new on the net

• Fame, fortune, and learning. Are there any budding Webmasters among your students? If so, point them in the direction of ThinkQuest, a new annual contest sponsored by Advanced Network and Services, Inc. Using the Internet, students in grades 7-12 will form teams across geographic and school boundaries to collaborate on building educational Web sites. More than $1 million will be awarded, with $15,000 college scholarships going to each student on the first-place winning teams in five subject categories. To enter, each team must submit a written proposal for a Web site by April 15, 1996; teams whose proposals are approved must then submit their entries between June 15 and August 15. The Internet Society will judge the entries and present the awards at a ceremony in November.
  

• Information wants to be free. The best place to look for available federal grants for schools always has been the massive Federal Register, a daily chronicler of federal activities and announcements, but its expense as a print publication and its sheer bulk often limited its usefulness for the average taxpayer. Matters improved when the U.S. Government Printing Office starting selling access on-line, but the fact remained that you were paying to receive public information. Until now. The Federal Register, the Congressional Record, congressional bills, and other government documents now are available on the Internet at absolutely no charge. The government provides fully searchable access through the Web, as well as by means of a WAIS (Wide-Area Information Server) client or a telnet connection. There even is a direct-dial modem pool for those without Internet access. This is your tax dollars hard at work. Happy grant-seeking.
  

• Real-world learning in real time. Several live interactive on-line projects that allow kids to work alongside scientists doing significant and meaningful research are under way on the Net. In MayaQuest '96, students in grades 4-12 ride along with a wired bicycle expedition to explore ancient Mayan ruins. The expedition started March 4, so pedal over and join the team. Similarly, a NASA project, Live from the Hubble Space Telescope, will donate three valuable Hubble orbits to students so they may observe a celestial body of their choosing. Two live video broadcasts, scheduled for March 14 and April 23, will give students the chance to make their observations and interpret the data on-line with the aid of astronomers. Also, the seventh annual JASON Project expedition, which runs from April 20 to 27, will use a combination of live two-way video broadcasts and Internet-based curriculum activities to engage kids in exploring underwater conditions for life in the coastal marine habitats of sourthern Florida.
  

• Environment news for kids. Science and the Environment is a free news-clipping service for high school students and teachers that publishes articles on various environmental issues. The stories are selected and summarized from over 500 sources, including newspapers, magazines, research journals, and specialized environmental publications. The service aims to supplement the environmental curriculum with up-to-date information.
  

• Your place on the Net. Web sites designed to help teachers and students find resources on the Net are legion these days, but every now and then one comes along that stands out. JDL Technologies' K-12 World is one of those, a well put-together compendium of links to valuable sites. Browse over and make yourself at home.