Featured Sites Archive

This page is an archive of Features Sites from the Academic Technology Web Pages, filed alphabetically by main link title.

• National Geographic's site features interactive maps of Afghanistan. Includes a satellite view, maps of refugee movement, vegetation and ethnic groups.
• "The American Civil Liberties Union   (ACLU) is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."
• A fascinating site from the Smithsonian on the American Presidency.  The site features an interactive timeline with objects from the museum.  Flash required.
• Another excellent site on The American Presidency.  "When the site opens, you are presented with 2 pathways: History or Presidency in Action. The History section includes information on the Presidents themselves; biographies of each first lady; biographies of each cabinet member; listings of presidential staff and advisers; and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration. Presidency in Action features the functional side of the American presidency, outlining the responsibilities of the President and the resources at his disposal. Includes essays; a graphically rich Organization Chart; and details about the offices the President relies on and the personnel inhabiting them. Biographies of leading staffers and advisers add further depth to this portrait of the White House at work."
• AmeriStat is a one-stop source for U.S. population data, from marriage and income to race and mortality. 
•  An animated history of books!
• The Archimedes Palimpsest.  Follow the 1,000-year-long journey of the Archimedes manuscript.  "This is a book that could have changed the history of the world. It contains the revolutionary ideas of a genius who was centuries ahead of his time: Archimedes."
• An Archive of American Patchwork Quilt Designs.  Photographs and illustrations bring these quilts to life. Easy instructions are available for saving the illustrations of patterns to disk.
• This is an impressive list of links with over 500 links covers biology, biotechnology, diseases, evolution and microbiology. Links are organized into 16 main topics and 65 subtopics that support health and science education.
• BBC Science Human Body.  "A rich site that covers a variety of topics using multiple approaches (factual text, flash movies, interactive quizzes). Sections include: Interactive body (organs game, skeleton game, muscle game, nervous system game, puberty demo); Psychological tests (Can you read faces? What disgusts you? Are you a thrill seeker?)"
• Beetle Science.  "Part of EXPLORE CORNELL, a multimedia magazine dedicated to Cornell University research, instruction, and facilities, Beetles is a beautiful site that includes scientific drawings, a Flash-based look at biodiversity, rotatable images of 3 beetle specimens, timeline chronicling efforts to control an invasive beetle pest (Asian Longhorned Beetle), a look at a virtual lab, information about contributors, and links to more resources."
• Bob Dylan is 60!  Listen.
• Body Scanner.  "Body Scanning is a new technology that is helping to shift the focus of apparel production from large quantities of cookie-cutter clothes to one-of-a-kind articles with individualized sizing and design features. A suite of technological advances, including body scanning, has given rise to an emergent strategy of "mass customization."
• The world's oldest living thing is the Methuselah tree.  This Nova web site explores the life and times of the bristlecone pine.
•   The British Museum's Ancient Egypt web exhibit.  Explore Egyptian Life, Geography, Pyramids, and Time. Find out where writing was used in Ancient Egypt. Shockwave activities are included for each area of study.
• Bulfinch's Mythology, that tried and true tome of myth and fable, awaits you online in all its hyperlinked glory.
• Calendars through the Ages.  "Explore the fascinating history of the human endeavor to control our lives in accordance with the movements of the sun and stars."  Includes a very useful section on when various countries converted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
• California, has a new State home page.  Find anything in State government and services quickly from this site.
• Vote on the California State quarter semi-finalist entries.

• Cell Biology and Cancer - "developed with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) - is a creative, inquiry-based instruction program, designed to promote active learning and stimulate student interest in medical topics."

• CensusScope is an easy-to-use tool for investigating U.S. demographic  trends. Students can use it to better understand graphs and the power of explaining complex data in a graphic form. Maps are used to demonstrate demographics on a county-by-county level.

• The 2001 edition of the CIA World Factbook is now available.  Use it to get a map and geopolitical overview of any country.

• Commanding Heights.  Explore theories, facts, and trends that drive our understanding of economic forces and events. This section offers definitions, explanations, and a spectrum of views on the evolution of the global economy.

• Conservator's Studio.  "Interactively explore four paintings from the Mexican Modernism exhibition through the eyes of a conservator. You'll have a new perspective on the paintings as well as how they are handled and prepared for display.  Includes information about conservator's tools and a glossary. This site  makes extensive use of Macromedia Flash software."

