"School bells ringing, children singing. ... "
Yeah, right.
For most students, school bells mean the end of summer and the start of the homework season. Lugging books back and forth. Long evenings staring at impenetrable algebra problems. In short, pain.
But in the information age, young scholars have a valuable new tool, the Internet. The World Wide Web brings the library to the living room, putting the research and knowledge of thousands of experts at students' fingertips. Of course, not all parents are crazy about the Internet and many worry about its unsavory side. But educators say the Net has an underserved bad rap.
"The 'dark side' of the Internet comprises only 2 [percent] to 3 percent of it," says librarian Ann O'Neill of Franklin High School in Reisterstown. "That leaves an incredible amount of good stuff."
The problem is finding it quickly so students don't waste their study time surfing aimlessly.
To this end, we talked to educators and librarians and spent hours sifting though the digital flotsam on our own. The result is this list of great homework sites on the Web. Clip it, save it or look for it on SunSpot, The Sun's World Wide Web site (www.sunspot. net/homework).
If you're a student, give these sites a look. If you're a parent, tell your kids about them - and surf along - you might learn something.
Reference Desk
WWWebster
(www.m-w. com)
For wordsmiths, it doesn't get any better than this. Merriam Webster's Online Language Center has a great dictionary and ** thesaurus, plus entertaining and educational side trips.
OneLook Dictionaries
(www.onelook.com)
When Webster's won't do. OneLook quickly queries more than 345 online specialized dictionaries - everything from the Dictionary of Art Glass Terms to the Water Quality Dictionary - to track down the meaning of an odd word.
Roget's Thesaurus
(www.thesaurus.com)
Need to find that mot juste? The quickest, easiest way to dig up a synonym or antonym online.
Bartlett's Familiar
Quotations
(www.columbia.edu/acis/
bartleby/bartlett)
Find out what the famous really said. But beware: This edition is from 1901, so don't expect to find quotes from the recently deceased.
Encyclopedia.com
(www.encyclopedia.com)
A great free encyclopedia on the Web. More than 17,000 cross-linked articles from the Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition.
AJR NewsLink
(www.newslink.org/news.html)
Find all the news that fits at this directory of online newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations.
Document Center
(www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/
Documents.center/stats.html)
Need facts? This site contains statistics on everything from agriculture to tourism.
Fedstats
(www.fedstats.gov)
A repository of statistics from more than 70 government agencies.
Scientific Calculator
(www.parallax.co.uk/rolf/
Calculator)
Leave your calculator at school? If the kid next door won't lend you one, try this virtual model. You'll need a Java-enabled browser.
Unit Converter
(www.webcom.com/legacysy/
convert2/convert2.html)
Quick: How many meters does 4 feet equal? Come here for all your conversion needs.
African-American studies
BCPL African-American
Center Homework Page
(www.bcplonline.org/centers/
aacenter/AA.homework.html)
The Baltimore County Public Library's online study guide to black history, politics and culture.
The arts
Art History Resources
(http://witcombe.bcpw.sbc.edu/
ARTHLinks.html)
This is the place on the Web to do art homework, with links to galleries, research sources and prints online.
Catalog of Classical Composers
(http://thanatos.uoregon.edu/
(tilde)lincicum/complst.html)
Bach rocks. And so does this online guide to classical composers and their music.
Biology
The Biology Project
(www.biology.arizona.edu)
A super interactive resource for learning biology.
The Electronic Zoo
(http://netvet.wustl.edu/
e-zoo.htm)
All animals, all the time.
Human Anatomy Online
(www.innerbody.com/htm/
body.html)
Explore your insides with beautifully rendered graphics.
Chemistry
General Chemistry Online!
(http://antoine.fsu.umd.edu/
chem/senese/101)
"Willy was a chemist. Willy is no more. Willy thought that H20 was H2SO4!" Don't get the joke? This informative site at Frostburg State University is the place to go.
Economics
Economics Education Web
(http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu)
This site built by the University of Nebraska at Omaha offers valuable economic education resources for all grade levels - even teachers.
English
The On-Line Books Page
(www.cs.cmu.edu/books.html)
Read 'em and keep 'em: the full text of more than 7,000 volumes, from Henry Adams to Emile Zola.
The Elements of Style
(www.columbia.edu/acis/
bartleby/strunk)
The classic guide to effective prose for writers of all ages.
Writing Research Papers
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Files/Research-Papers.html)
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab has put together a step-by-step guide for writing research papers - from the outline to the index.
Foreign language
The Human Languages Page
(www.june29.com/HLP/
h-linfo.html)
Links to more than 1,800 resources covering more than 100 languages.
