GOVERNMENT WEB RESOURCES FOR EDUCATION

Note: a * after a website title means that website offers lesson plans.

BEN'S GUIDE TO U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR KIDS -[http://bensguide.gpo.gov]

Official guide to our government. Information for parents and teachers including lesson plans; grade-specific explanations of governmental structure and functions. Also has government glossary, symbols of government and subject guide to other government sites for kids.

COLORING BOOKS BY FEDERAL AGENCIES - [www.evergreen.edu/library/govdocs/coloringbooks.html]

Agriculture, commerce, space...links to federal and state agency coloring books .

FEDSTATS KIDS' PAGES - [www.fedstats.gov/kids/index.html]

Links to U.S. Government pages for kids, listed by agency.

FIRSTGOV FOR KIDS - [www.kids.gov]

Links to U.S. Government and other organization pages for kids. This site was created to be used by kids. Searchable by subject and general search function; also check out the excellent research tutorial.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FOR KIDS - [www.hhs.gov/kids]

Health resources on all subjects, for all age ranges.

I-RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN BY SUSAN THE LIBRARIAN - [http://susanthelibrarian.tripod.com/govdocskids.html]

Created by a public librarian, this is a handy site with both a subject and a grade-level index..A nice feature: the initial link takes you to a short paragraph describing the agency and the various sites and options they offer. Includes state, federal and international sites,

VLA - RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS - [www.vla.org/pdf/programs/grundweb]

Page of links created by librarians for teachers, by subject, some SOL notes, detailed and annotated. Includes federal and state government sites.

BROWSE TOPICS - [www.library.okstate.edu/govdocs/browsetopics]

A government-sponsored site that is excellent for topics searches. 

FIRSTGOV - [www.firstgov.gov]

The gateway for all U.S. government info. Use for basic searches, locating specific departments, or services, or browse by topic.

GOOGLE GOVERNMENT SEARCH - [www.google.com/ig/usgov]

Narrows down your Google search to state and federal government site results only. (.gov, .mil,.us)

GPO ACCESS - [www.gpoaccess.gov]

A useful site for official documents search: many standard government resources listed by branch. Each individual title can be searched, or search the entire collection using the advanced search.

BEN'S GUIDE TO U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR KIDS - [http://bensguide.gpo.gov]

Official guide to our government. Information for parents and teachers including lesson plans; grade-specific explanations of governmental structure and functions. Also has government glossary, symbols of government and subject guide to other government sites for kids.

CIVICS - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE* - [www.ed.gov/free]

The teaching and learning resources on this web site were created by a variety of federal agencies, and are searchable by subject.

FREE GOVERNMENT WEB SITES AND THE SOLS* - [www.hollins.edu/academics/library/information/gov_vlaintro1.htm]

A workshop on free online educational materials, for teachers of U.S. History and Government, based on the 11th and 12th grade Virginia Standards of Learning.

GPO ACCESS AND CORE DOCUMENTS - [www.gpoaccess.gov]

Access to and searching of government legislation, regulation and other documents, current and historical; the Federal Register and Congressional Record; the budget.

GPO CORE DOCUMENTS OF U.S. DEMOCRACY - [www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html]

HISTORICAL CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS AND DEBATES - [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw]

Historical Congressional Documents and Debates (1774-1873)

HOUSE AND SENATE PAGES - [www.house.gov] and [www.senate.gov]

Note that the Senate has links for history and reference, and the House for education - including detailed explanations of the legislative process. Both have good capacity for tracking current issues in government. For an explanation of Congressional workings have a look at Currently on the House Floor and select a day to view the House Floor proceedings schedule.

OUR DOCUMENTS.GOV* - [www.ourdocuments.gov]

Great list of milestone documents of U.S. History, ranging from the Constitution to the patent for the Cotton Gin. For each document the site provides transcript (also in downloadable PDF), view of the original and a brief explanation of its history and importance. The Teacher's toolbox section has a downloadable workbook of lesson plans for using historical documents in the classroom.

