If you are a teacher in the early grades, who is looking for projects or activities in science, then this may be the site for you. The site consists of, at the time of this review, five projects:
- Air junk (an experimental approach to studying air borne particles);
- Critters (a compare and answer set of identifications of five organisms);
- Plant-Parts (correctly identify the part of the plant illustrated and it is added to the salad you are making);
- Butterflies (a how-to-make a butterfly in a chrysalis project with a simplified life cycle illustrated); and
- Inch Square (using a inch square opening in a card board to observe a variety of objects and describe them).
The exercises range from the experimental to the observational, providing opportunities to “target” your students. One precaution, be sure to view the site before assigning (although you might just view the site for ideas and plans) to be sure your system is fast enough to download the data, and that you identify potential problem areas for your students. Be sure to wait for a complete download or some of the choice responses will not work. Since the projects are from a variety of outside sources (generally various children museums) the complexity and completeness varies with each option.
**Review Updated: 6/23/03
This site is still the same as when it was first reviewed. It has the same five activities on it and no new activities have been added. All the links appear to be working and the site is maintained by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
