When combing the World Wide Web for material for your science classroom, consider this: A simple search of the word “science” on one of several major online search engines will return more than 40 million results.

We at NSTA know that teachers do not have the time to access all these websites. Fortunately, we now have a way to help NSTA members find web resources quickly and easily.

SciLinks, an innovative tool that links your science textbooks and NSTA publications to the Internet, now offers NSTA members a Members-Only Keyword Search feature. This service narrows a web search to a manageable number of sites: 5–15 web pages that have been vetted by a team of science educators. The SciLinks team not only understands the science behind the websites, but also knows how to select the best online content for classroom use.

NSTA member Mary Bigelow, who has served on the SciLinks search team since 1999, says she has seen “the good, the bad, and the ugly” when it comes to websites. Bigelow examines websites that have been submitted to her by student “spotters,” who search the web for appropriate sites for teachers and students. From the more than 4,000 websites she has viewed, she cites as “the good” such familiar standbys as NASA and Public Broadcasting Service web pages, along with many college and university websites. Some student-designed pages are also high in quality, she adds, which indicates that someone has properly instructed the students about how to construct a website.

But when it comes to “the bad and the ugly,” Bigelow cautions that you can’t believe everything you see online. As an example, she mentions one website that states that “the tide goes out in the morning and comes in in the evening.” She says she immediately eliminated that site from consideration for SciLinks. She also warns elementary teachers that some web pages designed for that level are “too cute” and don’t “have a lot of meat to them.”

Teachers and students can trust SciLinks-reviewed sites, assures Bigelow, because the SciLinks team only selects sites that are accurate, up-to-date, and have “real science behind them.”

When reviewing a website, she says she considers whether the site makes a good first impression through quality graphics, depth of information, interactive features, and/or well-written text. She checks to see whether the site differs from the textbook because she believes a web page that simply duplicates a book is “not worthwhile.” A website should demonstrate a science concept better than a textbook can if a teacher is going to spend precious class time using it, she explains.

Bigelow also notes the amount of advertising on websites and eliminates those that are overloaded with ads. She checks to see if it is clear who owns or is responsible for the website and whether that person or organization has knowledge and credibility. As a final check, she asks herself, “Would I feel comfortable as a professional showing this site to my students and colleagues?”

Bigelow calls the SciLinks’ searchable aspect “a godsend” when correlating websites with the National Science Education Standards. She notes that a reviewer can type in a keyword, and the SciLinks website returns a list of standards that connect with the keyword. This feature helps her determine whether a website matches more than one standard. She also can check to see if sites tie in to “something else besides content,” such as science-related careers, women’s roles, or the value of scientific inquiry. Some sites are limited and don’t connect with other important topics, she observes.

The SciLinks Members-Only Keyword Search is easy to use. Simply have your NSTA member ID handy when you visit www.nsta.org/scilinks, then

• Select the “My SciLinks” link.
• Log in.
• Select the “NSTA's Member-Only Keyword Lookup” link.
• Enter a topic in the keyword text box, select a grade-range, and select “submit.”

SciLinks will return a list of one or more keywords or key phrases found in the database. Choose one, and the site will display vetted web pages the NSTA search team has identified. Among those web pages, members will find lesson plans, activities, assessments, content, models, simulations, and historical perspectives.

The service pays special attention to resources involving interactivity and multimedia because these characteristics set online content apart from print media and allow the user to explore a topic in novel ways. The content is also up-to-date, reflecting developments as recent as yesterday’s news. Bigelow cites the human genome project as an example. While it will take time for textbooks to include it, a 3D model of the genome is now available online, she notes.

Web content can serve as “enrichment” for students who want to go farther than what is covered in class and for advanced students, says Bigelow, and it can also benefit students in smaller schools that have faculty who are less experienced with the subject matter. These teachers, she adds, can also use the web content to “bone up” on a topic they know little about. The SciLinks Members-Only Keyword Search feature “will be really incredible” for these teachers, she says, as well as for elementary teachers who lack a science background or teachers of science at any level who need to review or learn more about a topic.

“Teachers have asked, ‘If you don’t have the textbooks, what do you do?’,” says Bigelow. With the new keyword search, teachers will not need to have the textbooks containing the SciLinks; they can simply use the feature to find the information they need. The keyword search also can save teachers time, with “less trips to the library,” Bigelow observes.

The SciLinks team hopes NSTA members will find this new benefit useful, whether the online content retrieved is found through the printed pages of a textbook or accessed through the Members-Only Keyword Search. Members are invited to share their thoughts about this service by sending e-mail to info@scilinks.org or calling 1-800-722-NSTA, ext. 395, or 703-312-9395.