld

The American Society for Microbiology has revamped its MicrobeWorld website. Now containing more than 300 pages, the site presents introductory information about the science of microbiology, career profiles and interviews with leading researchers, surprising facts about microbial life, and a comprehensive photo gallery of microorganisms. The updated site also features audio and video podcasts, as well as RSS feeds and even mobile phonecasts. A resources section for educators, parents, and students includes experiments, lesson plans, and tools for microbiology education.

IBM website for early learning

IBM has launched a new website for early learning and technology. The site, which is presented in nine languages, includes a guide for parents to encourage early learning at home and a section for preschool teachers that details how they can best use technology to support learning in their classrooms. The Promising Practices section offers examples of science activities teachers have done with young children using computers in their classrooms.

Windows Into Wonderland

The National Park Service will take visitors to the Windows Into Wonderland website on electronic field trips into Yellowstone National Park. Designed for middle school students, each trip includes curricular materials for teachers and an Ask-an-Expert area with an archive of questions and answers. Topics covered during the 15 trips include geysers, wolves, bison, and fire ecology.

A Guide to California’s Wildlife on Private Forestlands

The Forest Foundation has produced a 38-page color booklet describing wildlife found in California’s privately managed forestlands. The guide also contrasts old and young forests and tells how those two environments appeal to different kinds of animals. The booklet can serve as an introduction to the forest for school-aged children.

2007 Flinn Scientific catalog

The 2007 Flinn Science Catalog/Reference Manual for Middle Schools features ideas, information, and products specifically for middle schools and junior high schools. Middle school teachers will find valuable lab ideas, helpful safety tips, and chemical storage and disposal techniques. Copies will be sent to science teachers at school addresses. To request a catalog, call 800-452-1261, or visit the Flinn Scientific website.

Whyville.net

The Whyville website invites children ages 8–15 to a virtual world of educational entertainment. Whyville, created by CalTech scientists, has built-in security and offers kids and teenagers numerous educational games related to math, science, technology, archaeology, and more. Inside Whyville, “citizens” experience hands-on, inquiry-based learning among peers.

Sunkhaze Meadows

An interactive program created by the Friends of Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Maine offers users an opportunity to learn about the wildlife found in and around the refuge. This project was done by combining remote-sensing-camera video and still photographs collected with some of the latest technology available for wildlife monitoring. A high-speed internet connection is required. Mac and PC versions of the program can be ordered online.

Ask-a-scientist service

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, a nonprofit research and educational institution, posts questions from students, teachers and others on its website. Brief responses from researchers appear alongside the questions, which address topics ranging from viruses to stem cells. E-mail questions to [email protected].

Pharmacists: Unsung Heroes

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) will send DVDs of the public television show Pharmacists: Unsung Heroes to high school science teachers. The AACP hopes the show will pique students’ interest in pharmacy as a career. The one-hour documentary traces the field’s history and explains it in depth. The DVD also features a 20-minute program designed to highlight related career opportunities. To request a copy of the DVD, send an e-mail message to [email protected].

Smithsonian’s satellite imagery website

The Smithsonian Institution has launched a website presenting views of conditions and events on Earth that are nearly impossible to document from the surface of the planet. This interactive site explains how satellite imagery is gathered and how it is used to expand our understanding of life on Earth. It features a virtual exhibition, suggested educational resources, and lesson plans and classroom activities that align with the National Science Education Standards.

Electronic Naturalist

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History produces the Electronic Naturalist, an interactive resource for teaching and learning. Each week, the website presents a different natural science unit for the classroom (one recent unit explained that raccoons don’t wash their food, people just think they do!). An “Ask a Naturalist” feature invites inquiries on natural science topics, and answers are posted on the site. Previous units are archived and categorized, and previews of upcoming units are available for teacher planning. A teacher resource database invites users to share their best natural science teaching resources and ideas.

PowerPoint career presentations

The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center presents downloadable PowerPoint presentations for teachers, counselors, and others interested in helping students learn about career paths in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and computing. Presentations cover career forecasts, salary data, employers, university selection, and preparation guidelines.

Nourishing the Planet in the 21st Century

This new curriculum supplement from BSCS helps students focus on real-world issues in their science coursework. Through these six lessons, tested by both middle school and high school teachers, students will learn about soil and plant nutrients, and they will realize that the challenge of feeding the world’s growing population will need to be addressed with sound science.

Project: Connect

Project: Connect, a program from Qwest, consists of a series of seven interactive online games. These games teach participants about the technology of the telecommunications industry. In one game, for example, students learn about the principles and underlying physical concepts of fiber optic technology. In another, students gain science and technology design skills as they assemble a satellite and launch it into orbit. The Project:Connect program, primarily for grades 4–7, has already been implemented in more than 2,000 schools. To access the games, go to www.qwestpioneers.org and click on the Project:Connect logo. Use Qwestguest as your login and Arizona as your password.

The Consumers Guide to Afterschool Science Resources

This online guide offers reviews of hands-on science content for after-school programs. Reviewed materials include semester- and year-long curricula, activity kits, instructor guides, and websites with content appropriate for after-school programs. Users can search and sort entries by title, subject, grade level, audience, and cost. A brief description of each resource is accompanied by two expert reviewers’ detailed commentary.

Teachers’ Network

Veteran teachers have contributed their personal best practices and other suggestions based on their classroom experience to www.teachersnetwork.org. Visitors can find concrete suggestions on specific topics, such as “Chemistry in Art: Crossing the Curriculum,” and on particular projects (“Setting Up a Hands-On Science Center in the Classroom”; “Forming a Science Club”). The site also contains hundreds of lesson plans, searchable by subject, grade level, and keyword.

