Educational and Informational Web Sites

The "Web" places a mind-boggling and rapidly expanding array of quality teaching resources at the fingertips of anyone with access to the Internet.  Below are some recommendated sites. I've tried to restrict this list to actively managed sites with engaging materials that won't be disappearing from cyberspace anytime soon - many in fact, e.g. NASA, JPL, USGS, Eisenhower, AAAS, are truely "500 lb. gorillas" you should be able to count on as rich resources throughout your teaching career.

Federal Agencies

National Aeronautics & Space Administration Education Program

NASA Global Change Master Directory

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Educational Outreach

U.S. Geological Survey

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Education Resources 

The National Ocean Service Education & Outreach

U.S. Department of Energy Science Education

U.S. Naval Observatory (timekeepers)

Lesson Plans

Climate Change and Sea Level lesson plans from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program aimed mostly at middle school grade level.

Earth Science Lesson Plan Central

Awesome library mathematics lessons

Encarta lesson collection

The Learning Web - USGS

The WebQuest Page

SDCS Triton Project WebQuests

CERES Project astronomy activities

The Gateway to Educational Materials

Science Education Gateway

Teachers.Net lesson plans

Earth Scientist lesson plan links

Smithsonian Office of Education lesson plans

Discovery channel school

The GLOBE Program

MarcoPolo

Science Netlinks

The Solar System

Views of the Solar System

Volcanoes

How Volcanoes Work Vic Camps' San Diego State hosted site - selected by Scientific American as 1 or 50 top sci/tech sites in 2004!

Volcano World

Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program

Earthquakes

USGS Earthquake hazards program

IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) Education and Outreach

SCEC (Southern California Earthquake Center) Education and Outreach

CalTech Earthquake Information

Water

San Diego County Water Authority Education resources

USGS Water Resource information for students and teachers

Water Education Foundation

Education Offices

US Department of Education Federal Resources for Science Excellence

San Diego Country Office of Education

Los Angeles Country Office of Education

California State Board of Education

The New York State Education Department

Science Education Standards

National Science Education Standards (NSES) 

AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy

California Science Content Standards Grades K-12

Science Education Associations

San Diego Science Alliance

National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)

California Virtual Campus

Assessment

ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation

Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide

Performance Assessment Links in Science (PALS)