Note: The following list features Web sites that we think may be helpful in some way to teachers. The listed sites are not part of or connected with Science News for Kids, Science News, or Science Service. We are not responsible for their content. Commentary is provided by Sean Duffy, Waples Mill Elementary School, Oakton, Va.

Recommend a Web site. Send e-mail to teacherzone@snkids.com

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Backyard Nature

Naturalist Jim Conrad has created a friendly, nicely illustrated introduction to studying nature, starting in your own backyard. The Web site features information on plants, animals, and fungi that might thrive in a backyard. It also provides basic information on ecology, geology, naming and classifying living things, and other topics. Look for the list of 101 nature-oriented things to do.

Go to: www.backyardnature.net/index.html

Category

Behavioral Science
Biochemistry, Medicine, Health, and Microbiology
Botany and Zoology
Earth and Space Science
Engineering
Environmental Sciences
General Science
Mathematics
Physical Science
Teaching
Reference

Behavioral Science

Sense of Smell

Get in touch with your sense of smell. This invitation comes from the Sense of Smell Institute, which aims to spotlight the importance of smell in human psychology, behavior, and quality of life. The institute's Web site offers a report addressing what would happen if you were to lose your sense of smell. The site also provides access to research and resources devoted to various aspects of the science of olfaction. National Sense of Smell Day, celebrated at several museums and science centers across the United States, occurs on April 17.

Go to: www.senseofsmell.org/home.asp

Biochemistry, Medicine, Health, and Microbiology

Anthrax Threat

Anthrax has evolved from a disease that farmers sometimes caught from livestock to a potent biological weapon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta offers a highly accessible Web site that answers basic questions about transmission, treatment, and prevention of anthrax. The site also provides links to Web pages that explain the biology behind the disease and discuss the controversial anthrax vaccine used by the U.S. military.

Go to: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/anthrax_g.htm#currissue/

Bioscience Challenges

Why preserve life's variety? How fragile is our planet? What does the genome reveal? How is biotech changing the world? The Action Bioscience Web site offers original material and links to articles and classroom resources that help shed light on these and other issues affecting everyday life in a variety of ways.

Commentary: Lengthy, sophisticated articles, not much graphics. Very well organized under major headings, with education links for teachers.

Go to: http://www.actionbioscience.org/

Bone Biology

Susan Ott, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, has created a Web site that provides information to physicians and others about bone physiology and osteoporosis. Topics include bone density, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, and more. There's also a special section for kids.

Go to: courses.washington.edu/bonephys/

Brain Museum

Interested in comparing the brains of mammals? The Brain Museum Web site offers images and information from one of the world's largest collection of well-preserved, sectioned, and stained mammal brains. Viewers can see photos of brains of more than 100 mammal species (including humans). The site also presents material on a variety of topics of interest in brain research.

Commentary: Perhaps useful as an extension for a unit on the nervous system or on evolution.

Go to: http://brainmuseum.org/index.html

Cancer Quest

Developed at Emory University, the CancerQuest Web site offers insights into the biology of cancer. The site provides clear, concise information about how the disease works, accompanied by interactive graphics and a handy glossary. Topics range from cell structure and genetic change to tumor biology and cancer treatment.

Commentary: Easy to follow. Good for extensions on cells and DNA. Processes of science, biology, medicine..

Go to: http://www.cancerquest.org/

Click and Clone

The Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah has an interactive Web site that teaches the basics of somatic cell cloning, the type of cloning used to create Dolly the sheep. The central focus of the click-and-clone exercise—to clone a brown mouse named Mimi—is based on a real experiment performed by researchers at the University of Hawaii in 1998. The site is geared toward a general audience and would be suitable for middle or high school students.

Go to: gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/

Colossal Colon Tour

The Colossal Colon is a 40-foot-long, 4-foot-high replica of a human colon. Visitors can crawl through the colon or look through the viewing windows to see healthy colon tissue, colon disease, polyps, and various stages of colon cancer. Under the auspices of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, the giant model will be on display at various cities across the United States. The associated Web pages describe the replica and provide a list of scheduled appearances.

Commentary: Easy to navigate. Biology, nutrition, health, cancer.

Go to: http://www.preventcancer.org/colossalcolon/

Microbe Library

The American Society for Microbiology offers a variety of images and other materials about the microbial world for classroom use. The collection includes images of various microbes, videos and animations, curriculum materials, articles, activities, and more.

