This extensive collection of activities from the American Museum of Natural History offers middle school students "an exciting and creative context for involving students in the scientific process while introducing them to the rich diversity and beauty of their local ecosystem." Lesson plans, Web-based interactive activities, useful Web links, profiles of AMNH scientists and staff, and other...

Dr. Dennis O'Neal of Palomar College designed this site to introduce students to a tutorial on the Classification of Living Things. Topics addressed at this site include the Linnaen system of classification, amount of species in our world, the importance of biological diversity, the history of classification, and the relevancy of classification in the present day. There are links to the Main Menu,...

Just about anywhere you look in the natural sciences you'll find a cycle of some description. From cells to individuals to populations and beyond, cyclical patterns exist on every scale. The following collection of Web sites follows on this theme: The first site (1) is an excellent, animated introduction to the cell cycle from Cells Alive! Users can also get a closer look at the stages of mitosis...

Designed to complement the redesigned Traits of Life exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, this fine site allows visitors to view a photo gallery of the new exhibit, investigate some provocative online exhibits, and explore a host of links that are germane to the nature of biology. The exhibits constitute the core of the material available at the site, and are divided into four thematic...

Fact Monster, the online reference and fun fact Web site, has some new and old features that kids interested in science will enjoy. The Almanac Section contains a wealth of information on everything from the environment, stars and planets, and weather, to other life science subjects. Special features include a daily weather fact, games and quizzes, a box to input a year to get interesting science...

The Australian Broadcasting Company recently aired Life Changing Science, "a four-part series examining innovations that have transformed our lives." This companion Web site offers fantastic interactive features to go along with each of the four radio broadcasts. Three of the four interactive "labs" focused on the life sciences. They include Virtual Open Heart Surgery, in which users can conduct a...

There has been an increased interest in open source publishing as of late, and the U.S government has gotten involved recently with the creation of PubMed Central (through the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Library of Medicine) in 2000. PubMed Central is a digital archive of life science journal literature which offers free and complete access to the contents of...

This Web site -- the online companion to the educational television series Science Matters produced by the University of California at San Diego -- is an excellent learning resource for middle and high school students. Focusing on new developments in the biological sciences, Science Matters currently features four programs: Biodiversity in California, Genetics of Flowering, Communication in Bees,...

ScienceMaster is a company that provides this free Web site as a collection of several high quality educational Web sites. Resources include articles, Web pages, and curriculum guides that focus on a variety of life science subjects aimed specifically at kids. One notable feature is the Learning Galleries which emphasize the use of images to explain a number of scientific topics. In addition to...

The Lab is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's online gateway to science information. Visitors will find a daily science news service (with articles from Australia and around the world), special learning features such as the interesting exploring dinosaurs and fossils link, Karl's great moments in science section, various science games for kids of all ages, and more. As a layperson-friendly...