The FREE website has recently been improved with the addition of better search features, descriptions of resources and the addition of new "topic" pages.

Links to the 21 New Resources

ARTS

• Edward Ruscha: Lisp, 1968 explores the painting by one of the most compelling artists of the last 40 years. Ruscha is best known for paintings in which words play a central role. "Lisp" shows his interest in words not only for the images & meanings they suggest, but also as representational imagery & subject matter. (NGA)

• The Great American Landmarks Adventure Presents 43 drawings and descriptions of historical landmarks. Learn about the houses of the past, Empire State Building, Gateway Arch of St. Louis, U.S. Capitol, Brooklyn Bridge, Mark Twain house, and others. (NPS)

• Van Gogh's Van Gogh features nine paintings and a chronology of the life of the ingenious Dutch painter. Van Gogh was 27 years old when he decided to become an artist after unsuccessful attempts at being an art dealer, a teacher, and a clergyman. He taught himself mostly by studying the prints and reproductions he collected. The paintings he produced before his death at age 37 set the direction for many of the expressionistic tendencies in 20th century art. (NGA)

• Soy Unica! Soy Latina! aims to help Hispanic/Latina girls enhance decision-making and communication skills. Girls can use the site to find homework tips, explore their family history, plan their future, learn about a new Latina role model each month, and order free activity books and posters. (HHS)

• MathTools offers hundreds of lesson plans and learning activities for pre-calculus and for math instruction in grades 2 and 7. Estimation, fractions, factors, patterns, percents, functions, fractals, tessellations, platonic solids, area, geometric shapes and probability are among the topics. (NSF)

• Ask an Astronomer for Kids provides answers and photos for 200 questions about astronomy and objects in space. Topics include planets, stars, the solar system, comets, asteroids, galaxies and the night sky. (NASA)

• Cool Cosmos invites students into the world of infrared astronomy. Teachers and students may discover light outside the visible spectrum with these classroom activities, experiments and lessons. The site provides ask-an-astronomer videos, an infrared astronomy timeline, and more. (NASA)

• Dropping in a Microgravity Environment is a competition for teams of students to propose, design, and build a science experiment to be performed in a microgravity drop tower facility. Representatives from selected teams will attend an expenses-paid DIME Drop Days in April 2004–2006 at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The website offers details about the competition, summaries of past competitions, and archived webcasts of team activities from previous competitions. Lesson ideas on microgravity are also provided. (NASA)

• Edison Invents examines several of Edison's inventions - the telegraph, telephone, phonograph, and electric light bulb. Students can learn about his life and how to create their own light bulb. (SI)

• ISS EarthKAM Offers thousands of images of earth and guides for using them to support instruction in earth science, space science, geography, social studies, math and other subjects. Images can be searched by country or geographic feature (island, archipelago, peninsula, canyon and others). Photos were taken by a digital camera mounted on the International Space Station (ISS) under the direction and control of students. (NASA)

• Learn About Chemicals Around Your House answers questions about pesticides and toxic chemicals used around the house. It explains how to read labels and what to do in case of an accident. An online "home tour" invites students to identify pesticides and toxic substances in a typical kitchen, garage, laundry room, bathroom and bedroom. (EPA)

• Online Science-athon helps students discover the science in their daily lives. It is organized around four events: How Tall Am I? (grades 2-3), the Marble Roll (grades 4-8), Catching Sunshine, and the Chocolate Melt. The site makes it easy for teachers to incorporate the events into instruction, align learning with academic standards, and get students investigating their world in ways that are fun and instructive. Each event produces class data and includes questions for exploring student-generated data. (NSF)

• Polluted Runoff provides lessons and activities for studying how runoff affects streams, how to analyze what's upstream and downstream from your community (watersheds), and how families can reduce "nonpoint source" pollution, which results from rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. (EPA)

• Stories from Space Tells brief stories about the planets, tools used for exploring space, and "what's in space." Photos of planets, stars, telescopes and space craft are included. (NASA)

• Study of Place presents two online science units for middle school students. Antarctic Exploration tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to Antarctica and how his crew survived before being rescued two years after their journey began. Ocean Currents Exploration describes how Ben Franklin charted the Gulf Stream to help speed mail delivery from Europe the U.S. (NSF)

• Visible Earth is a searchable directory of images, visualizations and animations of Earth. Topics include soils, clouds, storms, hurricanes, droughts, precipitation, vegetation, oceans, sea ice, human population, land use, erosion, fires, rocks, minerals, regions and countries. (NASA)

• Alcatraz Island is home to one of the world's most infamous prisons. From the 1930s to 1960s, Alcatraz was the premier maximum security prison, housing inmates such as Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Before the prison was created, the island was home to American Indians. Today, it is one of San Francisco's most prominent tourist attractions. (NPS)

• Future State is the U.S. State Department's website for youth. It offers lesson plans on terrorism, Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis and information about more than 50 international issues. "Careers Representing America," games, and "Meet the Secretary of State" are among the features. Links are provided for learning about current events, geography, and the environment (State)

• Veterans History Project is collecting oral histories, letters, diaries and photos of America's war veterans and those who supported them. The project includes participants in World War I, World War II and the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. Students, citizens and organizations are invited to contribute using the Project Kit, which provides all information and forms needed to interview a veteran. Libraries, museums and civic groups can read about model veterans projects and start a project in their community. (LOC)

• We the People Bookshelf invites schools and libraries to apply to receive 15 thematically related books that depict universal themes and key moments in American history. The 2003-04 theme is courage. The deadline is October 22, 2003. (NEH)

• WhiteHouseKids.gov provides an online tour of the White House, biographical information about the President and Vice President, games and quizzes. It includes special features on U.S. Presidents and life in the White House, as well as a teacher's parent's guide. (WH)

EPA—Environmental Protection Agency
HHS—Department of Health and Human Services
LOC—Library of Congress
NASA—National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NEH—National Endowment for the Humanities
NGA—National Gallery of Art
NPS—National Park Service
NSF—National Science Foundation
SI—Smithsonian Institution
State—Department of State
WH—The White House