From: "bigchalk.com" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sackmann, Gleason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tue, 14 May 2002 08:46:51 -0700 Subject: Top 8 Web Sites
Do you read your email with Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express? Sign up for Top 8 in Web page (HTML) format by replying to this message and typing in the body: SUBSCRIBE WITH HTML bigchalk's Top 8 Newsletter Week of May 13 - May 19, 2002 http://www.bigchalk.com Welcome to this week's installment of Top 8, sponsored by Microsoft. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/microsoftXP02 Each week we bring you links to Web sites that represent the very best online academic research destinations. *******************ADVERTISEMENT******************** Get Microsoft Office XP Standard for almost 70% off! Find out more. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/microsoftXP02 **************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Why the Towers Fell Current Events > September 11, 2001 > World Trade Center Attacks & Aftermath 2. Frog Guts: Virtual Dissection Biology > Amphibians > Frogs > Dissection 3. Peace Walker Social Studies > Social Justice > Activism 4. "Planetarium" Puzzle Story Mathematics > Games > Online Stories 5. Spring Bird Migration Life Sciences > Animal Migration > Birds 6. Skyscraper Math Mathematics > Tutorials/Practice > Games ELEMENTARY SITES 7. American Symbol Contest Student Resources > Featured Contests 8. Lemonade Stand Math Basics > Math in Daily Life > Banking & Business BIGCHALK CALENDAR International Museum Day (5/18) BIGCHALK WEB SITE OF THE MONTH Memorial Day: Above & Beyond WEEKLY POLL Should parents have teachers' home phone numbers? ******************ADVERTISEMENT******************* Start Something is a program designed to help kids from 8-17 discover their dreams and interests, and take steps toward achieving them. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/targetstart02 ************************************************** THIS WEEK'S TOP 8 SITES 1. Why the Towers Fell Current Events > September 11, 2001 > World Trade Center Attacks & Aftermath Firefighters have a saying: "Don't trust the truss." On September 11, 2001, it may have been the failure of the thin steel trusses that held the concrete floors in place that triggered the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. "There was so much fuel spread so quickly that the entire floor got weakened all at once," says Dr. Thomas Eagar, a professor of materials engineering and engineering systems at MIT. Read an interview with Eagar and a survivor online, view computer animations of the collapse then learn about the high-tech equipment firefighters employ to battle high-rise fires. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021901 2. Frog Guts: Virtual Dissection Biology > Amphibians > Frogs > Dissection Frog dissection? Yuck! Leave your face mask in the drawer and grab a virtual scalpel instead. This amazing site walks visitors through the dissection of a Rana catesbeiana, a common bullfrog. Interactive animations, Flash objects, educational text and a gentle soundtrack all make for a hands-on learning experience that only the Internet can provide. Set aside at least 60 minutes to click your way through Frog Guts. Be sure to bookmark this Web site right away and return in September! http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021902 3. Peace Walker Social Studies > Social Justice > Activism "People need to remember that war deeply affects society on numerous levels," says Kim Leverton. "We must... make the voices calling for peace heard above the clamor of those who call for an eye for an eye." Leverton is currently in the middle of a peace walk from Louisiana to Washington, D.C. Along the way, she's stopping in each town to open a dialogue about nonviolent alternatives to the current war on terror. Read her daily diary and find out how you can add to her voice for peace as she nears Washington in June. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021903 4. "Planetarium" Puzzle Story Mathematics > Games > Online Stories If you like a good mystery, you'll love "Planetarium." Part weekly serial, part puzzle, this online experience focuses on a girl with complete foresight but no recollection of her past. She receives a love letter from the future, and, guided by a mysterious "mathemagician," begins a journey toward the source of the curious letter. Enjoy just the story, or solve the embedded puzzles, whose answers form an overall puzzle that can only be solved when you reach the end. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021904 5. Spring Bird Migration Life Sciences > Animal Migration > Birds When will your favorite birds fly into your schoolyard? The annual spring bird migration is well underway. Millions of birds are slowly heading north from their winter roosts in Mexico and South America. Click the interactive map on this colorful site to track their progress and identify newcomers. Stay alert! Those empty trees outside your classroom window may be soon filled with singing birds that weren't there just yesterday. Learn how these beautiful visitors stay on course (celestial and magnetic navigation) and why their trip is so important (breeding time is short). http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021905 6. Skyscraper Math Mathematics > Tutorials/Practice > Games When you look across several blocks of tall buildings, what do you see? The designers of this challenging online puzzle see math! At this site, you're presented with a grid surrounded by numbers. Each number represents the number of buildings you could see if you were standing on the number looking across a virtual city. Drag and drop multistory buildings into each square to solve each puzzle. Don't give up! Once you learn the secret, solutions will come quickly and the puzzles get more difficult. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021906 ELEMENTARY SITES 7. American Symbol Contest Student Resources > Featured Contests Does the flag make you feel patriotic? What about the Statue of Liberty, the White House or the Liberty Bell? Put on your thinking cap and design your very own American symbol. When you're finished, write a short paragraph telling the judges at "National Geographic Kids" magazine why your symbol would make a good choice, and you could win one of four trips to Washington, D.C.! Hurry, all entries need to be received by May 31. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021907 8. Lemonade Stand Math Basics > Math in Daily Life > Banking & Business It's hot outside! A nice tall glass of ice-cold lemonade would sure be nice. This fun site will teach you how to turn your thirst into a profitable summer business! Buy supplies, control your inventory, set the price and head out to the curb. Will the weather drive customers to you, or will the rain keep them away? You have 30 days to make a profit. Better get started! http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8-021908 *****************ADVERTISEMENT******************* ADOBE MAKES IT EASY! bigchalk and Adobe are proud to bring you the latest versions of Adobe's award-winning, easy-to-learn Web design and graphics tools -- Adobe GoLive 6.0 and LiveMotion 2.0 -- now in a single Pack. The Pack includes a bonus CD to help you make the most of these powerful products so you can build, animate and manage dynamic school Web sites. Find out more! http://i.bigchalk.com/U/adobepack02 ************************************************* BIGCHALK CALENDAR International Museum Day (5/18) Celebrate this special observance by visiting the Smithsonian Institution -- one of the world's most famous museums -- online! Connect to the past through the "Sounds of History" Web site, which was developed by bigchalk and the staff of this famous institution. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/soh/ Did you know that Colonial Williamsburg is the world's largest outdoor living museum? Step back in time at bigchalk to experience "A Day in the Life" of the people who called this famous place home. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/cfieldtrip/ BIGCHALK WEB SITE OF THE MONTH Memorial Day: Above & Beyond On May 27, Americans will observe their first post-September 11 Memorial Day. This award-winning site is home to a growing collection of patriotic songs, poems, related Web links and special learning activites for kids, all designed to help visitors better appreciate the sacrifice fighting men and women made for their country. This special day has also been set aside to honor the memories of families who have lost loved ones, including those who perished in last year's terrorist attacks. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/may02site WEEKLY POLL Last week's question: What are your plans for higher education? Results: Undergraduate Degree (BA/BS) 10% Master's Degree (MA) 41% Doctorate (PhD) 33% Other professional schooling 13% This week's question: Should parents have teachers' home phone numbers? Cast your vote today. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/wpoll8 COLLEGE ZONE "Is it better to take an Advanced Placement class and get a B or take a regular-level course and get an A? And, do I have to take the AP test if I take the class?" Visit bigchalk's College Zone for admissions advice from myFootpath's college counselors. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/czone01 SEARCH BOX Want an easy way to give friends instant access to the Internet's largest, most up-to-date directory of learning sites? Add a free bigchalk search box to your Web page. Users can search our collection by keyword and filter their query by grade level. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/bcsearchbx *****************ADVERTISEMENT******************* bigchalk Home Library: A library of the world's best publications on your desktop. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/bchomelib02 ************************************************* Thank you for reading this week's Top 8 newsletter. Be sure to preview each link and try any included projects or experiments before using them with your students. All Web sites included in this publication are subject to the bigchalk Linking Policy. http://www.bigchalk.com/corp/linkpolicy.html We offer several newsletters of interest to students, parents, teachers and Web surfers. To find out more, link to our newsletter signup page today. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/signup8 To find out more about bigchalk, connect to our Web site: http://i.bigchalk.com/U/bchome8 Looking for an archive of all past Top 8 sites arranged by theme? Connect to the Top 8 collection. http://i.bigchalk.com/U/8c If you have any questions or comments, please email our newsletter team via: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Would you like to receive this newsletter in Web page (HTML) format? Send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body type: SUBSCRIBE WITH HTML ******************************************* For digest instead of individual postings, send the message: set k12newsletters digest to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, click and send (no body or subject: required) mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] K12 Newsletters mailing list is a service of Classroom Connect - http://www.classroom.com Archives for K12 Newsletters can be found at: http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A0=K12NEWSLETTERS **********************************************************