Dear Physics Teacher,

The purpose of this letter is to acquaint you with a new initiative, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, to bring into the classrooms new tools and educational material that my colleagues and I have developed for K-12 science teachers. During one of the regular high-school physics teachers workshops at Syracuse University, I gave a presentation about instructional material that is available to you over the Internet using a Web Browser such as Netscape version 3.01 or higher.

It would be of great value to all of us involved in this NSF sponsored project if you could help us evaluate the prototypes we have built.

Whether you are interested or not in this project, it would be helpful to us if you could answer a few questions:

1. At home or at school, do you have computers connected to the Web? (Specify)

2. Which version of Netescape or Internet Explorer do you currently use?

3. Have you used, or are you planning to use, Web resources for your class? If yes, please specify how you have used or are planning to use them. If you haven't, please give reasons why (lack of networked computers, objections to the use of the Web for education, etc.)

4. If you have a chance please look at the module ``Membranes and Strings''(follow the blue paths). Please also check the simulations (Java applets) on celestial mechanics (addresses and instructions are provided on a separate sheet). These modules are in the developmental stage and your comments might be very useful!

If not, are you planning to do so in the near future?

5. Lack of networking or computing resources might preventing your using some of the work we have produced. Would you be interested in trying out in class one of the SimScience module if distributed in CD-ROM format?

6. Indicate if you are not interested in using the Web for your courses and wouldn't like to be contacted on this matter in the future.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer this letter promptly. If you plan to evaluate/use the modules in the future but haven't found the time so far, please answer the questions above now and mail the evaluations separately later. At this time, I am trying to find out how many teachers are potentially interested in this type of educational resource.

You can mail answers to me at:

Syracuse University
201 PhysicsBuilding
Syracuse, NY 13244-1130

or, if it is more convenient, you can e-mail (gvidali@syr.edu) or FAX them (315)443-9103 to me.

Thank you again for your help.

Best regards.

Gianfranco Vidali

Associate Professor of Physics