• Create a graph.  The National Center for Education Statistics created this online tool so that anyone can make an area, bar, pie or line graph and print it out or download the image to a computer or disk.

• Load up Flash and take a tour of the Dewey Decimal System. During the tutorial, find out how the Dewey Decimal Classification system can help you organize information on any topic under the sun. There is an interactive quiz to test knowledge. 

• Dictionary Link.  "A nice compilation of free online dictionaries, thesaurus, language translators, encyclopedias, crossword solvers, quotes and other language resources. Also contains an alternate page with links to major news sources and newspapers."

• The Digital Classroom.  Learn history using primary documents from this beautifully designed web site from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

• Discovering Lewis and Clark.  "This is an ever-growing Web site currently containing more than 1,400 pages. The centerpiece of Discovering Lewis and Clark is a nineteen-part  synopsis of the expedition by historian Harry Fritz, illustrated with selections from the journals of the expedition, photographs, maps, animated graphics, moving pictures, and sound files. You can also navigate through Discovering Lewis and Clark by using the "Discovery Paths" or the "Journal Excerpts" menus. The word-search utility can be used to find references anywhere in the text."

• DNA from the Beginning.  Lots of Flash illustrations and a comprehensive coverage of the topic.

• DNA Interactive.  "A huge, beautiful undertaking, the DNA Interactive site is divided into sections: Timeline; Code (what is it); Manipulation (how do you work with it); Genome (analyzing, mapping, sequencing); Applications (how DNA applies to healthcare and our past); and Chronicle (using knowledge responsibly, can we do it?)."

• Interested in alternative medicine? Dr. Andrew Weil has one of the best web sites.  Ask him any health related question, or get started on his eight-week plan to better health. 

• A report from the Drug Enforcement Agency on drug trafficking in the United States.

