• Back-to-School Quotes - 08/14/2014

    The exciting back-to-school season is upon us, and what better way to get ourselves in the mood than with wisdom and humor. Whether you are looking for something for a school report, a bulletin board, or dinner table discussion, you’ll surely hit pay dirt with today’s selection of pithy...

  • Online Scavenger Hunts - 07/30/2014

    This week’s site selection is dedicated to improving search skills. Some of today’s sites feature a single daily question (or search challenge), and others offer a collection of topic-based research questions often called online scavenger hunts. Good hunting!

  • History of the World Wide Web - 07/23/2014

    Although commonly used as a synonym for the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is a hypertext media service that runs on the Internet. Separate from other Internet services such as email or FTP, the Web is the world of webpages, hyperlinks, search engines, and URL addresses. British...

  • Meteor Showers - 07/17/2014

    Meteor showers are cyclical, predictable events because they are formed from the icy rock debris shed by comets as they pass the Sun. The following sites explain why they happen, when they occur, and offer tips on how to best view them.

  • Nelson Mandela - 07/10/2014

    Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013) was a South African freedom fighter who became South Africa’s first democratically elected President (1994 to 1999). His leadership was fundamental in dismantling apartheid, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Before his presidency, Mandela...

  • Photo Sharing - 07/03/2014

    It’s easy to be overwhelmed by a growing collection of unorganized digital photos. And, as camera resolutions improve, file sizes get bigger, and even emailing pictures to friends and family becomes nearly impossible. Each of today’s picks take a slightly different approach to sharing...

  • Hawaii - 06/25/2014

    Aloha! President William McKinley signed a resolution annexing Hawaii as an unincorporated territory of the United States on July 7, 1898. Hawaii remained a territory until becoming our fiftieth state on August 21, 1959. Its natural beauty and tropical climate make it a popular tourist destination....

  • Independence Day Quotes - 06/18/2014

    To inspire you this 4th of July, here’s a collection of quotations about freedom, independence and patriotism. Some of these collections specifically address America’s independence, while others explore the concepts more broadly.

  • Duct Tape Crafts - 06/11/2014

    Duct tape is an adhesive tape created by Johnson & Johnson for the US Military during World War II. After the war, it rose to popularity as a staple of home repair, and during the last several decades has become a popular craft material. It is now available in a rainbow of colors and prints.

  • The Ocean - 06/04/2014

    Although it covers nearly three-quarters of Earth, scientists call the ocean our planet’s last frontier, and say that we know more about the moon then we do the sea floor. While oceanographers are racing to learn more about the deep secrets of the ocean floor, you can start your ocean journey...

  • Paul Gauguin - 05/29/2014

    Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 8,1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist recognized after his death for his use of colors and as a forerunner of the Symbolist movement. He was contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh, and his work influenced Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

  • Bugs - 05/22/2014

    Why do kids love bugs? I don’t know, but parents seem to fall into two camps: those that tolerate bugs for science’s sake and those that don’t. The latter are always apologetic. They know bugs are a part of nature and they know their kids love bugs. Whether you’re a bug tolerator...

  • Memorial Day - 05/15/2014

    Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) was first observed in 1868 to honor the soldiers of the Civil War. Its origins can be traced back to General John A. Logan who proclaimed: “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating...

  • California Gold Rush - 05/07/2014

    A pea-sized gold nugget was unearthed at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848. Although the news did spread, Sam Brannan, a San Francisco newspaperman, is credited with starting the actual rush on May 12 when he walked the streets of San Francisco holding up a quinine bottle...

  • Mother Goose - 05/01/2014

    Mother Goose nursery rhymes have been part of our Western oral tradition for hundreds of years, and is not known to be a real historical figure. In fact (according to Wikipedia) she has been associated with nursery rhymes as early as 1628 in France. On the other hand, according to Eleanor Early, a...

  • The Holocaust - 04/23/2014

    The Holocaust (1933 – 1945) was Nazi Germany’s state-sanctioned persecution of Europe’s Jews during World War II. Before the Allies conquered Adolph Hitler’s war machine, his “final solution” took the lives of six million European Jews. Holocaust Remembrance Day...

  • Photosynthesis - 04/17/2014

    Photosynthesis is the chemical process used by plants (and a few other organisms) to convert sunlight, water, and air into the energy needed for the plant to grow and survive. Learn more with today’s crop of website picks.

  • Blogging Platforms - 04/10/2014

    This roundup of free blogging platforms features sites that offer both free hosting, and the software tools to create and maintain a blog without having to know a thing about HTML, CSS, or FTP. All allow the use of your own domain name (such as example.com instead of example.bloggingplatform.com)...

  • Submit Your Poems - 04/02/2014

    Seeing your poetry published is exciting for writers of any age. This week’s sites specialize in publishing poems from young poets. They vary in how selective they are, the length of time it will take you to get a response, and the permissions you must grant them. Some of these sites request...

  • Real World Math - 03/26/2014

    In honor of April’s status as Math Education Month, I’m starting off the month with a look at how math is used in our everyday lives. Like the little girl in Jon Scieszka’s Math Curse who wakes up to find everything in her world has turned into a math problem, once you go looking...