Here are online resources with virtual manipulatives that can help make area and volume real for students. Be sure to check out the sites these resources are from — the sites contain many other interesting and useful mathematics learning resources.
Area Explorer
With this simulation, the student finds the areas for irregular shapes on a grid. […]

A topic once reserved for high school geometry, the Pythagorean theorem is now part and parcel of the middle school curriculum. These resources offer visual demonstrations that can make the abstract theorem more concrete for students and lead them in analyzing the mathematical relationships involved, as recommended by the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. […]

Days and weeks designated to recognize advances or current issues in science are often accompanied by web sites that can be useful to teachers and students year-round.
Sun-Earth Day - on or near the Spring Equinox
NASA maintains this site with lesson plans, space weather centers, stunning images, an online book about observers of the skies from […]

The National Middle School Association is holding its Middle Level Essentials Conference this week, April 3-5, 2008 in Minneapolis. The Middle School Portal will be presenting Friday, April 4, from 10:30-11:45 AM in ballroom C. The title of the presentation is Science Standards, Curricula, and Assessment: What, When, and How. The goals are to discuss […]