LABOR STUDIES ONLINE Looking for valuable labor studies information for the classroom? Visit the American Labor Studies Center online (www.labor-studies.org) and you’ll find a wealth of curriculum materials and resources appropriate for grades K-12. From art to literature, the information touches on almost every subject area and also includes biographical studies and contemporary issues in labor.

MORE THAN A DAY Visit the Earth Day Network online www.earthday.net for year-round activities and lesson ideas designed to promote environmental awareness and respect for a sustainable Earth. Featured are tree planting ideas, personal stories from children living in regions with inadequate water supplies and the “Teacher’s Corner,” filled with environmental education lessons. Founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970, the network promotes global environmental citizenship and sustainable development policies.

THE BIG VAULT The National Archives and Records Administration offers a wealth of online sources to help teachers and students jump-start their history projects. Visit www.archives.gov and click on the “Digital Classroom” section. There you’ll find valuable tips and information on teaching with documents, conducting research and locating publications. Many documents central to both the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also are spotlighted on this useful site.

SMART START The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, is kicking off its annual “NIDA Goes Back to School” campaign for the 2004-05 school year. The campaign is your source for free science-based drug abuse publications and teaching materials. Check out www.backtoschool.drugabuse.gov to order free publications and teaching materials for grades K-12. Also available is an interactive Web site for teens, located at www.teens.drugabuse.gov.

HIP TO BE ROUND The concept that coins are “History in Your Pocket” (H.I.P.) comes alive at the H.I.P. Pocket Change Web site. The site is part of the United States Mint Education Initiative project and aims to make coins fun, exciting and educational for students. The site, www.usmint.gov/kids, also offers free cross-curricular educational resources to help teachers and parents use coins as a vehicle to teach. The lessons presented are aligned with national standards in language arts, math, social studies, science and financial literacy.

HOUSEHOLD SMARTS Household chemicals pose a real health risk to children and adults alike, and the National Library of Medicine has made it much easier to research these products for potential toxic exposure. Visit the Household Products Database at http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm for information on thousands of household products used in everything from personal care to landscaping. Also included is a Material Safety Data Sheet, allowing users to perform keyword searches, and sections on product recalls as well as links to other useful sites.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR During the 2004-05 school year, students will fan out across their towns and cities equipped with tape recorders, maps and sharp ears as they capture unique sounds of their hometowns. It’s an effort to create “sound portraits” of towns across America—a series of one- to three-minute sound samples that illustrate a community’s geography, culture and commerce. The audio shorts will be posted on National Geographic’s Geography Action Web site www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction next spring.

WALK TALL The nonprofit educational support group Scholarship America has teamed up with Easy Spirit Footwear to create the Easy Spirit Freedom Walks for Scholarship America. The money raised from these walks will provide crucial funding for many students for postsecondary education. Walks will take place in eight cities across the nation this fall, with proceeds benefiting Scholarship America’s Dollars for Scholars program. This is a unique fundraising program in that all the money goes directly back into the community. For more details, visit www.walkforeducation.org.

COLUMBUS CALL The Christopher Columbus Awards is a free awards program for middle school students involved in their communities. Teams of up to four students and a coach identify a community issue they would like to address using the scientific discipline. Teams can win an all-expenses-paid trip to Walt Disney World to compete for U.S. Savings Bonds and a $25,000 community grant grand prize to implement their idea. One recent entry, for example, developed a handheld grocery scanner that detects common allergens such as nuts or dyes. For more information, visit the site at www.christophercolumbusawards.com or call 800/291-6020.

ONLINE ASSISTANCE MentorPlace is an online mentoring program that links teachers and students with more than 5,000 IBM employee-volunteers. IBM partners with elementary, middle and high schools for a yearlong mentor program that begins in September and ends with the school year. IBM volunteers are virtual mentors who communicate with students online and help them with teacher-directed assignments. In addition, volunteers qualify their schools for cash grants and computer hardware and software. For details on MentorPlace projects and sites, visit www.mentorplace.org.

ROSIE REVISITED Six million women served on the U.S. home front during World War II, and the National Park Foundation is preparing to mark this watershed moment in American history with a new park. The Rosie the Riveter/WW II Home Front National Park, located in Richmond, Calif., will honor the contributions of women during Word War II, including many who died aiding the war effort. Organizers are soliciting personal stories from Americans to help illustrate the contributions these women made. To share your stories, visit www.ford.com/go/rosie or call 800/497-6743.