Many federal agencies have portions of their websites specifically aimed at educators, parents, and/or students. The links are often on the agency home page under such titles as "Education", "For Teachers and Students", "Kids' Pages", "For Parents and Educators", "Kids, Families, Teachers" or similar terminology.

Some of the contents of particular interest to teachers (not all available on every website) include:

• Lesson plans and curriculum guides
• Downloadable instructional materials and teaching tools
• Directories of resources
• Classroom activities, games, quizzes, and interactive learning exercises
• Links to other websites for teachers and their students
• Virtual tours and exhibits
• Information about borrowing of free-loan materials
• Information about training and professional development opportunities for educators

Among topics specifically geared toward parents (not available on all websites) are:

• Tips on general health and safety, pregnancy and childbirth, infant and child care and development
• Internet safety for children
• Suggested topics for parent/child discussions while navigating through agency websites
• Financial aid and scholarships for students
• Fire and disaster resources for parents and their families
• Ideas for enhancing family visits to museums and other cultural institutions

Typical features of interest to children/students (not all available on every website) include:

• Age-appropriate information on topics under the federal agency's responsibilities
• Games, quizzes, and interactive exercises
• Ideas and topics for science and other projects, research, and fairs
• Online exhibits
• Homework help
• Links to additional Internet resources and/or sources for related print materials
• Catalog of audio, Braille, print Braille books for pre-school through Grade 8
• Student financial assistance, internship, and career information

Contents

Guides to Resources

In addition to the home pages of individual federal agencies, there are a number of general portals with information on websites geared to teachers, parents, and students:

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)

http://www.free.ed.gov/

See the FREE resource guide from the main Education Module page.

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/

A product of the U.S. Government Printing Office, Ben's Guide (named after Benjamin Franklin) features information for grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) as well as for parents and teachers. Topics include information about the three branches of government, symbols of the U.S. Government, games and activities, how laws are made, and state/local government. There are also links (by subject and by agency) to U.S. Government Websites for kids and for parents/educators.

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)

http://www.eric.ed.gov/

See the ERIC resource guide on the main Education Module page. Through 2004, ERIC indexed lesson plans (and it's possible to "search within results" and focus in specifically on lesson plans).

Kids.gov

http://www.kids.gov/

The official Kids' portal for the U.S. Government, from the Federal Citizen Information Center of the Office of Citizen Services, U.S. General Services Administration, "Includes links to over 1,200 Web pages from government agencies, schools, and educational organizations, all geared to the learning level and interest of kids." Buttons for Grades K-5, 6-8, and Educators at the top of the website guide users to useful information under each of these levels.

EDSITEment

http://edsitement.neh.gov/

"The Best of the Humanities on the Web" from the National Endowment for the Humanities features "online humanities resources from some of the world's great museums, libraries, cultural institutions, and universities." An extensive alphabetical list of websites is coded by subject (Art and Culture, Literature and Language Arts, Foreign Language, History and Social Studies). Lesson plans are searchable by those subjects and by grade level (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).