* Problem Solving


Below are many examples of curriculum-based projects designed usingProblem Solving activity structures.

The Web sites mentioned in Judi Harris's Virtual Architecture are marked with a book icon: [ ] ..
 

12. Information Searches
13. Peer Feedback Activities
14. Parallel Problem Solving
15. Sequential Creations
16. Telepresent Problem Solving
17. Simulations
18. Social Action Projects
Other Works Cited


Structure 12: Information Searches

[ ] GeoGame
Pages 42-43 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-6
Ongoing? Yes
Project participants learn geography terms, learn how to interpretmaps, and develop their awareness of geographic and cultural diversityby playing on- and off-line geography "games."

Geo-Mystery Project
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? No
Forget Carmen Sandiego! Where in the world are these landmarks? Classes posted images (either drawings or photos) of a unique place in the world (most often, students' home towns) to the project's Web site with captions describing local landmarks. They included the exact longitude and latitude of the place, but never mentioned its name. Other students used email to either ask questions or guess the name of the place. Resources included alink to the USGS for finding exact locations, and collections of mysteriesfrom previous years. This was a super way to integrate geography and language arts skills.

[ ] Internet Math Hunt
Page 42 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Not sure
Every month brings with it a Math scavenger hunt in which studentscompete to find answers to questions such as: What mathematical relationshipdid Stradivari use to place the f-holes on his violins? and What is Cartesian geometry and for whom is it named?

[ ] Landmark Game
Pages 41-42 of Virtual Architecture
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
Part of KIDLINK, this site requires students to join KIDLINK by answering a four-question survey and subscribing to the Kid Project listserv.  Links to both are provided on the site.  Once students have gained access, they use writing, critical thinking, map reading, and organizational skills to participate in the game.  Students first choose a landmark, research it, and write nine clues.  Three clues per week are posted for a total of three weeks.  While posting their own clues, students are also going to read the clues from other students around the world.  Each participating group may ask one question per week of other groups and at the end of three weeks students try to guess the landmarks for which clues are posted.  There are deadlines for each year’s game; however, clues and landmarks from previous games are posted for use within your classroom alone.

MacDougall MacDougall in Time
Grades: 6-8
Ongoing? Not sure
“Happy hunting haggis lovers!” From the outset, you know that searching for  MacDougall MacDougall in time is going to be different from your average manhunt. In this multinational project, students are paired with a classmate or another “Mac Tracker” from another country. For five weeks, teams receive information about MacDougall’s trail in two locations each week, but to go on to the next site, they must work through a series of exercises and answer a question from the man himself. Points are awarded to teams for answering questions correctly and consistently (extra points go to teams who collaborate well). The teams with the most points at the end of the five weeks win prizes. 

What’s My Number?
Grades:  K-8 (listed as K-12)
Ongoing?  No
This project from KidSpace challenges students to create a set of clues for other students to use to determine a specific number and to solve math challenges created by other students.  The challenge is taken a step further by asking students to use no numbers in their clues and to try to include a clue pertaining in some way to where they live.  In order to post and solve math challenges, students need a Kidlink login which can easily be obtained by answering four questions accessible from the What’s My Number? Web site. 

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Structure 13: Peer Feedback Activities

Art Exchange Project
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Not sure
How would you like your students to have their artwork critiqued by someone other than you?  This unique project, geared toward older students working within the art curriculum, allows them to post artwork on the Web and participate in discussions with other students about it. A lesson plan is provided for teachers who want guidance in starting similar projects. 

[ ] Classroom Anatomy Online
Page 44 of VirtualArchitecture
Grades: 8-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students post fictional case studies about patients. Other students, in turn, use on-line forms to offer their diagnoses. This is an exampleof a site that doesn't have to be flashy or high-maintenance in order tobe pedagogically sound.

