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The Invention of Knowledge is a slightly strange site, obviously someone's passionate interest, and not easily explored or understood because its
creator has put so much effort into constructing "a new theory of knowledge" based on "a fundamental element -- artifacts."
It's rather eccentric, but it might be interesting for an adult to tackle on a rainy afternoon. The author doesn't seem to
have given his name anywhere on the site (except in a scrawled signature) and does confess that this is not his professional
field but his hobby of some 30 years or more. My primary criticism of the content is that he does not offer the reader alternative
interpretations or views but just the one that seems to satisfy him and his schemata, without giving much justification. For
example, his summary of Piagetian stages of development in children is accurate and interestingly connected to the development
of cultures, but he doesn't take any note of the enormous body of research that challenges many of Piaget's findings and conclusions.
Still, I recommend it to the insatiably curious and open-minded. Fun Science Gallery is an Italian site that has an English-language section. It's
filled with a remarkable collection of projects and activities that can be done in the classroom or at home. Turn your bedroom
into a camera obscura. Make a compound microscope or build an herbarium. Lots of fun for the amateur scientist family.
A Science Odyssey is a delightful site to explore. From PBS and linked to a televised series, it's fascinating in its own right. What do
we know now that we didn't know in 1900? There are quizzes, activities for you to try for yourself, a databank of scientists
and their discoveries, and more. Great for curious students and their parents! Science U is a rich, fascinating site with TONS of stuff. There's a mathematics section, an observatory, a library, a studio where you
can create visual wonders, interactive exhibits, and more. Sci4Kids comes to us from the Department of Agriculture, so it's very heavy on farm-type stuff. Soybeans turn up frequently, for
example, and so do chickens. But it's quite interesting in its own way and has good opportunities for connection with invention
and innovation as well as healthy eating. MyWave is a rather odd site -- partly given over to wacky humor but also containing bits of interesting stuff on a variety of
science topics. Probably more appropriate for general browsing on a rainy day than trying to put a research project on track,
but definitely worth a look. The Machine That Changed the World is a site that contains content from a PBS series of the same
name that tells the story of computers and their continuing impact on our lives. Fascinating for browsing, informative for
research. The Mind Machine Museum is "a virtual museum and gallery of vintage computers." If you have any question about whether computers have become
dramatically better and dramatically cheaper, this will resolve it. And, if you're old enough, you may recognize a few things
here that you once owned or used at your workplace. Not a very exciting site in terms of layout, it's worth investigating
nonetheless. The Octave Chanute Pages Octave who? you may ask. Me, too. Seems that Mr. Chanute
was a major developer of glider-based flight, doing his experiments among the dunes of Indiana quite a few years before the
Wright Brothers went to Kitty Hawk. Although there is a lot of overwhelmingly technical detail in parts of this large site,
much of it is just fascinating. Contemporary photographs and newspaper articles document this late-19th century inventor's
pioneering work. His gliders look to me much like the bird-plane ideas of Leonardo. Good links to other aviation sites.
Inventors Museum contains short, readable descriptions of inventors and inventions.
It's hardly a comprehensive collection, but there's a lot here. You can explore inventions by category, such as time
period or application or ethnicity/gender of the inventor. The expected names are here, of course, such as Benjamin Franklin
and Benjamin Banneker. Some acknowlegement is made of Katherine Greene's possible contribution to the cotton gin that is credited
to Eli Whitney. It goes off on tangents, such as an explanation of why George Washington may not have been the first president
of the United States, but it's mostly about inventions. Good on content but unfortunately weak on design. Invention at Play is a wonderful site for students and teachers alike. There are
online activities, all of which emphasize the importance of playfulness and unrestricted imaginative thinking in the creation
of new ideas. Highly recommended. Smith College Museum of Ancient Inventions is just what it says -- a collection of things that people invented long ago. Musical instruments, clothing, cosmetics,
looms, and more are here with large illustrations and brief text. Not the basis for a research paper perhaps, but a wonderful
place to browse. CBC4Kids: History of Invention is part of a much larger site at the Canadian Broadcasting Company, which you can find by clicking here. In the invention section, there is an interactive timeline on which you can click on an invention and find out more
about it. The timeline is at the bottom of the screen and may take a little extra time to load, so be patient. Learn about
the invention of toothpaste (3000 BC), the watch (14th century), batteries (1790s), and many many more nifty things. While
you're in Canada checking out science topics, go look at The Lab at this same site. It has an archive of paper airplane patterns, explanations of all kinds of things (such as why you
float better in the ocean than in a lake), and others in a frequently-updated collection of interesting and accurate information.
Highly recommended. U.S. Patent Office Kids' Pages is a gadget-lover's dream. Just wander around, or look something up. There are three levels here for younger folks, older
students, and adults. I could stay all day. |
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