Lesson on evaluating medical studies

Get your high school students thinking critically about corporate health research. In this lesson, students will identify methods of scientific research in real-world examples, examine studies, and analyze reported results.

K–5 GeoSource

The American Geological Institute (AGI) launched this professional development site for elementary teachers who teach Earth science topics such as weather, fossils, rocks, soil, water, and more. At www.k5geosource.org, teachers will find resources designed to help them master standards-based science content, plan lessons and activities in the Earth sciences, assess student learning, and tailor instructions to meet their needs. Educators will can also explore up-to-date career information and other opportunities available to geoscience students, investigate links to educational resources in the geosciences, access professional development opportunities available for Earth science educators, delve into research on how children learn, and enroll in online graduate courses to improve teaching and increase content knowledge.

Earth Day Network’s (EDN) Environmental Education Program

Students and teachers interested in environmental issues can take advantage of this program. The Educator’s Network offers user-friendly tools for integrating environmental issues into core curriculum subjects and provides games and other activities for kids. EDN’s educational resources and the Civic Education Page make learning about environmental issues true-to-life for students by attaching the subject matter to real issues that affect their neighborhoods and communities and by also linking these issues to civic education and engagement. Teachers of all grade levels and subject areas may register with Earth Day Network's Educator’s Network. Registration is free, and all members have complete access to all materials developed by Earth Day Network.

Planet Plant

Botanic Gardens Conservation International’s new Planet Plant site is for students ages 9–12. Check out the online and offline science, outdoor, art, and botanic garden activities and games that can get kids excited about the importance of plants and the need for conservation. Every month features a new plant with a conservation story to tell.

Cogno Science Challenge

Each week, share with your students a thought-provoking science puzzler, drawn from the award-winning Cogno science board games. You’ll receive a weekly e-mail with a fully illustrated one-pager, ready to be photocopied for students. The e-mail message includes the answer and explanation, allowing you to facilitate as much or as little discussion as you like. Students will learn about astronomy, forces and motion, and life sciences. Scientists at NASA and the SETI Institute have reviewed all of the content.

Environmental Science Units

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry offers K–12 curriculum materials and resources for middle and high school students and teachers. You’ll find educational units for middle and high school teachers and students. Units include Sustainable Communities, Environmental Analysis of Watersheds, and Willow Biomass Energy. The site also contains a roundup of environmental links.

Science Fair Central Kit and DVD

This package promises to be a science fair survival kit for elementary and middle school teachers and their students. Funded by Elmer’s and produced by Discovery Education, it offers organizational tips, a teachers guide, student magazines, and a classroom poster. The DVD includes three segments about planning a fair.

Science Question Libraries

Eduware produces the Wizard Test Maker and The EduGame! Interactive Classroom System. The software provides extensive standards-based question libraries (more than 25,000 in science alone) and student learning activities that use “wands” (student remotes with easy-to-use keypads). To request a fully functional demo of the test-making or classroom-activity software and a trial wand pack, complete the form at the Eduware website, or call 888-EDUWARE.

Track Star Interactive

TrackStar allows teachers to create interactive, online lessons called tracks by combining links to relevant websites with their own annotations; those tracks can then be accessed by other teachers as well. TrackStar already includes thousands of tracks contributed by educators, with a database searchable by subject, grade level, or standard. A monthly calendar even includes an on-topic track for each day—how about studying different types of animal feet on Wiggle Your Toes Day?

Science in School

This new European journal is dedicated to promoting science teaching and covers biology, physics, chemistry, Earth sciences, and math. The journal contains teaching materials, cutting-edge science, education projects, interviews with young scientists and inspiring teachers, education research, book reviews, European events for teachers, and an online discussion forum. In addition to English, online articles are published in many European languages; a print version is distributed in English. Read them at www.scienceinschool.org. To receive an alert when each issue is published, send an e-mail message with “Subscribe to Science in School” in the subject line to [email protected].

Mercury Map and Curriculum

At the Mercury Map and Curriculum website, click on any state and use direct links to government offices that deal with various aspects of mercury, including food content and proper disposal. Teachers can download a suggested curriculum that includes activities for students to investigate the presence of mercury in their homes, schools, and communities. The University of Wisconsin Extension Service collaborated with EPA to produce this site.

Plants to Grow

Visit www.plantstogrow.com for a storehouse of information about plants, especially if you want to learn more about properly matching plants to planting sites. The searchable database includes more than 1,300 plants/groups, with more than 5,100 pictures. Each plant or group of plants is displayed on a printable page. This site also houses the Botany 101 botanical “pictionary,” which contains additional pictures along with fact pages, site links, and definitions for more than 1,800 terms.

Science and Society Podcasts

This talk-radio program focuses on nanotechnology, life sciences, energy and the environment, space exploration, and K–12 science education. The program features interviews with researchers, industry executives, and government officials, with more than 400 persons interviewed over the past few years.

Perfect Disaster

The Discovery Channel created the Perfect Disaster website, which includes some historic disaster puzzles. Visitors can piece together the post-eruption locale of Pompeii and the mighty tornado that swept through Kirksville, Maryland, in 1899. Students can learn about the Fujita Tornado Scale, which classifies tornadoes based on their estimated wind speeds, and actually enter a “virtual tornado.” The Flash Player is required to view Perfect Disaster.