THOMAS - [http://thomas.loc.gov ]

Search current legislation in detail. (1973 - current)

VIRGINIA'S CAPITOL CLASSROOM* - [http://legis.state.va.us/1_cap_class/cap_class_welcome.html]

Virginia's General Assembly provides education materials on the nature of state government, by grade level; includes games and activities.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR EDUCATORS* - [http://energy.gov/foreducators.htm]

Offers games and quizzes, energy history milestones, and the Energy Glossary; with links to resources from other agencies.
Note: the links are not limited to sites for youth only.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR STUDENTS AND KIDS - [http://energy.gov/forstudentsandkids.htm]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY*- [www.epa.gov/kids]

EPA's educational resources are extensive and include information on community service projects as well as training, grants and fellowships. Offer grade-level lesson plans and activities on energy, health, ecosystems, natural resources,etc 

HEALTH AND SCIENCE TOPICS LESSON PLANS*- [www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/ambassador_pgm/lessonplans.htm]

Lesson plans for middle and high school students developed during the Science Ambassador program. All plans meet National Science Education Standards. 

HEALTH SCIENCE EDUCATION MATERIALS - [http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/order]

FREE! Booklets and slide sets for high school biology, anatomy, science and technology, chemistry, health.

LIFE AND EARTH SCIENCES - TEACHER RESOURCES - DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR* - [www.doi.gov/teachers]

Includes resources on energy and conservation.. 

NASA FOR EDUCATORS* - [http://education.nasa.gov]

NASA offers both educational resources as well as a set of pages designed for kids. The education pages offer curriculum materials, lesson plans, interactive activities; the kids' page has detailed explanations of everything from plate tectonics to the phases of the moon.

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY - EDUCATION RESOURCES* - [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=EDUCATION_MTLS&parentnav=EDUCATION_OUTREACH&navtype=RT]

Includes food and nutrition, animal welfare, and science fair resources.

SOIL EDUCATION FROM THE NRCS* - [http://soils.usda.gov/education]

K-12 materials from a number of sources - everything you've always wanted to teach about soil.

NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION* - [www.education.noaa.gov]

User-friendly information on all things weather: forecasts, maps, satellite images, climate and navigational information. Great image archive! Teacher and student resources include: climate timelines, real-time updates on research operations, and more: extensive and hands-on.

Lessons and web resources for K-12. Also includes information on computer science and nanoscience.

SCIENCE - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE* - [www.ed.gov/free]

The teaching and learning resources on this web site were created by a variety of federal agencies, and are searchable by subject.

SCIENCE.GOV - SCIENCE EDUCATION RESOURCES - [www.science.gov/browse/w_133.htm]

Educational offerings from a variety of agencies. Note the link also to resources for kids, parents and teachers. Science.gov is the search engine for all U.S. government science information online. It offers easy subject categories and provides brief description of all links provided.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION - [www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators]

Spiders, gems, archeological digs and more from the Smithsonian research teams. Grades 3-8.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY* - [http://education.usgs.gov]

The USGS education site provides materials on geography, geology, biology and climate for teachers, students as well as anyone who is curious about natural science. Lesson plans and activities are sorted by grade level, then by subject.

U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE* - [http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids]

Search patents and trademarks back to 1790. Under "Activities and education" you'll also find  an extensive kids page with explanations, activities and games.

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History

EDSITEMENT* - [www.edsitement.neh.gov]

The National Endowment for the Arts provides lesson plans by subject: art and culture, literature/language arts, foreign language, and history/social studies. Good feature: an internal search engine allows you to group resources in each category by grade level.

FREE GOVERNMENT WEB SITES AND THE SOLS* - [www.hollins.edu/academics/library/information/gov_vlaintro1.htm]

A workshop on free online educational materials, for teachers of U.S. History and Government, based on the 11th and 12th grade Virginia Standards of Learning.

