http://www.economicmobility.org/

Working with partners from The American Enterprise Institute and The Urban Institute, the Economic Mobility Project is an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The aim of the Project is to focus public attention on economic mobility through well-thought out scholarly analyses, reports, public events, and discussion. In the "Reports & Research" section, visitors can download papers like "Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap" and "Ups and Downs: Does the American Economy Still Promote Upward Mobility?" Visitors can also look over a topical list of their papers as well. Moving on, the "Newsroom" area provides access to the Project's latest press releases and information about their upcoming events. The site is rounded out by a search engine and an area where visitors can sign up to receive the latest news from the Project. [KMG]

http://www.luc.edu/faculty/spavko1/minerals/

Students of chemistry will find much to enjoy at this site created by Professor Steve Pavkovic. The site contains interactive 3D graphics displays of various crystalline minerals. These colorful and inviting displays can be explored fairly easily, and they are designed to give users a "clear understanding of the relationships between the unit cell and its parts." The first section users should visit is the "Unit Cell Structures of Selected Minerals and Elements". Here visitors can make their way through displays of elements like arsenic and boron, along with other groupings, such as oxides & hydroxides and sulfides. The "Unit Cell Basics" area contains some helpful diagrams of cubic unit cells, hexagonal cells, and various platonic solids. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.

http://dww.ed.gov/

Educators across the United States are always looking for compelling new resources to use in the classroom, and this fine website sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education delivers high-quality resources for just that purpose. The Doing What Works website contains content based on the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences' "What Works" clearinghouse. First-time visitors can orient themselves by playing the informational video featured on the homepage. After that, they can click on the "Find What Works!" area to learn about resources in the fields of early childhood education, English, math and science, and the psychology of learning. After making a foray into those areas, visitors can click on the "Featured Content" section, and then maybe take a guided tour of the features on the site. Visitors are also encouraged to sign up for updates and to sign up to access the Digital Teacher Workshop. [KMG]

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/136GSA/136GSA.htm

Just about every town in the United States has one post office, and a number of them have other federal government buildings. The United States experienced quite a boom in federal building construction during the Great Depression, and many of these structures remain iconic pieces of the built environment. This lesson plan from the Teaching with Historic Places program at the National Park Service looks at the role these structures have played in a variety of communities around the country, including Portland, Oregon, Denver, and Louisville. Like the other lesson plans in this series, this one offers a heady mix of primary documents, key historical questions, and visual evidence for use by students. The lesson is divided into several primary sections, including "Locating the Site: Map", "Determining the Facts", and "Visual Evidence". The lesson plan is rounded out by a series of activities and supplementary resources, and overall, it will be of interest to anyone with a penchant for architecture of United States history. [KMG]

http://www.epa.gov/oppt/rsei/

The Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) is a computer-based screening tool developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that "analyzes risk factors to put Toxics Release Inventory release data into a chronic health context." The tool and this site are used by journalists, industry officials, and government regulators to examine trends, support community-based projects, and also screen potential impacts of emissions. On this site, visitors can use the "Basic Information" area to learn more about how RSEI works and how it can be used. Visitors can also learn about the technical details of RSEI, and of course, they can download the current version of this powerful application. Additionally, the site includes a glossary and documents such as a user's manual and documentation of RSEI's methodology. For people wishing to learn about potential health risks from industrial releases, this site will be of great assistance. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.

http://flowtv.org/

Flow is a stylish-looking online television and studies journal started in 2004 at the University of Texas at Austin which "provide[s] a space where researchers, teachers, students, and the public can read about and discuss the changing landscape of contemporary media at the speed that media moves." Their news articles on the homepage range from "Myth, The Numinous, and Cultural Studies", "Television, Participatory Culture and Politics: The Case for Indian Idol", and "A Look Back at Michael Jackson". Visitors interested in seeing how Flow's layout and design has changed since their start should click on the "About Flow" tab at the top of any page, and then go down to the link "Flow: A Visual History". The "Archives" of the journal are complete, and can be accessed on any page, from a drop down box on the left side of the page. Podcasts from the "Flow Conference 2008" are forthcoming, but articles and insights from the 2006 Flow Conference are available in the "Archives", and provide for very interesting reading. [KMG]

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/povertyandinequality/index.htm

The Law Center of Georgetown and the Georgetown Public Policy Institute have teamed up to assist policymakers, lawmakers, researchers, and others to effectively address poverty and inequality as a function of public policy. Their website allows anyone to read publications by the Center's esteemed thinkers. In the "Projects" link on the menu of the left side of any page, visitors can read the center's Youth Policy, Low-Income Tax Policy, and Cross-Cutting Policy Poverty Initiatives. The "People" link, also on the left side menu, leads to the biographies of the three professors at Georgetown who run the Center. The link to "Publications" includes publications written or co-written by the aforementioned professors, and also provides direct links to the articles and chapters. Some of the more notable articles include "From Welfare to Poverty to a Living Income", "Lessons for the United States from Other Advanced economies in Tackling Child Poverty", and "Welfare Reform and Extreme Poverty: What To Do?" [KMG]

http://palaeo-electronica.org/

The contents of the online Palaeontologia Electronica (PE), a journal of paleontology supported by eight paleontological organizations from around the world, can be accessed by clicking anywhere on its colorful "cover". The journal features commentary, articles, technical articles, and reviews of books. The text "(print)" appears next to the articles that can be downloaded or printed in PDF form. Visitors wishing to search back issues of the journal can click on "Back Issues", and see all the appealing covers that have appeared on the journal since its inception in 1998. The tab "Indexes" at the top of the page allows visitors to view the archives of the journal by "Alphabetical list of articles", "Alphabetical list of authors", "Numerical list of articles", or "Keyword terms". Future authors should look at the "Resources" tab at the top of the page to learn about PE's submission guidelines, including their desire for graphical, colorful content in the articles they publish. [KMG]