GLOBIO’s Glossopedia

This free, interactive, online science encyclopedia for elementary-school science and general studies applications is comprised of a series of interlinked, informative multimedia articles written specifically for children ages 8–12. Each article contains text, video clips, audio files (e.g., vocabulary pronunciation guides and recorded animal sounds), photo galleries, maps, interactive features, and content-related vocabulary lessons. From the entry page, users can perform a text search; “GeoSearch,” a geography-based graphic interface; conduct random image searches, and access a rotating Feature Article.

The EnergyTeachers.org (ETO) Website

EnergyTeachers.org assists educators interested in teaching about energy production and use. ETO wants to revitalize energy teaching by encouraging teachers to exchange ideas on new energy topics and related teaching techniques. The website features recent news articles, curriculum-planning ideas, a bibliography, and a forum for communication with other teachers.

Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau

This play about the final two days that Henry David Thoreau spent at his Walden Pond cabin is available free-of-charge for high schools and colleges to present in recognition of Earth Day 2007. The four-character play consists of two 35-minute acts and serves to remind students about the concerns of the famous naturalist, who may not be as familiar to young people today as he should be. Educators can download the script, posters, production tips, music, handbills, and related lesson plans from the website; to obtain the password necessary to access these materials, contact your state’s Earth Day coordinator or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Rainforest Resources

This Rainforest Alliance Learning website enables teachers to access complete lesson plans, stories (available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese), presentations, articles, and posters for grades K’8. The standards-based curricula cover broad themes of rainforest conservation while touching on topics like songbird migration, the banana and chocolate industries, and the local indigenous cultures.

Podcasts from National Geographic

Teachers and students now have access to these educational podcast programs, which cull material from existing National Geographic content and also present newly produced features. The podcasts include reports on the week’s top science and nature news, as well as interviews with renowned scientists and explorers.

Designing Sanitation Systems

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) developed several classroom challenges/activities that are available to download. The exploration of sanitation systems offers students at different levels a chance to try their skills at designing and building a sanitation system model. Teacher information includes correlations with national standards, suggestions for additional resources, diagrams, and a scoring rubric.

Cyber Camp

This virtual-reality summer camp, part of the 4-H Youth Development Plan, is a web-based learning environment for kids ages 8–12. Through online activities in a safe zone (no ads and no external links), campers learn about ecosystems, health and safety, and arts and culture as they participate in fun activities. Only parents, guardians, and caregivers can register campers.

Geological Time Machine

On this website from the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley, users can take a tour of any and every geological time period. Click on a given period to explore its stratigraphy, localities, life forms, and tectonics. Additional links lead to related sites.

Case of the Barefoot Burglar

In this forensic science activity, middle level and high school students investigate a crime scene and use math and science to determine who the culprit is. Students measure feet size to body height ratios, match teeth impressions to a bite in a piece of chocolate, and learn about dactyloscopy (fingerprinting).

Becoming a Meteorologist

This page on the Weather Channel website explains all about becoming a meteorologist. Students can learn everything from what classes to take in high school, to which colleges have programs, to appropriate amateur pursuits and the various types of professional positions within the field.

Sightseer’s Guide to Engineering

Take the grand tour of engineering highlights by visiting this website created by the National Society of Professional Engineers. You can search by engineering discipline (ceramics, automotive, computer, etc.) or by category (bridge, dam, sports facility, etc.), or you can click on a map of the US to see the sights in a particular state. Each stop on the tour includes a brief description, a fun fact, visitor information, and a link to the spot’s own website.

Global Information System Tools

Geographic information system (GIS) tools are increasingly a part of lessons in environmental, biological, and Earth sciences. Teachers and students can use these tools to tackle problem-based instruction and community research projects. eSchool News Online has compiled a set of GIS news stories, best practices, and web links for teachers.

Conference PowerPoints

The Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) has collected and made available on its website PowerPoint presentations from the group’s conferences. Current selections include Genetic Witness: DNA at the Scene of the Crime; The Science Behind the Earthquake and Tsunami of December 26, 2004; and To the Moon and Beyond!

Animal Videos

See live streaming video of various animals, along with background text and recorded video, at this Animal Planet website. Recent subjects have included Appaloosa horses as well as pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and Tai Shan at the National Zoo.

Classroom Performance System

The company that produces CPS—a real-time, interactive, wireless-response-pad technology system for the classroom—offers online training sessions that cover overview and introduction, installation and hardware setup, and how to use the system to manage and evaluate student performance data. The 45-minute sessions are scheduled on a rotating basis. For practical ideas on how best to use CPS and for additional resources such as a forum for sharing teaching-with-CPS success stories, check out the Engaging Technologies website.

Inside Einstein’s Universe

NASA and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics marked the centennial of Einstein’s “miracle year” by creating a website that offers interactive learning resources for science educators. The resources available on Inside Einstein’s Universe focus on three questions: Did the universe have a beginning? What happens at the edge of a black hole? and, Will space expand forever? Among the printed guides, lesson plans, and interactive web features are “The Incredible Two-Inch Universe” activity; a lab exploration of spectra and galactic motion for grades 8–12; and the “Black Hole Explorer” board game for ages 10 and up.

Chem Fax Demonstrations

“The Self-Igniting Candle” allows teachers to present content on thermochemistry and decomposition reactions in an entertaining way, and “1 + 1 Does Not Equal 2” uses a counter-intuitive demonstration to introduce concepts related to stoichiometry and acids and bases. Teachers can access copies of the Chem Fax materials at the Flinn Science website.

Universe in the Classroom

Each issue of this quarterly electronic newsletter for classroom teachers focuses on a current topic of astronomy and includes classroom activities to bring the topic alive for students. You can subscribe to receive alerts about new issues. The fall issue, for example, focused the transit of Mercury and included two classroom activities to help students learn about the meaning of the transit and tips for observing the transit from your school.

