One soon notices that there are many, many sites on the web that might offer something useful to the science teacher. The problem is searching them out. To remedy the situation, there are also many, many sites that offer to codify and organize the information so that it is easier to access. I call these starting points or servers.

There are various kinds of servers. For instance, there are organizations whose sole purpose is to disseminate information in education, e.g., ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) contains a database of education literature. Some sites, like The Educator's Reference Desk (for lesson plans and such) and The Gateway to Educational Materials (for resources) are also available.

There are also organizations that focus on science education. These include government groups like the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (and the affiliated regional groups), university groups like SciEd (Science and Mathematics Education Resources; Univerity of Washington), and individuals like Frank Potter's Science Gems. The government also maintains departmental sites useful for science teachers, e.g., the US Department of Education and the PA Department of Education.

Another kind of server is devoted to an individual science subject. For example, there is one for Chemistry Teaching Resources (courtesy of Amea University, Sweden) and Access Excellence, an on-line forum for biology teachers. Useful sites can come from publishers also. Nowadays, simply using a search engine with words like "Earth Science Education" can usually turn up several sites. Additional sites are located below the Table of Contents.

Table of Contents

Servers for Educational Resources

Main Servers

• Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (be sure to check out the ENC Resource Finder) and the following list of selected Eisenhower Regional Consortia for Math and Science Education:
  • Eisenhower Mid-Atlantic Consortium
  • Eisenhower High Plains Consortium
  • SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE)
• IMSEnet is a well-structured list of Instructional Materials for Science Education available through the internet.
• Science NetLinks is a national effort by MCI and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to help science teachers, librarians and other adult educators get onto the Internet, navigate it safely and efficiently, identify useful resources and use those resources in a teaching environment.
• Study Web Listing of web sites, sorted according to subject. A valuable tool for teachers looking for lesson plan and curriculum ideas.
• Education World has a nice search engine for education-related sites.
• K-12 Science Web sites (courtesy of Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers)
• Web Starting Points for Science Education (courtesy of the Center of Excellence for Science and Mathematics Education)
• SciEd Science and Mathematics Education Resources
  (Univerity of Washington)
• Frank Potter's Science Gems (UC/Irvine Science Education Programs Office)
• Teacher Links (courtesy of the National Science Foundation/ Education and Human Resources)
• FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence/Science)
• Science Web Sites and Resources (courtesy of Drs. Sharp at California State University, Northridge)

Subject-Specific Servers

• Physics

  Physics Education around the World (McGill University)
  There is a similar homepage, also at McGill, and I'm not sure what the difference is.

• Chemistry

  Chemistry Teaching Resources on the Web (courtesy of Amea University, Sweden)

• Earth and Space Science

  The Science Education Gateway is divided into sections covering space science, light, cycles, sun & earth, weather and the solar system. Each section includes lesson plans for teachers and parents and learning resources for kids.

  Earth System Science Resource Center (courtesy of Wadsworth Publishing Company)
  Exercises, on-line field trips, servers and resources.

  Earth Science Education Page (courtesy of Virginia Association of Science Teachers)

  Texas Natural Resources Educational Information

  UIUC-CoVis Geosciences Web server

  Earth and Sea Investigator's Program

  General Earth Science ResourcesU.S. Geological Survey

• Biology

  Access Excellence (on-line forum for Biology teachers)

  Awesome Web Sites for K-12 Biology Teachers (not checked out)

  BioChemNet (a directory of biology and chemistry educational resources

Science Education Servers

• Science Education Resources (courtesy of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)
• Science Education Resources on the Internet (courtesy of Simon Frasier University) - lesson plans
• The Nevada Science Project
• OPS Science Resource List
• Kathy Schrock's guide for Educators (General Science page)
• Oz Kids educational cyber-mall (Australia)
• InterGO Virtual Village School Science Class

Science and Mathematics Servers

• HUB for science and math educational resources (TERC - Technical Education Research Center)
• Annenberg/CPB Project Guide to Educational Resources and Science and Math Initiatives (SAMI) - points towards lots of curricula, lesson plans, etc.
• Explorer - network data base for contributing, organizing and delivering educational resources (software, activities, lesson plans, etc.)
• Internet Resources for Science and Mathematics Education (Collected by Tom O'Haver for the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation)

General Education Servers

• ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education, Search ERIC and AskERIC
  Lesson plans, TV shows, Data, Library and more!
• ERIC Digests (search with keyword = science)
• Best Educational Sites Today (with links to Science sites)
• EdWeb - exploring technology and school reform (good listing of educational list servers)
• Galaxy General education links
• Oregon K-12 Web Site
• Learning Resource Center at the University of Illinois
• Steve's Dump Education sites on the Internet
• Classroom Connect on the Internet (Wentworth Worldwide Media)
  (General) Educational resources on the Internet
• Internet K-12 Resources (University of Maryland) K12Ed.Resource Compendium (U of Washington) A LONG list of internet places. Directory of education listservers Resources for K-12 Educators (courtesy of Arizona State University)