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Science Teachers' Resource Sites

• Science programs airing on KET Star Channel 703

• Odyssey of Life, a companion to the Nova miniseries, features a morphing embryos section where viewers with the proper software can see the development of fish, chicken, pig, and human embryos. Also at the site are a virtual tour of the microscopic animals that live on your body, furniture, clothes, and books; an interview with Lennart Nilsson, the famous endoscope photographer; a cyber debate between a creationist and an evolutionist; and a teacher's guide for both parts of the series (under Learn).



• The BioChemNet is a gateway to the best chemistry and molecular biology educational resources on the web. Its News & Reviews section is updated weekly.



• Access Excellence lets high school biology teachers exchange their teaching ideas with other teachers and scientists around the world.



• The Spotlight focuses on gardening, insects, bird watching, and animal migration.



• The Tree of Life Project lists information about groups of organisms—phylogeny, characteristics, phylogenetic relationships, related reference materials, and so on—and then links the groups together to form a phylogenetic tree of all living organisms.



• Interdisciplinary Page: Star Trek and Genetic Engineering, produced by a Maryland social studies teacher, uses the episode “Space Seed” from the original Star Trek series, which featured Ricardo Montalban as Khan, leader of a group of genetically engineered “superhumans,” to explore biological concepts.



• Biology Hypertextbook Chapters is an excellent source of material for any introductory biology course. It includes chapters on chemistry, large molecules, cell biology, enzyme biochemistry, photosynthesis, genetics, DNA, and immunology.

• Periodic Table of the Elements



• Chemistry Resources



• CHEMystery
This “virtual textbook” provides an excellent supplement for high school chemistry classes.


• The BioChemNet
is a gateway to the best chemistry and molecular biology educational resources on the web. Its News & Reviews section is updated weekly.

• Endangered Species Links (especially birds)



• Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission



• Blanton Forest
is Kentucky's largest old-growth forest.


• The Wild Ones is an ever-growing online educational network that provides teachers and their students with opportunities to design and work on collaborative investigations. The site includes information on endangered species, e-mail links to researchers studying endangered species, and a children's forum where kids can exchange ideas on wildlife preservation.



• World Wildlife Fund, the world's largest independent conservation organization, provides comprehensive news and information on all aspects of conservation and the environment. Topics include forests, climate change, marine issues, pollution, species, and sustainable development.



• The Sea Turtle Migration-Tracking Education Program includes a web page where kids can watch the satellite-tracked migration of sea turtles. You can also register to receive a free printed Educator's Guide—a fantastic reference for teachers who want to educate students about marine turtles and conservation.



• HawkWatch International is dedicated to monitoring and promoting the conservation of eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey and the ecosystems in which they live.



• EE-Link lists endangered species by region.



• A Fish Story documents declining biodiversity.

• KET Electronic Field Trips related to these areas include Falls of the Ohio and Geologic Time.



• Kentucky's Water Watch Program



• Monarch Butterflies: Join the Migration! Millions of monarch butterflies wing their way to Mexico each year, in one of the world's most spectacular migrations. And there are almost as many web sites devoted to these extraordinary insects! Check out a few of the best from this site. Monarch Watch needs Kentucky schools to tag butterflies.



• The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources site includes information on the Salato Wildlife Education Center and KET's Kentucky Afield series.



• Vistanomics! explains ozone and the pollution problem it creates. The site includes ozone-related school projects, sample science fair projects, public outreach projects, and links to ozone information. It also markets the Eco Badge®, an ozone-measuring device.



• The Students' and Teachers' Page of the Office of Solid Waste directs students to the Environmental Protection Agency's Student Center and teachers to its Environmental Education Center. The Office of Solid Waste itself exists to conserve resources by reducing waste; prevent future waste disposal problems by writing results-oriented regulations; and clean up areas where waste has spilled, leaked, or been improperly disposed of. (EPA)



• Superfund for Kids introduces children ages 3 and up to the basic concepts of the Superfund program. There are many fun activities and stories designed for different age groups. (EPA)



• Superfund for Students and Teachers contains information about the Superfund program and hazardous waste for junior high, high school, and college students and teachers of all grade levels. The site includes classroom activities, frequently asked questions, and information on environmental education and grants. (EPA)



• Rainforest Action Network has one of the best sites dedicated to the rainforest. It's filled with information, including success stories, educational resources, and great photos.



• Earth Force promotes the marriage of service learning and problem-solving skills to develop life-long habits of environmental stewardship. The mission of this youth-driven, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization is to enable young people (grades 5-9) to change their communities and care for the environment now, while developing life-long habits of active citizenship.



• Perspectives on an Ocean Planet is a free CD from NASA that focuses on the Topex/Poseidon mission. The CD-ROM works on most Macintosh and PC platforms and contains digital video, audio, images, and other background information.



