ECSITE-UK: The science and discovery centre network - If you're hoping to find a decent science and discovery centre in the UK, then this site could be the best place to go for your search. More than 40 centres are represented from the Almond Valley Heritage Centre, an independent museum in Scotland to the Yorkshire Museum, inYorkshire, which has collections of Roman, Viking, Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval artefacts, and decorative arts, as well as geology and natural sciences exhibits. The ECSITE network was funded initially by the Wellcome Trust as well as the government and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. So, it's credentials are sound. The entry for each centre provides all the basic information you need from phone number to location as well as linking to the centre's own site where applicable (most science centres seem to have their own sites, unsurprisingly). Each centre also gets a descriptive paragraph to itself in the listing to entice you to make that extra click. Rating: 7 out of 10 (10 February 2003) DB
http://www.ecsite-uk.net/
Questacon Virtual Tour - A most excellent robotic device roving around the screen is your assistant during this tour of the science and technology museum in Canberra. Animation can be repetitive and annoying, but Questacon takes it to a different level, where it doesn't detract but adds to the experience. However, should you tire of its actions, you can turn it off. With activity in two windows, the smaller one being short text with images, the pages are attractive and engaging. Moving from exhibit to exhibit is easy, and one gets a good sense of the museum space. Standing on the roof and looking around is an option, as is checking out the cafe where the tables display puzzles and interactive offerings, and overhead exhibits can be seen. A teacher's guide is available. Rating: 10 out of 10 (2 February 2003) AD
http://www.questacon.edu.au/vt/main.html
Exploris - Exploris bills itself as "The world's first global experience center", a title which may sound a bit pretentious, but which in fact, seems to describe the place very well. This is the website of a real place, something of a cross between a science centre and children's museum, but unlike some museum websites, there is a lot on offer on the site, rather than simply details of where to find the "real" museum, though of course, that is there too. For web-only visitors, the place to be is the "learn" section, which offers a large selection of exhibits and activities, in areas ranging from the Berlin Wall to the Life of Chocolate to Global Waterways to World Population and most places between. Although many of the online activities and exhibits are small, they are interesting and well designed, with links to selected other relevant sources of information, both on and off site. This is a very good example of using your website to complement your product - you are left with a strong desire to visit the museum in person to see these exhibits, but at the same time, there's enough here to feel you have most definitely not wasted your time visiting. (16 October 2001) KN
http://www.exploris.org/home.jtmpl
SciTech Interactive Science Center - SciTech offers a variety of interactive subjects covering astronomy, math, physics, biology, and meteorology. In these exhibits, the viewer can mentally try out what look to be intriguing set-ups that demonstrate Lissajous figures, hyperboloids, gaussian curves, and the Tower of Hanoi puzzle. There are many links to other institutions, and printable instructions for making your own version of some activities. The overall look of the site could use some help, and you should be aware that some pages might cause your browser to crash (applets). (26 July 2001) AD
http://scitech.mus.il.us/
Science World - Science World is a non-profit science resource center based in Vancouver, Canada. They offer exhibitions, field trips, feature films and other hands-on experiences. Their web site is full of information on selected exhibitions, upcoming events and prices. For trip planners there is extensive information on how to stay in the area, and ideas for excursions and research assignments. The site has an overall clean feel, but we did get a bit lost in the navigation. It is probably most useful if you're either going there or if you've already been there, something that could have been solved by publishing more pictures and research materials. Although there is a link that says 'For Kids', there is hardly any relevant information for children, something we find a bit strange considering the purpose of Science World. (24 April 2001) TG
http://www.scienceworld.bc.ca/newstuff/proto/...
Museum of Science, Boston - With online exhibits ranging from a virtual fish tank to a simulated ant colony, this site does much for firmly situating the Boston Museum of Science in the 21st century. The 'Oceans Alive' exhibit is hardly as expansive as its subject matter and, while it manages to be informative, it somehow fails to captivate. The 'Messages' exhibit on 'communication', on the other hand, throws out a wide net, but brings a good catch to your browser. A segment on animal interaction, for example, features a live 'bee-cam', and another on the search for extraterrestrial life allows viewers to create encoded binary messages similar to the one sent on the Voyager spacecraft, and to decode messages left by previous visitors. The 'Secrets of the Ice' exhibition on Antarctica is an armchair or, more likely, swivelchair exploration of the frosty frontier, with enough wintry illustrations to induce snow blindness, and cool animations of even cooler weather systems. Several exhibits feature flashy image galleries, including a superb fractal gallery in 'Dance of Chance', an exhibit on patterns in nature, and revealing close-ups on radiolarians and other microscopic eye-catchers in 'Scanning Electron Microscope'. (25 March 2001) MN
http://www.mos.org/home.html
St Louis Science Center - Whereas most cutting-edge websites for science museums offer visually stimulating interactive diversions, the St. Louis Science Center's home page offers little more than snapshots and text descriptions of the real deal in St. Louis. Unfortunately, those exhibits are, by-and-large, little to get excited about. Whether aged six or sixty, most visitors will be underwhelmed by 'The DNA Zone' and the awkwardly dubbed 'Ecology and Environment Past.' One prominent exception one likely to be met with as much enthusiasm by kids as consternation by adults is 'Grossology: The(Impolite) Science of the Human Body'. Perhaps as indirectly spawned by Nickelodeon's slime-fest antics as by Southpark's scatalogical OCD, 'Grossology' features everything from "Nigel Nose-It-All" a nine-foot animatronic character that waxes on subjects such as "how large snot balls form" to the "Toot Toot" exhibit, where visitors "learn about the physics of tooting by making different farting noises." Need we say more? (24 March 2001) MN
http://www.slsc.org/
Discovery Park On-line - The Discovery Park is a family science park located in Arizona, USA. Though it is still under construction, several attractions are open to visitors, like the Nature's Hideaway, a series of four different natural habitats that represent examples of working eco-systems. The attractions, existing and future, are well described on the web site, but it is obvious that this site is still under construction, and it is severely lacking in navigational functionality. The number of choices on the front page is overwhelming, but users who take the plunge will find lots of interesting information. For visitors, the site has plenty of information on prices, tour times and lodging, but the information seems a bit outdated. (19 March 2001) TG
http://www.discoverypark.com/
OMSI Science Whatzit - Why does the recipe for a cake change when you do the baking above 3500 feet? Don't know? Then I suggest that you go at once to OMSI's wonderful site for the answer. Similar to New Scientist's Last Word column, the Whatzit Gremlin answers scientific questions posed by the public. The site is predominately aimed at children, and the answers provided are simple and well explained, although there are also more complex questions and answers available. Questions and answers are placed into different catagories such as Chemistry, General Science and Engineering, and, although there is no search engine, keywords can be found using the FIND features of web browsers. This is a fascinating site, full of answers to questions such as "How does a beaver sleep?" and "How do lightbulbs work?". By the way, in case anyone was thinking that this would be a great way to get their homework done for them, the Gremlin warns that he has an unerring ability to detect disguised homework assignments! (12 January 2001)
http://www.omsi.edu/explore/whatzit/
