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Artifact

Objects produced by humans with a view to substantial use. For example art, cultural, or historic objects such as an image of Picasso's Guernica or of a Pueblo Indian pottery bowl.

• Digital Himalaya [pdf, QuickTime]
  For those who feel that there may be a paucity of material on the Himalayan region, they will need to take a close look at this fine site provided through a collaboration between the Department of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and the Anthropology Department at Cornell University. Since its inception in December 2000, the partners have managed to digitize a number of photographic collections, several journals, and a number of short films.
• Interactive Dig: Hierakonpolis
  During the past few years, Archaeology Magazine has seen fit to document a number of very worthwhile archaeological digs from across the globe. In recent years, the magazine has been out looking for shipwrecks off the Crimea Peninsula and searching for evidence of George Washington’s career as a whiskey distiller at Mount Vernon.
• Africa to Atlantic: Dust to Dust
  Article about sand and dust storms in which "the planet's deserts kick up literally millions of tons of dust, and winds send it flying to far-flung destinations where it clogs our lungs, changes soil chemistry, deposits minerals in bodies of water," and cause other environmental damage. Includes a link to images of recent storms, such as the storm in Iraq in August 2005, and links to related sites.
• Capturing Time: The New York Times Capsule
  "Capturing Time .. was an exhibition [in 1999-2000] at the American Museum of Natural History that explored different concepts of time and the history of time capsules.
• Origins of American Animation
  The American Memory Project has released 21 short, animated films, and 2 fragments from 1900-1921 (available in RealMedia, MPEG, and QuickTime formats). The bibliographic records are browsable by title, subject, or date as well as searchable by keyword.
• The Digital Michelangelo Project
  "Since 1992 [Stanford University] Professor Marc Levoy and his students have been investigating methods for digitizing the shape of three-dimensional objects using laser scanners." This site presents the efforts of "a team of 30 faculty, staff, and students" to scan and produce 3-D computer models of "the sculptures and architecture of Michelangelo." Includes an overview and timeline of the project, photographic essays, video clips, and related links. In English and Italian.
• A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization
  "The goal of this 'visual sourcebook' is to add to the material teachers can use to help their students understand Chinese history, culture, and society." Features a timeline with links to information and images, and essays on topics such as ancient tombs, Buddhism, clothing, and gardens. Includes maps, discussion questions, and bibliographies.
• Adbusters' Culture Jammers Headquarters
  Adbusters is a group of very talented media professionals who want us to challenge what we see and subsequently think. Exploring this website is a good introduction to what makes the web valuable: users can look beyond mass media's filters.
• Africans in America
  Presentation of Americans journey through slavery in 4 parts. For each section, you will find a historical narrative, a resource bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, commentaries, and a teacher's guide.
• An African American One Room School
  Pierre Samuel du Pont and Delaware's African-American Schools The early 20th century in America, a period characterized by nationwide social reform, is often referred to as the Progressive Era. During this period, more and more people recognized that education was the best guarantee of economic success for young people.
• Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture
  The Anacostia Museum is a community based and constituency focused museum that increases public awareness of the Black experience through research, programs and exhibitions.
• Ancient China (British Museum)
  http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/menu.html The site is divided into five 'chapters' which address themes or topics relevant to ancient China. Within each 'chapter' there are three sections: Story (narratives), Explore (pupil controls the order in which they access the information) and Challenge (historical, analytical, mathematical, or observational activities).
• Anthropological Resources for Teaching Social Studies
  Links to resources for teaching about world cultures, including African American, Latin American, and Native American.
• Astronomy and Space Classroom Resources
  provides lessons and web resources from the National Science Digital Library. Learn about amateur telescope making, black holes, UFOs, astronomy research, myths and misconceptions about astronomy, space weather, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the structure and evolution of the universe.
• Biology in Motion
  Having trouble finding illustrations, diagrams, and interactive activities to supplement biology lectures for your students? Want to provide a visual representation of the passage of blood through the human cardiovascular system--or have your students conduct an online experiment in cell division? "Biology in Motion" offers these and many other features. Based on the premise that the web provides an ideal vehicle for teaching biology, developers have assembled a collection of learning activities, animations, and cartoons designed to help explain difficult, but widely taught, biological concepts.