• Official web site of the electoral college.
• The Elegant Universe.  This is an intriguing NOVA site that discusses the current state of string theory--the best contender for a Grand Unified Theory of the forces, contents, history and structure of the universe, with its spectacular predictions of 11 dimensions, parallel universes, and unobservable, resonating strings.  Is it just too elegant to be wrong?
• The National Audubon Society's eNature.com. Field Guides to over 4800 species.
• Environmental Literacy Council.  Take a look at the Site Map to get a massive list of topics (Air Quality, Acid Rain, Dust, Climate on Mars, Greenhouse Gases, Indoor Air, Noise Pollution, Weather, Biodiversity, National Parks, Biomes, Amphibians, Microorganisms, Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Energy, Solar Energy, Transportation, Geography of War, Green Design, Water Cycle, Paleoclimatology, and more.)
• Evolution:  A journey from where we've been to where we're going.  View this media rich production from pbs.
• Exploratorium: Origins.  Where do we come from? What happened when the universe began? What can we learn about the beginning of our species or our planet? This gorgeous project tells the stories of six major research facilities using everything from Webcast interviews to articles to photos.
• exploreMarsnow.  This interactive, Flash-based website lets you explore the Mars Base Habitat and Rover and learn about the science and technology behind them. Sections include: base layout, lab, airlock, medical, bunks, personal hygience, greenhouse, design drawings, and more.
• ExploreMath, a great set of interactive math activities.
• Famous Trials.  An easy-to-use web site "full of thumbnails that lead to various trials throughout history. From Socrates to OJ Simpson, you'll find timelines, photos, excerpts from the trial, maps and other pertinent materials. You also find thought-provoking sections such as Exploring Constitutional Conflicts and Searching for Evil."
• Fast Facts is a comprehensive reference to fact-based Internet tools.
• Are you financially literate?  Find out at a great web site from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.  Take the student quiz to detect early warning signs...
• Freedom: A History of US.  "See why the promise of freedom has attracted millions of people from all over the world to come to America. Hear for yourself why generations of men, women, and children have lived for, sacrificed for, and died for that freedom. It is a story that is still unfolding today. It is your story too."
• Froguts is the first true virtual online frog dissection.   So, you're missing the smell of formaldehyde, but this site was created from recycled classroom frogs. The intent is to get to the heart of the anatomy, so to speak.  Shockwave player is required.
• Galileo's Battle for the Heavens.  "Galileo struggles to pursuade church authorities of the truth behind his astonishing discoveries about the cosmos."
• The Genome Gateway from Nature: Nature presents this special section of the Genome Gateway to mark the publication of the initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome.  For a great genome primer, see The Human Genome Project: Exploring Our Molecular Selves, from The National Human Genome Research Institute.
• The Gilder Lehrman Insitute of American History.  Activities and information on this site: primary
• View an interactive (flash) version of the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington from the Smithsonian Institution.  Provides sources on slavery, Mexican American and Native American history, lessons that focus on human elements of rebellion and change, and a visual archive with hundreds of historical maps and images.
• The Grapes of Wrath and the Dust Bowl Experience.  Three quality web sites provide background on this great American novel and the period that inspired it:  NPR's "Present at the Creation" site has audio interviews, the Woodie Guthrie song "Tom Joad," and a video clip from the movie.  PBS's American Experience "Surviving the Dust Bowl" chronicles the experience from the farmer's point of view.  The Library of Congress' "Voices from the Dust Bowl" provides interviews and images from the period.
• Gray's Anatomy with illustrations, part of Project Bartleby.
• Visit the Guggenheim, online.  Requires shockwave.
• Guide to Grammar and Writing.  The home page consists of several headings. Each heading has an extensive dropdown menu of items. Headings include: Words & Sentences; Paragraphs; Essays & Research Papers; Ask Grammar, Quizzes, Search Devices; and Peripherals & PowerPoints. The INDEX is huge and includes references to both the Guide to Grammar and Writing and Principles of Composition. It does not include references to the Interactive Quizzes or to the Grammarlogs (posted responses to ASK GRAMMAR queries).  A companion site on The Principles of Composition is also available from the same authors.
• Harvard@home provides access to special lectures, talks, and public addresses via Internet video. Topics include the current affairs, arts, social science, events, history, math, and more. You can choose between 3 different media players: Quicktime, Windows Media, or Real player.
• The History of Valentine's Day. "Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday?
• History Detectives.  "Historical sleuthing involves some of the same techniques used by criminal detectives, such as ballistics and handwriting analysis. Specialized materials testing and primary research can also be applied."
• The History of Jim Crow.  "Explore the complex African-American experience of segregation from the 1870s through the 1950s. This  site contains an image gallery, an American literature book list for middle school, high school, and college-level students; and an interactive encyclopedia that offers users access to terms, people, and events relating to the history of Jim Crow.
• History Through Deaf Eyes.  Gallaudet University is developing a traveling social history exhibition about deaf Americans. Using objects and images collected by individuals, organizations, and schools for deaf students, this exhibition will illustrate shared experiences of family life, education, and work—as well as the divergent ways deaf people see themselves, communicate, employ and adapt available technology, and determine their own futures.
• The Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  The Hughes Institute funds 30% of all medical research, and has one of the best web sites around.  Explore the many learning opportunities at this site, and even order high quality life sciences educational materials FREE.  Yes.  Free even to students.
• "Hybridcars.com is an online magazine covering environmental innovation in the auto industry."
• Impressionism .  "Would you believe that not so very long ago impressionist paintings were considered shocking.  Very few people cared to look at them.  Museums wouldn't display them."  After viewing this site, you may want to visit the best fine arts site on the web:  CGFA, and look up your favorite impressionists.
• Intelihealth is a great site to answer these and practically any of your medical questions.
• The International Shark Attack File. What are the chances you will be eaten by a shark? Find out how to put shark attacks in perspective, how to reduce the risk of shark attack, and view maps by nation and US state where attacks have taken place.
• Website created to support the PBS series "Jazz"  by Ken Burns. Audio clips of many jazz performers are available, as well as interesting historical and biographical information of the highlights of jazz in the United States.
• Kilimanjar Crown of Africa a spectacular Flash adventure in central Africa.
• Lab Tests Online.  This site will tell you, in fairly plain language, what tests look for and how that test is done. Articles include Inside the Lab and Follow the Sample.
• The Language of Native American Baskets.  "Baskets accompanied Indian people throughout their lives. Babies were carried in baskets, meals were prepared and cooked in them, worldly goods were stored in them, and people were buried in them."
• The Laws of War, part of the Avalon Project from Yale, will surprise you.  The International Committee for the Red Cross are among those working to apply the laws of war to the conflict in Iraq.
• Learner.org.  "This Annenberg/CPB site offers an incredible variety of videos covering all sorts of academic subjects for all levels from preschool to post-college; the streams are offered for teachers looking to enhance the classroom experience, but there’s no reason you can’t sign up for a free account and enjoy them as well."
• Legacy of Genghis Khan.  "This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It examines the important artistic and cultural achievements that occurred in the Iranian world in the aftermath of the Mongol invasions."
• The Legacy Project. Explore the relationship between tragedy, war, genocide, and the visual arts. This very powerful site is meant for only mature students of the arts and history, dealing with the topic of loss in cultures around the world.
• Trace the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition along with the Corps of Discovery at this great pbs web site.
• LIBERTY! The American Revolution is the subject of this web site from PBS.  It is about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation. The George Foster Peabody award-winning series brings the people, events and ideas of the revolution to life through military reenactments and dramatic recreations.
• Lighthouses: a photographic journey.  Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey is an independent project which seeks to meld the work of photographer and lighthouse enthusiast Donald W. Carter with a comprehensive guide to the lighthouses of Michigan, The Great Lakes, America, and the world.  Courtesy of the Internet Public Library.

