Site

Description

Comments/Rating

Yahoo

www.yahoo.com

Use it for research on more popular or commercial topics. Other sites are more academic.

The biggest and best known, so it can't be ignored.

About.com

www.about.com

Has leads to all high school subjects. Links to LessonPlans.com

(see under Lesson Plan Resources).

Especially good section on writing and poetry

Britannica

www.britannica.com

Subjects to browse are infinite. Offers premium membership, but not necessary to join.

An oldie but a goodie. A nice touch: a list of recent New York Times articles useful in the classroom.

Galaxy

www.galaxy.com

Opens with a list of topics applicable to all careers, then links to a variety of subcategories. For example, agriculture can take you to fish farming in Nova Scotia.

This large site takes a while to load.

The WWW Virtual Library

www.vlib.org

Law, government, and protective services students will find a library of info on forensics .

Terrific compendium of well-organized, detailed information.

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Description

Comments/Rating

All The Web

www.alltheweb.com

All The Web provides both comprehensive coverage of the web, and outstanding relevancy.

If you can't find it on Google, try All The Web next.

Ask.com

www.ask.com

Allows you to search by asking questions in a ìnatural language.î

Definitely worth considering.

Google

www.google.com

Google is winning the race for most content indexed on the web.

It has a well-deserved reputation as the top choice for searching the web.

HotBot

www.hotbot.com

HotBot provides access to the web's four major search engines.

It's a fast, easy way to get different search results in one place.

MSN Search

www.msnsearch.com

There is a team of editors that monitors the most popular searches performed, and then hand-picks the sites that are most relevant.

Northern Light

www.northernlight.com

WebCrawler

www.webcrawler.com

MetaCrawler

www.metacrawler.com

Check out the section on education.

Arts teachers will also like the resources on design and the arts .

Good starting point for almost any topic.

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Description

Comments/Rating

The LearningStation

www.learningstation.com

A technology-oriented subscription-based service to schools.

Attempts to integrate technology in a meaningful way with curriculum.

NetSchools Corporation

www.netschools.net

Net-based services, including hardware and software, for schools.

Plato Learning acquired NetSchools Corp. recently. Very organized net learning.

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Description

Comments/Rating

Analyze and Apply

www.analyze-apply.com

Offers teacher-prepared, project based instructional units and on-line training for teachers in math, science, language arts, and social studies. One of the few sites to include SCANS skills in the content instruction. Use this site if you're searching for curriculum that integrates subjects, careers, and skills.

Other lessons for occupations such as:

ecologists, farmers, dieticians, physicians assistant, health researcher, expert witness

and aerospace engineer.

• Health
• Ecology
• Technology
• Engineering
• Communication
• Arts
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• Language Arts

Strong offerings of integrated classroom units: an 11^th grade student might prepare a memo and a 10-minute presentation to a local hospital board

on the history of birth control advocates after WWI.

Also, good source if you're looking for professional development resources.

Columbia Education Center Lesson Plans

www.col-ed.org

Devoted entirely to lesson plans. Maintained by a private educational service in Oregon. About 20-40 lessons in all subject areas.

Very teacher-oriented, no-nonsense site. You can go directly to high school lesson plansóall of which are classroom-tested!

The Educator's Reference Desk

www.eduref.org

A great source for resource guides and lesson plans.

Also, do your students need to know how to write a resume and complete a job application? Use AskERIC .

ERIC is the world's largest source of education information, with more than 1 million abstracts of documents and journal articles on education research and practice. Our version of the Database, updated monthly with the latest citations available, provides access to ERIC Document citations from 1966 through April 2004 and ERIC Journal citations from 1966 through March 2004.

Best bets for lesson plans for high school teachers:

• Health (family life);
• Arts (architecture);
• Language Arts (journalism and literature);
• Mathematics (algebra; geometry; calculus);
• Social Studies (U.S. history, government, political systems, psychology & current events)

LessonPlans.com

www.LessonPlansPage.com

A prime example of what you will find on this site: A complete unit on the Renaissance for world history, including daily lesson plans.