• California Digital Library
  Harnessing technology and innovation, and leveraging the intellectual and cultural resources of the University of California, the California Digital Library supports the assembly and creative use of the world\'s scholarship and knowledge for the UC libraries and the communities they serve. Established in 1997 as a UC library, the CDL has become one of the largest digital libraries in the world.
• Center for Digital Storytelling
  The Center for Digital Storytelling is a California-based non-profit arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. We assist young people and adults in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.
• Center for History and New Media
  Center for History and New Media (CHNM) - This great site combines "the most exciting and innovative digital media with the latest and best historical scholarship." From George Mason University. Various plug-ins are required.
• Cezanne In Provence
  marks the centenary of the death of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), a founding father of modern art. He created some of the most powerful and innovative paintings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• CIESE Online Classroom Resources
  The New Jersey Networking Infrastructure in Education Resource page lists some of the finest projects and lesson ideas created for K-12 science education. To participate in science projects that can only be done using Internet resources, take a look at "The Gulf Stream: A Global Investigation" or , "The Morgan Tutorial," which investigates the field of genetics.
• Civil War and Reconstruction
  provides documents and images for learning about "fugitive from labor" cases and black soldiers in the Civil War. The site includes Civil War photos by Mathew Brady and letters, telegrams, and photos illustrating factors that affected the Civil War.
• Cleopatra: A Multimedia Guide to the Ancient World
  "An interactive guide to the Ancient Art Collection of The Art Institute of Chicago" that focuses on the three cultures of the ancient Mediterranean: Italy, Egypt, and Greece. Eighteen objects are featured, each with close-up views and related stories in audio.
• Cooper Hewitt, The National Design Museum
  Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The Museum believes that design shapes our objects, environments, and communications, making them more desirable, functional, and accessible.
• Create a Graph
  Create a Graph helps students create their own graphs and charts. This online tool can be used to make 4 kinds of charts and graphs: bar graphs, line graphs, area graphs, and pie charts.
• Dinosaurs
  Helps students answer questions about dinosaurs dinosaur "a dinosaur"? Where did they live? What caused their mass extinction? Students can participate in a virtual dinosaur discovery, follow milestones in dinosaur evolution, & see behind-the-scenes slideshows of the lab environment where vertebrate specimens are prepared for exhibits & research. (NMNH,SI) .
• Ethnology Database ( Bishop museum-pacific region)
  "Photographs and detailed information...for more than 400 cultural objects" from the Pacific region. Surfboards, hula drums, barkcloth, quilts, featherwork, makaloa mats, wooden bowls, and stone pounders are included in the online exhibit.
• Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground
  Welcome to a collection of children's online astronomy activities. In the following six chapters are hundreds of fun explorations into astronomy as a classroom tool for learning how to theorize, experiment, and analyze data.
• Hubble Heritage Project
  The Hubble Heritage Project This site makes the most of what Hubble has to offer, with a gallery of gorgeous images, plus other art inspired by them. It also links to astronomy background resources, the news desk of Hubblesite.org.
• National Museum of the American Indian
  The NAMAI web site offers an education section with teacher guides and lists of authentic resources for students: “Your students may have preconceived notions regarding Native Americans. Before visiting the museum, you may want to begin studying ‘fact versus fiction’ concerning indigenous cultures.
• National Story Project with Paul Auster
  The monthly broadcast of the National Story Project was born when writer Paul Auster returned to National Public Radio's Weekend All Things Considered to focus on telling not just his own stories, but also those of listeners. Read or listen to stories that have aired since November 1999.
• Origins, Arecibo, Astrobiology
  What are the limits of life? Explore surprising environments on Earth and elsewhere where life is or may be found.
• Race and Place , an African American Community in the Jim Crow South
  Race and Place: An African American Community in the Jim Crow South is a collaborative work with the Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies at UVA. The project examines the era of segregation in one community and explores African American politics, families, schools, businesses, churches, and other institutions to gain perspective on African American history and the culture of the segregated South.http://.
• Recent World Activity
  Find webpages that provide resources for teachers on the topics of earth structure, earthquakes, plate tectonics, and earthquake preparedness. Features: Lesson ideas Graphics/Multimedia Inquiry materials.