HISTORY - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE*

The teaching and learning resources on this web site were created by a variety of federal agencies, and are searchable by subject.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - AMERICAN MEMORY* - [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem]

American Memory is the L.O.C.'s collection of photographs, posters, oral histories and other items made available digitally. Good for finding images to illustrate American history. Search by keyword or subject, or have a look at the Learning Page for a number of lesson plans and activities. Example: Historical Detective has kids using artifacts from the collection to research a historical period or place. Students learn to understand the idea of primary sources and learn to evaluate them, develop searching skills, and then use their findings in writing projects such as descriptions or poems.

AMERICA'S STORY - [www.americaslibrary.gov]

History for young people: a timeline with descriptions of important periods and events in American history; famous people, inventions, facts about each of the 50 states, games, activities and stories about America's favorite sports and hobbies.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION *- [www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators]

Lesson plans from all of the Smithsonian Museums, searchable by subject, grade level, and key word.

CAMPFIRE STORIES WITH GEORGE CATLIN* - [catlinclassroom.si.edu/teachers.html]

This site uses the paintings of George Catlin's "Indian Gallery", as well as items and documents related to Catlin's time, as the basis for lessons about native Americans in our history as well as choice and consequence in history, leadership qualities and ecology. Uses many interactive resources: audio interviews, interactive maps,etc. Note: the lesson plans are tied to National Standards for Education

STATE DEPARTMENT* - [www.state.gov/history]

Good features include the Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History, also the volume summaries of Foreign Relations of the United States - while these documents themselves may be too detailed for students, the volume summaries provide excellent historical overviews.

TEACHING WITH HISTORIC PLACES* - [www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp]

Historic National Parks sites provide an excellent opportunity for making history immediate: over 100 lesson plans are available on this site, as well as guidance for making your own. The lesson plans page is searchable by location, theme, historical period or National History Standards.

WHITE HOUSE - [www.whitehouse.gov/history/life]

Biographies of presidents and first ladies, historical materials about the White House. Note: This page also has a resources section with links to the Presidential Libraries, which are valuable additional sources of information about former presidents.

WHITE HOUSE KIDS' PAGES - [www.whitehousekids.gov]

The kids' pages have nice history-related activities for younger kids and include a teachers and parents guide.

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Math

CENSUS BUREAU* - AMERICAN FACTFINDER - [http://factfinder.census.gov]

American Factfinder guides the user through a search for population, housing, economic and geographic information.

AMERICAN FACTFINDER KIDS' CORNER - [http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/kids/kids.html]

The Kids' Corner makes basic facts available by state, and provides quizzes for young kids to familiarize them with the different data formats.

CENSUS IN SCHOOLS: ACTIVITIES - [www.census.gov/dmd/www/teachers.html]

The census site also contains a "For Teachers - Census in schools" section that provides activities, worksheets and teaching kits for all grade levels for using census materials in the classroom.

MATH - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE*

The teaching and learning resources on this web site were created by a variety of federal agencies, and are searchable by subject.

MATH LEARNING UNITS - NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY - [http://www.nsa.gov/teachers/teach00006.cfm]

These units are arranged by elementary/middle/ high level, and range from well known subjects such as arithmetic and precalculus to number theory and probability.

NCES KIDS' PAGE - NATIONAL CTR. FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS - [http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/]

Explanations and activities including probability generator, famous mathematician quiz with biographies, daily challenges, word searches etc.

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Geography/Cultural Studies

CIA WORLD FACTBOOK - [www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook]

Provides quick and current facts and maps; the CIA Kids' Page (clearly linked from its home page) has a great geography quiz, along with other intelligence-related activities.

FOREIGN EMBASSIES IN WASHINGTON D.C. - [www.embassy.org]

Many embassies offer historical information about their countries, and you can find their homepages here. For instance, have a look at the historical links on the Mali embassy webpage. (Not a U.S. Government website)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - COUNTRY STUDIES - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs]

Country Studies is a series of detailed monographs from the LOC. They are suitable for more detailed research by older students and are online with full text and easily browseable tables of contents. Note: Not all countries in the world are included.

PORTALS TO THE WORLD - [www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html]

Portals to the world are collections of links selected by L.O.C. subject experts. Grouped by subject; a good place to start online research.

