mat How stuff works overall rating On this site you can find out how just about anything works - machines, electronic gadgets, your body, even lock-picking! Some of the explanations include animations, 3-D graphics, or objects that you can take apart. Make sure to look at the Cool section and the top 40. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How things work overall rating In the unlikely event that you can't find what you need on How Stuff Works, try this site. This is a no-frills site with short, straightforward articles. If you want a quick explanation of something, it may be the place to look first. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Technology chronology overall rating A simple but useful list of key dates in the history of technology, from 6000 BC to 1969. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Technology at home overall rating How has technology at home changed since 1900? Using this website, you can find out. Move the slider back in time, and all the familiar objects disappear or are replaced. By 1900 only the table and chair are unchanged. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Brainpop: technology overall rating The brainpop site has cartoon movies explaining many kinds of technology. Find out how a car engine works, or a fuel cell, or a fuel cell. (You can only watch five brainpop movies each day, unless you are a member.) Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Industrial Revolution: a trip to the past overall rating A series of essays on the Industrial Revolution, illustrated by some slightly wacky but fun animations. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Industrial Revolution: 1700-1900 overall rating A short timeline of the Industrial Revolution, including an article on Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No USDA for kids (farming) overall rating USDA is the US Department of Agriculture. This site has lots of activities and fun sites, but if you want to find out something specific, it's not very helpful. However, there is a good section on the history of US agriculture. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Kids' Farm overall rating Kids' Farm is all about ranch farming in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. At the moment the information is patchy, but there's lots on farm animals (including noises!) and farm equipment. There's also a section on kids' rodeo. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No The Gutenberg Bible overall rating The Gutenberg Bible is one of the first books ever printed, and also one of the most beautiful. This 'virtual book' is as near as most of us are likely to get to an original copy of the Bible. The images are slow to download, but it's worth it for their quality and detail. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Printing money: printing processes overall rating If you have ever thought of forging your own money - forget it! This web page from the Money Museum in Switzerland gives some idea of what an immensely complicated and skilled process printing money is. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Boeing military aircraft overall rating A good site for fact sheets, photos, and even sounds of Boeing's military aircraft. These include the Harrier, the B2 stealth bomber, research aircraft and missiles. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How a Challenger tractor is made overall rating The Challenger is a huge tractor with caterpillar tracks, used for farming and on construction sites. The site shows the whole process of building a Challenger in photos and text, from the steel rails that make the frame through to painting and testing. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Technology and transportation overall rating This site has information about roads, bridges and other civil engineering projects in the USA. There are some interesting activities; you can try designing a bridge or road, and see what your efforts would look like. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Discovering engineering online overall rating Find out just how much of the world around us relies on engineers, and learn more about the different types of engineering. In the Cool stuff section there are activities relating to different kinds of engineering. The 'games' are all quizzes, but the downloads section has some good stuff. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Empire State Building overall rating The Empire State Building is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, and on this site you can find out all about it. Read about its history, the basic facts and figures, plus some trivia. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Building big overall rating This brilliant site is all about skyscrapers, bridges and other big structures. Read the basic facts, then take the challenge: can you rescue a sinking cathedral, or stop a skyscraper blowing in the wind? There's also a databank of the world's big structures, and much more besides. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How stuff works: bridges overall rating A really good explanation of the principles behind the three main types of bridge: the beam, the arch and the suspension bridge. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Geoguide: dams! overall rating Explore a new dam site, and see what impact the dam has on the area. Then go to the family activities, and find out the effects a dam would have on a river near you… Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Radar and satellite page overall rating A radar map of the USA: click on one of the crosses and you can see a radar image of that area. The image shows the amount of precipitation (rain, snow, etc.). You can also see an animation of how the radar map is changing. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Waste disposal guide overall rating This site from the US National Institutes of Health has information about the different types of waste and about recycling. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Recycle City overall rating Welcome to Recycle City. It used to be called Dumptown, but…well, click on the city map to learn how the city changed. Or play the Dumptown game, and transform the city yourself. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes US Geological Survey minerals information overall rating What minerals do they produce in Mexico? Which countries produce aluminium? This site is a real 'mine' of information about minerals. However, there is so much information that it is sometimes hard to find what you want. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Facts on minerals overall rating This Australian website consists of fact sheets on some important minerals. If the mineral you are interested in is covered here, you can get basic information quickly and easily. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Hand papermaking overall rating A series of newsletter articles on the history of papermaking and methods of making paper by hand. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Consolidated papermaking and tours overall rating This website has a detailed description of how paper is manufactured and a 'virtual tour' of Consolidated Paper's papermaking factory. In the Fun and games section you can learn how to make your own paper. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes African crafts: cotton overall rating A slide show that explains how cotton is grown, spun and woven in many parts of Africa. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Macrogalleria (plastics) overall rating This website really is 'a cyberwonderland of polymer fun'. In level 1 you can find out what different plastics and polymers are used for. In level 2 there's more detail about individual plastics, and in level 3 you can learn about polymer behaviour. The 'What's new' section is not to be missed; there are polymers at the movies, a polyquarium and polymer expeditions. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes The story of rubber overall rating This site is still under construction, but it's pretty good as it stands. The best place to start is Ecuador, under 'Using rubber destinations', but there's lots of interesting and useful stuff throughout. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No ChemFinder overall rating If you have ever wondered exactly what all those chemicals are that are listed on your toothpaste or shampoo, find out with ChemFinder. Type in a chemical name, and ChemFinder will give you details of it. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No BP statistical review of world energy (Oil, gas, coal) overall rating The information on this site is quite complex, but there are many useful graphs and maps, most of which can be downloaded. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Plastics resource overall rating This site about plastics and the environment is packed with interesting information. However, it was set up by the American Plastics Council, so the view it gives is a little one-sided. Go to 'A guide to plastics and the environment' for a more balanced view. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No A guide to plastics and the environment overall rating There's a lot of information on this site: a history of plastics, information about the different types of plastic, the environmental problems plastics can cause, and plastics recycling. All it needs is a few more pictures... Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No