By Joe Nathan
Center for School Change

Here are four quick questions to ask yourself and your children:

ï How many words can you make from the letters in Benjamin Franklinís name?

ï Whatís a bolide?

ï Where did the adage that "a manís best friend is a dog," come from?

ï Why did Edgar Allan Poe die?

You can find answers to these, and literally thousands of other questions, along with almost countless games, puzzles and pictures at an incredible Web site: www.free.ed.gov.

Itís one of the most amazing Web sites Iíve ever seen - and a fantastic resource for families and educators. People from hundreds of agencies that are a part of the federal government have put information together on a Web site. You can learn an amazing amount, and have fun doing it, whether you have 5 minutes, an hour, or all day.

The answers to the questions asked above, and countless others, are in one of four major sections: science, math, history and language arts. Each section has so many activities, games, maps, pictures and programs that could it take years to fully explore.

Overwhelming? Perhaps. But my sense is that many youngsters love jumping into something like this to see what they can find. And some young people have particular things they want to learn about. A powerful search engine makes that possible.

So, here are a few things I found in just a few minutes of exploration.

How many words can you make from Benjamin Franklinís name? I tried doing that and came up with 34. Then I checked, and felt very humble. They presented 180! This is a part of an area called Benís Guide to the US Government for Kids found in the history section. This area also told me that Franklin was the 15th child of his father, and the 8th for his mother. Who knew?

How about a bolide? According to the US Geological service, thatís an "extraterrestrial body in the 1-10 km range that hits the earth ëfaster than a speeding bullet.í You can see pictures and examples in the science section.

And the dog quote? Apparently it came from George Graham Vest, a Missouri Senator who wrote in 1855 that "The one absolutely unselfish friend that humans can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts them, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is their dog."

While enormous amounts are known about dogs, apparently the cause of Edgar Allan Poeís death remains a mystery. A short "movie" in the literature area is part of a very well done section exploring Poeís life and death. The graphics are great, and I learned a lot in just a few minutes.

If youíre still reading, you get the idea. www.free.ed.gov is a remarkable resource, whether you are looking for particular information, or just want to explore. As this is the last column before August, I wanted to share something unusual, which can be a great source of fun and learning. Reactions welcome, and have a great summer.

Joe Nathan, a former public school teacher and administrator, directs the Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota jnathan@hhh.umn.edu,

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