The Periodic Table of Videos http://www.periodicvideos.com/

This is a website I came across from The University of Nottingham which simply displays the Period Table on screen and links every element to a youtube video (each about 3 minutes long) with one of the resident staff from the Univeristy giving a simple, concise explanation, history and demonstration of each element.

The posted video above is an example from the site for the element Phosphorus (symbol P, atomic number 15).

Each of the members has their own specialty background in various fields of chemisty. The videos as well as the experts are pretty entertaining and easy to access, (for those of us who may not have been the best chem students in highschool) as well as quick, which helps, seeing as how there are 117 elements to get through, each one present on the site for you to explore or discover.

Refreshingly the presenters also seem to be younger (with the exception of one of the professors, who sports a mad scientist meets Phil Specter look, check out his tie, outstanding!). Passionate, charismatic scientists are always welcome in helping the public find an appreciation for the sciences, especially in helping younger scientists-to-be find role models who are closer to their own age group and easier to identify with (needless to say no offense to the great E.O. Wilsons and the James Watsons, who remain invaluable to our understanding of the world around us and will for generations to come).

This is not only fun for the casual lover of science, but for teachers and professors it becomes an easy to access effective resource to offer students who may benefit from having a source to reference when studying while outside of school.  Younger generations will be and are increasingly reliant on the internet as a source of media, news and social interaction, but it has been slow to be picked up as a resource for learning especially in public schools.  Libraries close, but the internet is a 24 hour operation and is a much more accessible, quick source of information and a powerful resource that most younger people are already proficient with. Why not teach children it’s virtues as well as it’s vices (bottom line: the internet should never be approached the way midwest sex education is).

This website is a fantastic example of how the internet can and should be used not only as a source of entertainment, but as a phenomenal tool for the pursuit of education, and when it is as its best, hopefully both.