Easy to browse site for lesson plans. Topics for high-schoolers are well-described, and a detailed overview of each lesson or unit leads you in the right direction.

New York Times

www.nytimes.com/learning

Media source for current events, the New York Times is also a source for lesson plans and curriculum. Lesson plan units use recent articles as springboards for examining important curricular topics. Lessons are designed to be shared with teachers in other content areas and to support interdisciplinary units. Recent example of a daily lesson plan: Carnival of Carnivores.

Best Units by subject are:

• Global History
• Science
• Media Studies
• Social Studies

The New York Times archives contain hundreds of free lesson plans for grades 6-12. Fun features on the site: Word of the Day; and Who's Who & What's What in the news.

ProQuest

www.proquestk12.com

Searchable database for lesson plans, school reform, and student activities.

Site

Description

Comments/Rating

The Franklin Institute Science Museum

www.fi.edu

Some highlights:

• Biology (the human heart and circulation)
• Aeronautics (design an aircraft)
• U.S. History (the life of Benjamin Franklin)

Very friendly site for an educator.

International Education and Resource Network

www.iearn.org

This network links up schools in different countries (or states) for projects. All projects end with an exhibition or product–which fits with an academy perspective. Examples of projects include clean water for Nicaragua, Balkans peace making, and a long list of environmental science projects.

If you want your students to participate in a global affairs project, this is the site to search. Five star site.

The NASA Quest Project

www.quest.arc.nasa.gov

Searchable lesson plans for space and aeronautics. Good section on careers in aeronautics, plus K-12 teacher's guides. Current units of interest include Women of NASA and Astroadventures: Build a Habitable Planet.

If you want more general information on NASA, try links such as www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/Redirect_Spacelink.html

National Air and Space Museum

www.nasm.si.edu

Offers a long list of publications for aeronautics.

If you like airplanes or spacecraft, you'll like this site.

National Archives and Records Administration

www.archives.gov

Look for the section on the Digital Classroom, which offers lesson plans and ideas on how to use primary materials in history research.

A surprisingly interesting site. If you want a document or record, start here.

SitesAlive!

www.sitesalive.com

A subscription service to web-based classrooms. Subscriptions are reasonable ($199 for 30 students per semester). Includes lesson plans, assignments, and web interaction with sites. This is the group that sponsors the Classroom at Sea.

Especially good on environmental science, such as classes in rainforest and fisheries restoration in Central America.

Smithsonian Institution

www.si.edu

A site as large as the Smithsonian itself. Links you to all other archives and museums and offices of education throughout the government.

Browse this one over the summer, when you have more leisure time.

ThinkQuest

www.thinkquest.org

This site has topics on most everything of concern to students. Some notable ones:

• entrepreneurship
• study skills
• values.

ThinkQuest is mainly known for its collection of educational web sites created by its student and teacher community.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

www.ushmm.org

A teacher-friendly site that will give you ideas, lesson plans, and resources.

Indispensable as a resource for teaching about the Holocaust.

Web Quest

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest

Inquiry and web-based based project resources. Includes about 500 projects for students in grades 9-12. In addition to traditional subject matter, the projects usually include work on life skills and professional skills.

These are collaborative, teacher written projects that are proven products. The projects are displayed using a common format- task, resources, problem, evaluation- that makes them extremely accessible.

Site

Description

Comments/Rating

History Channel

www.historychannel.com

Click on classroom resources for topics and teacher's guides for history. Of special note are the Oral History Interview Guidelines, which are downloadable as a handout.

Well-designed site with many options for teachers, including live webcasts.

Media Awareness Network

www.media-awareness.ca

Offers a clearinghouse of information, teaching units on media and communications, student handouts, and media education tips.

The best site for media and communications. Comes from Canada, with a refreshing perspective on the media. Five star site.

Best bet: online modules to teach students how to surf the web.

Time for Kids

www.timeforkids.com/TFK

Clickable headlines lead you to just the right information. Shows you how to structure a lesson around the news.