My Wonderful World

The goal of National Geographic Education Foundation’s five-year, multimedia My Wonderful World campaign ­is to improve the geographic literacy of young people ages 8–17 by motivating parents and educators to expand geographic learning in school, at home, and in their communities. The campaign𔄀s website has links to geography games and online adventures for kids and teens, classroom materials for educators, and ways for children and adults to test their global IQs.

Water Education Posters

Colorful paintings depict important facts about navigation, ground water, water quality and other topics. Two versions appeal to primary or middle school learners. Teachers can download the posters in JPEG format. Students can complete the suggested activities included on each poster. The US Geological Survey developed these posters.

Building Homes of Our Own

This award-winning simulation home-building program developed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) allows middle and high school students to experience each step of the home-building process, from selecting a location and obtaining permits through construction and material selection to reviewing credit histories of potential buyers. The program's interactive gaming technology applies real-world context to core lessons in science, math, civics, language arts, technology, and personal financial responsibility coursework. The CD-ROM, which includes a comprehensive printable lesson plan guide, is available through www.homesofourown.org.

This year’s theme for National Chemistry Week (NCW) is “Your Home—It’s All Built on Chemistry.”

Futures Channel Movie

Each week at www.thefutureschannel.com, The Futures Channel’s Screening Room presents a short movie that can help your students realize the importance of science and math in a variety of careers and situations. Teachers guides to accompany the movies are also available.

UN Atlas of the Oceans

Almost half of the world’s entire population lives close to an ocean. The Atlas of the Oceans website offers three main sections. “About” explains the history, biology, and climatology of oceans, and offers maps and statistics. “Uses” describes fishing, shipping, and vacationing. “Issues” provides information and resources on food security, human health, and other topics. “Geography,” still under development, will present information arranged by geographic area.

Sinulations for AP Physics

Simulations for Advanced Placement Physics offers a collection of links to simulations compiled by the teacher of an advanced-placement physics course. These web-based resources can be used either in the classroom to help students visualize concepts, or as virtual lab activities.

Pre-engineeering Newsletter

The Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) produces a monthly newsletter, The Pre-Engineering Times, for high school students. Each issue highlights a different discipline of engineering and features career information, engineer interviews, classroom resources, and JETS activity updates.

Roundtable re: Pluto

The online journal Astronomy Education Review gathered the opinions of 14 experts in science and education in order to help guide teachers in presenting lessons that deal with the newly revised definition of “planet.” The controversial revision, announced by the International Astronomical Union, is addressed from scientific, political, and educational perspectives. The Review also offers a historical timeline and a guide to educational resources on the subject.

Promethean Planet Resource Center

This software company’s website gives educators access to more than 1,500 flipchart lesson plans submitted by teachers. Searching by topic, subject area, grade level, and state standard, registered users can choose to download lessons based on the company’s Activclassroom products. Go to www.prometheanplanet.com/us and click on Resources.

BEN Biology Resources

A collaborative group of professional societies and coalitions for biology education, led by AAAS, developed the BiosciEdNet (BEN) site to provide users with accurate and reliable resources for teaching the biological sciences, including searchable access to the digital library collections of its partners. Basic and advanced searches are possible, and users can browse by subject or resource type.

FUSE Satellite Telescope

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite telescope examines light in the far ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The data collected by FUSE may help answer questions about interstellar gases and the chemicals present during the formation of galaxies and solar systems. FUSE-related lesson materials for middle level and high school students, a printable paper model, and program descriptions in English and Spanish can be found at the FUSE website.

Resource Room, online

Register for the Resource Room to check out a variety of educational materials. Users can sort by keyword, theme, grade level, and curriculum area to find and download hands-on activities, unit guides, fact pages, and project ideas. A monthly e-newsletter featuring new resources, contest announcements, and online activity updates is also available.

Resources, Environmental Literacy

Visit www.enviroliteracy.org and click on For Teachers to find labs, activities, teaching tips, assessment tools, and textbook reviews for environmental science educators. This site includes links to numerous online resources such as state and federal governmental agencies and websites for kids and teachers. Users can search the site’s contents by topic (e.g., air and climate, energy, or ecosystems).

Science Books, Early Readers

To promote the importance of book ownership, author Bruce Larkin will donate sets of 50 science-related books to K–2 classroom teachers willing to distribute the books to students to take home. For each set of 50 free books, there is a $22.50 charge for shipping and handling. Go to the publisher’s website and click on Free Books for Your Students. This publisher is also looking for teacher authors, especially in the area of science; to learn more, go to the site and click on Have You Ever Wanted to Be a Writer?

Enviromental Health News

On this website dedicated to understanding the connections between the environment and human health, users will find breaking news, research results, and reports from environmental health organizations. Topics covered on the site and in its searchable archives include climate change, chemical contamination, water and air pollution, and genetic engineering. A free newsletter, Above the Fold, is also available.

Hurricane Forum Online

Teachers are invited to join this discussion forum, which focuses on the impact of hurricanes on the US and the relationship of these storms to the teaching and learning of weather within Earth science courses. The forum’s founder, a professor of science education, hopes that educators will share their best hurricane-related lessons and teachable moments in the forum.

Earthwatch Library

The archivist/staff librarian at the Earthwatch library in Maynard, Massachusetts, has graciously offered her services to the education community. She has collected volumes of materials both for loan and for taking from the Maynard library. If you are looking for information on conservation or scientific issues such as sea level rise, fresh water resources, or astronomy, just to name a few of the topics available, please contact Ann Austin at [email protected] to see if some of the library's periodicals, archived briefings, and books may be of use to you and your classroom.

