Art

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Art Modules for Teachers   http://www.ovationtv.com/artszone/teachers/ 

These on-line modules created for teachers are absolutely excellent and are well worth investigating.  They focus on all of the arts including drama, art and music themes. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRRR

The Making of The Medieval Book  http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/making/

The making of The Medieval book explores materials and techniques used to create the lavishly illuminated manuscripts produced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  The images in these handwritten text are called illuminations because of the radiant glow created by the gold, silver, and other colours that we used.  The site examines the four stages involved in the making of the Medieval book: parchment making, writing, illumination, and binding. Ideal for year levels 8-12 RRRRR

Photographers of Genius  http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/genius/

This online exhibition focuses on photographers who were all ahead of their time, exerting a profound influence on both contemporaries and successors.  From the very first photographers such as David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson through to August Sander, Roger Fenton, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, Eadweard J Muybridge, Man Ray and Andre Kertesz, amongst others who represented here at this online exhibition. Ideal for year levels 10-12 RRRRR

Michelangelo to Vasari http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/michelangelo/

With his ideal interpretation of the human body and the sculptural power of his compositions, Michelangelo influences contemporaries and followers.  This online exhibition studies the development of the movement called the "bella maniera” (beautiful style).  This style sought to shock and delighted viewers with exaggerated poses, extreme perspective, and muscular figures that threatened to spill off the page. Ideal for year levels 6-12 RRRRR

The Figure Drawing Laboratory  http://www2.evansville.edu/drawinglab/index.html

This site is devoted to better understanding of the elements that make up the human figure and how to better portray them.  The site focuses on accepted conventions of figure drawing that have been used to model the figure since antiquity.  After completing a primer, students will move on to look a proportion, shading and texture and then construction.  This is an excellent online course of instruction for students.  Ideal for year levels 6-12 RRRRR

The Glory of the Gothic Page  http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/glory/

Featuring whimsical marginal decorations, vivid narratives, and the lavish use of gold leaf, Gothic illumination is among the most innovative and beautiful art forms of the Middle Ages.  This online exhibition displays some classic examples of this artistic style characterised by the naturalistic style of painting and a sense of liveliness in the format of the page (1200-1350 AD). Ideal for year levels 9-12 RRRRR

Exploring How You Understand Art  http://www.getty.edu/artsednet/resources/Viewpoints/index.html

The designers of viewpoints have used the research of Michael Parsons to help identify five viewpoints, all sets of ideas, which many people use to understand art work.  At this site you can carry out the questionnaire and discover how you understand a variety of artworks, and how your students may respond to particular artworks.  Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRR

What is art?  What is an artist?  http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/artartists.html

Art has not always been what we think it is today.  An object regarded as art today may not have been perceived as such when it was first made, nor was the person who made it necessarily regarded as an artist.  Both the notion of art and the idea of the artist are relatively modern notions.  This exhibition explores the perception of art and the identity of the artist through history and in contemporary society. Ideal for year levels 10-12 RRRRR

English Language

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Hero Machine  http://www.ugo.com/channels/freestyle/heroMachine/heromachine.asp

Often, it is possible to prompt more creative writing by initially carrying out a more visual activity and here is a good example.  Students can build their own hero using the hero machine and once they have composed the hero they can then set about developing stories associated with the exploits of their hero.  You can create fantasy heroes, superhero's or even sports heroes using this free software. Ideal for year levels 2-7 RRRRR

Navigating the Children's Media Landscape  http://www.ciconline.com/Enrichment/MediaLiteracy/NavigatingMediaLandscape/default.htm

This is an excellent report to recommend to parents as it provides a guide to help families develop a comprehensive media planning the allows them to take great control of the TV viewing, Internet and other media activities.  It also contains ideas and strategies to help parents and caregivers select the news media in ways appropriate for their children.  Ideal for parents  RRRRR

George Orwell Revisited: “1984 plus 20”  http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/news/116449.htm

October 2004 represents 20 years since 1984 the focus of George Orwell's classic novel.  In order to celebrate this, the US National Council of teachers of English is sponsoring a discussion of the novel.  Students will be able to take part in face-to-face discussions as well as via media such as the Internet, including Web logs and online forums, student essays and projects, film and video projects. Ideal for year levels 7-11 RRRR

