Science Web Sites

I have tried to identify the individual sources of all the materials I have used in the notes that I have prepared. Unfortunately, I was a bit slack to begin with, so the early notes (Year 7 in particular), and material that I collected early on, are probably a little deficient in this respect. Apart from the specific Web site references provided in the individual Sections of the notes, the following are what have turned out to be primary, ongoing Web resources.

General Science

In some quarters, there is conflicting opinion about the value of Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia. Certainly, when referring to Wiki for information, it is important to remember that the content is all supplied voluntarily, by the Internet user community. There is little vetting of content, although the user community can challenge the validity of any entry. As such, entries that depend on any degree of subjective assessment may be controversial. In my experience, however, the scientific information that I have accessed is accurate enough to be of genuine value in science education. I have also found Wiki to be a good source of 'first pass' biographical information on scientists. Students should be encouraged, however, to verify the consistency of data they find in Wiki by searching for additional sources. From time to time, the student will quickly discover that there is some element of controversy in a subject, and just this discovery alone (without concern for the specific issue) is of value in science education.

I also found the Visionlearning Web site useful, with well written and presented material.

Biographical Information

The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, includes an excellent biographical database of mathematicians and scientists.

Biology

The companion Web site for the main biology text that we used, Campbell Biology (7/E), was my main biology resource. Access to the Web site, which provides interactive tutorials, quizzes, movies, flashcards and other resources, is free with new copies of the text, but otherwise costs.

I also drew some excellent material, illustrations in particular, from the IUPUC, Human Anatomy Web site. This material appears to be drawn from the Human Anatomy text by Martini, Tallitsch and Timmons, which also comes with free access to a companion Web site.

The Molecular Expressions site, hosted by Florida State University, also contains some excellent material on cell biology and microscopy.

Chemistry

As a chemist by professional training, I probably had least need of general external resources in this area. Ultimately, the text that we settled on I think provides an excellent introduction to the subject, but I guess my background meant that I was comfortable with being able to clarify or expand on any deficiencies therein (not that I noticed any). Also, having my own ideas about how chemistry should be taught, I seemed always to feel that the Web sites I found were deficient in one way or another. Having said that, however, I should point out that our son, of all the sciences, likes chemistry the least. So maybe I have failed quite miserably in my efforts to teach chemistry at this level and any comments I make in this respect might safely be ignored.

Geology and Physical Geography

As mentioned in the texts section, the extensive range of illustrations by Dennis Tasa are is excellent resource. The many other sources of information that I used in this context are referenced in the relevant sections of the notes.

Physics

The on-line resources provided with our primary physics text, Holt Physics, was my main Web source for additional material. I did, however, use several other sources, as identified in the notes.

I was put on to Holt Physics by a US high school teacher, a very enthusiastic science educator (chemistry and physics in particular) who maintains a rather whacky Web site and has built a science fun park in his back yard.

The Molecular Expressions site, mentioned previously, also contains some excellent material on electricity and magnetism.

Space

For space exploration, the NASA Web site is the obvious place to begin. The JPL site, in particular, has a lot of good educational material about our solar system and its planets, as does the Windows to the Universe site at The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.