The Great Debate Project
Grades: 6-12
Ongoing? Not sure
Hone your students debating skills against schools from around the world! This project features a series of ongoing debates (via email and Internet pages) between students from around the world. School World, the project’s sponsor, chooses serious and not-so-serious topics – topics range from relations between 3rd World and industrialized nations to the Spice Girls. Classes (and homeschooled students) choose a position on one of the range of topics, send a message of intent to participate. If the groups who have chosen the opposing positions on a given topic are of different ages, the younger class has the choice of whether or not to accept the challenge. Judging is done by a panel of teachers. Registration in the School World project is required, but costs nothing. Site resources include links to other School World projects.

Meet Authors of Children’s Books
Grades:  K-6
Ongoing?  Yes
This site, part of the Animal Diaries Project, provides students with an ever-growing list of children’s books’ authors and illustrators who are willing to assist students with their writing and illustrating.  Students may communicate with these individuals through email, chat rooms, and through their homepages.  Organized chat sessions and live videoconferences will be arranged periodically.  They will be announced on the chat room page and via the free newsletter teachers receive when signing up for the Animal Diaries Project. 

[ ] Monster Exchange Project
Page 44 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 1-5
Ongoing? Yes
Students in one school draw a monster, describe it using words, and e-mail their description (not the picture) to a partner school. The partner school then must redraw the partner, based on the descriptive text. Then, the two images (the original and the redrawn one) are compared! Your students will enjoy comparing the original and redrawn images...and will likely see the importance of good descriptive writing.

[ ] Writers in Electronic Residence
Pages 43-44 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 1-12
Ongoing? Yes
Professional, well-known authors critique the original work of young Canadian writers. The site contains writing resources and guidelines, as well.

Writing with Writers
Grades:  K-8
Ongoing?  Yes
This site provides online writing workshops with actual authors who have volunteered their time and are interested in helping students develop as writers.  The links can be sorted by either the type of the workshop—biography, poetry, mystery, and news to name a few—or by author.  Each link provides information about the particular authors as well as the grade levels for which their workshops are most appropriate.  Each workshop has an accompanying teacher’s guide and an opportunity for publishing students’ work online in the Kids are Authors section.  This site is part of Scholastic’s larger web site and links to Scholastic products and other resources they feel are helpful for teachers.

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Structure 14: Parallel Problem Solving

AiS (Adventures in Supercomputing) Challenge
Grades:  9-12
Ongoing?  Yes
This particular project is only available to students and teachers in New Mexico, but the concept and ideas are worth a perusal of the Web site by those outside the state.  In the AiS Challenge, high school students in teams of 1-5 and their sponsoring teachers design and implement science projects using supercomputers.  The project is sponsored by laboratories, businesses, universities, and New Mexico Technet who provide the equipment for the challenge as well as offer support as project advisors.  The AiS Challenge encompasses a full academic year and is divided into 8 phases, beginning with the Kickoff Conference in the fall and culminating with the Final Judging and Awarding of Prizes in the spring.  The Web site also contains resource pages for both students and teachers to provide guidance throughout their supercomputing challenge.

Beans Around the World
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
What started as a joke between two friends in 1993 has become a worldwide bean craze!  Although this site is not designed specifically for students, it can definitely engage them in parallel problem solving.  The “Where Have They Been?” link breaks down the beans activity by state and city.  Each link has a short write-up about the city and most have pictures of the beans in the particular city.  Details are provided on the site about to join in the fun.  Basically, you get a can of S&W Black Beans (if you can’t find them in your hometown the site also provides a label to download and print); take a picture of the beans in your hometown; and send it the email address provided along with the story of your bean picture.  What a laugh!

Canadian National Marsville Mission
Grades:K-8   
Ongoing? Yes
Want to take your elementary science curriculum all the way to Mars?  You can in this Canadian project, developed in conjunction with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.  Students work in teams communicating online with their peers from across the country--and with scientists and engineers, too--to design a livable settlement on Mars.  The site includes a gallery of photos that show students at work on the project and a helpful link to NASA’s Mars site.

