School’s in full swing and that means one thing – homework. Fortunately, the Internet is loaded with free stuff to help students and parents.
Writing is an integral part of most schoolwork, so a good place to start. Most word processors like Microsoft Word have built-in spelling tools, but there are other tools beyond your word processor to help you check your spelling or define words. Windows users can turn to Tinyspell (www.tinyspell.m6.net) and Wordweb (www.wordweb.info/free), which work independently of other programs.
Tinyspell is a program that sits in the corner of your screen and monitors typing. WordWeb is a program that provides definitions and synonyms.
Mac owners running OS X Tiger have a dictionary widget. If you’re using OS X 10.2 or 10.3, you’ll find dictionary widgets at Konfabulator (www.konfabulator.com). You’ll need to install Konfabulator’s software to use the widgets, though. Or, you can just visit Merriam-Webster (www.m-w.com), OneLook Dictionary Search (www.onelook.com), or YourDictionary (www.yourdictionary.com).
Online translators can help students studying a foreign language. Three translation sites include AltaVista’s Babel Fish Translation (www.world.altavista.com), Google Language Tools (www.google.com/language_tools) and World Lingo (www.worldlingo.com).
For help with all levels of mathematics, go to Math.com. For similar science help, try Sciencehelp.com. To plot math and science projects on paper, Mathematics Help Central (www.mathematicshelpcentral.com/graph_paper.htm) has a variety of printable graph papers. If you need something more complex, download the Graph Paper Printer Program, which creates custom graph papers. It also creates papers for music and handwriting.
To help with the actual work, you’ll need a good calculator. Microsoft offers a couple that improve upon the basic Windows calculator included with the operating system. Both require Windows XP.
The Power Calculator (www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/ xppowertoys.mspx) graphs functions and solves equations in addition to computing basic calculations. For advanced conversions, including currency conversions, try Microsoft’s Calculator Plus (http://tin yurl.com/ch856).
Mac users will like Tiran’s Calculator+ for Mac OS X (tiran.netfirms.com). Billed as a “lightweight scientific calculator,” it keeps a history of your calculations, has multiple memories and will help with algebra and trigonometry.
For history and geography, National Geographic’s MapMachine (plasma.na tionalgeographic.com/mapmachine) is invaluable.
Bartleby (www.bartleby.com) is a virtual library. An even more extensive library can be found at Refdesk.com, which also offers a great set of homework helper links (www.refdesk.com/homework.html).
FreeLunch (www.economy.com/free lunch) is an excellent source for statistical information. FreeLunch is especially helpful for creating reports, putting valuable information all in one place. The charts are free to download, but you need Microsoft Excel or an Excel-compatible spreadsheet program to view them.