Go to: www.microbelibrary.org.

A Most Dreadful Pest

Yellow fever was a deadly scourge that had a devastating effect on lives and economies throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. This engrossing Web exhibit features historical documents from the Walter Reed Yellow Fever Collection at the University of Virginia. It focuses on the work of the Reed Commission, which proved that the Aedes aegypti mosquito was the vector for the yellow fever virus.

Commentary: Great Web site, very well organized. Useful for independent research on diseases.

Go to: http://www.med.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/yelfev/tabcon.html

Sequenced Genomes

These listings are about as close as modern genomics gets to Pokemon cards. Here are illustrations and quick descriptions of organisms whose genomes have been sequenced. Some are familiar, such as Homo sapiens, but in most cases, it's a great way to meet some amazing biological oddities.

Go to: www.genomenewsnetwork.org/resources/
sequenced_genomes/genome_guide_p1.shtml

Skeleton Search

Visit the e-Skeletons Project to take a close-up tour of the bones of a human, gorilla, and baboon. Visitors can compare selected bones of one species to those of another and can download plug-ins to view skeletons in 3D movies and images.

Go to: www.eskeletons.org

Botany and Zoology

Backyard Nature

Naturalist Jim Conrad has created a friendly, nicely illustrated introduction to studying nature, starting in your own backyard. The Web site features information on plants, animals, and fungi that might thrive in a backyard. It also provides basic information on ecology, geology, naming and classifying living things, and other topics. Look for the list of 101 nature-oriented things to do.

Go to: www.backyardnature.net/index.html

Bird Calls

The Macaulay Library at Cornell University has the largest collection of animal sounds in the world. More than 67 percent of the world's birds are represented in the center's 160,000 recordings, along with sounds made by insects, fish, frogs, and mammals. The Library also archives and preserves a sampling of the behaviors of different animal species using digital video and audio. Download the songs of various backyard birds, from chickadees to goldfinches.

Go to: www.birds.cornell.edu/MacaulayLibrary/search/freesounds.html

Eating Insects

Looking for a different sort of snack? Iowa State University's Entomology Club has Web pages featuring recipes for Banana Worm Bread, Rootworm Beetle Dip, Chocolate Chirpie Chip Cookies, and other insect treats. A handy nutritional chart reveals that 100 grams of crickets provide 12.9 grams of protein and 5.5 grams of fat whereas June beetles offer roughly the same amount of protein but only 1.4 grams of fat.

Go to: www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood.html

Elephant Voices

Elephants are highly social animals and have a well-developed method of communicating with each other. For nearly 30 years, scientists at a national park in Kenya have been studying elephants and their behavior. The researchers have found that these intelligent beasts use more than 70 kinds of vocal sounds and 160 different visual and tactile signals, expressions, and gestures in their day-to-day interactions. This Web site describes the project and provides fascinating material on how and why elephants communicate.

Go to: www.elephantvoices.org

Firefly Alight

The Firefly Files Web site is dedicated to "the sparks of bioluminescent light that inspire awe and wonder around the earth." Developed by the Museum of Biological Diversity at Ohio State University, this site provides a variety of information about fireflies, from where they live to how they glow.

Go to: http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/top.html

Pretty Pollen

The pinup of the pollen grain of the month is just one of several intriguing features at this University of Arizona Web site devoted to palynology—the study of the microscopic, decay-resistant remains of plants and animals. The site provides definitions, illustrations, a brief history, a section for kids, and examples of applications in archaeology, paleoecology, and other fields.

Go to: www.geo.arizona.edu/palynology

Earth and Space Science

Caving in Comfort

Explore the wonders of solution caves, lava tubes, sea caves, and other underground realms at this beautifully illustrated Web site, developed by caver and photographer Dave Bunnell. The site features photographs of caves throughout the world and maps of idealized "virtual" caves, which explain and illustrate examples of nature's handiwork.

Go to: www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave.html

Daily Planet Earth

The Earth Science Picture of the Day Web site features photos, satellite images, and illustrations that highlight the diverse processes and phenomena shaping our planet and influencing our lives. A short explanatory caption and links to sources for more detailed information accompany each illustration.

Go to: epod.usra.edu.

Exploring Mars

Here's your chance to help NASA explore the surface of Mars. At its Marsoweb site, the agency provides detailed maps, engineering data, and interactive tools for studying the Red Planet's alien terrain. Visitors are invited to look for and report important geologic features that haven't yet been catalogued or even viewed by researchers.

