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Library cardholders can access online databases for articles on specific subjects!

	Good Starting Points Biography Fine Arts History & Social Studies Good starting points; geography; government & politics (international, U.S.); history (good starting points, ancient, exploration, middle ages, 20th-century decades, U.S.) Hot Topics Language Arts Handwriting, reading, writing Languages Literature and Writing Authors, literary criticism, writing	Math Science Good starting points, animals & biology, anatomy, astronomy & space exploration, botany, chemistry, dictionaries, environment & ecology, geology, physics, school & science fair projects, weather Speeches
	See also the library's Homeschooling links and Reference links, which connect to dictionaries, encyclopedias, international information, maps, statistics, style guides and more.

Math

• Dave's Short Course in Trigonometry

• Euclid's Elements
  Geometry.

• HomeworkSpot: Math Links
  A cluster of useful links on math topics arranged for elementary, middle and high school students.

• Illuminations
  Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this Web site offers lesson plans and interactive math activities suitable for students in grades K-12. Contents are searchable by grade level, broad topic or keyword. Text explanations supplement the graphics-enhanced demonstration of principles.

• Math in Daily Life

• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
  Students can play Web-based games to practice math concepts. Activities are designed for students in grades K-12 and are grouped by grade level and subject. The site is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and requires a Java-enabled Web browser.

• NumberNut.com
  Covers math principles from grades K-7 with fun practice activities.

• Weights and Measures

• A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
  Units of measure and conversion factors.

• Weights and Measures Resources
  Consult this site when you need to calculate and/or convert numeric information related to fields of science, engineering, time, currency, distance or temperature.

Good Starting Points,   Anatomy,   Animals & Biology,   Astronomy & Space Exploration,   Botany,   Chemistry,   Dictionaries,   Environment & Ecology,   Geology,   Physics,   School & Science Fair Projects,   Weather

• Good Starting Points
  

  • Cogito
    Lists competitions and summer camps in math and science around the country for students. Includes live interviews with current scientists. From Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

  • Extreme Science
    Use this site to look up "world records" in various categories, such as in the animal world (ex: largest snake), in earth sciences (ex: highest waterfall) or in weather (ex: coldest place).

  • How Stuff Works
    Visit this site for homework — or just for fun. You'll find out stuff like "how does a thermos know to keep the hot stuff hot and the cold stuff cold???" — and lots more about things around the house, things you see in public, computers, engines and motors, your body and lots more.

  • Science News for Kids
    Designed for upper elementary and middle school students, the content on this site is sponsored by Science News magazine. It features articles on timely topics, as well as broad subject coverage in areas as diverse as agriculture, behavior, chemistry, environment, nutrition, space, technology and weather. In addition, there are weekly brainteaser puzzles, science fair project tips, Web-based resources and suggestions for further reading.

  • SciTech Daily Review
    This site lives up to its claim of providing informed, thought-provoking coverage of scitech issues. Voluminous in scope, it offers a solution to the "I have to write a report about a science article" assignment.

• Anatomy
  

  See also the library's links to Health and Medicine.

  • Atlas of the Body
    Sponsored by the American Medical Association, this Web site offers information on human anatomy in the form of clearly labeled medical illustrations, some accompanied by a glossary with definitions. The page presentations, which are user-friendly in design, may be printed or e-mailed.

  • Human Anatomy Online
    Informative lessons and animations for users whose browsers support Java.

• Animals and Biology

• The Animal Diversity Web
  This searchable database provides information about many creatures and includes scientific classification. Note: though the database is offered by University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, the museum warns that it "can not guarantee [its] accuracy or completeness."

• Animal Information Resources
  Information on specific creatures, natural environments, endangered species and more.

• Biology4Kids
  Covers cells, microrganisms, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates and animal systems.

• Bioscience Issues
  Consult this site for full text, peer-reviewed articles covering seven primary topic areas (biodiversity, environment, genomics, biotechnology, evolution, new frontiers and bioscience education). Includes interviews with experts in the field, and provides credentials for all contributing authors.

• BugBios
  Arresting photographs and short descriptive records.

