The sites reviewed here were selected by New Vista High School (Boulder Valley School District, Colorado) students because they relate to the students' career interests. We can imagine ourselves doing this kind of work; that would be cool.

National Severe Storms Lab (NSSL) Home Page Reviewed by Meadow B. (Storm Chaser)
This page contains information about the NSSL and what they do, including current projects and research. The weather room is great for kids, grades 4-8, but it would be nice if it had some stuff for high schoolers also. It provides information on weather careers as well as phenomena. It has lessons on weather symbols, maps, and systems. There are also links to other weather sites on the Internet, including a site with information and advice for storm chasers.
URL: http://www.erl.noaa.gov/nssl/nssl.html
[Note: This URL has been updated to reflect a change in address. This is not the original URL reviewed.]


The World of Benjamin Franklin Reviewed by Brendan B. (Web Writer)
This site is interesting not only because it provides a lot of information about the author of "Poor Richard's Almanack" but also because the authors of this site do a really excellent and, to this browser, unusual job of combining "linear" text and "hyper" text approaches. Most of the information is presented in concise paragraphs, each of which contains links to other paragraphs, so you can wander through the site as if it were a verbal museum. One minute you're looking at the chronology of his life, and the next you're reading about his daughter, or his work with electricity. There's also an interesting picture of his armonica (no, that's not a misspelling; it's an instrument). Several of the specific paragraphs on particular subjects aren't very informative, but overall you learn a lot.
URL: http://www.fi.edu/franklin/

Cambridge Astronomy Reviewed by James B. (Mad Scientist)
The Cambridge Astronomy web site is one of the best that I have seen, with a clearly indexed layout as well as plenty of easily accessible information. The web page is well maintained and appears to be updated often; the main page displays a recent picture of the Hale-Bopp comet (of course). To use this site you have to sort through a lot of links and technical information, but it's well worth it for the information you'll find. The main page, for instance, has links to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy, as well as a few general information links. It also links to a private page for Cambridge-area astronomers only, which, although it is not useful to the public, shows how to use a page for both public and private purposes. All the links have current information, such as reports on the progress on the Hubble Space Telescope. For example, the current report explains the success of the Hubble servicing mission. It also reports the problems that the Southern Atlantic Anomaly is causing the new equipment on the Hubble Space Telescope. There are also many images available from both the Hubble Space Telescope and telescopes on the ground. Latest photographs of the Hale-Bopp comet are included in a link entirely dedicated to the Hale-Bopp Comet (indexed under "Latest Topics"). Many web pages seem almost lost in the past with information from the past with no new twists or information; this one, however, keeps renewing itself. This is a web page that I can and will revisit to find more new information.
URL: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/

Maran Graphics Visual Computer Dictionary Reviewed by Aaron B. (Technician)
This web site provides simple, clear definitions and explanations of computer and Internet jargon. I think it's cool because it is easy to use, and has interesting information and interesting illustrations. If you are having trouble understanding the language of your computer, this could be a very helpful site. I also found the site interesting because it is set up in a manner that's easy to understand. It starts out with a cool title, with all the letters of the alphabet listed below. You can press any letter and you will get another list of words; if you press any of these words you will get a definition and an illustration.
URL: http://www.maran.com/dictionary/index.html

Imagination Enterprises Reviewed by Aaron S. (Engineer/Phreaker)
This is a cool site about engineering a theme park. It has some great inside information about rides at Disneyland. For instance, the designers explain how the mysterious ghosts appear in The Haunted Mansion (images are projected onto a glass and your mind combines the projected and background images as one). The page also contains a satirical explanation of the new, politically correct Pirates of the Caribbean (watch out for incorrect spelling and punctuation). There are links to other amusement park designers and animatronic designers, which are also interesting; I like the Sally Corporation and BRC Imagination Arts sites best (although both have some features that require special software to load). The Imagination Enterprises site designers say they will soon have pages on how to design a successful theme park; we're hoping to use that information to re-design our school.
URL: http://members.aol.com/nathanen/index.htm

World Fact Book Web Site Reviewed by Ben B. (Explorer)
This web site contains an in-depth encyclopedia of countries. It displays a list of every country in the world for you to search through. Displayed beneath each country is a list of data and useful facts about the country. This list includes such topics as Economy, Transportation, Communications, and Government. Although the web site has tons of really cool, useful information, it could be improved. It really needs a "finder" command in order to expediently locate specific information; as it is, one must work through the entire alphabet to find information on Zaire. Once Zaire is located, the list of facts must then be searched for the desired data. It would also be helpful if web sites related to the specified topic were listed and/or linked.
URL: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
[Note: This URL has been updated to reflect a change in address. This is not the original URL reviewed.]


Consortium of Aquariums, Universities and Zoos Reviewed by Mary D. (Humanitarian)
This page provides information about a consortium of aquariums and zoos, describing all the benefits they provide (e.g., helping endangered species and providing jobs). I think the site is very informative and interesting. They have nice pictures on the home page, but it doesn't take long to download; moving from one page to another also goes quickly. The site is clear and well organized, with clear and simple explanations of the organization plus a complete and well-organized directory. It also has one page with more than 4,000 links to other sites. It could use more graphics and a nice background; after the home page, the visual content is pretty bland.
URL: http://www.selu.com/~bio/cauz/

3-D Art: Images Reviewed by Ivy M. (Artist)
This page provides an index to many other pages, each of which has 3-D computer-generated art. Besides being incredibly entertaining, these sites are also very useful for graphic artists. There are three different types of 3-D pictures to look at. There are double views of images, cross-eyed views, and pictures that require 3-D glasses (which you can order very cheaply through some of the sites). My favorite picture is "Sunrise from Space," which is in the 3-D Gallery. To see the image clearly you need to wear the 3-D glasses. As a computer arts student, I am learning many new things about a computer's capabilities. Before visiting this site I had no idea that you could take actual pictures of space and make them into 3-D images on a screen. One thing that would make this site better is a wider variety of pictures. Other than that, I think this is one of the best sites on the Web.
URL: http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Visual_Arts/Computer_Generated/3_D_Art/Images/

The Great Artists, an Exhibit Reviewed by Zach G. (Artiste)
This page links to some visually fun and informative pages that show and discuss the works of three great Impressionist artists: Vincent Van Gogh (my favorite), Claude Monet, and Paul Cezanne. You have to look at Starry Night; it's way cool. In addition to the pictures, you can get biographies and commentaries about the artists. The sites also links to other sites about the artists. Whether you are familiar with these artists or not, you will have a good time here--and you may learn something. You have to ignore the junk at the top of the index page; and, since the pages are graphics-heavy, they may take a while to load.
URL: http://www.ugrad.cs.jhu.edu/~baker/artpage.html

These Internet resources were evaluated on the basis of the Site Selection Guidelines that the students developed. Questions and comments can be sent to teacher Questions and comments can be sent to teacher Stevan Kalmon, kalmon@bvsd.k12.co.us

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the KIDS Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison or the National Science Foundation.