Mount Wilson Observatory - Hosted by the Mount Wilson Institute, a non-profit organisation whose goal is to maximise the scientific and educational potential of the observatory and facilities, the Mount Wilson Observatory website certainly helps do just that. For those unfamiliar with the facility, the best place to start is the virtual tour, designed to give the visitor a feel for the grounds and to present some of the history and heritage of the observatory itself. Supported by frames, the tour walks you through the observatory, right from the front gate, and provides ample links to different aspects of interest. The remainder of the site is dedicated to the scientific programs being undertaken at the observatory, and the history of the site, including many images. The observatory is host to several ongoing projects. There are two primary night-time telescopes in operation. One is a 60-inch telescope built in 1908, the second a 100-inch Hooker built in 1917. The 100-inch telescope has the instrumentation for adaptive optics allowing it to remove the blurring effect of the atmosphere on images, thus rendering them as sharp as the images from NASA's Hubble telescope in space. In addition, two solar observatories are in operation and the site also hosts three interferometers, which act in concert allowing the investigation of stars at much finer resolution than is possible through single aperture telescopes. Budding astronomers can also request observing time through the site on the 100-inch telescope at the observatory. However, at $2700 per night the price is likely to be too steep for most. A well thought out and interesting site, which is easy to navigate, the only down side is that some of the sections require updating. Rating: 8 out of 10 (28 February 2003) LH
http://www.mtwilson.edu/
Getsmarter.org - Getsmarter.org is a fun and somewhat quirky site designed to be an interactive learning portal which allows students to pit their wits against their contemporaries worldwide. An initiative from the bizarrely named Council on Competitiveness, the site provides students, parents and teachers alike with a fun way of comparing science and math skills. Various practice quizzes culminate in 'The REAL Challenge', where you can compare your results against those of other students from around the world who answered the same questions as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study from 1995 to 1999. For those whose answers are exceptionally good, there is a chance to feature in the top 10! The colourful front page is engaging from the start, with animated, noisy bullets - and a cheery yodel when you click on the mountain peak link to The REAL Challenge section. The quizzes themselves are separated into elementary, middle and high school levels, with section names designed to appeal to the young, such as the Goo Laboratory, Math Safari and Math and Science Television. To access the quizzes themselves you do need to input some basic, impersonal information about yourself, presumably for the purpose of grading. However, this ensures that the site can provide you with a different set of questions if you return and complete the same quiz section more than once. Each question comes complete with some amusing animations and as you progress through each grade the level of questions and tone of the animations changes to suit each audience. The site has a section for parents and educators, and a survey section for feedback. There is also a students' page, including various good science, math and problem solving links, which are also sorted according to elementary, middle or high school level. A great resource for children, parents and educators alike - but more importantly, the kids will love it! Rating: 9 out of 10 (12 February 2003) LH
http://www.getsmarter.org/index.cfm
ChemCases.com - ChemCases is a US-based chemistry curriculum development project. You can pick up on many cases studies that look from an inside point of view on how problems are tackled with the help of science. For instance, the story of the first sports drink Gatorade followed a circuitous route with the R&D people at the company having to take into consideration the effects of vigorous exercise, the meaning of sweat and the colligative properties of liquids and mixtures. The result, as you will learn, provides a useful lesson not only in sports science and fitness but osmosis. Other areas cover silicones, the stuff of bathroom sealant and breast implant. Then there's nuclear chemistry cisplatin and cancer, refrigerants for the 21st century, the fat substitute Olestra, pharmaceuticals, fuels and fuel cells. The site is run by staff at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, USA, with financial backing from the National Science Foundation. It is a bit cluttered on the homepage with too much background information that would be better reserved for the "About" page and some of the headings that you might expect to be hyperlinks to more detailed information are not. It is also frustrating aesthetically that the various current pages do not all conform to a standard style and layout. There are one or two dead links too. But, that said, there is lots of useful information to augment any chemistry curriculum here. Rating: 8 out of 10 (13 January 2003) DB
http://chemcases.com/index.htm