The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/

The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Education Programs collects, analyses, synthesises and disseminates information about language instruction.  Teachers will find here a wide range of resources dealing with everything from assessment and accountability, teacher quality, teaching pedagogical practices and news around the world. Ideal for teachers RRR

The Fable Library http://www.fablevision.com/place/library/

Students and teachers will find here a modest collection of fables for their amusement, bemusement and their perusement!  Telefables are books that come alive on your computer desktop which you can download from the site and read any time you like.  These fables provide excellent, interactive reading material for students. Ideal for year levels 3-7 RRRR

The English Renaissance in Context   http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/collections/furness/eric/eric.html

The English  Renaissance in Context site is designed to provide scholars and students, at a variety of levels with access to major texts of the English renaissance in their original versions.  Teachers and students will also find here a set of tutorials on some of Shakespeare's plays and on the making and selling of books during the early modern period. Ideal for year levels 10-12 RRRR

Book Backchat    http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/bookchat/home.html

Book backchat is a great idea for students studying a particular text.  After reading the text they can then enter into discussions and answer questions on the book online in "backchat".  Students will often find comments here from the authors of the books as well as background information. Ideal for year levels 3-9 RRR

Lingo2Word  http://www.lingo2word.com/

Lingo2Word is devoted to demystifying the new Internet shorthand language of text messages. The site is devoted to the fun of text messaging it all forms and allows "late adopters" to pick up the lingo and start texting immediately.  As a language form should we simply ignore at and hope it goes away, or embrace it and apply it?  Could texting become an intermediate tree between the visual world of young learners and the textual world that they are moving into? Ideal for all year levels RRRRR

General & Professional Development

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Educause Review  http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/

Educause magazine is available online here at no cost.  This magazine has "printed" some of the most informative and well presented research papers on the changes in education practice, taking into account the rich information environments teachers now have at their disposal.  Although the material is designed for tertiary institutions, it is just as relevant for primary and secondary teachers and the resources available here are exemplary and we commend them to you. Ideal for teachers  RRRRR

Education World: Lesson Planning Centre  http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/

The amount of information available here is huge and provides teachers with a wide range of tools and lesson ideas at no cost.  Everything from worksheet libraries, printable students pages, lesson plans, scavenger hunts, five-minute fillers, holidays and special days, Webquests, templates, colouring calendars, contests and competitions, newsletters . . . . Ideal for teachers RRR

Student Leadership & Development Institute   http://www.odl.rutgers.edu/sldi/LResources.htm

If you are looking on building student leadership within your school then the resources available here will assist you in building a student leadership program as well as providing some excellent readings and links to additional sites. Ideal for teachers RRRR

Copyright & Copyleft  http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/copyrightleft2.html

If you are confused about whether or not you can use any particular media for education due to copyright law then this web site will provide some excellent background information dealing with this issue. Ideal for teachers RRR

Certificates for Teachers   http://www.certificates4teachers.com/

No, these are not certificates for teachers; these are certificates for teachers to use and give to students!  Teachers give out a huge number of certificates and if you are purchasing then commercially they can be a very expensive way of rewarding student behaviour or achievement.  With the excellent printers that we have available to us today we can print off certificates readily and easily.  This excellent collection of free certificate templates will provide you with the ability to customise your certificates also. Ideal for teachers RRRRR

Rubrics for Teachers  http://www.rubrics4teachers.com/

Using rubrics for assessment purposes has become widely accepted now as an effective methodology.  If you are looking for some rubric masters that you can use in your classroom, then this web site will link you through to an excellent collection.  If you wish to introduce rubrics to your staff then there is an excellent downloadable 36 page booklet available here dealing with what rubrics are and how to use them.  Ideal for teachers  RRRR

Forms & Letters for Teachers   http://www.teachertools.org/forms_dynam.asp

Often, as teachers we're using a wide range of common forms and letters – we so rarely take the time to create templates in order to speed up this process.  At this web site you will find an excellent collection of templates already created for you..  You will find here discipline templates, academic templates communication templates and much more.  Excellent time-saving information.  Ideal for teachers  RRRR