• Mad Cow Disease.  What is it?  Who is working on the problem?  Find out:  "Mad cow disease and its human counterpart are among the most perplexing diseases on the planet. Research suggests that the agent that spreads the infection is not a conventional germ, like a virus. Instead, these diseases seem to be caused by an infectious protein, called a prion. In 1997, the Nobel Prize committee honored a scientist for developing this theory. But researchers at one top lab still aren't convinced."  Especially useful among the web resources cited at this site is the USDA BSE Information and Resources page.

• Ken Burns' new film on Mark Twain.   The web site capitalizes on Twain's penchant for scrap books, and traces his life and career.
• Did a woman really give birth to rabbits? Did George Washington's nurse live to 161? Was there a penal colony on the moon? What about the shroud of Turin? Visit the Museum of Hoaxes.  Could the museum itself be a hoax?
• The Mars Orbiter Camera.
• The Mars Spirit rover has landed and is sending back high definition, stereo pictures revealing a vast flatland well suited to the robot's unprecedented mobility and scientific toolkit.  See the pictures and find out all about the mission at NASA's official Mars exploration web site. 
• Mississipian Moundbuilders and Their Artifacts.  "For more than half a millenium, the Mississippian people cultivated vast agricultural settlements based on corn, squash and beans. However, the Mississippians were much more than prosperous farmers. They also developed a complex and highly organized culture based on a ritualistic relationship between the people and the land. This site contains information, photographs of artifacts, and sketches of daily life. Artifacts include: pottery, pipes, flint points, ear ornaments, beads, and more."
• The Mythical Quest: In search of adventure, romance & enlightenment.  An exhibition of the British National Library online.
• Beautiful companion web site to the pbs Empire series, currently concentrating on Napoleon I.  The portrait shows Napoleon as he would have appeared at the time of War and Peace.
• The official NASA web site for the Columbia disaster.  Full news coverage can be found at the Newshour web site, devoted to Columbia, or at C_SPAN, where NASA briefings will be held live via streaming video.
• This Nation is a guide for students and the voting public, on the US Government. Under the area marked students, you will find some very tough self-grading quizzes.
• The National Security Archive.  Declassified U.S. Government documents are available from George Washington University. 
• The NRP 100. Listen to, and about, the 100 most influential American songs of the last century--according to NPR.  These special features cover music from a wide variety of genres -- classical, jazz, rock'n'roll, country, R&B, musical theatre and film scores.
• North American drought, a paleo-perspective, from the NOAA.
• Northwest Expedition.  The One World Journeys team invites you on a 10-day multimedia expedition across the coastal waters and rivers of British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest.
• NutritionData (ND) "generates nutrition labels and provides simplified nutritional analyses such as foods that are lowest in carbohydrates, highest in protein, or that match any other dietary restrictions or goals."
• NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.
• Ocean.com.  This website was created by a multimedia company from California and features quality streaming video of ocean life. The Ask Us section touches on a lot of general ocean and water topics, such as which fish on a menu might be endangered by over-fishing.
• Now, free online, read the Opinion Journal from the Wall Street Journal editorial pages.
• Learn about the basis of all matter:  The Particle Adventure from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
• It is important to understand and be able to compare the size of things we are studying. To learn more about the relative sizes of things, visit our Perspectives: Powers of 10 activity site.
• Race--The Power of an Illusion.  "Race is one topic where we all think we're experts. Yet ask 10 people to define race or name "the races," and you're likely to get 10 different answers.
• The Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games
• Christ mocked - Hieronymous Bosch - from Seeing Salvation - the BBC guides to education.
• Remember the Alamo.  "In the early 1830s Texas was about to explode. Although ruled by Mexico, the region was home to more than 20,000 U.S. settlers agitated by what they saw as restrictive Mexican policies. Mexican officials, concerned with illegal trading and immigration, were prepared to fight hard to keep the province under their control. Caught in the middle were the area's 4,000 Mexican Texans or Tejanos."  The outstanding site from the pbs series "American Experience" will outline the full story for you.
• Remembering September 11.  This site is intended as a place to remember and celebrate the lives of those lost on September 11, 2001.
• Renaissance Mysteries.  A joint offering of the BBC and Open University, this website explores four mysteries from a historian's point of view.  
• "Richard Rodgers' contributions to the musical theatre of his day were extraordinary, and his influence on the musical theatre of today and tomorrow is legendary. His career spanned more than six decades, and his hits ranged from the silver screens of Hollywood to the bright lights of Broadway, London and beyond."
• Science Vocabulary Hangman!  "Part of a the Jefferson Lab Games and Puzzles section, Science Vocabulary Hangman offers a stunning array of choices.
• Skulls.  What is a skull? How do structure and function relate in skulls? Why do humans have such large brains?  What about head butting? How do reptilian skulls differ from mammalian skulls? How do the bones of the skull grow? What are the most famous uses of skulls in culture?  These and many other questions are answered at this web site from the California Academy of Sciences.
• Sprocketworks:  full of shockwave animations that show how things work.