• Desert Animals & Wildlife
  Extensive lists of desert animals, with clickable links to color photos and descriptions, supplemented by explanations of behavioral and structural adaptations that enable animals to survive in conditions of extreme heat and little water.

• Dinosaurs

• Dino Directory
  Search by name for dinosaur fact files, including video animations. Read about theories of extinction and scan a chronology of time periods from 220 million years ago to extinction.

• Prehistoric Life: Dinosaurs
  Sponsored by the British Natural History Museum. Search dinosaurs by name, timeline, geographic location or body shape. Includes printable data cards on 154 specimens.

• eNature: Field Guides
  Species descriptions are provided for various types of animals and plants. You may search by size, color, habitat, region or name; or you may browse through the over 5,500 entries.

• The Endangered Species Program
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provide useful information as well as links to other organizations providing online material on biodiversity, species and habitats, and economic aspects of wildlife conservation.

• Factsheets and News Releases on Threatened and Endangered Species
  Links to sites providing photos and scientific classification.

• Insect Printouts
  The student resource pages from EnchantedLearning.com cover a wide range of topics useful for many homework assignments. Investigate this specific section to obtain clearly-labeled black-and-white outline drawings of insects.

• Insecta Inspecta World
  Although less comprehensive than some other sites, this collection offers excellent information suitable for student reports.

• NetVet/Electronic Zoo Animal Information & Archives Home Page

• Petbugs
  A site designed for bug hobbyists, with extensive information about obtaining and caring for both common and exotic bugs.

• Astronomy and Space Exploration
  

  • Cosmos4Kids
    Covers many of the concepts of astronomy and space exploration that are part of elementary and middle school classwork.

  • Earth and Moon Viewer
    This page allows you to zoom in to view the Earth from specific latitudinal and longitudinal points. There are also pictures of the moon, clouds and jet stream movements.

  • From Stargazers to Starships
    An online tutorial on subjects relating to Earth's motion in space, Newtonian mechanics, spaceflight and spacecraft.

  • IPL Kidspace: Air & Space
    Links to sites with information on astronomy, space exploration and aviation.

  • NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Find out about astronauts, living and working in space, the space shuttle and lots more. Check out NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive for dramatic visual images from satellites, telescopes, robotic probes and exploratory space vehicles since mid-1995. Each image is accompanied by a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

  • The Nine Planets
    Information, images and even some sounds and movies.

  • Principles of Aeronautics
    This online text is presented in versions for beginning, intermediate or advanced students. A Spanish version is also available.

  • The Solar System
    A visually arresting and content-rich offering from NASA. Younger elementary school students will benefit from the site's companion pages.

  • Star Child
    A teaching Web site, geared to both elementary (level 1) students and high school (level 2) students, with online text and glossary links, printable pictures and graphics, games and activities, a "question of the month," biographies and links to other sites. Also available in German, Italian or Portuguese.

  • StarDate Online
    A guide to stargazing: advice on what to look for in the sky, where to look and when to look by date and time. The site includes a calendar of celestial events, an "Astro" glossary and more. Also available in Spanish.

  • Views of the Solar System

• Botany
  

  See also the library's links to Gardening.

  • Desert Plants & Wildflowers
    This site goes beyond detailed descriptions and color photographs to explore the mechanisms by which desert plants adapt to their harsh environment, and offers data on range and habitat as well.

  • Native Plant Information Network
    Affiliated with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (established in 1982), this site's purpose is to make available scientifically accurate information on native plants of the United States. You can search by scientific or common name, or by state. Information includes description, color photo, distribution and habitat preference, endangered status and bloom calendar.

  • Plants Database
    Maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Offers names, checklists, identification information, distributional data, etc. Also provides links to global plant checklists; conservation fact sheets; and information on threatened and endangered plants searchable by family, genus or state.

• Chemistry

• Chem4Kids
  Covers the basic concepts of chemistry related to matter, atoms, elements, reactions and biochemistry.

• Periodic Table of the Elements
  From Los Alamos National Laboratory's Chemistry Division.

