Store Wars

http://www.storewars.org/

It's quirky, it's got an agenda (the site is sponsored by the Organic Trade Association), and it's not terribly content rich...but it's pretty well done! This flash animation movie and information site uses a parody of Star Wars to address the conflict between small organic farms and the grocery/food industry. With Tofu D2 the droid, the wise Obi Wan Cannoli, the evil Darth Tader, watch Cuke Skywalker battle to save Princess Lettuce!

MMM Project

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/ti/

With videos produced by WNET/13, lessons developed by Bolster Education tied to the NCTM standards, these video excerpts, together with transcripts and teacher resources, target a variety of middle school math subjects. The videos are delivered in pieces, with two quality settings to allow for low bandwidth.

S.O.S. for Information Literacy

http://www.informationliteracy.org

The word "literacy" is in transition. "...The need for students to acquire information literacy skills, while always important, has 'just grown larger, more complex, and more important as the volume of available information has mushroomed beyond everyone's wildest imagination'" says the informational page of this database of information literacy lesson plans. The site, launched at the fall conference of the Association for Education Communications and Technology (AECT), is a joint project of AECT and the American Association of School Librarians. It is intended as a repository for Information Literacy lesson plans provided by contributors, and includes a tutorial on how to submit plans. [Submitted by Rosemary McFarland.]

Extreme Science

http://www.extremescience.com/

Dedicated to the biggest, the hottest, the fastest, the heaviest, this informational website offered solely by Elizabeth Keller is a wealth of information on science's extremities. There are links to other resource as well. The site is easy to use, marred only by a fairly large amount of ads (not all links are on the site!).

The Kentucky Council on Economic Education

http://www.kcee.org/

The site is far from finished, and almost all the resources collected there are links off-site, but it still serves as an excellent collection of games, contests, and lesson resources aimed at economics education. KCEE is a sponsor of the Stock Market Game (see our review in our September 2, 2005 edition).

Extreme Inspiration - a Writing Contest from KASA

http://www.kasa.org/

The Kentucky Association of School Administrators offers this essay contest at four different grade levels - K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The subject is an inspirational teacher or other educational professional at the student's school, with a deadline of March 31, 2006. Winners will be announced at KASA's summer conference. Click on 2006 Student Writing Contest for rules, information, and downloadable forms.