User friendly, current site that allows you to integrate current events into the classroom. Check this site out when a breaking story impacts your subject.

U.S. News Classroom Program

www.usnews.com/
classroom

Similar to the Time site, but more focused on:

• Politics
• Government
• International Affairs

Look at teaching units on federal budget or foreign policy.

USA Today Education

www.usatoday.com/educate/home.htm

Also similar to Time, but less serious. A four-page lesson plan around the news is available online at 9:00 p.m. the night before class.

Daily information of national interest. Can use the teaching aids for all levels of students.

Site

Description

Comments/Rating

Awesome Library

www.awesomelibrary.org

Catalogues the top 5% of all education resources, from more than 20,000 sources.

Good set of rubrics and materials on public speaking for media and communications.

Blue Web'n

www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/

A Pacific Bell site that catalogues 1200+ blue ribbon learning sites on the web by subject, grade level, and format.

Content table connects you directly to your area of interest.

Easy to navigate.

The strength of this site is that it leads you, by topic, to 75 other hot web sites. For example, for health teachers:

• Personal Trainers and Wellness
• Promoting Better Health through Fitness
• The Real Scoop on Tobacco

Buck Institute for Education

www.bie.org

A site focused on project-based learning and problem-based social studies with links to many project-based resources. Good source of projects for economics.

More of a site for teacher professional development than for lesson plans.

Center for Performance Assessment

www.makingstandardswork.com

A site devoted entirely to assessment and standards.

Very useful sections on Best Teaching Practices, Assessment Resources, and Performance Assessments created by teachers.

Curricular Resources and Networking Projects

U.S. Department of Education

www.ed.gov

Web site of the U.S. Department of Education. Particularly good access to state-by-state resources.

More useful as a general resource than a curriculum resource. Links to all topics in education. Good site for research reports.

Curriculum Using Technology Institute

www.esc20.net/cut

Unusual step-by-step format for exploring the use of technology throughout all subjects and for creating your own individual lesson plan.

Part of the Region 20 Education Service Center in Texas.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)

www.ed.gov/free

A federal government web site that makes teaching and learning resources from across the federal government available in one place. This site lists all the education projects supported by more than 30 government agencies.

FREE relies on a search tool that displays the full text of each resource. Comprehensive and informative. Good source for project research.

Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)

www.thegateway.org

The GEM consortium is spearheaded by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology. Currently includes more than 7,000 items from 320 members of the consortium. Use this site to start your searches.

Teachers can type a topic, grade level, and other information into a search screen that retrieves–from more than 140 web sites–lessons, instructional units, and other free educational materials on the specified topic. Five stars.

Glencoe Publishing

www.glencoe.com

Use this site for publications. Has a Web Resources section that links to web sites with teaching ideas, lesson plans, and other professional development information. Partly sponsored by McGraw-Hill. Many subjects available. Examples:

• Family and Consumer Services
• Drafting and Design Technology

The site provides tips on:

• career development
• building portfolios
• classroom management instruction and planning
• reading in the content areas
• using technology

JDL K-12 World

www.k-12world.com

One of the better sites for subjects outside the usual curriculum. For example, some good resources on:

• Industrial Technology and Design
• Business Education
• Religion.

This site offers a cyberlibrary for K-12 education.

Jobs for the Future

www.jff.org

Look for publications on:

• school-to-career
• internships
• standards
• 9th grade curriculum
• mentoring

Site of a leading organization focused on school-to-career issues.

The Library in the Sky

www.nwrel.org/sky

Tracks more than 1400 sites useful to educators.

Sponsored by the Northwest Regional Education Lab.

Lightspan Study Web

www.studyweb.com

Huge list of resources on many topics. Great site for students as well as teachers. All sites are rated for visual content.

A five star resource. Loads very fast, easy to navigate, comprehensive resource for all subjects and careers.

