Teachers (and administrators) love so see the word “free.” FREE in this case stands for Federal Resources for Excellence in Education. This website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Education, has links to hundreds of web-based resources, categorized by subject area. These sites are submitted by U.S. agencies, such as NASA, NOAA, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, most of the cabinet agencies, the National Archives, the National Park Service, the Census Bureau, and a number of others.
This is a goldmine of excellent resources. For example, the latest updates in science include a video on nanotechnology, an overview of NASA missions, a lesson idea for helping students understand the concept of a “planet,” and a lesson idea in which elementary students create a system for filtering gray water. But I also enjoy looking at the sites in other content areas. The newest topics include teaching with spreadsheets, excerpts from the diaries of 19th century pioneers traveling to the Pacific coast, and an overview of the artwork of M.C. Escher. All without leaving my laptop!
Rather than trying to remember to check the site for new updates, you can subscribe to a RSS feed (directions are on the site), or you can get on the mailing list and receive an e-mail message each month with links to the newest sites added.