Go to: marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/index.html

Eye above the Timberline

The Tundra-Cam, operated by the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, sits at an elevation of 11,600 feet near the U.S. Continental Divide. Visitors to the Web site can operate the remotely controlled webcam, panning across the mountainous landscape and zooming in on particular features of interest.

Go to: instaar.colorado.edu/tundracamII/

A Habitable Planet

NASA offers kids a chance to search for and build a fictional planet on which people could live. This multimedia, interactive Web site guides students through a sequence of role-playing steps, starting with observations of the effects that changes to Earth can have and what's needed for survival.

Go to: astroventure.arc.nasa.gov.

Mars Photo of the Day

With a stock of more than 120,000 images, the camera team for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission has started daily postings of pictures to showcase the diversity of Martian landscapes. Click on the photo to obtain additional information about what the image reveals.

Commentary: Tons of information, great photos. Looks like a lot of work for a teacher to organize unless they just set the kids free. Mars, solar system, space, NASA.

Go to: http://www.msss.com/

Sky Cycles

Created at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, this Web site features middle-school classroom activities with an atmospheric cycles theme. Topics include climate, greenhouse effect, global climate change, and ozone.

Go to: www.ucar.edu/learn/

Web Weather

Web Weather for Kids provides hands-on activities and information about dramatic weather events, including thunderstorms, lightning, and tornadoes. Aimed at middle-school students, the site also features a weather-forecasting contest, various games, and material on clouds, blizzards, and hurricanes.

Go to: www.ucar.edu/educ_outreach/webweather/

Engineering

Aerodynamics for Beginners

NASA's Glenn Research Center offers an extensive online tutorial on the basics of aerodynamics. Aimed at elementary and high school teachers, the site provides lots of useful information and has slides and worksheets suitable for classroom use at various levels.

Go to: www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html

Energy Savers

This Web site documents progress in a program set up by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency to encourage companies to reduce the energy consumed by their products. More than 3,000 companies have participated in efforts to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and lower energy costs for consumers. Site visitors can find pointers to products and homes that have earned the Energy Star logo for energy efficiency.

Go to: www.energystar.gov

Flying Leap

In the history of human flight, first came the daring tinkerers who gave wings to the pent-up human desire to soar. In the wake of their successes came a remarkable proliferation of flying machines, spacecraft, and colorful characters. At this Web site, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics celebrates these achievements with an annotated timeline of aviation history, brief biographies of famous pioneers, and a kids page presenting aircraft fundamentals and experiments.

Go to: www.flight100.org

Invention Playhouse

Aimed at children, the "Invention at Play" Web site offers a variety of interactive activities to encourage and exercise creativity. Developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, the site accompanies a traveling exhibit that looks at similarities between the way children play and creative processes used by science and technology innovators.

Commentary: Terrific. Invention, scientific process, biographies of inventors, physics, chemistry.

Go to: http://www.inventionatplay.org/index.html

Environmental Sciences

Imagination Factory

Looking for creative ways to recycle materials? This imaginative Web site for kids focuses on how to make art using materials that most people throw away. The activities include drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, and crafts. A "Trash Matcher" section links various types of solid waste with appropriate activities.

Go to: www.kid-at-art.com

Visit the Zoo

The Houston Zoo offers an engaging Web-based view of its animals and activities. The "World of Animals" section provides information about and colorful views of the many species living in the zoo. The site also features material on endangered species and other conservation topics. Zoo staff members are also available for live chats via the Web.

Go to: http://www.houstonzoo.org/

General Science

Amateur Scientist

The Web site of the Society for Amateur Scientists offers discussion forums, projects, and resources for people interested in taking part "in scientific adventures of all kinds."

Go to: www.sas.org

Cooking Science

The Exploratorium's "Science of Cooking" Web pages offer all sorts of advice on how to improve your cooking—with a pinch of science. Information, recipes, and activities focus on spices, bread, meat, eggs, and more. Experience the thrill of pickle making and learn about a zesty dish called kimchi. Recorded Webcasts explore the science of cooking your holiday turkey and other topics.

Commentary: The science experiments related to food are excellent, good for chemistry and physics.