NSDL Middle School Portal

The NSDL Middle School Portal takes an in-depth look at teachable concepts in science and math for middle school students. Features include lively text and graphics along with background for teachers, interactive online activities, data analyses, and links to related topics. Updated features include new math and science articles with associated resources, and mini-collections of “just-in-time” resources designed to help teachers find high-quality classroom information streamlined for easy access. You are also welcome to comment and ask questions.

Air Pollution Lessons

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California has a program called ELSI in Science that focuses on ethical, legal, and social issues in an effort to stimulate discussions on the implications of scientific research. The lesson module on air pollution presents background information and classroom activities appropriate for middle level and high school students, and it includes numerous links to related resources.

Science for English Learners

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Essential Elements of Effective Science Instruction for English Learners. The California Science Project is a university-based professional development network for teachers of science at all levels. Its Essential Elements publication addresses the challenges faced by English-language learners and their science teachers. Topics covered include vocabulary development, professional resources, and assessment. To download a copy, go to http://csmp.ucop.edu/csp/index.php.

High School Redesign

Windows on Conversions: A Multi-Media Exploration of Redesign at Four Comprehensive High Schools is an up-close and vivid examination of successful school redesign. The promising practices of four schools—in rural Maine, suburban California, inner-city Chicago and the urban fringe of Tacoma, Washington—have been documented in a this multimedia toolkit which includes an interactive DVD and written case studies of the four high schools. The toolkit enables users to learn about the conversion process from the frontlines, reported in the voices of teachers, administrators, parents and students who are successfully transforming their schools. The study kit provides vivid images of the promising practices and challenges facing comprehensive high schools as they convert to small schools and small learning communities, illustrating both the truly difficult work of converting existing schools into radically different types of learning environments as well as the promising outcomes this work can produce.

Blue Zones Video and Curriculum

Explore the science behind healthy longevity via Blue Zones Quest, with your students directing the discovery. Blue Zones Quest leader and National Geographic author Dan Buettner has led more than 15 interactive expeditions involving millions of students. Select "Watch Video" at the site for a glimpse into a long, healthy lifetime, and register for free Blue Zones curriculum.

Free Documentaries About First-Year Teachers

In 1999, director Davis Guggenheim undertook an ambitious project documenting the challenging first-year experiences of public school teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Two films were the result: the Peabody Award-winning documentary The First Year (78 minutes), which premiered on PBS, and TEACH (35 minutes), a powerful teacher recruitment tool. TEACH and The First Year document emotional journeys, raising issues of public education through intimate portrayals of young teachers at the start of their careers. They address the tremendous need for qualified teachers nationwide and aim to inspire a new generation of teachers.

Both films and additional resources for teachers can be downloaded from www.pbs.org/firstyear and www.teachnow.org.

Survival Guide for New Teachers

If you are new to the teaching field, or if you work alongside someone who is, then this book was written for you. Developed by the US Department of Education, Survival Guide for New Teachers—How New Teachers Can Work Effectively With Veteran Teachers, Parents, Principals, and Teacher Educators includes the reflections of award-winning first-year teachers who talk candidly about their successes and setbacks, with a particular emphasis on the relationships they formed with their colleagues, university professors, and their students’ parents. Veteran teachers, especially, are a powerful factor in a new teacher’s experience. The book includes suggestions about how new teachers can foster supportive professional relationships and what they stand to gain from them.

Project 3D-VIEW Interdisciplinary Science Curriculum

Project 3D-VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environmental Worlds), for grades 5–6, creates a virtual telepresence for students in each of the "spheres" of Earth science (biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere). Employing NASA Earth science mission data, three types of simple-to-use 3D learning technologies, and the internet, Project 3D-VIEW aims to help students become prepared for Earth system science topics and courses and science-based decision-making in high school and beyond. The project provides free training, materials, rubrics, and assessments.

Teacher training sessions are onsite or online (six one-hour sessions using a phone line and an internet connection) on September 11, 13, 14, 18, and 20 (at 4�p.m. or 9�p.m. Eastern Time). Register at the website. After their training is completed, teachers receive curricular materials including student worksheets, a DVD with all technology tools, and 3D glasses.

Career Voyages Website

Visitors to Career Votages will find a virtual roadmap to numerous careers. Information about high-growth industries and in-demand occupations, as well as the education and skills they require, appears in sections geared to students, parents, career changers, and career advisors. This US Department of Education/Department of Labor�site explores careers in fields such as energy, healthcare, and information technology, as well as in emerging industries such as biotechnology, geospatial technology, and nanotechnology. One section offers state-by-state numbers for “hot jobs”: occupations with the highest annual projected job opening rates and the largest employee needs.

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Web Page

CFSAN is the arm of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) charged with “ensuring that the nation’s food supply is safe, sanitary, wholesome, and honestly labeled, and that cosmetic products are safe and properly labeled,” and it offers a web page with information for students of all ages and educators. Food-safety activities for students include many downloadable resources (such as coloring and activity pages, quizzes, songs, and games), as well as links to other relevant sites. Educators can also access a planning guide for marking National Food Safety Education Month; the theme this September is “Don’t compromise—Clean and sanitize!” The page also provides links to resources created by the FDA and various partners (including one from NSTA, a food science curriculum for middle and high school science classrooms). Go to the website and under the heading “Special Interest Areas,” select “Kids, Teens, and Educators.”