Imagine the Universe - You are invited to "Imagine the Universe!" at the NASA/Goddard Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, with a site aimed at school students aged 14 and up, or anyone else interested in the wonders of the cosmos. There is, unsurprisingly, an emphasis on the high energy end of the spectrum - X-rays and gamma rays - and its application to exotic phenomena like black holes, pulsars, active galaxies, and supernova remnants. There's an excellent set of science articles, split into four sections: astronomical basics, the objects that make up the universe, some "cosmic questions", and the equipment and methods used to study them. An interesting approach is to have both basic and advanced versions of these articles, so you can choose the amount of detail for yourself. The site also has regularly updated news articles, interactive investigations that you can do (under the enticing heading "You be the Astrophysicist!"), teachers' resources, and "featured scientists" to put a human face on all the research. The sheer amount of material on this site makes it well worth a browse. Whilst there are plenty of animated movies available to illustrate the articles, the site is still usable and interesting without watching them. If you still have questions, you can make use of the "Ask a High Energy Astronomer" page, or look at past answers. This is a good resource for school students, but even if you're just looking for beautiful images and exciting astronomy you'll find something worthwhile at "Imagine the Universe!". Rating: 8 out of 10 (9 November 2002) DP-P
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The Technology Source - This well-designed, peer-reviewed journal addresses the many challenging situations faced by educators as they adapt technology into their curriculums. In the current issue, one teacher talks about the new rules encountered with online courses, when a class never meets face to face, interacting only through the course site. Some problems remain the same, as when hard-working students resent the slackers in a group project, and fellow teachers will find her solutions helpful. In another article, an educator is initially reluctant to attempt an online general chemistry course, citing the many difficulties he expected. These were overcome with sophisticated web tools, and as a result, students can elect to take the on-campus version or the distance-learning one - each uses the same CD-ROM and website. Rating: 10 out of 10 (15 October 2002) AD
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp
Science Year - Science year is about projects and events organised from September 2001 to October 2002 involving schools all over the UK and aimed primarily at the 10-19 year old group. Its purpose is basically to make science appealing to everybody, so it reaches out to cover all aspects, not just the most obvious, touching on fashion, music, forensics, communications etc. Science Year has the backing of the Dept. of Education and Skills, Dept. Trade and Industry, NESTA , ASA and BA plus many important sponsors. Right from the home-page the Science Year Web Site excels in science appeal. Teachers will find all the information on the project and a thousand ideas in the sci-teach section for all age groups. The younger age group will find loads of ideas for the summer holidays (a sneak at say 'undercover-science' will give inspiration and clever explanations to phenomena which will greatly boost any parent's profile). For the older group, I can strongly recommend the careers section - particularly the words of wisdom from experts working in the field. If still in doubt, just for fun try their "unscientific" career test - it worked! The site is a mine of information, updated every week and designed to use all the latest internet technology for pictures, animation video clips. etc whilst the site map, glossary and trouble-shooting make navigating smooth and enjoyable. It's easy to spend hours browsing, and that unmistakable British sense of humour sprinkled here and there make it very hard to exit. Rating: 10 out of 10 (23 August 2002) CCL
http://www.scienceyear.com/home.html
Mini Beasts - Based on the guidelines set by the National Curriculum, this colorful site will appeal to creature-loving youngsters. The mini-beasts in question are the arachnids, mollusks, arthropods, worms, and insects, and fun activities include a click-and-paint-the-beast feature, sounds, and a matching game. (9 August 2002) AD
http://www.hedds.co.uk/mini_beasts/
Virtual Laboratory - As the site itself states: "With the development of new computer technologies, JAVA--an interactive multimedia programming language, and the WorldWideWeb, it is now possible to simulate engineering and science laboratory projects on a computer. With Internet access, it is now possible to offer students "virtual laboratories" via the WWW or CD-ROM. Experiment-oriented problems can be offered without the overhead incurred when maintaining a full laboratory. This virtual laboratory, which accompanies the Johns Hopkins University course 500.101 What is Engineering? is an example of the use of this type of technology. The labs listed below are WWW-based engineering/science experiments developed for beginning science and engineering students. " So if you ever wanted to do an engineering class and just never got around to, this site just might be your second chance.
(29 June 2002) KN
http://www.jhu.edu/~virtlab/virtlab.html