• Robotics Alliance Program
  Calling all student inventors and aspiring mechanical engineers: The scientists at NASA are looking for a few good minds to participate in the Robotics Alliance Project, a nationwide competition that awards students for designing and building robots. With a fresh look and feel, this longtime NASA web site provides information for teachers and students seeking sponsorships and entry into the 2005-06 FIRST Robotics Competition, an international sporting event that pits student-made robots against one another in a race for mechanical superiority.
• Slates,Slide Rules and Software: Teaching Math in America
  Devoted to "tools used to teach math across American history, from the 1800s to the present." Includes information on slates, blackboards, arithmetic cards, geometric models, numeral frames, textbooks, geometric models, arithmetical frames, slide rules, blackboard dividers and protractors, B.F. Skinner's teaching machine, Cuisenaire rods, the new math, calculators, software, and geoboards.
• Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
  is now online at http://www.folklife.si.edu It presents guidelines that Smithsonian folklorists have developed over the years for collecting folklife and oral history from family and community members and features a concise, easy-to-use guide to conducting an interview, as well as sample questions that may be adapted to each interviewer's needs and circumstances. The Guide concludes with a few examples of ways to preserve and present findings, further readings, glossary, and sample information and release forms.
• Surrounded by Beauty: The Arts of Native AmericaMinneapolis Institute of Arts
  Surrounded by Beauty: The Arts of Native America Minneapolis Institute of Arts. There is no equivalent in the many Native American languages for the word art.
• The GLOBE Program
  GLOBE -- Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment. Students and teachers from more than 9,500 schools in over 90 countries collect data that are then used by scientists and other researchers.
• The Glory of Chinese Printing
  The Glory of Chinese Printing. This site explores the ancient history of Chinese printing.
• The LOC.gov Wise Guide
  This Wise Guide portal was designed to introduce you to the many fascinating, educational and useful resources available from the nation's library and one of the most popular Web sites of the federal government. The federal government and the Library of Congress, in particular, maintain and develop hundreds of Web sites.
• The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt [QuickTime, RealPlayer]
  The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt. This new online exhibit from the National Gallery of Art will be a real treat for those with a passion for the ancient civilization of Egypt.
• The Theban Mapping Project( Egyptology)
  This collection of information and links puts the material on this website in a wider context and gives you pointers on how to expand your knowledge of Egyptology. Bibliography Consult this comprehensive bibliography of the Valley of the Kings and its individual tombs for publications that will give you further information about these sites.
• The Tomb of Tutankhamon
  This is a site that puts you in the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamon. You have the actual tour of the ways in which the tomb was originally explored after its discovery.
• Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School
  Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School Founded by Louis Sullivan and popularized by his famous pupil, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Prairie School of architectural design was predominantly middle western. This site offers a look at elements that define the style, a virtual tour of Prairie School buildings in Minnesota, and an online tour of the exemplary Purcell-Cutts house.
• Visual Quantum Mechanics
  Designed to "introduce quantum physics to high school and college students who do not have a background in modern physics or higher level math." Utilizing the Shockwave plug-in, these "interactive computer visualizations and animations provide graphical descriptions of quantum effects." Site explores "properties of light emitting diodes, tunneling diodes, solar cells and even glow-in-the-dark toothbrushes are explored." From the Physics Education Research Group, Kansas State University.
• Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories
  Features interviews with 23 former slaves (the oldest was 130 at the time of the interview). These nearly 7 hours ofrecordings provide a glimpse of what life was like for slaves & freedmen.
• War and Peace
  "War & Peace" exhibits photos, maps, & documents related to America's wars.Features include a Civil War timeline, letters from soldiers,homefront contributions during World War I & II, American women workers during World War II, man-on-the-street interviews after Pearl Harbor, "The Stars & Stripes" newspaper(for Army troops in France 1918-19), Winston Churchill, the Marshall Plan, Ansel Adam's book of photos of a World War II internment camp, & the Veterans History Project. (LOC) .
• Welcome to Earthquakes For Teachers!
  Find webpages that provide resources for teachers on the topics of earth structure, earthquakes, plate tectonics, and earthquake preparedness. Features: Lesson ideas Graphics/Multimedia Inquiry materials.