Your Life, Your World, Your Choices

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Make a Difference Campaign seeks to educate middle school students about steps they can take to promote resource conservation and environmental protection. The campaign includes Your Life, Your World, Your Choices, a free kit that helps guide students in making informed, environmentally aware decisions. The kit includes posters, booklets, flyers, and brochures, many available in Spanish, as well as a CD-ROM with 275 EPA publications on solid waste. The print materials cover everything from “green-scaping” the yard, to “green shopping,” to tracing the life cycle of a cell phone. To obtain the kit, go to the website and scroll down to the “Make a Difference” section.

Schoolyard Geology

Schoolyard Geology originated in San Quentin State Prison, where Matthew d’Alessio, a scientist with the US Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Team in Menlo Park, California, taught geology to inmates. After discovering how the prison yard could become a geological field site, d’Alessio developed Schoolyard Geology, which explains how to conduct a geologic field trip in a schoolyard or backyard. Activities include mapping a schoolyard using USGS&@8217;s The National Map, locating and identifying rocks, and learning geologic concepts such as glacial striations, layers, and sinkholes.

K–12 Curriculum Supplements From the National Institutes of Health

The NIH Office of Science Education is aligning its popular K–12 curriculum supplements to state standards in science, mathematics, language arts, and health. These materials are free to US teachers and those in US territories. State alignments will be added as they are finished. Middle school science teachers will find three new supplements: Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry, for grades 7–8; Looking Good, Feeling Good: From the Inside Out (Exploring Bone, Muscle, and Skin), for grades 7–8; and The Science of Mental Illness, for grades 6–;8. Each contains two weeks of lessons on science and human health and includes background information, lesson plans, take-home materials, and interactive components.

Futures Channel Movies: Math and Science on Location

Each week at The Futures Channel, the Screening Room presents a short movie that can help your students realize the importance of science and math in a variety of careers and situations. Teachers guides to accompany the movies are also available.

Young people who like animals often think about a career in veterinary medicine, but do they connect that goal to their classroom lessons? Introduce them to Pamella Dendtler, a veterinarian and business owner who relies on math and science every day. Watch Veterinary Medicine on The Futures Channel.

Workshops on Data-Collection Technology

Beginning on September 11, science and math educators nationwide may attend Vernier Software & Technology’s free hands-on workshops that demonstrate how to integrate Vernier’s data-collection technology into the science or math curriculum. During each four-hour session, participants will collect data and receive a free training manual. For dates and locations and to register, visit the website.

K–12 Annotated Resources List for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Add to your teaching toolkit and infuse your curriculum with ideas for using science to help create a sustainable future by visiting this website, which was developed by and for K–12 teachers and sponsored by the US Partnership for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. You’ll find links to lesson plans, activities, and units of instruction; teacher professional development opportunities; benchmarks and standards; essential questions; and methods and models for integrating ESD into existing curriculum.

Thinkport, Maryland Public Television's Education Website

Thinkport houses numerous lesson plans, video clips, and student activities for K–12 students in all subject areas. Online field trips include the newest one about the science of the Chesapeake Bay. The EnviroHealth Connections section contains lesson plans, links, and PowerPoint presentations on environmental health topics.

PowerPoint Presentations on Atmospheric Chemistry

Theodore S. Dibble, associate professor of environmental chemistry at State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, gave a five-hour presentation on atmospheric chemistry at one of the CWCS workshops described below. Related PowerPoint presentations are available online, as are spreadsheets and links connected with the presentation.

The Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS)

This National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement-sponsored initiative provides workshops for faculty at two- and four-year colleges and universities who want to learn something new to bring back to the classroom, as well as for individuals, including postdocs and graduate students, who plan to embark on a college teaching career. The workshops are designed to provide a background and modern perspective on key areas of the chemical sciences (broadly defined), along with methods to introduce these topics into the undergraduate curriculum.

Teaching Materials to Accompany the Film "Hoot"

The National Wildlife Federation, Walden Media, and New Line Cinema film Hoot is based on the Newberry Honor-winning book by Carl Hiaasen that tells an ecological detective story. In the movie, three Florida middle-school students fight to save a group of endangered burrowing owls nesting on the property where a brand new Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House is about to be built. The�film's website offers teaching tools, materials, a discussion forum, and an activity poster for grades 4–6 with standards-based lessons spanning science, social studies, and language arts.

The American Museum of Natural History’s (AMNH) Resources for Learning

The AMNH Resources for Learning website contains a collection of activities, articles, evidence and analysis, and more for educators, families, students, and anyone interested in teaching or learning about science. Users can browse by topic—anthropology, astronomy, biology, Earth science, and paleontology—and the collection is broken out by grade level, title, and type of resource as well. The site also offers special collections organized around themes like Antarctica, ocean life, and the dynamic Earth.

Interactive Graphic of Hurricane Katrina

This interactive display, developed by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, demonstrates the failure of the hurricane protection system. An accompanying story tracks the progress of the flooding. Science and social studies teachers can use these materials to help students understand the storm’s true impact. Also see the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank for hundreds of photos, maps, and other resources.

Educational Packet on the Emerald Ash Borer

The Emerald Ash Borer is a beetle that feeds on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. This packet for grades K–12 (PDF) covers history, identification, cultural implications, and uses of ash trees and includes mapping activities, invasive species activities, project ideas, and more. A related site has links to the packet, two color posters with information on ash trees, and a resource guide.

Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has made its 2005 Holiday Lectures on Science series available to teachers as a free, on-demand webcast or DVD. The four hour-long lectures cover evolution-related topics from the theories of a medical-school dropout named Darwin to recent discoveries in the fields of comparative physiology and developmental biology. The two- DVD set includes detailed chapter stops, animations, an interactive feature on gene activity, and a discussion on evolution and religion with experts and students. To view the lectures or request the DVD, go to www.biointeractive.org. (HHMI will pay shipping costs.)

Marine Fisheries Series Activity Guide

This activity guide from Habitat Media covers topics from the Public Broadcasting Service’s (PBS) marine fisheries and aquaculture series Empty Oceans, Empty Nets and Farming the Seas. (Teachers can use the guide with or without the two PBS programs.) The guide includes six activities, each of which has been peer reviewed and correlated to national science and social studies education standards. Though designed for middle level and high school students, the activities may be adapted for other grade levels and can work well in classrooms as well as nontraditional educational settings such as nature or science centers, aquariums, and zoos.

K–12 Curriculum Materials and Resources on Environmental Science and Forestry

The State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry offers educational units for middle- and high-school teachers and students. Units include Sustainable Communities, Environmental Analysis of Watersheds, and Willow Biomass Energy. The site also contains a roundup of environmental links.

Resources for Integrating GIS Technologies in the Classroom

Geographic information system (GIS) tools are increasingly a part of lessons in environmental, biological, and Earth sciences. Teachers and students can use these tools to tackle problem-based instruction and community research projects. eSchool News Online has compiled a set of GIS news stories, best practices, and web links for teachers.

Website Focusing on the Water Cycle and Water Conservation

The Illinois Association for Plumbing and Mechanical Excellence has launched Get2KnowH2O.org, aimed at helping instructors meet their fourth-grade Illinois State Board of Education Goals and Standards in science. The site includes 20 science experiments for use in the classroom and can serve as a resource for children, parents, troop leaders, after-school program directors, and anyone interested in environmental issues. Instructors have access to a special part of the site where they can print worksheets and instructor guides.

Database of Engineering Outreach Programs

The American Society for Engineering Education’s (ASEE) free, searchable database of engineering outreach programs is located on its EngineeringK12 Center website. In its new, easy-to-use format, the outreach program database continues to help parents, teachers, and students search nationwide for an outreach program that matches their needs. From lesson plans for teachers to engineering summer camps for students, the database lists hundreds of programs offered by universities, industry, and government.

Resources for Girls’ Involvement in Math and Science

This website’s resources have been developed by doctoral students of Professor Jasna Jovanovic at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign’s Department of Human and Community Development. Teachers can access a handout about creating gender equity in science and math classes. Students will find links to math and science activities and career information. For parents, the site offers a handout about gender differences in science and math achievement that contains suggestions for getting girls more involved in those fields.

My Wonderful World: Integrating Geography and Science

The goal of National Geographic Education Foundation’s five-year, multimedia My Wonderful World campaign ­is to improve the geographic literacy of young people ages 8’17 by motivating parents and educators to expand geographic learning in school, at home, and in their communities. The campaign’s website has links to geography games and online adventures for kids and teens, classroom materials for educators, and ways for children and adults to test their global IQs, along with other resources for integrating geography with science and other subjects.

Materials for Teaching About Avian Influenza

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) has created Zandi’s Song, a 28-page illustrated booklet about a girl who helps teach her village about avian flu. Accompanying this booklet are a 12-page teachers guide, posters, and a fact sheet that teachers can use to educate students about the disease and how to prevent it.

Astronomy, Physics, and Life Sciences Board Game

DoubleStar, LLC, a St. Louis-based company that makes educational board games and books under the brand name "Cogno," will donate 200 of its Deep Worlds space sciences board games to science teachers in grades 3–8. (Each has a retail value of $30.) The company is looking for science teachers or administrators who would be strongly interested in sharing the games with their students.

Cogno board games and books have received national awards and have been featured by media including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Find out more at www.cogno.com. Cogno game content was expert-reviewed by David Morrison at NASA and Edna DeVore at the SETI Institute.

E-mail [email protected] to request a game, and include teacher name, grade(s) taught, school name, and school mailing address. The first 200 requestors will receive a free game.

Middle-School Curricula from Texas A&M; University’s Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER)

At the PEER website you'll find a web-based biology curriculum (covering cell systems, organ systems, and ecosystems) and a traditional CD/PowerPoint-based curriculum that integrates environmental health science topics into other science and nonscience classes. The latter curriculum centers around an adventure story in which middle-school students travel to different parts of the world to try to solve various health problems; “Hard River Escape,” for example, focuses on industrial waste that induces abnormalities in wildlife of Ukraine. The website also enables teachers to submit requests and questions to the PEER staff and includes a searchable database of related resources.

Evolution on the Front Line: An Abbreviated Guide for Teaching Evolution

Evolution on the Front Line is a 28-page guide that presents excerpts from Project 2061’s Science for All Americans, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and other resources to help science educators teach key evolution concepts. The materials stress the need for students to understand how life evolved on Earth to become science-literate adults.

Chemicals in Schools: Solutions for Healthy School Environments

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is disseminating new publications about its Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3). SC3 encourages school and community partners to properly manage chemicals in schools from purchase through disposal. The brochures, entitled "Chemicals in Schools: Solutions for Healthy School Environments," give school personnel and community partners the information they need to protect students and staff from chemical accidents.

To download customizable versions of the K–12 Schools and Community Partners brochures or for additional information on healthy school environments, go to www.epa.gov/schools.