Go to: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/

Echo Adventures

Echo the Bat and Amelia the Pigeon are the heroes of this introduction to remote sensing and biodiversity. Created by NASA, the interactive Web site is aimed at elementary and middle school kids. It offers online activities and classroom lessons on the electromagnetic spectrum and other topics. Kids can follow Echo's adventures in migrating across Arizona.

Go to: imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov

Food Science Fun

Compiled by the Penn State Department of Food Science, this handy list of links to Web resources points to curriculum guides, experiments, and other materials related to the science of foods.

Go to: http://www.foodscience.psu.edu/outreach/fun_food_science.html

Home Experiments

Collapsing a soft drink can, fireproofing a balloon, creating cool light, and bending water are among the activities offered by Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His Web pages provide instructions for performing these and other experiments at home.

Go to: scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/HOMEEXPTS.HTML

Messing Around with Music

San Francisco's Exploratorium offers an entertaining, multimedia excursion into the science of music. Visit a virtual kitchen to sample some appliance sounds. Use video of a step dancer to compose music. Discover how various cultures around the world create musical instruments out of everyday objects. Try out a sound mixer and much more.

Go to: www.exploratorium.edu/music

A National Science Museum

If you can't make it to Washington, D.C., to visit the recently opened Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences, check out the museum's online exhibits. Explore how DNA analysis can catch criminals and stop epidemics, witness the potential effects of global warming, and glimpse the frontiers of scientific research.

Go to: www.koshland-science-museum.org

Quick Flicks

The BrainPOP Web site boasts more than 200 animated movies with accompanying comics and activities that answer students' questions about science, math, health, and technology. A host of characters explains tough concepts in an interesting and humorous way. Unfortunately, visitors to the site can view only two movies per day for free. A subscription to the site (at various rates for individuals and institutions) allows unlimited access.

Go to: www.brainpop.com

Mathematics

Dimensions of Math

A colorful, interactive poster serves as a portal to the realm of dimension, with destinations ranging from Flatland to hyperspace. Meet authors Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), E.A. Abbott (Flatland), and Michio Kaku (Hyperspace). Ponder Penrose tilings, gravitational lenses, and tic-tac-toe on a torus. Play with geometric shapes.

Go to: mathforum.org/mam/00/612/index.html

National Pi Day

National Pi Day—March 14—is a time to celebrate the number 3.14159. . . . Take a look at how this remarkable number has been honored in various settings, from a middle school classroom to the Exploratorium and Harvard University.

Go to: www.germantownacademy.org/academics/MS/PiDay/Index.htm, www.winternet.com/~mchristi/piday.html, www.nvnet.org/nvhs/dept/math/pi.html, mathforum.org/teachers/middle/activities/pi_day.html, www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/pi/, and www.math.harvard.edu/piday/index.html.

Physical Science

Artistic Elements

Providing an unusual perspective on the chemical elements, the Chemistry Societies' Network presents a stunning visual tour of the elements (109 in all) as seen through the eyes of artists. Pick an element, from hydrogen to meitnerium, to see the image it suggested to an artist and, as a bonus, learn a little about the element's history and characteristics. The site also features a series of striking, computer-generated landscapes based on various patterns and relationships, involving properties such as ionization energy and density, within the periodic table.

Go to: www.chemsoc.org/viselements

The Atoms Family

Dracula doesn't want to suck your blood. He wants you to enter his online library and learn about the properties of light, waves, and particles. Here at "The Atoms Family" Web pages, created by the Miami Museum of Science, Dracula and four other silver-screen ghouls invite Web surfers into their laboratories to try out physics experiments geared to children from kindergarten to grade 12.

Go to: www.miamisci.org/af/sln/index.html

Chem Demos

They may not be as dramatic as the real thing, but online video and descriptions of lecture demonstrations involving combustion and other chemical and physical effects still fascinate. The Chemistry Learning Center at the University of Illinois offers tantalizing glimpses of methanol combustion, electrolysis of water, hydrogen ignition, the effect of liquid nitrogen on a rose, an ammonium dichromate volcano, and more.

Go to: www.chem.uiuc.edu/clcwebsite/demos.html.

Einstein's Vision

Accompanying the Einstein exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, this Web site offers a captivating portrait of the most famous scientist of the 20th century. Several online essays probe Albert Einstein's theories, providing insights into light, time, energy, and gravity. Others explore aspects of his life and times.

Commentary: Excellent! From very basic to very complex, so good for all.