Units for Teachers   http://www.units4teachers.com/

The goal of this site is to provide teachers with free, professionally created, and ready to use theme units for their classroom to adapt for special needs, levels and situations.  Each week the site features a specific unit, or site that provides free unit planning resources. Ideal for teachers  RRRRR

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The Spalding Baseball Guides  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/spaldinghtml/

These baseball guides were produced from 1889 - 1939 and this collection reproduces 35 of those guides.  If you're looking into the history of baseball then the information provided here would be invaluable. Ideal for year levels 6-10 RRRR

Small Steps: A Guide to Better Health   http://www.smallstep.gov/

It takes numerous small steps to get into good exercise habits, eat appropriate foods and develop a lifestyle that puts stress on both physical and mental state of the body.  Therefore it is reasonable to expect that it could takes numerous small steps in order to return to these lifetime habits.  This is the focus of this excellent government web site.  The site follows Marcia Potts and she changes her life in almost every possible aspect, showing awesome determination and transformation and the story is a testimony to the human body's innate ability to recover good health.  Ideal for year levels 3-10 RRRR

Appropriate Technology in Health   http://www.path.org/

Global health issues and the role technology may play in increasing the life expectancy and recovery rates of those that do get ill has been very contentious.  This web site deals with the role of technology in global health care.  Whether it be child vaccination work amongst AIDS patients or reducing the greater deaths amongst cancer patients this web site presents a call for balance. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRR

NET Smartz: Staying Safe Online  http://www.netsmartz.org/

The NetSmartz environment is an interactive educational safety resource for students - it shows them how to stay safe when using the Internet.  There are some activities here, true stories, games and quizzes all designed to back up some fundamental safety measures that students can use in order to stay safe online. Ideal for all year levels  RRRRR

Peering Inside The Body  http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/bodies_mag/index.html

Being able to see inside the body has been made possible through Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology and the information that it is providing us about how we are put together and how we work has revolutionised the way we think about our own bodies.  This web site is dedicated to seeing inside ourselves and the impact that it has had on our understanding of how we think and function. Ideal for year levels 6-12 RRRRR

Fresh Starts  http://www.freshstarts.com/

This is a resource for the whole family to learn about the importance of proper nutrition and how to achieve that.  You'll find lots of helpful information and activities including disease prevention, lesson plans for teachers, recipes for parents and exciting activities for kids.  You can also catch up with the  "vitamin super heroes" and "team antioxidant". Ideal for all year levels RRRRR

Nutrient Data Laboratory http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Students can search the national nutrient database for information on food items that they want data on.  For example they can enter any food item and they will be returned information on the nutritional value of that particular item automatically. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRRR

Kids Running  http://www.kidsrunning.com/

Most physical education school programs include running whether it be sprinting, long-distance, triathlons or cross-country,  and this web site provides an excellent collection of information specifically dealing with the physiology of children.  You will find here programs, training, health, nutrition, games, fitness, curriculum issues and much more. Ideal for all year levelsRRRRR

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Web Cam Now!   http://www.webcamnow.com/

With each new innovative technology there are always applications for the classroom.  Here is a good example.  This web site allows you to have linked Web Cam video chat sessions.  Now I am guessing that the main intent of the software was not educational but this is an excellent service if you wish to communicate with other schools using Web Cam technology. Ideal for teachers  RRR

Keyboard Shortcuts with Windows XP  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/tips/personalize/keyboardsc.asp

When speed counts, the keyboard is still king.  There are many actions that you can perform much more quickly with shortcuts on the keyboard than you can with the mouse.  Using the Ctrl key and additional keys on the keyboard you can manoeuvre your way around your screen, highlighting text, copying, pasting, searching, finding properties . . . . These practices will speed up your production considerably and are well worth learning.  Ideal for all year levels RRRRR

Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine  http://www.bbwexchange.com/

