Background: Website Qualifications

All of the science centers involved in the International Public Science Day 2002 program have some very important qualifications they must adhere to. This listing represents the lofty standards which our site strives to maintain as well as providing insight into how we do so.

Project Identification

1. The credit statement for the supporting organizations are included in each and every page of the site. They can be found at the base of each page and link to their respective Web sites. The text in the lower left corner links directly to the main IPSD 2002 information page.
2. This site is hosted on www.themosh.org, which is the official Web site of the Museum of Science & History. The servers are provided by the good people of AT&T Broadband Business Internet Services.
3. In the upper left corner of each page of this site is the IPSD logo. It links directly to the home page of our site. There are several links to the over-all project webspace at www.fi.edu/psd2002/ located throughout the site.

Educational and Scientific Content

1. There is only one version of this site, and it is written in (American) English. If there is demand for other languages, we are open to exploring the possibility. Just send an Email to the Webmaster expressing your interest.
2. The Museum of Science and History partnered with Rufus Payne Elementary School to present IPSD to Jacksonville, Florida in 2002. Information about the teachers and their classroom activities can be found in the Background and Program areas of the site.
3. Detailed descriptions of the activities that took place at Rufus Payne and at the MOSH are displayed in the Do It Yourself area. They come in the form of lesson plans, photographs, and material lists.
4. This Web site represents a model for practitioners who are considering the use of the Web to support their own inquiry-based science teaching and learning. In fact, if you would like to add to this site or find out more about anything, just Email the Webmaster. IPSD is not just a single project, it's a movement to create more excitement for science across a fairly new media.
5. Grammatically precise narratives about project events are part of the Program area of the site. They accompany the lesson plans and should give an idea of how the students at Rufus Payne reacted to these programs.
6. The basic scientific principles behind the inquiry activities are presented in the lesson plans. Based on our current understanding, the science is accurate.

Web Design Features and Functionality

1. It is our hope that you find this Web site to be visually attractive. If you have any comments on its utility or design, just contact the Webmaster.
2. This Web site is certified accessible to the following browsers: Windows OS: Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera; Mac OS: Netscape, Internet Explorer; Web TV (with only minor formatting issues but it is still workable). All pages are optimized for modems as slow as 33.6 kbps. If your browser is having trouble rendering this site, please contact the Webmaster immediately so it can be resolved.
3. While initial drafts of the site included the use of Flash (Macromedia's .swf building software) it was determined that the added overhead (in download time and plug-in headaches) outweighed its utility. Because of this, the only interactive technologies used in the making of this site are ASP on the server side and JavaScript and HTML on the client side.
4. Each page features a link visitors can use to contact the Webmaster and receive timely responses. Some pages, like this one, have several. The greatest power of the Web is the ability to respond quickly to feedback (be it creative criticism, technical problems, or praise). Don't miss out on your chance to leave your mark!