CyberFair
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to showcase your students' talent and creativity! International Schools CyberFair is a huge competition (2001's competition involved more than 1,500 schools!) in which students conduct research about their local communities and publish the findings on the Internet. In addition to the Web project, teams create project narratives describing the creation process, and also participate in a peer review process to help rank other teams' work. Prizes are awarded in each of the following categories: local leaders, businesses, community organizations, historical landmarks, environment, music, art, and local specialties.

The Great Stain Remover Hunt
Grades: 2-6
Ongoing? Not sure
Students around the globe test different stain removers (limited only by students' creativity!) to remove grape juice, mustard, and other gooey substances from white cloth. An online form facilitates the data-recording process.

SETI At Home
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
Astronomy buffs and aficionados of supernatural phenomena will rush to assist the SETI Program at the University of California at Berkeley. Using downloadable software, students can join the massive effort to detect radio waves from other planets--from their own computers! The project's rationale is that the more people that interpret (the "monstrous" amounts of) telescopic data, the more likely we'll be able to detect extraterrestrial intelligence.

ThinkQuest
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? No
Teams comprised of diverse (and often geographically distant) elementary students, secondary students, or future teachers created educational Web sites, which were then judged by a team of reviewers. Scholarship and equipmentprizes were awarded to winning sites. Sites that made it to the finals have titles such as The Contemporary Art Experience, The Asian Century: Paths to Power, and ScienceNet: Project-based Physical Science.

Wind Tunnel Online Design
Grades: 8-12
Ongoing?  No
This project will blow your students away! The Wind Tunnel Online Design project is sponsored by the aerospace team at NASAQuest. In it, students worked collaboratively to design a wind tunnel in the same way the Wright Brothers did in creating and testing the first airplane. Teams used an online forum to discuss what they thought comprised a good wind tunnel design (they eventually came up with a single BEST design). They then worked together within their group to design their own version. At the end of the process, four teams were selected (and partially funded) to build the wind tunnels. The NASAQuest site has excellent lesson plans and other background and instructional resources for teachers.

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Structure 15: Sequential Creations

Animal Diaries Progressive Story
Grades:  K-6
Ongoing?  Yes
This site is actually two projects in one and global in scope!  First, the Online Book project is geared toward individual students and offers each an opportunity to submit one paragraph to an ongoing, online story about animals; their contribution will be immediately published.  The Progressive Story section’s focus is on entire schools or classrooms; each month a different school or classroom is asked to submit the next chapter of this online, progressive book.  It is advisable to make sure students understand the Terms of Participation; any violation of these terms could prohibit a student’s contribution from being published.

Around the World Christmas Story
Grades: K-8
Ongoing? Not sure
Want your class to write stories in a unique new way while learning about classmates around the world?  This site displays Christmas stories created every year with each chapter written by a class in a different part of the world.  You can read individual chapters or download entire completed stories.  Participating in this project is a great way to connect your students to the rest of the world, while allowing them the experience of publishing their work on the Web.  Perfect for K-8 writing and reading curricula.

Classroom Pet Exchange
Grades: K-5
Ongoing? No
Join Teddy in his adventure across America as part of this classroom pet exchange! In it, students send their class pet (a stuffed animal) along with a journal to another class. The pet "visits" each student's home,and the student writes or dictates a journal entry about the adventuresthey had together. Each week the host class sends a travel tale back tothe pet's "home class" via email, and at the end of a specified time period,they send the pet back "home." Don't miss the suggested activities or theparticipant feedback page for this project.

Flat Stanley Project
Grades: K-6
Ongoing? Yes
Flat Stanley rides again! Born as a result of Jeff Brown's "Flat Stanley" book - describing the boy who was run over by a steamroller and escapedflat, but unhurt - this project has Stanley is traveling all across Americaand beyond. In this project, students send an outline of the boy with aform to fill out (for detailing his adventures) to friends or relatives around the world. They in turn "dress" Stanley in a manner suitable to the local climate and culture, and return him with a description of the places hehas visited and the things he has seen. The site includes images and stories of previous Stanleys' journeys and instructions for implementing the project. Especially useful are the copy of a plain Stanley and a blank form for describing his "visits."