Go to: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/

Powers of Ten

Florida State University's "Molecular Expressions" Web site offers a fascinating sequence of images, each one 10 times bigger or smaller in scale than the one preceding or following it. The journey ranges from a view of the universe 10 million light years away from the Milky Way to an impressionistic glimpse of a diminutive sea of quarks. Requires a Java-enabled browser.

Commentary: Very cool. Quick and easy look at powers of 10 if that is all you want. Links to lots of other stuff on physical science topics.

Go to: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

Ring World

Ever wonder what it might be like to live on a doughnut-shaped world? NASA has created a Web page that gives you a sense of what life would be like in a ringlike structure out in space, where there is no gravity except the centrifugal force generated by the structure's spin. Simulation requires a Java-enabled browser.

Commentary: Interactive. Physics, mechanics, gravity, space, NASA.

Go to: http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/
SpaceSettlement/teacher/materials/ringworld/

Soap Bubbles in Space

While aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Don Pettit took some time off to experiment with soap bubbles and films. This NASA Web page presents the surprising and startling results of his soapy ventures in a zero-g environment.

Commentary: Nicely organized, easy to use. Physics, surface tension, biography of scientist.

Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/25feb_nosoap.htm

Web Elements

Want to know more than just selenium's symbol, atomic number, and atomic weight? Created by chemist Mark Winter of the University of Sheffield, WebElements provides information on each chemical element's history, uses, reactions, bulk and thermal properties, and more.

Commentary: Wow! This is great for chemistry.

Go to: http://www.webelements.com/

Whys Guy

Interested in seeing an exploding watermelon, using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, or knowing why a hurricane spins? Physicist Mats Selen of the University of Illinois has appeared regularly on a local morning TV program to demonstrate a wide variety of physical and chemical phenomena. View video clips of these entertaining presentations. Requires Windows Media Player.

Go to: www.hep.uiuc.edu/home/mats/whysguy.html

Wonderful World of Color

What causes color? This nicely illustrated Web site offers vivid explanations of the different ways in which color arises when light interacts with matter.

Commentary: Excellent. Physics, optics. Maybe a tad too sophisticated. but I think teachers would take the time to use.

Go to: http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/

Teaching

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)

The U.S. Department of Education provides links to lesson plans and other materials, sometimes related to topics in the news. The subjects include science and mathematics. Topics range from the "ABC's of Nuclear Science" to "Your Place in Time: 20th Century America," more than 300 in all.

Go to: http://www.ed.gov/free/

Internet Content for the Classroom

This Web site, from the MarcoPolo Education Foundation, provides high-quality, standards-based Internet content and professional development to educators. It offers lessons plans, student activities, and other teaching reources, along with information on state standards. One great feature is a search engine that works with all its partner sites, including Illuminations from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, XPeditions from National Geographic, and Read-Write-Think from the International Reading Association.

Go to: http://marcopolo-education.org/index.aspx

Internet Safety for Kids

What can parents and teachers do to make sure children surf the Web free of harm? The National Academies of Science offers a Web site that examines issues surrounding Web use by children, such as the availability of sexually explicit material. It provides practical tips that should help adults make more informed decisions about how children spend time online.

Go to: http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/

Learning Math

Annenberg/CPB offers several video- and Web-based mathematics courses for elementary and middle school teachers. Organized around the content standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the courses are designed to help teachers better understand the mathematics underlying classroom content. This fall's new offering in the series is "Number and Operations."

Go to: http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/learningmath/index.html

Understanding Evolution

Understanding Evolution is an extensive Web site designed to meet the needs of K–12 teachers presenting evolution in the classroom. Developed by the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley and the National Center for Science Education, the site provides an informal online course covering essential science content, as well as a searchable database of resources. Its topics range from the nature of science to evidence for evolution.

Go to: evolution.berkeley.edu

Reference

Home Base for Government Science

The Science.gov Web site serves as a gateway for science information, including research results, provided by the U.S. government. Topics include agriculture and food, astronomy and space, computers and communication, energy and energy conservation, health and medicine, science education, and more.

Commentary: Excellent resource from A to Z.

Go to: http://www.science.gov/

Rediscovering the Maya

For an entertaining excursion into the language, calendar, architecture, and culture of ancient Maya society, try the "Rabbit in the Moon" Web site. You'll also learn about the Maya myth that inspired the site's name.

Go to: www.halfmoon.org