Keystone Weekly
volume 4, issue 1        September 23, 2002

This week's Key Points: *Changes to Keystone Online* and *Web Pick of the Week*
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Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had wonderful summers and that your new school year is proving to be a fun one.

We devised some changes to Keystone Online this summer, and we hope you'll be pleased with the results. You may notice that the "Site Visit Journals" and "Tips and Connections" sections are missing from the headers on all of the pages, and a new section, called "Classroom Experiences," appears instead.

The Classroom Experiences section
( http://www.keystone.fi.edu/experiences.shtml) is designed to offer you a convenient way of accessing photoessays (including what was formerly called the Site Visit Journals) and written commentary on kit use and other classroom happenings. The information is arranged by grade level and teacher name, and features new broad subject icons. (You'll also see these icons—denoting life science, earth science, physical science, and technology—elsewhere on the site.) Simply scroll to the grade level you're interested in, browse the teachers who have covered certain subject areas, and click on the icons to get a closer look inside their classrooms. There are a lot of brand new photoessays, so be sure to spend some time looking around.

We hope this new arrangement is useful and interesting. Please let us know what you think of it, and if it works for you. If you don't see your name listed, but you would like to have your voice heard, please speak up! Fame and recognition can be yours too!

You'll also notice a slight redesign with added icons on the Kit and Curricular Companions page
( http://www.keystone.fi.edu/matrix1.shtml), and we've improved and fleshed out the Kit User Registry
( http://www.keystone.fi.edu/usermatrix.shtml). Pay close attention to future mail from Sharon, and be sure to tell her all about your kit use experience, as it will create the backbone of our new and exciting Kit User Registry tool.

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It's the first day of autumn, and that means it's getting to the time of year when trees demand to be noticed. So, whether you're studying trees or not, this site could offer a neat supplementary learning experience. Offered by the Ohio Public Library Information Network, it helps you identify and learn about tree species through exploring clues about their leaves and fruit. Or if you already know the name of a certain tree, and you're searching for more information about it, they can help you out with that too. For general information on trees and their parts, complete with lovely illustrations, click on the Background section.

The graphics are bright and kid-friendly, and this site would be a good one for kids to navigate on their own (if they're browser-savvy and able to read) or with your assistance. The tree content is specifically geared towards Ohio trees, but there's enough species overlap that this site is sure to be useful for your area as well.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 9819641.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

webteam@keystone.fi.edu

© 2003. All rights reserved.