National Geographic

www.nationalgeographic.com

Searchable database by grade and topic. Many downloadable resources. Maps and adventures for students in:

• Geography
• Biology
• Health Sciences

This site is what you would expect from National Geographic: very organized, professional, comprehensive.

Pitsco Innovative Education

www.pitsco.com

Pitsco is a private effort to "revolutionize high school education." Many of the products are fee-based, but many other resources are available on this site.

Worth looking at if you stress team-based and project-based instruction in your classroom. Emphasis is on technology.

Rubistar

http://rubistar.4teachers.org

See rubrics in action. A required site for project-based teachers.

A selling point for this site: it helps you create your own rubrics.

The Virtual High School

www.govhs.org

A collaborative of high schools that offer on-line courses that your school may not provide.

A non-profit endeavor, but charges an annual fee for participating schools.

What Kids Can Do

www.whatkidscando.org

Reviews meaningful community projects carried out by students all over the country. Good for:

• Journalism
• Arts
• Internships
• Service Learning

If you're momentarily uninspired, here's the site to search. Theme–‘Powerful Learning with Public Purpose'–describes this site.

Site

Description

Comments/Rating

Access Excellence

www.accessexcellence.org/RC

Offers a Visual Library with three major sections. Resources section links you to array of subtopics. Emphasis on:

• Biosciences
• Environment
• Health
• Math
• Science

Highlights include:

• The Living Skeleton, a series of X-ray images of the human body.
• Graphics Gallery, a series of labeled diagrams with explanations of important processes of biotechnology.
• Microscopy with light and electron projects by and for students.

You'll also find bioethics lessons and plant genome projects.

American Association for the Advancement of Science

www.aaas.org

The "homepage" for science educators. Covers all sciences, including social sciences. Large publications section, with books and other media available.

• Agriculture
• Environmental Science
• Health and Bioscience
• Education
• Engineering
• Information Technology
• Transportation
• Aviation

Not easy to navigate–use the site map to find your way to education resources.

ArtsEdNet

www.getty.edu/education/

The "homepage" for arts and communication. A large array of lesson plans available, plus all resources for arts instruction, organized by grade level.

• Media and Communications
• Visual and Performing Arts

Try this site if you want to bring more art into your curriculum.

Center for Education and Work (CEW)

www.cew.wisc.edu/
Mathnet

CEW at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with the School Mathematics and Science Achievement Center (SMSAC), created Mathnet to develop integrated, authentic curriculum units of 2-6 weeks in length for grades 9-12 or two-year college-level mathematics.

• Architecture
• Building Trades
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Industrial Technology
• Business and Finance
• Transportation
• Engineering

Current curriculum products that link math to occupations.

Best for broad technical areas.

The Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP)

www.comap.com

COMAP develops curriculum materials and teacher training programs that are multidisciplinary, academically rigorous, and fun, using mathematical tools to explore real-world problems.

• Math

Products are in print, video, and multi-media formats. Provides links to resources in mathematics and science for educators and students. Grades 9-12.

Cornell Theory Center Math and Science Gateway

www.tc.cornell.edu/Services/Education/Gateways/Math_and_Science

Manageable list of student-friendly ideas for:

• Science
• Math
• Computers
• Engineering
• Health
• Agriculture
• Culinary Arts
• Environmental Science

Offers resources and links to other informative web sites.

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Math and Science Education

www.enc.org/weblinks

Excellent source for lesson plans, links to thousands of sites for teachers and students offering real world data on math and science topics that can be used for student projects, and information on careers in all science and math categories.

• Math
• Science
• Engineering
• Electronics
• Bioscience
• Health
• Environmental Science
• Agriculture

Posts each month a list of best web sites–the Digital Dozen. Five star site.

ExploreLearning.com

www.explorelearning.com

A site for highly interactive, multimedia lessons.

This site makes learning fun.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

www.faa.gov/education_research/education/

Offers Aviation Education Curriculum Guides as part of a collaborative effort between the Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Telecommunications, FAA, NASA, and Bridgewater State College.

