Welcome!

Welcome to www.sfscience.com—your avenue to science information on the World Wide Web! Your students can apply what they learn from the textbook to real-life research and experiences through our Web site. Scott Foresman SCIENCE is a complete program with comprehensive content, student-accessible features, teacher-tested activities, reading and math connections, and customized teacher resources.

At www.sfscience.com, students can access Chapter Connections that extend and enhance the content of the Student Editions. By reviewing the blackline masters, certificates, online interactions, and published work your students complete for the Chapter Connections, you will become familiar with what they have learned on the Web. Hands-on activities also bring your students into this online community by enabling them to share results with others across the country in the National Lab. Daily science trivia, content searching capabilities, and complete support for you round out the offerings.

This Web site is just one of the many components of Scott Foresman SCIENCE. To find out more about the complete program—the Science You'll Want to Teach—visit www.scottforesman.com or contact your local Scott Foresman representative.

The following are technical requirements for using http://www.sfscience.com. If you encounter difficulties in using the site, Scott Foresman Technical Support can be reached at 1-800-882-3030.

Browser Requirements

• To use the Scott Foresman Science Web site you will need Netscape or Internet Explorer, versions 4.0 or higher.
  
  
• To find the latest version of Netscape, * go to the following URL and follow the directions provided: http://browser.netscape.com/
  
  
• To find the latest version of Internet Explorer, go to the following URL and follow the directions provided: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx
  
  
  

The Scott Foresman SCIENCE Web site strives to provide a safe, educationally enriching environment for science exploration. All of the online activities are designed to use the power and real-world connections of the Internet to extend and enhance students' understanding and appreciation of science. In order to provide an authentic Web experience, the Scott Foresman SCIENCE Web site contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors. Although Scott Foresman takes precautions to regularly screen these outside Web sites, ultimately Scott Foresman cannot be responsible for the contents, accuracy, advertising material, or availability of these outside sites.

To encourage children to stay within the SCIENCE Web site, all outside sites are displayed in a secondary browser window, without a URL address field. Scott Foresman believes that teachers and parents should actively supervise their children's online activities. Scott Foresman recommends the use of parental control software tools that are readily available from online services and software manufacturers. Such tools are designed not only to screen out objectionable content, but also to prevent children from disclosing names, addresses, and other personal information without parental or teacher permission. The following are two organizations specializing in web safety for children:

Web Wise Kids: http://www.webwisekids.org/index.html

Safeguarding Our Children-United Mothers: http://www.soc-um.com

The interactive nature of the Scott Foresman Web site provides students with the opportunity to post their writing and National Lab data to the site. As a protective measure, users are discouraged from providing personal information about themselves. The information gathered for record-keeping purposes is limited to a screen name (which should not be a real name), a school name, and a ZIP code.

Scott Foresman reserves the right to delete, remove, and edit all messages posted to the site. In the event that questionable material is submitted to our site, profanity filters will detect the objectionable words and deny entry. In addition, all material submitted for posting will be reviewed by "live" content screeners at Scott Foresman. All submissions to Kid Publishing and the National Lab are kept confidential by Scott Foresman and are not released, sold, or in any way transferred outside the company.

The National Labs provide an opportunity for students to participate in science surveys and experiments with other students across the country and to publish and compare their results online. The steps and guidelines for conducting these investigations model the goals outlined by National Science Education Standards for Inquiry. All National Labs begin with a section called Background, which provides a review of concepts related to the investigation. The Lab then continues with the following key steps:

5-Step Labs

1. Ask a Question: A question is posed about objects, organisms, or events in the environment.
   
   
2. Conduct an Investigation: A simple investigation using hands-on materials or surveys is presented for students to modify and carry out.
   
   
3. Gather Data: Students use simple equipment to gather data and extend the senses.
   
   
4. Develop Explanations: Students use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
   
   
5. Communicate: Students communicate their investigations and explanations to others.
   
   
   
   

8-Step Labs

1. Ask a Question: A question is posed that can be answered through scientific investigation.
   
   
2. Conduct an Investigation: A simple investigation using hands-on materials or surveys is presented for students to modify and carry out.
   
   
3. Gather Data: Students use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
   
   
4. Develop Explanations: Students use evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models.
   
   
5. Think Critically: Students think critically and logically to make relationships between evidence and explanations.
   
   
6. Recognize Alternatives: Students recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
   
   
7. Communicate: Students communicate their investigations and explanations to others.
   
   
8. Use Mathematics: Students are shown how mathematics is used in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

Classes will need to register to facilitate sharing data online. Registering enables schools to easily revisit their own data once it has been posted and make comparisons to other schools' data. Classes can register from the Introduction screen or from the sections of the Lab where they will be entering data (under "Use Data to Explain" for 5-step labs, or under "Recognize Alternatives" for grades 8-step labs).

Registration is a simple process that involves entering the school name and ZIP code. Each school will need to register only one time. After that, the school information will be stored in the database and will be available when needed.

Review of Online Data

All online investigation data will be reviewed before being added to the database. Therefore, there will be a delay of one to two weeks from the time the data is submitted until it is available for viewing online.

National Labs - Communicate Section

Students can compare data from around the country in the Communicate section of the National Labs. Data in this section is organized by two zones: State and Climate. The two Zones are divided into Subzones. Each Subzone is further broken down by State, within State by City, and within City by individual Class.

To move from the broadest level of data to a more specific level (e.g., from a Zone such as Climate to a specific class in a city, such as Houston), "drill down" by clicking the underlined links. For example, to compare Climate data posted by a class in San Francisco, do the following:

1. First, click Climate.
   The average data for Climate Sub-Zones will be displayed, including averages for specific regions. To compare the class's data with the national average for urban areas, note the data to the right of Subtropical Dry.
   
   
2. Since the school is in the Subtropical Dry zone, click that zone.
   The average data for the Subtropical Dry states will be displayed. To compare the class's data with other states in that zone, note the data to the right of California.
   
   
3. Click California.
   The average data for California cities will be displayed. To compare the class's data with the average for other cities in that zone, note the data to the right of San Francisco.
   
   
4. Click San Francisco.
   The raw data for all participating Classes in San Francisco will be displayed. This is the individual data collected and submitted by each class.
   
   
5. Find a specific class in the list and click the More Information link in the class row. A secondary window will open to display a detailed summary of the class's data, including the students' explanations and observations.