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WEB SITE NEWS

Spring Cleaning
We've been hard at work here at ScienceMaster, doing our spring cleaning, just in time for summer. That means reevaluating the site to see what works and what doesn't, what things you like and use and what things don't get much traffic. After sorting out what needed to be done, we implements those changes during the last month. We're now ready for prime time and we hope you like the results Here's a recap of what we've done.

First we worked on the top navigation bar, deleted some sections and moved some section here to help make the site easier to navigate. One new addition is a 'What's New' button, which will lead you to a frequently updated page that lists recent additions and changes to the site. We also deleted the 'Features' section completely. It wasn't being used by our visitors very much and it was a lot of work to keep it up to date.

Second, we did away with most of those pesky banner ads. No one liked them, they took up prime real estate at the top of each page, and many of the ads were not consistent with our content and site goals. So bye, bye banners.

Third, we shortened each science section's home page and added news headlines. This will assure that the pages load as fast a possible and the content gets you to where you need to go as quickly as possible.

Fourth, we went through each and every graphic and image on the site and resized and recompressed the images to make them smaller. This also makes our pages load faster.

We've also been transitioning from an e-commerce site to a true portal. That means all our screen savers and digital products are FREE for you to download and use. Sorry, our great books and original photographs are not free.

We didn't have much luck or volunteers with putting our links section into a searchable database, (remember we're educators and science buffs, not programmers), so for now, we reorganized all the links, they're fresh, they work and they are easy to get to. Hit the 'QuickLinks' button and give them a try . We vow to keep trying to get a workable database of links up a running, but for now, we've got the next best thing.

New JumpStart Science pages, twenty in all went up this month. Check out our new additions, including features on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Endangered Species and Atomic Clocks.

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ScienceMaster Wants To Grow, Want To Help?
Do you have a science education web site with plans to expand your offering? Have you wanted to post your lesson plans on the Net? ScienceMaster is interested in growing. We are looking for content experts, writers, educators, web masters who might be interested in joining forces with ScienceMaster and web sites owners who are interested in growing their sites. Our goal - to be the best 'science-education' portal on the Net and offering online interactive learning courses for students looking for tutoring and for homeschoolers looking for curriculum and classes.

If you have any interest, or have a friend who might be interested please let us know. We are eager to move forward with ScienceMaster with input with some excellent educators and programmers.

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SCIENCE NEWS AND LINKS

National Science Foundation
A ton of science information and links can be found in the web pages of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF is an independent agency of the US Government and its primary mission is to administer US Government grants to scientists and engineers in the United States and foreign countries. We use the site to keep up on new programs, success of previously funded programs and we especially like the 'Science Nuggets' section which highlights "the most exciting findings, discoveries and breakthroughs from the cutting-edge of science.

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Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Now here's a mission statement -- "Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory advances the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy by providing leadership and resources for qualified researchers to conduct basic research at the frontiers of high energy physics and related disciplines." But that doesn't mean they don't know how to make learning fun. Visit their Education section for paths to all kinds of great learning tools and resources. And don't miss the Inquiring Minds section to learn about matter, space and time.

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For the Real Official Time Go Here
The Official Source of Time for the Department of Defense and the Standard of Time for the United States can be found at the United States Naval Observatory's (USNO) web site. This is the same site where we found the sunrise/sunset calendars, earth orientation information and much other useful measurement data and information.

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Learn About Health The Fun Way
Another great resource for kids is the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) pages for kids. The HHS is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. Their programs cover such things as preventing outbreak of infectious disease, and assuring food and drug safety.

The Kid's Page leads to many sites of organizations that fall under the umbrella of the HHS. Learn about the environment, health issues, kids and smoking, or just browse.

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Quote of the Month
Who's not familiar with this famous quote about levers and simple machines? It's still one of our favorites. And is it not true?
"Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth."
Archimedes (ca. 235 BC)

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