To order free copies of the K–12 Schools (EPA530-F-05-012) or Community Partners (EPA530-F-05-016) brochures, visit the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP); e-mail [email protected]; call 800-490-9198 or 513-489-8190; or write to US EPA/NSCEP, P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419.

The Georgia Tech CEISMC Gazette

This webzine is published monthly by the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC, a unit of Georgia Tech’s College of Sciences) to inform educators, parents, and K–12 students about research being conducted at Georgia Tech. Interviews with Georgia Tech researchers, alumni, and students, along with profiles of high school and middle school teachers associated with CEISMC, present the human side of science research and education. Subjects recently covered include biomechanics, experimental music, the potential cancer-curing properties of certain marine organisms, and printed electronics.

Detectives in the Classroom

Detectives in the Classroom explores the science of epidemiology at the middle level and provides lessons, teachers’ notes, student resources, worksheets, and background information in several formats. Through the curriculum investigations, students address five essential questions: (1) How is this disease distributed, and which hypotheses explain that distribution? (2) Does an association exist between the hypothesized cause and the disease? (3) Is this association causal? (4) What should be done when preventable causes of disease are found? and (5) Did the disease-prevention strategy work?

Ocean Voyager

As a lead-up to World Oceans Day, celebrated on June 8, Mother Jones magazine has launched Ocean Voyager, an web-based adventure that takes viewers on a virtual voyage to ocean trouble spots around the globe. The interactive journey highlights solutions and offers actions that individuals can take to help preserve and protect the ocean. Signing up for Ocean Voyager initiates a series of five weekly e-mail episodes. Each e-mail takes users to a different ocean hot spot. Episodes include a visit to the west coast of Africa, where fish pirates are fishing illegally inside Guinea’s territorial limits, and a journey to the Arctic Ocean, where accumulating toxins and global warming threaten the existence of polar bears. Ocean Voyager includes videos, audio interviews with key players, webcams, and links to informative web pages created by more than 20 organizations. The project is designed to be current throughout the year; links to the voyage can be passed from user to user.

Starting Point: Teaching Entry-Level Geoscience

The Stating Point website from the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College is designed for teachers of undergraduate entry-level geoscience, environmental science, or related courses. Various teaching methods are described, and visitors can browse numerous examples of different methods used to teach particular geoscience topics. The site can help teachers make an informed decision about which methodology works best in a given teaching situation and enables them to implement that technique easily and well.

New Teacher Activity Pages in The Why Files

This online magazine from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, which explores the science behind the day’s news, now offers classroom activities tied to popular articles. Selecting the yellow pencil icon at http://whyfiles.org leads users to the article/activity pages, which feature relevant discussion questions, hands-on and online activities, quizzes, and lists of relevant standards. This resource can help teachers lead students to a better understanding of the scientific material covered in the articles.

Lessons on the Sun and Solar Energy for Grades 5–12

Through a program from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, 50 schools received a solar energy and data collection system (a two-kilowatt photovoltaic installation) in 2003. Now anyone can participate in the program by using the curricular materials and data at the website. Lesson plans describe interactive ways for students to learn more about energy, and, in particular, the role solar electric power can play in providing clean energy.

Cultural Studies of Science Education

Cultural Studies of Science Education aims to provide an interactive platform for researchers working in the multidisciplinary fields of cultural studies and science education. By taking a cultural approach and paying attention to theories from cultural studies, this new journal will reflect the current diversity in the study of science education in a variety of contexts, including schools, museums, zoos, laboratories, parks and gardens, aquariums and community development, maintenance and restoration. This journal establishes bridges between science education and social studies of science, public understanding of science, science/technology and human values, and science and literacy. Read a sample copy online.

Essentials of Cell Biology: Toxicology in Action

University of Washington's Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health��offers this CD-ROM curriculum, which uses an interactive approach to teach the basics of toxicology and cell biology. Developed by university scientists, the program engages learners in the study of basic science by demonstrating how cell biology relates to the real-world concerns of a working toxicologist. The CD is designed for use in high-school and undergraduate courses and can be obtained free at the website. Also at this site you'll find a Student Worksheet that accompanies the program, and an online evaluation form can be completed by those who have received the CD-ROM and wish to provide feedback.

Mission: Define Your Future

Northrop Grumman and Scholastic are providing a free science and math program for middle and high school teachers nationwide. The program, titled Mission: Define Your Future, is being distributed to more than 9,000 classrooms, bringing technical education and math and science lessons and activities to students in grades 6–12. Teachers can also access the classroom materials at the website or by e-mailing [email protected] The program features detailed lessons for teachers on technology and science, reproducibles that allow students to explore math and science through word problems, a classroom poster designed to promote critical thinking, and student magazines that profile young engineers and provide resources for further research in these fields. The program highlights the real-world applications of science and technology from various engineering and science disciplines, including space science, submarine engineering, and geolocation technology. The teaching materials are designed to sharpen students’ research, problem-solving, and scientific inquiry skills. Lessons in the program meet national standards and benchmarks for science, math, technology, and language arts.

Extraordinary Earth CD-ROMs

Interactive Extraordinary Earth CD-ROMs can interest students in grades 4–9 in science and math by enhancing existing curricula. The CD-ROM covers a wide range of Earth science topics and has almost 1,000 interactive questions, more than 2,000 sound bites, and more than 160 activities. The software is freeware, and teachers and organizations are encouraged to make as many copies as they desire. If you would like a copy, contact [email protected] and request Extraordinary Earth. Comments and reviews are encouraged.

PowerPoint Template Collection

View and download this PowerPoint template collection from Powerbacks at no charge. The collection includes a Science and Technology section and an Education section.