nature.net
February 2004
Clicks Are for Kids
By Robert Anderson
Hundreds of interactive science Web sites for young people are just a click away via the Internet, in disciplines from astronomy to zoology. Finding good ones, though, on topics that really interest children, isn’t easy. I wasted a lot of time until I stumbled on Science NetLinks, an educational project conceived and operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). A visit to this site beats scrolling through the hits from a Google or Yahoo search, hands down.
Science NetLinks is a virtual Grand Central Station for kids (and for parents and teachers) trying to reach Web sites that are both instructive and fun. On the home page, choose “Tools” from the menu bar at the top (“tools” is Science NetLink-speak for subject matter). Tools include such topics as “Exploring Caves,” “Heat,” “Simple Machines,” and “The Water Cycle at Work.” When you click on such an item, you jump to a Web-site link, a short description of the site, and some grade-appropriate activities relevant to the site’s resources.
For example, the tool called “Monster Bugs,” for children in kindergarten through second grade, features a Web site that helps teach about systems and their parts. When you click on the Web link, you’re transported to a page of the “Magic School Bus” site, where you can build your own insects from a selection of bug body parts. (It’s one of my kids’ favorite Web pages.)
Helpful hints for bug construction are available at another tool, “Bug Bios,” which advertises “shameless promotion of insect appreciation” through macrophotography—150 spectacular color enlargements. “No-where to Hide” focuses on evolution, with a simple, amusing demonstration of natural selection, and “Lunar Cycle 2: The Challenge” tests young astronomy fans on what they know about the phases of the Moon.
For grades three through five, try the tool “MARE’s Build a Fish.” The game at this site challenges children to put together a fish with the right characteristics to thrive in one of six ocean habitats—an engaging way to learn about species adaptation. A similar game, for grades six through eight, can be found at the tool “Walking With Beasts.”
“Powers of Ten,” for grades nine through twelve, directs you to a simple but highly effective scale-of-the-universe site at Florida State University. Based on a film originally conceived by designers Charles and Ray Eames, the visuals here are enhanced by a brief mathematical explanation of exponential notation.
Among the “Resources” listed at Science NetLinks (also available from the main menu bar), I found a long-time favorite, San Francisco’s Exploratorium, which includes some 15,000 pages. For games, click on “explore” on the menu bar at the top, then on “online activities” in the small green menu at the right. Also listed is NASA’s Quest site, which I found to be a great place for kids to learn why our planet is so special. At AstroVenture a child can play the role of astronomer, biologist, or geologist, practicing scientific inquiry to search the heavens for a planet and build it into a place suitable for human habitation.
Robert Anderson is a freelance science writer living in Los Angeles.
Copyright © Natural History Magazine, Inc., 2004