If you are looking at broadband in order to improve data transfer within your school or at home and are confused by the array of options in front of you then this web site will provide the latest research reports, technologies and news dealing with this issue.  Ideal for teachers  RRR

Windows XP News     http://www.winxpnews.com/

If you are using the Windows XP operating system then it is important that you keep up with the applications, news and customisation potential of this operating system.  This newsletter provides informative and easy to apply information to improving the operation of your technology.  Ideal for teachers  RRRRR

WebTeacher   http://www.webteacher.org/

This self-paced Internet tutorial puts both basic and in-depth information about the World Wide Web at your fingertips.  The tutorial deals with topics such as e-mail, videoconferencing, chat rooms, web page design, Internet safety, curriculum searches - you choose the topic you want to explore, you choose your own pace, you choose the depth of knowledge you desire, and Web Teacher guides you through the information.  Then, because of Web Teacher is interactive guide, you put your knowledge to work immediately through the use of online exercises and activities.  Excellent Ideal for all year levels RRRRR

Do Amazing Things with Windows XP!  http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/experiences/deafault.asp

Windows XP is not as quite as upfront as Apple is with its multimedia organisation and structure.  However at this site you can quickly get up to speed to how to use music and video, games, digital photography and using Windows MovieMaker to create and edit your own home movies. Ideal for all year levels  RRRR

The Role of Wireless in Schools  http://www.designshare.com/Research/Nair/wireless_school_design.htm

Wireless technology within schools is a very alluring prospect: students being able to work any time, anywhere without sitting around the periphery of the classroom shackled to power outlets and networks.  But is it all that easy?  This article goes some way in presenting the possibilities of wireless technology within schools systems. Ideal for teachers  RRRR

The Next Big Thing(s)  http://www.asbj.com/specialreports/0903SpecialReports/0903index.html

Emerging technologies such as Wireless, broadband, handheld computing, data sorting and Knowledge NETs are heralding a completely new approach to accessing and manipulating information, building knowledge and presenting the new knowledge.  Learn all about these here. Ideal for teachers  RRRRR

Foreign Languages (LOTE)

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Braille Bug  http://www.afb.org/braillebug/

An excellent introduction to what Braille is, who developed it, its impact on the deaf and mute community and exercises where students can experiment with Braille and send each other secret messages.  Even without a three-dimensional screen (so you could feel the dots), the site does very well at communicating its message. Ideal for year levels 3-9 RRRR

French Language Web Sites   http://www.hachette.com/blanc.htm

The publishing firm Hachette publications has placed online a collection of links to web sites that will assist students in appreciating French language, culture and environment. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RR

German News: Deutsche Augsgabe   http://www.germnews.de/gn/menue/

Ensuring that the language that students are learning is based on the contemporary language of the country concerned is a critical aspect of language teaching.  Using newspaper sites such as these provides students with appropriate translation exercises and is helped still further by the fact that there is an English-language edition available also.  Newspapers are also an excellent vehicle in providing text that is well illustrated to supply the students with effective visual markers when translating. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRR

About Japanese  http://japanese.about.com/

This is a wonderful web site dealing with Japanese culture and language.  Students will find here excellent background information, exercises to develop introductory Japanese, information and exercises, grammar and expression, kanji lessons, hiragana lessons, Japanese calligraphy, phrases, featured articles, audio files and much more. Ideal for year levels 5-10 RRRRR

Learning Chinese Online   http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/online1.htm

This site is designed to assist in students understanding the Chinese language.  The site comes complete with recommended readings and places to visit as well as exercises to improve pronunciation, conversation, character recognition, grammar, reading, listening, translation as well as a considerable number of testing activities and online dictionary.  Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRR

A Really Useful French Teaching Site  http://www.btinternet.com/~s.glover/S.Glover/languagesite/Default.htm

This site does not win many points for layout and presentation but as far as content goes, it is a very very useful site.  Teachers can find here a wide range of interactive exercises on topics such as the cinema, day-to-day experiences and various themes.  Teachers will also find here excellent advice on setting up effective language laboratories, effective software, ideas for classroom practice and much more. Ideal teachers  RRRRR

French Nursery Rhymes, Songs & Poetry  http://www.momes.net/comptines/content.html

