Screen capture from Marathon Mouse activity.
Picking up on Kirk’s very goo dsuggestion, I spent some time this weekend, exploring the NOVA Science Now web site. If you haven’t yet visited it, it’s worth a look. Here’s the link to the main page.
I particularly liked this page, which includes a little activity called Marathon Mouse, where students learn about new drugs that seem to have the benefits of exercise. The activity features some scientists from the Salk Institute and the work they do with genes and metabolism. The activities themselves are nicely done – simple and a little whimsical (a silly, hand-drawn mouse that you experiment with). And if you want to show students a news article, to illustrate the way this research was covered by the press, here’s a BBC article on the same research. Also off this page are also a few nice videos, an “ask the expert” page, teacher’s guides, and other resources.
In addition to the metabolism material, I found the Science News feed (which many of you may already subscribe to) as well as a series of interesting-sounding podcasts.
There’s also a handy archive page of all the past NOVA programs (organized by topic area) that you’re already familiar with, but might want to send students to (Typhoid Mary, Mirror Neurons, Stem Calls, Secrets of the Mind, Sleep, etc.).
Anyway, some good stuff here. I’d be interested to hear what you all think of this.
When teachers go online, one of the things that they are looking for is great resources for teaching. If each teacher were to find just one of their favorite resources that they always point their students towards, then together we could amass an amazing list of great teaching tools that we can all untilize. I think that with a list of great sites to visit we might all be a little more enthusiastic to teach with these new ideas and experiences for our students. I think we can use a blog to explore sites and tools especially in areas that our students struggle. 