• Aviation
• Transportation

This is a good site if a student wants to do a history of aviation or learn about careers in aviation. The National Coalition for Aviation Education also offers here a guide to help educators identify and obtain aviation-oriented educational materials and information.

Foundation for Teaching Economics

www.fte.org

Designed to "introduce individuals to an economic way of thinking," this site offers detailed lesson plans in economics, as well as content standards, links, and resources.

• Agriculture
• Environmental Science
• Business
• Marketing
• Finance
• Consumer and Family Life

If you're going to teach economics, visit this site. For example: "Transaction costs in a Soviet Household" offers an interesting look at consumer challenges.

Geography Network

www.geographynetwork.com

An information source for maps and data from weather satellites, census, elevations, and the like.

Bookmark this site as a resource for students working on a variety of projects.

History Matters

www.historymatters.gmu.edu/

U.S. history, with topics that cut across all careers. Offers lesson plans, resources.

• Math
• Science
• Humanities
• Economics
• Geography

A great "homepage" for U.S. history teachers.

Math Forum

www.mathforum.com

The Math Forum is an online math education center that offers:

• Secondary math units
• Web-based discussion areas
• Forum Internet Mathematics Library
• Ask-an-expert service
• Math

Good reference source for standard math subjects. Its problems of the week provide creative, non-routine challenges for students in grades three through twelve. Excellent list of Internet resources for specific math subjects.

Music Education Online

www.childrensmusicworkshop.com

Links to resources for music education.

• Visual and Performing Arts

Lesson plans available, teachers encouraged to submit their own ideas.

NASA Educator Resource Center Network (ERCN)

http://education.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Helps educators access science, mathematics, and technology instructional products aligned with national standards and appropriate state frameworks.

• Engineering
• Technology
• Aeronautics
• Transportation

Excellent site for career activities in various locations throughout the U.S. Also, comprehensive listing of workshops for teachers.

National Center for History in the Schools

www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/

U.S. history and world history. Units available that correlate to history standards. Designed for teachers who need ideas and materials for next month.

• History

Easy-to-locate units and lessons. Reproducible, downloadable materials. An excellent user-friendly site. Five star site.

 National Council of Mathematics Illuminations

www.illuminations.nctm.org

Based on the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, this site contains lesson plans developed by expert teachers, as well as mathematics education web resources and searchable interactive versions of updated NCTM standards.

• Math

Another easy to use site that allows you to go straight to grade level and topic to find lessons.

Five star math site.

Ohio Math Works

www.ohiomathworks.org

Ohio Math Works is a PBS project that shows students in grades 7, 8, and 9 how industry professionals use mathematics. Videos take students behind the scenes in companies and give them an opportunity to do the math-related tasks that are done by professionals on the job.

• Hospitality and Tourism
• Culinary Arts
• Health
• Media and Communications
• Visual Arts
• Science
• Journalism
• Mathematics

On this award winning, engaging site for grades 7, 8, and 9, you'll find math units that relate to:

• Theme parks
• Snacks
• Fashion
• Weather
• Newspapers

Five star site for integrating math and careers.

PBS Teacher Source

www.pbs.org/teachersource

A service of the Teacher Resource Service at PBS and participating public television stations nationwide. Provides a blend of technologies, including online communication and video. A large, general site with over 3,000 lesson plans in many subjects.

• Visual Arts Communications
• Media Studies
• Health

Can also be used as a specialty site for arts, literature, and health, where it is very strong.

TERC

www.terc.edu

Non-profit education research and development organization whose mission is to improve mathematics, science, and technology teaching and learning. It develops, evaluates, promotes, and supports implementation of exemplary, inquiry-based mathematics and science curricula.

• Engineering
• Technology
• Agriculture
• Biosciences
• Health

A current, innovative site with a list of instructional programs and materials created by TERC. Many links to interesting projects/resources for students.

Worldwide Arts Resources

www.wwar.com

Guide to arts curricula and resources used in arts high schools and programs across the country.

• Arts

Many of these programs and resources maintain links to other arts resources on the web.