[ ] MIDI Music Relay
Page 46 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? No
Students take turns adding 30-second-long sound bytes (in MIDI format) to create emerging songs. Sound files are shared as attachments to email messages sent among participants.

Playwriting in the Round
Grades:  6-12
Ongoing?  Yes
During this project, four classes grouped by age collaborated to write scripts for mystery plays.  Each week, each class would write one act of one play.  They would send update emails biweekly to the other three classes in the group—one outlining their ideas for the next act and one describing the writing process.  At the end of the project, each class received a copy of the four completed scripts.  Also, a weekly chat with the project coordinator was organized.  All of the specific guidelines, skills targeted, and objectives for the project can be accessed via the Web site.

Quesla:  World Traveler
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  No
Quesla is a traveling llama who first began her adventures with the Olympic Exchange.  The purpose of Quesla’s travels is to increase global awareness and harmony.  Teachers may either host Quesla for a 4-week period and post daily exchanges on a webpage, or they can choose to access and use information already posted by host classrooms.  Quesla and her Web page give students an excellent opportunity to share about their countries and their cultures.

Travel Buddies
Grade: K-8
Continuing? Yes
Looking for adventure? Longing to see exotic lands? Take your class around the world without ever having to pack a lunch with Travel Buddies! The Travel Buddy program supports students globally as they send class representatives - actually small stuffed animals or puppets - to visit other schools bysurface mail or tour the world with human friends. As the animal goes fromplace to place, the host class sends back the stories of her adventures (usually through email or posted to a Web site), so both sending and receiving students have a chance to learn more about each other. In addition to information, most animals bring cameras along with them to show pictures of the exciting places they have visited. One of the "not to miss" highlights of the Travel Buddy program includes "Quesla" the llama - her journal includes detailed descriptions and great picturesof the places and people she visited.

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Structure 16: Telepresent Problem Solving

[ ] KidCast for Peace
Page 47 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Here’s an exciting opportunity for your students to reach out to the world! The KidCast program gives kids a chance to make a difference on Earth Day. Children draw pictures of the world as a better, happier place. During a CU-SeeMe worldwide videocast, they hold the pictures up for other participants to see. (They also have the option of creating a website linked to KidCast.) Another way for participants to contribute is through a MIDI Music Jam - they send the URL ahead of time and the link is added to the KidCast site. Resources include a page for submitting stories or poetry and detailed instructions for teachers.

Mercury Project: Robotic Tele-Excavation
Grades: 2-12
Ongoing? No
Students from around the world used the Internet to actually manipulate robotic arms to excavate artifacts buried in a a sand-filled Los Angeles terrarium. Project developers believe this was "the first system that allowed WWW users to remotely view and alter the real world via tele-robotics."The operators' logs offer fascinating thoughts on how archaeology is a metaphor forinformation-seeking on the Internet.

[ ] NASA K-12 Virtual Conferences
Page 48 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? No
This site hosted virtual conferences with NASA scientists. Video, text, graphics, and sound are used to accommodate a range of Internet connection speeds.

[ ]   The Telegarden
Page 48 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 2-12
Ongoing? No
Imagine students worldwide being able to tend to the same garden (a real garden, not a virtual one!). The Telegarden is just that. In this project, Internet users manipulate a tele-robotic arm in order to view , plant,water, and monitor the progress of a Los Angeles garden filled with livingplants. The site also encourages a deeper look at the issues, stating,"Internet behavior might be characterized as 'hunting and gathering'; ourpurpose is to consider the 'post-nomadic' community, where survival favorsthose who work together."

