Links - Helpful Web Sites  

General Education | Museums and Other Informal Education Sites

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute provides interesting activities for student and teacher alike. There are a number of interactive demonstrations based on the Holiday Lecture Series presented each year in December. Especially interesting is the "Virtual Laboratory" where students can dissect a leech and perform experiments on its nervous system. Students (and teachers) can also access "Ask a Scientist" where biologists will field those tough questions brought up during class discussions. "Cool Science for Curious Kids" provides younger students with 5 simple interactive projects. Teachers will also find up-to-date information on "hot" areas of research such as cell suicide and motor neuron development. These and many other items make this site worth visiting.

Cells alive! is a commercial site that offers video images, both still and motion, for educators and media production specialists. There are a number of high-quality presentations available here without purchase that could easily be used in a classroom setting. Some of these include HIV infection of a lymphocyte, contracting myocytes, bacteriophage infection of E. coli, unicelluar parasites, and many others.

The Access Excellence Program at the National Health Museum provides many excellent resources for biology teachers.

WISMAC is the Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee.  Composed of female faculty at UT Southwestern, this group is dedicated to disseminating information on women's issues.  Included at this site is information on the female faculty members on campus, childcare issues, and contains links to other sites concerned with women in the science workplace.

Medline is a free online service provided by the National Library of Medicine that allows you to search the world's biomedical literature. A number of databases are available that provide abstracts from research articles. Lonesome Doc allows users to obtain full-text copies of articles from local medical libraries for a nominal charge. This is a great way for students and teachers to access information for projects without traveling to the library.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center is an excellent resource about DNA and genetics. It features an order form for educational products, online labs and activites, and information about DNA research at the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This site is probably the simplest yet most substantial DNA resource on the web. The DNA learning center program was the brainchild of James Watson. You know, that double-helix guy.

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse is an information source for K-12 math and science teachers.

The Why Files is an intelligent and entertaining site that provides up-to-the-minute information on the science behind current events. Designed for younger students, the page features great visual aids and a thoughtful yet fun interface.

The Mad Scientist Network. The collective crania of scientist worldwide, answers the science questions of students of all ages every day over the Web. Supported by the Young Scientist Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Over 75 scientists participate in generating accurate and grade-appropriate responses, which include network links.

NASA's K-12 Internet Initiative project provides online materials accessible via a World Wide Web page.

Microsoft's Classroom Teacher Network: This site was created in response to educator requests for help and research. The site offers self-paced training materials, lesson plans, instructional videos, and tutorial materials for those selected at school sites to train other teachers in technology.

If scientific thrills is what you seek, visit Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc. This site has a huge database of Scanning Electron Micrograph images of viruses, microbes, and an insect gallery that is easily the coolest thing on the internet.

National Science Foundation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This site contains a number of activities for kids and provides plenty of information for teachers on current and past NASA projects.

Questions? Ask Dr. Universe. She will receive the answer directly from a team of Washington State University researchers.

Science Service, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding and appreciation of science. Web sites is a compilation of Science Services' history and programs - the Entel International Science and Engineering Fair and the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.

The Exploratorium, San Francisco's interactive museum of science, art and human perception, gives you projects that you can use in your classroom. These activities were created to learn by doing.

The Lawrence Hall of Science Programs.

Science NetLinks:  They strive to be a comprehensive homepage for K-12 science educators.  The Aug. 4, 2000; vol. 289, p.691 of Science reports this site as a "K-12 education Web directory from AAAS listing scores of great science and math links, from astronomy to aquariums, all screened for quality by an expert review board.

Amgen Corporation (formerly Immunex Corp.): A biopharmaceutical Company - Immunex is involved in science education with the goal of supporting scientific literacy in our community. They are involved in various programs, including: scientist visits to local classrooms that feature hands-on science, tours of our research facilities, and job shadows for teachers and students. Immunex also offers summer internships for teachers through participation in the Science Education Partnership (SEP) program initiated through the Frederick Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The site has several pages for educators and students, including lessons, ask a scientist, site reviews, and a virtual lab tour.

Summer Research Program For Science Teachers at Columbia University:  Great site for lessons and ideas....Learn about the SWEPT Multi-site Student Outcomes Study - 7 SWEPT Programs are collaborating in a NSF-funded study to determine if these programs are having an impact on the students in their classes.

IISME :Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME) was founded in 1985 by a consortium of San Francisco Bay Area industries in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley. IISME seeks to transform teaching and learning through industry-education partnerships.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center - Science Education Partnership: SEP is a professional development program, created by teachers and scientists, for secondary school teachers in Washington State.  HutchLab is a biomedical research program for students and teachers which emphasizes genetics, molecular biology and biotechnology.

General Education

If you've never looked at the Texas Education Agency site, you should give it a try. You can find complete TEKS for all subjects, download the original TAAS and EOC exams from 1997 and 1998, and even peruse lists of conforming and non-conforming textbooks for all subjects. Detailed information about all Texas school districts is available including demographic data and AEIS school ratings. There really is a lot of useful information here.

The National Academy Press are publishers for such organizations as the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. You can browse through the merchandise in the Reading Room, which allows you to print out many of the items in their entirety. As you move around the site you can fill up your shopping cart with items you intend to buy at with prices discounted for Internet purchases. The National Science Education Standards and a new publication, Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science are but two of the thousands of titles available. The search engine provided makes browsing easy.

Biology.com is a site that examines all aspects of biological science. It includes detailed animations that are available to download, interactive laboratory experiments, and a "test-yourself" feature. The site has excellent resources on evolutionary genetics, including a virtual "Voyage of the Beagle." The site requires a small subscription fee.

Cell and Molecular Biology Online has a veritable cornucopia of links, tastefully categorized for your web-surfing enjoyment. .

All the science teachers are asking, "What the Heck is PCR?" Good Question! Bugs in the News can provide an overview of this important new technique.

Check out the Dallas-Fort Worth Local PBS site.  KERA 13 has a great Educational Resources page for teachers of all grades.

Museums and Other Informal Education Sites

The Science Place has a number of items of interest to teachers including information on scheduling tours and arranging to have guest speakers come out to the classroom.

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History provides a number of programs for teachers and students alike.  This website gives an overview of and registration information for the many programs available.  You can also access information on current exhibits and Omni show titles.

This site is a good resource for information regarding the Regional Science Fair sponsored by the Dallas Morning News and Toyota. Included are useful items such as entry information and general rules as well as a list of special rules and certifications for projects in the biological sciences.  Advice on putting together a winning project is also given along with some links to some other helpful sites.

The Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. has developed a web site that serves as an electronic field trip for middle and high school teachers. The site also works in conjunction with a television broadcast and provides images, teacher-developed lesson plans, and facts about the precious gemstones and minerals collected at the Smithsonian.