This collection of Science NetLinks resources will help your child use the computer to learn about science outside the classroom over the summer. The resources help kids do everything from using angles and thrust to dock a shuttle with the space station to exploring reaction times through sight and sound. This collection will help children improve the quality of their time online.
Resources for Kids Ages 5-11
Resources for Kids Ages 11-18
Resources for Kids Ages 5-11
Exploratorium After School
Ages: 5-11
Description:The San Francisco-based children's museum offers nicely produced video demonstrations of inquiry activities at the museum. Among the highlights are science "snacks."
Invention at Play
Ages: 5-11
Description: This site, which is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, challenges students to explore, question, invent, and collaborate to make their own discoveries.
Lunar Cycle 1: Calendar
Ages: 5-11
Description: This interactive includes printable calendars on which a child can record their observations of the moon. In addition, it provides illustrations of the phases of the moon (a full lunar cycle) that can be printed and pieces cut out to use as a hands-on activity in which a child places the phases of the moon in the correct sequence on the calendar.
Lunar Cycle 2: The Challenge
Ages: 5-11
Description: The primary component of this tool is an online activity in which kids "drag" moons to their correct places in the lunar cycle.
Kinetic City: Mission to Vearth
Ages: 8-11
Description: Kinetic City: Mission to Vearth is a web-based science program for children in grades three through five. Produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and funded by the National Science Foundation, the program turns standards-based science content into a game that kids can play either in class or after school.
Zap!
Ages: 8-11
Description: This is an interactive activity in which your child can test his/her reaction time. Children control a hungry frog and their job is to catch a fly as soon as they see or hear it.
Animated Guide: Hurricanes
Ages: 8-14
Description: Animated guides: Hurricanes is one of three animated guides to the world’s most devastating phenomena found on the BBC website. Using a series of animated slides, the guide leads you through the development of a hurricane.
Gravity Launch
Ages: 8-14
Description: Gravity Launch is an interactive activity that allows children to virtually launch a rocket into space to see how the force of gravity can pull an object toward the earth and moon.
Yo-Yos Are Hoppin'
Ages: 8-18
Description: This site is divided into several sections which provide background information on yo-yos, some discussion about new technology that has made the toy easier to use, tips for getting ready to yo-yo, and directions on how to do some of the more popular yo-yo tricks.
Resources for Kids Ages 11-18
GeoHunter
Ages: 11-14
Description: This interactive provides kids with data about the geological structure of the planet Mercury. GeoHunter is both like and unlike the real MESSENGER mission to Mercury. The goals of the game are actually the same as the mission’s main goal of exploring the geologic history of Mercury.
Planet Size Comparison
Ages: 11-18
Description: Mercury is the second smallest planet; only Pluto is smaller. In fact, Mercury is not much larger than our moon. In this animation, you can find out how Mercury "sizes up" to Earth or any other planet.
Wildfire Simulator
Ages: 11-18
Description: Wildfire Simulator is a fire-growth computer model that lets users see how certain conditions, such as wind speed and direction, affect the spread of a wildland fire. In addition, it shows users how to use a fireline -- alone or in conjunction with a backfire -- to control a fire.
Science Update Podcasts
Ages: 11-18
Description: Science Update shows are now available as weekly Podcasts. The Science Update Podcast is located on the Science Update website, a daily, 60-second radio feature covering the latest discoveries in science, technology, and medicine. The page explains what podcasting is and how you can use it.
You and Your Skin
Ages: 11-18
Description: This resource provides an introduction to the basic structure of the skin, information about how the skin protects us, and some information on how to care for the skin. There are four main sections to the resource: Function, Anatomy, Protection, and Care.
Becoming Human
Ages: 14-18
Description: Teenagers will experience an interactive documentary that tells the story of our origins and is divided into five sections: Prologue, Evidence, Anatomy, Lineages, and Culture.
From Cell to DNA
Ages: 14-18
Description: This animation goes through a tour of a typical human cell, moving from larger to smaller cell structures (for example, from nucleus to chromosomes to DNA strands and their bases). It briefly describes some of these structures and describes how DNA strands are constructed.
The Macaque Genome: An Interactive Poster
Ages: 14-18
Description: In a special issue of Science published on 13 April 2007, a group of over a hundred research scientists reported the genome sequence of the rhesus macaque. "The Macaque Genome: An Interactive Poster” was designed as an online accompaniment to this special section of Science.