• The Dolphin Institute is “dedicated to dolphins and whales through education, research, and conservation.” Its work includes not only preservation, but also experiments in communication with dolphins using sign language.



• The mission of The Ecology Channel is to provide impartial, unbiased, and compelling environmental information to as broad an audience as possible.



• The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse links to thousands of web sites for educators and students, categorized by type of site or by subject area.



• The National Wildlife Federation offers environmental information on eight different topics, ranging from information about the NWF itself to conservation issues and environmental education.



• Monarch Watch aims to further science education, particularly in primary and secondary schools; to promote the conservation of monarch butterflies; and to involve thousands of students and adults in a cooperative study of the monarchs' fall migration. Volunteers are needed to tag monarchs. This site also has good advice on developing a butterfly garden.



• EE-Link overflows with information on topics related to environmental education. It provides facts and raw research data on topics such as climate change or ecosystems, along with activities, lessons, contacts, links to organizations and projects, and regional information related to environmental issues.



• Millennium Institute's State of the World Indicators tracks statistics chosen to give a quick overview of the state of the world: World Population, Years Until Insufficient Land, Species Extinctions Per Day, etc.



• The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives is dedicated to helping municipalities prevent environmental problems, respond effectively to environmental problems when they arise, and enhance both the natural and built environments at the local level.



• The Union of Concerned Scientists promotes solutions to problems in agriculture and biotechnology, arms control, biodiversity, climate change, energy, ozone depletion, and transportation.



• The Eco-Compass is a monthly newsletter featuring descriptions of and pointers to Internet resources of interest to professionals, academics, and citizen activists concerned with the environment. It is provided as a public service to the online environmental community by Island Press, a nonprofit publisher of books that take a solutions-oriented approach to critical environmental problems.

• The School Gardens site includes suggested themes, things to consider before you create a garden, a step-by-step guide, curriculum ideas, and more.



• At Kids Gardening, you'll find the National Gardening Association's Youth Garden Grants Program, which awards grants of gardening equipment and supplies valued at more than $700 to each of 300 exemplary new or existing outdoor youth gardening programs.



• Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Yard from Hummingbirds.net



• WebGarden provides a great collection of resources for beginning and professional gardeners, students, teachers, and professional horticulturists. You can search more than 5,000 horticultural fact sheets from the United States and Canada, covering all aspects of growing, and a plant dictionary that contains 1,400 images and descriptions of 285 selected ornamental plants representing 60 families, including annuals, bulbs, grasses, ground covers, perennials, shrubs, trees, and vines.

• Cockroach World, part of the self-proclaimed “yuckiest site on the Internet,” is really a fun way to introduce kids to the world of insects. Your host, Betty the Bug Lady, responds to questions from visitors. The site is designed for kids at the elementary level.



• Africanized Honey Bees on the Move from the University of Arizona has lesson plans organized by grade level.



• B-Eye See the world through the eyes of a honeybee.



• The new Insect Hotlist at the Franklin Institute Science Museum offers more than you ever imagined wanting to know about bugs.

• National Inventors Hall of Fame



• Kids' Inventor Resources gives lots of inventive, fun ideas for kids.



• Invention Dimension, developed by MIT, is devoted to American inventors past and present. The Inventor of the Week section has featured Leo Baekeland (plastic), Charles Townes (the laser), and Roy Plunkett (Teflon), as well as their more famous colleagues Eli Whitney, Ben Franklin, and Alexander Graham Bell.



• Pioneers tells about some of the technology pioneers who helped redefine our world: Byron, Babbage, Bush, Bell Labs, Shannon, Boole, Stibitz, Zuse, Tesla, and more.



• Society of Manufacturing Engineers Scroll down to the bottom to find links to virtual manufacturing tours, online math and engineering quizzes, and challenging competitions.



• The U.S. FIRST Competition is a national robot-construction contest which immerses high school students in the exciting world of engineering. Teaming up with engineers from businesses and universities, students get a hands-on, inside look at the engineering profession. In six intense weeks, students and engineers work together to brainstorm, design, construct and test their champion 'bots.

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers information about research opportunities in science, math, and engineering, with program deadlines and a grant proposal guide, along with research results from currently funded domestic and international projects.



• National Science Teachers Association



• Smithsonian Institution Take a virtual tour of the Smithsonian's museums and galleries.



• The National Park Service site offers listings of all U.S. national parks, monuments, designated historic sites, and memorials by name, state, or region (via clickable maps).

• The Best Lessons are original science lesson plans developed by wNetSchool master teachers.



• The Science Center features lesson plans and classroom activities, provides educators with a virtual lounge where they can share information and discuss the latest issues, and maintains an electronic mailing list to keep teachers up to date on the latest news and events.