PEACE CORPS LESSON PLANS - [www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans]

These lesson plans are searchable by grade level, by global region and by subject area: language arts and literature, environment and health, service learning, social studies and geography, and cross-cultural understanding.

STATE DEPARTMENT BACKGROUND NOTES - [www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn]

Brief, but containing more information on history, economy and international relations - a good second source to the CIA facts. The State Department is also a primary source for travel information.

STATE DEPARTMENT YOUTH PAGE - [http://future.state.gov]

The Dept. of State site for youth provides information about diplomacy and foreign policy: chat with a diplomat, explore foreign countries, meet the children of diplomats, or play activities for grades K-6.

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Arts

ART - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE* - [www.ed.gov/free]

The teaching and learning resources on this web site were created by a variety of federal agencies, and are searchable by subject.

ARTSEDGE - [http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/les.cfm]

Presented by the Kennedy center, this site presents lesson plans for dance, music, theater and visual arts; many lessons are also applicable in other areas such as math, language, social studies, physical education and more. Searchable by curricular subject, by keyword and by grade level. Each lesson includes sections for supplies needed, assessment and more.

SMITHSONIAN* - [www.si.edu/teachers]  (not .gov!) 

This site has pages for teachers and for youth that link to the individual museums' pages. "Find it" allows you to search by subject and grade range for activities, lesson plans, field trips etc. The kids' page links to online activities. Search the individual museum sites for such features as online exhibits, links pages etc.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART* - [www.nga.gov/education]

The education page features online studies, activities and lesson plans, as well as information on the museum's program of lending free arts education materials. NGA also has a searchable online archive and a kids page with online activities for younger children

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ARTS - [http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/resources.html]

Note the Curriculum Resources and a current page on the Mali Empire. Click on Playtime! (at top) for coloring books and other hands-on activities.

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Education Information

 

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS - [www.afterschool.gov]

Information on a national network of after school programs, planning tips and activities, federal funding, etc.

DEPT. OF EDUCATION / EDPUBS FREE ORDERING SERVICE

- [www.ed.gov]

Includes Offices for Civil Rights, Special Education Programs, and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program.***Look under "About ED - Publications" for EdPubs, the Department of Education materials ordering catalogue.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS FOR KIDS - FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY - [www.fema.gov/kids]

Everything you need to teach disaster preparedness: information on types of natural disasters, disaster plans and supply kits, homework help for kids, quizzes and games - even art  and stories from kids who have experienced disasters.

ERIC - EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER - [www.eric.ed.gov]

The premier database of education literature in journals and other sources. Note that Wyndham Robertson Library owns many older ERIC documents in microfiche.

EDUREF - [www.eduref.org]

Education information on a wide variety of topics: 2000 lesson plans, 3000 links to online education information, and an archive of frequently asked education questions.

FREE - FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE*- [www.ed.gov/free]

Links to Federally supported educational resources, searchable and browseable by subject.

THE GATEWAY - [www.thegateway.org]

Links to educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites.

IPEDS COLLEGE OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE: COOL - [http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool]

Search for a college or university by using this search engine which lets you specify geographic region, type of school, size, programs offered and more.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS - [http://nces.ed.gov]

Source for current and historical data on education. Useful when preparing grants information, annual reports, etc.

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION RESOURCE CENTER - [http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/index.asp]

Information and data on alcohol abuse, bullying, dating violence, depression, school violence and other topics. Contacts and resources for assistance.

SCHOOL DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS - [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds]

Access to school district geographic and demographic data from the U.S. Census, describing schools children and their living environment. Includes maps.

SCHOOL LOCATOR (NCES) - [http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator]

Search for schools, colleges and libraries within or near a certain zip code, city, or state; information includes contact information, school characteristics and enrollment statistics.

STUDENT GATEWAY TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT - [www.students.gov]

A good place to start when planning for college: financial aid opportunities, career development, internships, community service, and links to other federal information.

WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE - [http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc]

Educationprograms, products and policies screened and reviewed.

 

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Page last updated: December 1, 2007

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