YouthCAN: Youth Communicating and Networking
Grades:  K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
YouthCAN is a youth-run site aimed at using technology to connect and help people around the globe learn about environmental issues.  YouthCAN sponsors and organizes many conferences, activities,, events, idea exchanges, and stories about how you can make a difference.  Each spring the students of YouthCAN design and present at a major conference in New York at the American Museum of Natural History.  This conference is attended by more than 1,000 presenters and participants from all over the world.  The site provides contact information for the conference and planning committees as well as the prestigious list of well-known groups who help to support YouthCAN.  Other than the conference, there is also information and links for other YouthCAN activities such as Hike the World in which students will hike in their own areas collecting information, taking pictures, and sharing by posting them in the forum.  Another activity, Global Reporters, asks students to research environmental issues of interest to them and post their writings on the site.  Finally, a third link provides a list of Collaborative Projects related to environmental issues; these projects have been created and managed by various teachers and students from around the world.

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Structure 17: Simulations

Beyond Wild Justice
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Yes
This excellent project from Canada, with content more appropriate for mature students, has them take the role of a reporter covering the trial of two young women accused of causing the suicide of another girl with their taunting and bullying.  Students research the case in actual news articles, write editorials, and express their feelings about the real case with poetry and art.  The project provides for great learning about the Canadian justice system but is excellent for any high school classroom dealing with government, sociology, journalism, or writing.

The Charter Challenge
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing?  Yes
This online simulation gives high school students an opportunity to communicate electronically about issues related to the protection of fundamental liberties, freedoms, and human rights while also examining national security issues.  Each year, students roleplay lawyers who are assigned cases.  They prepare briefs on the cases and submit them online for judging by expert mentors from the legal community.  This is a great site to consult for curriculum ideas on government and politics, regardless of your national origin.

Federation Role-Playing Game
Grades: 9 -12
Ongoing? Yes
Join the characters of Star Trek in an exciting new adventure! FRPG is a very well-organized and long running email role-playing game. Individual participants create characters based on the Star Trek Next Generation series (40 years afterward). To apply, participants submit a three-page application story involving the character they created. Players do not need to be Star Trek experts, but do need to be able to express themselves clearly in writing (and willing to commit the time to the role play).

Kids Voting Canada
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
This professionally designed site brings technology and democracy together to inspire student interest in the political process.  Developed in conjunction with the Canadian government and media, the site offers curriculum materials about upcoming elections in Canada and links users to media resources for classroom use.  The site also provides a useful link to those looking for the American inspiration for Kids Voting Canada, Kids Voting USA, and explains the process for establishing mock elections in your school.  Regardless of its Canadian content, all teachers looking for curriculum examples in political science or current events will find them here.

Mars Academy
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students work on "collaborative projects to study the problems involved in the design of a manned mission to the Red Planet." The site includes "courses" on topics like Mars basics and space medicine, a trajectory calculator, and a guidebook on scientific design.

Mars Landing
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Yes
Here is an exciting challenge for students: land your ship on Mars without being able to look out a window! An Exploring the Environment project in which students study Viking Images of the Mars landscape in order to find a safe and interesting place for their simulated space ship to land. In the process, they learn how to use tools in the application NIH Image. In addition to a basic outline of how to facilitate the project, this problem-based learning module includes detailed instructions for teachers who lack experience in this kind of approach. Assessment tips and rubrics are included.

Project Pioneer/Mars Millennium Project
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? No
This is an amazing example of what can happen through online collaboration. K-12 students from two schools in New York City and one school in Sao Paolo, Brazil collaborated online to create ! a virtual "community" living on Mars in the year 2030. The project was multidisciplinary, including subjectsfrom the sciences, arts and humanities, and student work was guided by inputfrom the U.S. Department of Education, the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. 

The Ugly Islands Home Page
Grades: 6-12
Ongoing? No
Do not sail on by the Ugly Islands! This primarily text-based siteis unassuming, but more than worth a stop. The Ugly Islands are an entirely fictional, yet lifelike, detailed, and truly funny set of islands set somewhere in the South Pacific. The site describes their history, geology, biology, and current political situation and sets up a variety of problems for students to try to solve. These problems range from endangered habitats to difficult political decisions. The key to the site lies in an easily- overlooked "teacher's information" link from the home page. From there, teachers can find ideas for using the site with their classes and a link to the author's homepage.

