The Exploratorium
A fantastic, deep site from a pioneering interactive science museum.
Grade Level: Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Advanced, Professional
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
Education World takes a fresh look at this Web site, which was last reviewed at least three years ago...
CONTENT: The Exploratorium is an online extension of the real museum of art, science and human perception located in San Francisco. It includes over 12,000 Web pages, including video and audio files on a wide variety of topics.
AESTHETICS: The site is well designed and aesthetically pleasing. It includes video, audio, and web cast that require special plugins.
ORGANIZATION: This site covers a lot of material and does it very well. There is a top navigation bar that gives easy access to the main areas of the site. The main page also offers graphic links to featured sections. An onsite search tool is available and all pages provide a link back to the homepage.
REVIEW: "Online since 1993, the Exploratorium was one of the first science museums to build a site on the World Wide Web." Not surprisingly, this site evolved into one of the most frequented sites on the Web. There is a wide variety of information available here for teachers and students about the science behind the "ordinary subjects and experiences of people's lives." The main page offers topics to explore such as DNA, global climate change, and the science of cooking, as well as an Explore section, which gives students the opportunity to investigate more than 50 online activities, dozens of online exhibitions, live Web casts, a wealth of hands-on activities that can be printed and used offline, science news, an online magazine, and links to other cool sites. Educate includes learning tools and a set of experiments for parents and children ages six an up that can be done at home.