• Exploring the Environment offers a set of problem-based learning modules developed by teams of curriculum developers, remote imaging experts, teachers, and NASA staffers. They present students with real problems dealing with issues such as habitat destruction, volcanoes, climate change, and ozone destruction and encourage the use of remote-sensing images to find solutions. Modules are available for nearly all disciplines—including science, math, technology, and social sciences—and for interdisciplinary courses.



• The Exploratorium Science Snackbooks show how to build miniature science exhibits with inexpensive, easily available materials. This online resource includes 107 “snacks,” each with instructions, advice, helpful hints, and an explanation of the science involved.



• Science Teacher's Resources invites science teachers to share ideas (labs, demonstrations, teaching tips, etc.). Topics are arranged by subject area and grade level.



• The Science Education Gateway is a collaborative project which brings together the expertise of NASA scientists, science museums, and K-12 educators to produce science-based earth and space science curricula for classroom and public use via the web.



• Cool Science Projects is part of the Why? Files: The Science Behind the News site.



• Classifying Galaxies is a unit designed for grades 5-9. Students observe how the galaxy classification system invented by Edwin Hubble assigns galaxies to different groups according to their shapes, then attempt to categorize unknown galaxies according to the Hubble descriptors. The site includes a lesson plan, printable worksheets and answer keys, images from telescopes all over the world, and links to other useful astronomy web sites.



• The Explorer is a collection of educational resources (instructional software, lab activities, lesson plans, student-created materials, and more) for K-12 mathematics and science education. You may browse through mathematics and science education curricula or conduct searches that focus on specific interests.



• The School Page—The Teacher's Resource was put together by New Jersey educators and has lots of good science lesson plans, activities, and a place to ask a scientist or educator about teaching resources for a specific lesson.



• Discover Magazine can help enrich the science curriculum with articles that reinforce fundamental topics and explain current events. Both current and past issues are available, along with information about the magazine's school science program.



• Nye Labs Online As Bill Nye fans might expect, this site takes a quirky, inventive approach to science. A delight for kids of all ages, it includes demos that can be done at home, information about the TV show, and much more.



• Newton's Apple is an award-winning national science program for kids and adults.



• Beakman's World A good question is a powerful thing! Here you'll find lots of questions, answers, and activities, plus info on the television programs.



• Elementary Science This Month has several back issues online.

• SciCentral: Gateway to the Best Science and Engineering Online Resources is maintained by professional scientists whose mission is to identify and centralize access to the most valuable scientific resources online. SciCentral currently connects to more than 50,000 sites pertaining to more than 120 specialties in science and engineering.



• PBS Scienceline is a unique professional development resource for science teachers provided by public television stations. The web site includes great resources for educators of all grade levels, including the Monthly Spotlight, Daily Trivia, and many links to educational web sites.



• Frank Potter's Science Gems is an extensive, annotated meta-index to 2,000 science sites, grouped by subject and grade level.



• Pitsco Resources: Science



• The Math and Science Gateway from Cornell University is broken down into ten specific science and math categories, four more general subheadings, and then five very general topics. The options provide access to research and problem-solving opportunities and activities that extend and enhance the curriculum for secondary schools. The quality of activities and connections available under Mathematics, Health and Medicine, Field Trips, Museums, Biology, and Astronomy is very high, and most of the options under Mathematics also provide the important real coupling of math and science. The field trips provide innovative and exciting connections to the scientific community, and the museum visits are exceptional. The Internet resource provides excellent instruction on the basics of 'Net use.



• The Franklin Institute Science Museum spotlights a different online science theme each month.



• The Why Files, a product of the National Institute for Science Education, is an effort to illuminate the science, math, and technology that lurk behind the headline news. The page, updated biweekly, touches on such issues as diet and blindness, the hunt for neutrinos, ancient life in amber, and the pros and cons of electric cars. It also features cool science images and science-related sports information. The page is for the curious—students and teachers alike.

• The Art of Renaissance Science: Galileo and Perspective explores the impacts of Renaissance mathematicians on the development of science and art. Based on a documentary of the same name, the site looks in particular at the work of Galileo and describes—with drawings, video clips, and animations—his work with inclined planes and accelerated motion.



• The Mathematics of the Rainbow How are rainbows formed? Why do they only occur when the sun is behind the observer? This online science lab helps to answer these and other questions by examining a mathematical model of light passing through a water droplet. Students in grades 9-12 use Fermat's Principle of least-time to derive the Law of Refraction and the Law of Reflection experimentally.



• PhysLINK: The Ultimate Physics Resource has well-developed reference, societies, and publications sections and links to history, news, and fun sites. Visitors can subscribe to PhysLINK's quotations mailing list for a weekly quote by e-mail.



• The Physics of Rollercoasters is a project for students.



• Roller Coaster Physics introduces the science of roller coasters, including weightlessness, hills and dips, and the physiological effects of acceleration. Instructional materials include roller coaster simulator instructions, field estimation tips, and amusement park labs. Part of Virginia's Physics Pavilion.