Many science/technology websites described elsewhere in this special collection also contain good hands-on activities to illustrate their content. The sites listed below concentrate on such experiments.

"Whelmers--Science activities that will catch the eye and mind of even the most indifferent student":
http://www.mcrel.org/whelmers/

These demonstration activities are designed to "whelm" students--to spark their curiosity about science. Each of the twenty science activities, aligned with the National Science Education Standards, is designed to demonstrate thinking skills used by scientists: prediction, observation, and analysis. These activities are sponsored by the website for the Mid-continent Regional Education Laboratory. Each demonstration includes sections on materials, instructions, presentation, content, and assessment. Try Whelmer #7: Iron in Cereal http://www.mcrel.org/whelmers/whelm07.asp

The Exploratorium Science Snacks:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/snackintro.html

Snacks are miniature science exhibits/demonstrations using common, inexpensive, easily available materials. They are excellent activities to aid learners in discovering for themselves the joy of science. Each snack has instructions, advice, and helpful hints. Currently there are more than one hundred snacks at this great site.

NERDS--Nebraska Educators Really Doing Science:
http://nerds.unl.edu/

This website is being transformed from an earlier version containing 119 science demonstrations presented by the Teachers College of University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The demonstrations are being reorganized into categories of biology, earth science, chemistry, and physical science. It will be great to have access again to these hands-on activities. There are other interesting links in the NERDS "Mammoth Resources" section.

Nova Online:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

This website is the online information resource for the Public Broadcasting Service's television science program. At this site, one will find teachers' guides, hands-on activities, and additional information for each of the televised programs. Good examples of these activities, which call for simple materials, include "Slip Sliding Away" from Avalanche http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachersguide/avalanche/avalanche_sp1.html, and "Overflowing the Banks" from Flood. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachersguide/flood/flood_sp1.html

Rocketry Activities (NASA Teacher's Resource Center Rocket Activities): http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/Other_Groups/K-12/TRC/Rockets/RocketActivitiesHome.html

These activities are designed to illustrate and test Isaac Newton's Three Laws of Motion. There is a teacher's guide containing background information on the history of rocketry, scientific principles, and practical rocketry. The physical science activities, demonstrating basic rocketry, are designed to use inexpensive materials. There are opportunities to read construction diagrams, use mathematics to explore time and distance problems, and practice following directions. Relatively large physical spaces, such as building hallways, have been necessary for some of these activities.

Slinky Scientific Shindig:
http://www.teachingtools.com/

The teacher's guide for Slinky science contains a history of the invention of the Slinky as well as three activites designed to demonstrate inertia, gravity, kinetic energy, longitudinal waves, and centrifugal force. There are additional activities at this site about plastics and about principles of engineering and manufacturing. The text is well-illustrated, with large print and relatively simple text. This set of activities was a part of National Engineers Week 1998. http://www.eweek.org/1998/index.html

Aeronautics Learning Laboratory for Science, Technology, and Research (ALLSTAR): http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/

This comprehensive site, funded by NASA and its Learning Technologies Project, explores history, principles and career options in aeronautics. The hands-on experiments, in the section on principles of flight, are presented in three levels:

• Level 1 - Intended primarily for middle / junior high school students.
• Level 2 - Intended primarily for junior high / high school students.
• Level 3 - Intended primarily for high school / lower division college students

The site uses the latest technologies on the Internet, so it will be necessary to install plug-ins on your browser. The activities themselves, however, require very simple, inexpensive materials for the most part.

Newton's Apple Science Try Its:
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/newtons/tryits/index.html

The hands-on activities in this section are also known as "Try This at Home". These activities are from the 9th through the 14th seasons of the PBS family science television show Newton's Apple. Science Try Its use everyday materials, promote observation of phenomena, and give explanations of the science behind the observations. These activities are good starters for journal-writing, discussions, and practice in following directions.