www.fearofphysics.com

Good ideas for teaching poetry. This is just a list of good ideas for teaching poetry, such as asking students to create their own anthology of their favourite poems. There are no graphics, no animations, no Flash, just interesting ideas from Forsyth Home Educators (FHE).

www.geocities.comfhedu984anpm.html

Wearable computing. Technology by its very nature invites us to dream about what is ahead and this is a good site for speculation about the technological future. It considers innovations such as BlindVision, a personalised radar system integrated in a close-fitting vest, designed for the visually challenged that will tell them the proximity of objects. Wearable Computing also speculates about the developments needed to create wearable computers - small size, light weight, long battery life, display types, computer functionality - and how the devices will affect our lives.

http:about.eyetap.org

DNA, genes and heredity. This is about the basics of DNA, genes and heredity. The science is explained by animation, images, videos, interviews, biographies, and links. This is a difficult but very rewarding site. Children are not patronised and the explanations are as clear as the subject allows. The way that Mendel’s cross-fertilisation of the pea plant is explained is exemplary.

http:vector.cshl.orgdnaftb What’s the value of money?

Currently under development, Moneyworld has been created to help children learn about money and to understand its value from a very early age. Meant to back up a series of books on money written for children, the site has sections for children parents and teachers. It is tied in with the curriculum at all levels. Key stage 1 will be covered first. Although designed for key stages 1 and 2, some of the games are very challenging. Most of the activities here would also work well with an interactive whiteboard.

www.moneykins.comflash4.html

Making music with your keyboard. Philip, of Cwmaber School in Abertridwr, told me about this. Pianographique is amazing music and works best if you have a fast Internet connection, but it can also be a way of making a computer keyboard into a musical instrument. You can create sounds that might have come from one of Peter Gabriel’s more esoteric pieces. You cannot save the sounds, but as Philip pointed out you can attach a recorder and keep them there.

www.pianographique.com

Ancient inventions revealed. One way to create respect for past civilisations is to examine what they achieved and this does that. One of the most amazing exhibits is the Baghdad Battery which is about 2,000 years old. The jar was found just outside Baghdad and is a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar - or any other electrolytic solution - the jar produces about 1.1 volts. There is also a trepanation kit dating from 2000 BC, used to bore holes in the skull to relieve pressure. Cosmetic eyeliner made from kohl also dates back to 4000 BC.

www.smith.eduhscmuseumancient_inventionshsclist.htm

When dinosaurs walked the Earth. A site from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Medical technology was used to probe “an iron-stained concretion” inside the dinosaur’s chest. Software was used to reconstruct 3-D structures. This revealed that the heart was more like a bird’s than a reptile. Willo is the first dinosaur ever found to contain a fossilised heart. This is not for those who are just exploring the terror of dinosaurs - it is a serious scientific study.

www.dinoheart.org

Time to pop into the Condom Cafe. Often sexual issues are a difficult subject for adults to discuss and children to understand. Condom Cafe is a fun site filled with games and an online gift service, yet also looks at pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in an appealing way. If you check it out, you’ll see what I mean.

www.condomcafe.com