• Find out at The Straight Dope.  Fighting ignorance since 1973...

• Study Guides!

• Those Superbowl ads.  View 55 of the ads that aired during Sunday's broadcast of the 37th Superbowl.  Vote for your most/least favorites. Remember last year's ads?

• The Supreme Court has opened its own web site. For further legal study, go to FedLaw, a legal resource web of the Federal Government, or try The Oyez Project, a Supreme Court Multimedia Database, sponsored by Northwestern University.

• Tour Canada from space
• UCSD-TV Video Archives.  Search/play from a large collection of shows broadcast on UCSD TV, including lectures from world class scholars, artists, and professors.  Require's the Real Player.  While we are speaking of video, also see the Scientific American Frontiers archive of online videos for some truly fascinating explorations in science.
• Vote: The Machinery of Democracy looks at the history of voting methods in the United States, which are as varied as the individual states and their local election districts. This site explores how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social, and technological change, transforming the ways in which Americans vote.
• Vote for America's Favorite Tree.
• The War Behind Closed Doors.  This great website from the PBS series Frontline describes the inside players, the arguments, the potential conflicts and consequences of going to war with Iraq.  You can read interviews, watch the show online, participate in a discussion board, and much more.
• What is a Print?   Learn the basics of wood block, etching, lithography, and screen printing with mini-tutorials.  The New York Museum of Modern Art, combines these tutorials with examples of each type of printing and a glossary of print terminology.
• Wired Antarctica
• Witnesses to Terror (American RadioWorks).  "During an 18-month investigation, the 9/11 Commission heard extraordinary testimony about the terrorist attacks on America. Witnesses told stories of lucky breaks and deadly errors. The commission pieced together new evidence and new details to tell the most complete story to date of the al Qaeda plot. This site presents highlights from the commission's hearings. Some audio media available."
• Working in the 21st Century is a portrait of the U.S. workforce at the beginning of the New Millennium: a set of charts and related information about subjects ranging from education levels to retirement plans. You can view either the slide show or the individual slides.
• The World News Network.  A great way to keep up on global perspectives on current events, and to discover local events you will never hear about in the US press.
• WWW.READY.GOV:  The web site on how to prepare for a terrorist disaster from the Department of Homeland Security.  Sections are included on how to make a survival communications plan, on the types of threats we ought to be prepared for, and on how to make a survival kit.