[ ] Westward HO!
Page 49-50 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-8
Ongoing? Yes
Students share travelogues, stories, and classified ads, written from the viewpoint of 19th-century U.S. pioneers travelling westward. The look and the language create a digital ambiance that will take you and your students back in time.

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Structure 18: Social Action Projects

Be a Consumer Hero (International Buy Nothing Day)
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Teach your students to think before they spend! This site, sponsored by Adbusters.org encourages students to avoid shopping on the last Friday of November. The goal of the project is to teach North American children to reduce their overall consumption of unecessary goods. Resources include student produced stories which show children making wise purchases, artwork which portrays the environmental dangers posed by the disposal of needless goods, and a survey for students about their spending habits.

[ ] Clean Water for Nicaragua (formerly The Rope Pump Project)
Page 52 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students from around the world raise money to dig wells and the install rope pumps in Nicaragua, thus helping to reduce illness caused by polluted water in selected villages.

[ ] Cranes for Peace
Pages 53-54 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Not sure
This site is a resource page for Eleanor Coerr's book Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes, which is about a girl who develops leukemia and dies after the Hiroshima bombing. Here, you will find instructions on folding paper cranes (which can be sent to the Children of the A-Bomb statue in the Hiroshima Peace Park as a symbol and wish for peace) and curriculumresources to accompany this book.

[ ] Earth Day Groceries Project
Page 52 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This site shows students how to participate in the Earth Day Groceries Project , in which students decorate paper grocery bags with pro-environmental messages, and give them to stores to use to hold customers' groceries.

[ ] Giraffe Heroes Project (Stick Your NeckOut)
Pages 52-53 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This site sells a curriculum in which students learn about everyday heroes, study the quality of heroes, and then implement a service-learning project so they, too, can be heroic.

Give Water a Hand
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Here, teachers can download curriculum guides that will help classes perform service-learning projects with a focus on improving local water quality.

[ ] Holocaust/Genocide Project
Page 51 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 4-12
Ongoing? Yes
This project promotes education and awareness of the Holocaust andother genocides by providing links to on-line resources, hosting a discussion board, providing e-mail access to Holocaust experts, and sponsoring an actual study trip to Poland and Israel. The project also sponsors an international e-zine, An End to Intolerance.

Nonprofit Prophets
Grades: 7-12
Ongoing? No
Nonprofit Prophets is an interactive project that challenges groups of students to investigate a problem that they see in the world, and then create a World Wide Web Resource page on the Internet that teaches the world about the problem. Typically, students collaborate with local non-profit agencies that need a Web site.

Schools Demining Schools
Grades:  9-12
Ongoing?  No
This action oriented, problem-solving project was committed to bringing schools together to rid schoolyards of landmines in infested countries.  It focused on raising awareness, organizing campaigns in individual communities, and raising money to send to the particular country of focus (which changed periodically).  Students were given the opportunity to communicate via technology with experts, each other, the United Nations, and victim-survivors of landmines.  Although the project is not ongoing, the site includes a Landmine Fact Sheet, transcripts of past question and answer sessions, personal accounts of landmine survivors, teaching units, and resources.

Teen Courts
Grades: 6-12
Ongoing? Yes
Teen Court is a process in which juvenile offenders are sentenced to perform community service by a jury of their peers. It was established in Illinois, and now exists in over 400 communities. This summary article provides information that will help communities establish teen courts, as well as provide resources and networking opportunities for existing teen courts.

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Other Problem Solving Resources Cited

[ ] The Math Forum
Page 42 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This is a gateway to math resources, competitions, and projects for the classroom.

[ ] Access Excellence
Page 44 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? Yes
Resources abound in this heaven for secondary biology teachers.

[ ] iEARN
Page 51 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
This is a hub of social action-oriented learning activities for youth around the world.

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Last Updated: February 22, 2010