Links

NASA for middle-school students
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/index.html

National Geographic for Kids
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

Fun activities - by girls....for girls.
http://www.missoandfriends.com/

SCIENCE: PLANETARY PHOTOJOURNAL
How about a family photo album of the universe? At this NASA site, you'll see 
images of the planets, look through the Hubble telescope at nebulae far 
beyond our galaxy, watch a video of the Mars rovers, and catch up on news of 
space surveillance technology. There's even a "solar system simulator" that 
offers visitors the option of viewing celestial bodies from above or below, 
from an orbiting spacecraft, or from another planet.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

Google Sky
Turn your computer into the night sky and see all of the amazing things in 
our universe!
http://earth.google.com/sky/

Mars Odyssey Mission
THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System)
Check out some of the latest photos and udated information about Mars using 
this great, interactive site!
http://themis.asu.edu/

NATURE'S CYCLES - A MAJOR SCIENCE RESOURCE 
Three important cycles - nitrogen, water, and carbon - are examined in the 
online series "What Goes Around Comes Around," found on the NSDL Middle 
School Portal. For each cycle, introductory text offers an overview, 
stressing the human impact, then links to high-quality web-based lessons and 
activities as well as rich sources of content information for teachers. The 
goal of this series, developed by Kim Lightle and her colleagues at Ohio 
State University, is to move middle schoolers from awareness to deeper 
understanding. "Elementary students often successfully memorize and repeat 
back the stages in cycles, with no deep conceptual understanding of the 
complexities of the processes involved." These materials can help middle 
grades teachers tie the fundamental cycles of nature to real-world issues.
http://msteacher.org/epubs/science/science11/science.aspx