The simple language of nursery rhymes, songs and poetry make these formats perfect vehicles for translation services.  There are hundreds of nursery rhymes, songs and poems presented here in French and they will provide some entertaining and sometimes inspiring translation exercises.  Ideal for year levels 4-12 RRRR

Pixel Kids http://www.pixelkids.de/

If you have some younger students who are looking for some German-speaking animated friends then Pixel Kids will provide them with an excellent vehicle for translation work.  Here you can join Schmoker, Peter, Paula, Julius (the green monster), Betty, Doodle and Wuff (the dog) on their adventures on their island.  You can have stories read to you by Schmoker, use the interactive books, paint your own pictures and even do an HTML course with Paula. Ideal for year levels 4-10 RRRRR

About German  http://german.about.com/

This extensive site provides a wide range of resources and exercises for the German language as well as German culture, news and background information.  There is also an excellent collection of German lessons, a grammar guide and a daily German lesson. Ideal for year levels 7-11 RRRR

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Five Games for Teaching Mathematics Facts  http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson339.shtml

Practice!  Practice!  Practice!  That's how my students learn their addition facts or times tables.  This can be quite tedious but here five games are introduced that allow students to learn the basic mathematical skills they require in order to move on to frame up their conceptual understandings of number. Ideal for year levels 1-5 RRRRR

Solving Algebra Equations   http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/explorations/0,,NAV2-95_SEP1253,00.shtml

Using these excellent Java animations students can practice solving algebra equations with an excellent collection of helpful tutorials and "show me the steps" applets to assist them to understand the process of solving algebraic equations.  Ideal for year levels 7-10 RRR

Unlock the Secret of the Pythagorean Theorem   http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/article/0,,NAV2-7_SAR1832,00.shtml

The Pythagorean Theorem is one of the most studied theorems in all of mathematics.  Enter this Pythagorean realm for a glimpse of its proofs through the ages.  But watch out!  Once you enter you may not be able to leave. Ideal for year levels 8-10 RRRRR

Interactive Calculus  http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/explorations/main/-62,00.html

The activities and this web site will assist students to get a hands on feel for some other fundamental principles of calculus.  These Java based activities include topics such as derivatives of cubic functions, limits and the rectangular approximation method. Ideal for year levels 11-12 RRR

Rearranging the Furniture  http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/explorations/0,,NAV2-95_SEP1755,00.shtml

When you head out to the furniture store to pick out a new sofa, wouldn't it be good to know, before you purchased it, if you could actually get the new piece of furniture into your living room?  In this geometry exploration, you will try to design the biggest possible sofa that can travel around corners and be placed into the living room. Ideal for year levels 5-9 RRRR

Interactive Trigonometry  http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/explorations/0,,NAV2-23,00.html

The activities in this section will help you get a hands on feel for some other fundamental principles of trigonometry.  These Java based activities include graphing of a sin(bx-c), graphing sin(ax), graphing sin(x), graphing tan(x), six basic functions of trigonometry . . . . . Ideal for year levels 10-12 RRR

About Mathematics  http://www.math.about.com/

This online resource site for mathematics provides a wonderful collection of challenges, problems and background information.  Included here you'll find exercises provided at each different grade level, mathematical formulae,, multiplication fact tricks, tutorials, lesson plans, calculators, famous mathematicians as well as careers in mathematics. Ideal for all year levels RRRR

Bartering with Aliens (Investigating Bases)  http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/explorations/0,,NAV2-95_SEP1162,00.shtml

Anna has just landed on Fortitude, a recently discovered planet inhabited by Fortitudions, who have orange star shaped bodies with eight arms instead of ten fingers.  Her mission is to trade in chocolate, her favourite food on the earth, for "Foco” an extremely delicious candy made in Fortitude. The only way she can trade effectively is to understand different base systems which are different to the base 10 system she's used to on earth. Ideal for year levels 6-9 RRRR

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ArtsZone  http://www.ovationtv.com/artszone/index.html

