The National Aeronautical and Space Administration, NASA, has an interactive website for kids with activities at five skill levels. Elementary games use space-themed icons, whereas the highest level offers a quiz game about the solar system. For older students, NASA has a web page full of links to activities such as NASA podcasts and educational videos, NASA career information, an extensive image gallery and interactive space shuttle activities. Students can also put their names on a microchip that is to be sent to Mars in 2011 on the NASA site, and a printable certificate of participation is generated.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, offers online activities in the subjects of oceans and coasts, climate, weather and atmosphere, and marine life. Track tsunamis across the ocean via a buoy system, or watch webcasts and videos about extreme weather. Use an online weather forecast simulator, which prompts students to make decisions about evacuations and announcements to the public. Learn how the ocean's climate and temperature are measured, learn how to read real-world climate data, and study the rise and fall of the sea level. NOAA's website offers resources and interactive experiences for students of all grade levels.
The U. S. Geological Survey, or USGS, offers online physical science resources for elementary and secondary grades as well as college levels. The USGS site hosts educational videos and animations, photo collections, interactive maps and databases, and lessons and activities. Activities on this site cover the topics of ecosystems, biology, chemistry, geology, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, rocks, minerals, plate tectonics, astronomy, geomagnetism, groundwater and floods. Read a 16-page comic book, "Journey Along a Field Line," about geomagnetism online, or print it out in PDF format, browse through a virtual solar system or learn how to collect and identify rocks. The USGS also runs an astrogeology website for kids, which includes games and activities such as printable moon and Mars coloring books and magnets.
Sheppard Software has an assortment of interactive activities for the subject areas of chemistry, biology, physics and other physical sciences. Play element matching and learning games as well as a six-skill-level periodic table of the elements game. The site also has three cell tutorials with games, covering plant, animal and bacterial cells.