Language Dictionaries
and Translators
(http://rivendel.com/ric/
resources/dictionary.html)
Need to look up a word in French, Afrikaans or Xhosa? This site links to language dictionaries all over the Net. Capiche?
ePALS Classroom Exchange
(www.epals.com)
Need a language partner? ePals helps students find online pen pals in more than 70 countries.
History
Mr. Jenkins History Links
(www.snowcrest.net/jmike)
Your homework problems will be history once you see what Mr. Jenkins has put together for his students - links to useful sites on U.S. and foreign history topics.
The American Presidency
(www.grolier.com/presidents/
preshome.html)
Grolier Online designed this exclusive history of presidents, the presidency, politics and related subjects.
Local resources
OnLINE
(www.bcpl.lib.md.us./centers/
education/LibraryWeb/
index.html)
Here's a nifty guide for Baltimore County parents. School librarians around the county put the department's K-12 curriculum online, with links to Web sites that dovetail with the content.
Maryland Kids Page
(www.sos.state.md.us/sos/
kids/html/kidhome.html)
Everything you ever wanted to know about your home state, from economy to weather to the state dinosaur.
SunSpot
(www.sunspot.net)
A shameless plug for The Sun's Web site, where you'll find the best local news and features.
Libraries
Your local public library is a great place to look for information online; most will let you search their card catalogs, too:
Anne Arundel
web.aacpl.lib.md.us
Baltimore
www.pratt.lib.md.us
Baltimore County
www.bcpl.lib.md.us
Carroll
www.carr.lib.md.us/
carroll/library
Harford
www.harf.lib.md.us
Howard
www.howa.lib.md.us
Sailor
(www.sailor.lib.md.us)
One of the first statewide library sites in the country, Sailor is a good place to search for links to public libraries, colleges, government agencies and other sources of information.
Math
The Math Forum
Student Center
(http://forum.swarthmore.edu/
students)
This site is as elegant as a balanced equation, with information geared to students from elementary to graduate school. Visit chat rooms, where students solve problems together.
S.O.S. MATHematics
(www.math.utep.edu/
sosmath)
Help with algebra, trig, differential equations, calculus and other mysteries, compliments of the University of Texas-El Paso.
Physics
Eric's Treasure Troves
of Physics
(www.astro.virginia.edu/
eww6n/TreasureTroves.html)
An encyclopedia of information about physics.
Science
BCPL Science Fair Projects
(www.bcplonline.org/centers/
education/sciencefair.html)
The Baltimore County Public Library has complied an impressive list of resources for students and parents to help figure what kind of project to do for the science fair and how to go about it.
Shop
Automotive Learning Online
(www.innerbody.com/
innerauto/Default.htm)
Grease monkeys can get their hands dirty online in this animated guide to what's under the hood.
Social studies
Geography World
(http://members.aol.com/
bowermanb/101.html)
Teacher Brad Bowerman has a strange sense of humor - and a great geography site for students.
Maps in the News
(www-map.lib.umn.edu/
news.html)
4 Find out where things in the news are happening.
Central Intelligence Agency's World Fact Book
(www.odci.gov/cia/publications/
factbook/index.html)
Next time a teacher asks you about Zaire, score points by reminding her that it's now called Democratic Republic of Congo. Visit the CIA's meaty guide to foreign countries.
For younger students
KidsClick
(sunsite.berkeley.edu/
KidsClick!)
A group of librarians weeded out the useless stuff on the Web and came up with this valuable homework site.
Ask Jeeves for Kids
(www.ajkids.com)
Young scholars can type in their questions in plain English, then Jeeves whisks them to the Web site that best matches their question.
Homework supersites
B.J. Pinchbeck's
Homework Helper
(http://tristate.pgh.net/
pinch13)
This handy Web guide for homework sufferers was designed by an 11-year-old and his dad.
Study Web
(www.studyweb.com)
The Yahoo of homework Web sites. It contains hundreds of links to research-quality information. A nice touch: Study Web rates content and approximate grade level.
Reference Desk
(www.sau.edu/CWIS/Internet/
Wild/Refdesk/refindex.htm)
It's research, "Jeopardy" style. Find what you need on the Web by starting with simple questions such as, "What is it?" or "Where is it?"
Teachers and parents
Education World
(www.education-world.com)
Lesson plans, Web-site reviews and much more. The database alone contains more than 56,000 education-related sites.
Scholastic Network
(www.scholasticnetwork.com)
Cool interactive lesson plans for teachers and much more.
SuperKids Educational
Software Review
(www.superkids.com)
This comprehensive site offers superbly organized reviews, ratings and comparisons of educational programs for students ranging from kindergarten through high school.
Pub Date: 9/07/98