• WebElements Periodic Table

• Dictionaries
  

  • Biotech's Life Science Dictionary

• Environment and Ecology
  

  See also Animals and Biology, Botany, Geography and Geology.

  • Biomes

  • Biomes Around the World

  • Major Biomes of the World
    Factual, college-level presentation of the global distribution and structural characteristics of eight major biomes. Site created and maintained by Radford University.

  • The World's Biomes

  • Energy Kid's Page
    Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the information on this site is suitable for elementary school students and covers a range of topics. The Energy Facts section includes global sources and uses of energy and tips on how to save energy. The Energy History area contains timelines and brief biographical profiles of scientific pioneers in the field. A nice glossary offers hypertext cross references to additional explanatory materials. Contents are also searchable by keyword.

  • Environmental Protection Agency
    The EPA offers a wonderful collection of information for students. The Student Center is designed for middle and high school students, and the Explorers' Club is for younger children.

  • Geography4Kids
    Covers the general concepts of climate, energy, the food chain, ecosystems and the earth's structure.

  • Global Warming/Climate Change

  • BBC News: In Depth — Climate Change
    Charts, graphs, animations, key news coverage and thematic reports are brought together in this multimedia presentation from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

  • EPA Climate Change Site
    You will find information here that defines and quantifies the problem of global warming on an international scale, and proposes “action steps” to reduce greenhouse gasses. The special section “Global Warming Kids Site” explains the issue in terms suitable for younger elementary school students.

  • Exploratorium's Global Climate Change
    A primer on climate change, with discussion of the role of human activity and areas of uncertainty in research.

  • Feeling the Heat: A Web Article on Climate Change
    From the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

  • Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions
    From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

  • Green Facts
    Questions and answers on climate change presented in "three levels of increasing detail."

  • NatureServe Explorer: An Online Encyclopedia of Life
    This is a nicely-developed site for seeking "conservation information on more than 60,000 plants, animals and ecological communities of the United States and Canada." It is possible to search either by scientific or common name, or by species groups.

  • Phenomena Backgrounders
    Interesting material on a variety of subjects such as atmosphere, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, flora and fauna, storms and volcanos.

• Geology
  

  See also Geography and Environment.

  • Earthquakes for Kids & Grownups
    On this informative site one can investigate earthquake factsheets, find science project ideas, research "today in earthquake history," read about careers in geophysics and learn about the science of seismology.

  • Geography4Kids -- Earth Structure

  • Geology.com
    Offers articles and news on various geological topics, a geology dictionary, career information and teacher resources. Includes a collection of U.S. state maps and satellite images as well as country maps paired with Landsat images.

  • Prehistoric Time Line
    Explore developments from the time that Earth formed to the period when modern humans were born. This geologic time scale from National Geographic includes photos, illustrations, and information about each era.

• Physics

  • About Rainbows
    Information, suggested reading and links to online resources.

  • A Century of Physics
    The American Physical Society has created a graphically-compelling presentation of accomplishments in physics from 1896 to the year 2000. Material may be accessed through alphabetical index, via sliding scale timeline or through keyword searching for people, theories, or milestone events. A panoramic "wall chart," arranged by decade, provides an additional pictorial method for searching chronologically.

  • Physics4Kids
    Covers motion; heat and thermodynamics; electricity and magnetism; light; and concepts in modern physics in simple language with diagrams.

  • Simple Machines
    A well-designed offering from the Franklin Institute, with clear explanations and demonstrations of the principles of six simple machines.

• School and Science Fair Projects

  • BridgePros
    A site dedicated to providing information on bridges — their history, their construction and news of current projects. The "learning center" section of this Web site discusses styles and techniques for building bridge models out of various materials.

  • Science Fair Central

  • Science Fair Project Resource Guide
    Covers everything from generating an idea for your project through planning its stages, and provides tips on writing up the results.

  • Super Science - Super Bridge
    This interesting site will help you with your "build a model bridge" assignment.

  • Ultimate Science Fair Resource

• Weather

  • Franklin's Forecast
    Weather-related information, links and activities from Philadelphia's Franklin Institute.