If you're looking for background information on any of the arts whether it be music, dance, theatre . . . then you will find the resources here which have been specifically designed for teachers, a huge time-saving.  Excellent lesson starters and content along with inspirational ideas providing teachers with some good resources for the classroom. Ideal for teachers RRR

Rhythm Web  http://rhythmweb.com/

If you are looking for material to encourage your students in their love of percussion, drums and drumming then this web site is perfect.  The web site looks at news of percussion from around the world, ideas for teaching programs, background information, the application and effect of electronic percussion instruments and much more. Ideal for year levels 5-12 RRRR

Lesson Plans for Music Classes  http://www.ovationtv.com/artszone/programs/bigbangs/lessonplan.html

This is just one of many lesson plans which deal with improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments, composing and arranging music, listening, analysing and describing music, evaluating music and music performances, as well as understanding music in relation to history and culture. Ideal for year levels 9-12 RRRRR

Public Art in the Bronx  http://bronzart.lehman.cuny.edu/pa/lesson.htm

Even if you do not work or live in New York, this web site provides an excellent inspiration for using public art works as part of your teaching program.  The suggestions and ideas here can be applied to art anywhere and provides teachers with a completely new set of resources that may have been previously overlooked. Ideal for year levels 4-12 RRR

The Monologue Archive   http://www.monologuearchive.com/

If you are looking for monologues for students to use in classroom presentations then this web site will provide a wide range of resources for your students to make use of.  There are comic, dramatic as well as classical monologues for both male and females available from this location. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRRR

Screenwriting: The Language of Film   http://www.oscars.org/teachersguide/screenwriting/index.html

This online guide focuses on the art of writing, one of the many skills involved in creating a motion picture.  Students will learn about screenwriting as they complete activities in this kit, which have been specifically designed for students.  The activities are designed to capitalise on students natural interest in current films and the excitement generated by the Academy Awards, to teach valuable lessons in critical thinking and creative writing and to develop visual literacy skills.  Ideal for year levels 7-11 RRRRR

International Journal Of Education & the Arts  http://ijea.asu.edu/

The range of offerings here are extremely varied including everything from "using Namibian and music and dance traditions as a basis for reforming arts education" through to "the Peter Piper Pickled Pepper Mystery" which is a musical play for pre-schoolers.  If you are looking for well researched articles dealing with the interplay between the arts and education then you will find these articles of considerable interest. Ideal for teachers RRR

Creative Dramatics  http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Creative_Dramatics/Creative_Drama/Biblio.htm

This site links through to an excellent collection of creative dramatic web sites.  The range here is considerable and provides information and resources for teachers at every level. Ideal for teachers RRR

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Digital Library for Earth Systems Education  http://www.dlese.org/dds/index.jsp

If you are looking for information and material dealing with the earth sciences then this library of over 5000 items is just what you need.  You can specify grade level, resource type, collections and even learning standards and then search this library quickly and efficiently.  The teachers guide offers plenty of information and activities in addition to the resources offered within the library. Ideal for year levels 7-12 RRRRR

Ant Web  http://www.antweb.org/

The Ant Web contains some excellent close up photographs of ants, detailing their characteristics and the amazing body armour that makes up their skeletal structure.  You can search ants of the world, Californian ants as well as ants for Madagascar!  There is an excellent video clip, but really it is the high-quality images that really make this site stand out. Ideal for year levels 3-9 RRRRR

New Scientist: Science & Technology News  http://www.newscientist.com/news/

if you're looking to keep up with science and technology news from around the world then this web site will provide you with all you need to know.  This is a great site for students to visit and report back (five minutes maximum) to their peers on a particular item of interest.  Ideal for year levels 7-11 RRRRR

Magnetic Storms   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/

One of the least tangible forces that the earth exerts is displayed in its magnetic field.  The earth is essentially a giant magnet and we know that compasses rely on it. However, because we cannot "feel" this force we tend to forget that it exists BUT the earth's magnetic field is critical to our survival.  The earth's magnetic field acts as a shield stopping high-speed radiated particles passing through the atmosphere. As the earth's magnetic field is getting weaker and it has changed direction hundreds of times throughout geological time, it is also responsible for the aur