Julie Shepherd Knapp, copyright 2005

Originally published in the January/March issue of the "MCGT Outlook",
the bi-monthly newsletter of the Minnesota Council of the Gifted and Talented, Vol.28, No.2]

Trying to work a bit more science into your gifted child's curriculum? Whether you're looking to spark an interest, or encourage a passion, the Internet is a great place to find science enrichment for all ages!

Share the joys of science with your child . Take advantage of the next snow day to check out a few of these fun and educational websites together.

Chock-Full-O-Science Sites for All Ages

HowStuffWorks.com - all kinds of science
http://science.howstuffworks.com/

OLogy - science activities for ages 7 - 12
http://www.ology.amnh.org/index.html

Zoom.Sci - science and engineering activities
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/

Wayne's Word - on-line textbook of natural history
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/indxwayn.htm

World of Science encyclopedia
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/info/

Great Sites for Specific Interests

The Electronic Naturalist - free nature units (K-3 and 4-8)
http://www.enaturalist.org/

Journey North - a global study of wildlife migration
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

The Mysteries of Catalhoyuk - interactive archeological dig
http://smm.org/catal/top.php?override=TRUE

NetFrog Virtual Dissection - less gross than real life
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/

Cells Alive - microscopic views and interactive models
http://www.cellsalive.com/index.htm

Chem4Kids.com - intro to chemistry made fun
http://www.chem4kids.com/index.html

Wondernet - easy home chemistry experiments (pre-K to 6th)
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/wondernetdisplay.html?DOC=wondernet\index.html

The Visual Elements Periodic Table - cool flash version
http://www.chemsoc.org/viselements/pages/pertable_fla.htm

Edheads Simple Machines - pulleys, wedges, etc.
http://edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/

NASA Jet Propulsion Labs Solar System
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/index.cfm

Particle Adventure - learn about particle physics
http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/index.html

Oxford Center for Quantum Computation - click on Tutorials in the sidebar for some mind-boggling physics
http://www.qubit.org/

Engineering and Technology

Animated Engines - cutaways for 19 different engines
http://www.keveney.com/Engines.html

Building Big - interactive engineering labs
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/

NASA - Cool Robot of the Week
http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/telerobotics_page/coolrobots.html

SodaPlay Constructor - make and animate wire-frame models
http://www.sodaplay.com/constructor/index.htm

Breaking Through: The Creative Engineer
http://www.eweek.org/site/nbm/index.html

On-line Science Magazines

National Geographic Kids.com -
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/index.html

NASA Space Place -
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/

NOAA Ocean Explorer -
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/

AmericanScientific.com -
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00020E17-4BFD-1ECA-8E1C809EC588EF21

The Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/1475-7516/1

Engineer's Week -
http://www.eweek.org/site/News/Features/index.shtml

Just For Fun

The Element Song - click on "dial-up" or "broadband"
http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html

Singing Science Records
http://www.acme.com/jef/science_songs/

Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics
http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/index.html

Resources

Arbor Scientific: Tools That Teach
http://www.arborsci.com/CoolStuff/Archives.htm

American Science & Surplus - parts, bits, and pieces
http://www.sciplus.com/categorySpecial.cfm

Robert Krampf's Free Experiment of the Week
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/krampf/

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(Julie Knapp is a homeschooling parent and current co-president of the MCGT Homeschoolers Chapter. She presented the topic "Homeschooling With the Internet" at the 2004 MHA Conference, and was part of the TAG Homeschooling presentation panel at the 2004 MCGT Conference. If you would like an electronic version of this article with active links you can click on, you may request a free copy from her at littleredhenschool@yahoo.com )

If you wish to pass this article along to other parents, please be sure to include: this notice; the entire article; the author's name, copyright, and contact info; and cite the OUTLOOK publishing info presented at the top of the article. If you wish to post this article online, or otherwise re-publish it, please contact the author for written permission at littleredhenschool@yahoo.com Thanks :-)