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About Science NetLinks

Science NetLinks is part of Thinkfinity, a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 premier educational organizations. The Thinkfinity partners include the AAAS, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Council on Economic Education, the National Geographic Society, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the Literacy Network.

The Thinkfinity partnership provides free, Internet-based content across academic disciplines. Science NetLinks' role is to provide a wealth of standards-aligned resources for K-12 science educators, including lesson plans, interactives and reviewed Internet resources. Science NetLinks is a dynamic site with new content being added on a regular basis, so check back often.

Site Features

Lessons

At the heart of Science NetLinks are standards-based lesson plans that incorporate reviewed Internet resources, and can be selected according to specific benchmarks and grade ranges. Each lesson is tied to at least one learning goal and uses research-based instructional strategies that support student learning. The lessons are written for the teacher, but include student-ready materials such as student sheets (student reproducibles) or E-Sheets (online worksheets that enable students to engage directly in Internet activities).

Resources
An important component of Science NetLinks is the collection of Web resources reviewed by scientists and educators according to a rigorous set of criteria. You can select and sort these resources according to specific benchmark areas and grade ranges at the Resource Index page.

Benchmarks
To help educators integrate Science NetLinks resources into a standards-based curriculum, all site content is organized around Benchmarks for Science Literacy. These benchmarks are a set of science literacy goals developed by Project 2061, AAAS's long-term initiative to reform K-12 science education nationwide.

Science Updates

Science Updates are 60-second radio programs presenting current science research, as well as responses to questions phoned in to our Science Update hotline (1-800-WHY-ISIT). Science NetLink's Science Update lessons include suggestions for using the research in the K-12 classroom, as well as the transcript and an MP3 file for playback.

Site Tools

For optimal use of the site, the following plug-ins are highly recommended: