Where can Mississippi students explore the beginnings of human life, looking at an early primate skull from every imaginable angle? Where can they see close-up details of a barrette that controlled an ancient hairdo?
Thanks to a series of projects developed by Mississippi State University, K-12 students with Internet access can be as close to the distant past as their own computers.
The School of Architecture, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, has developed a World Wide Web site with 3-D images that let students become "digital Darwins," said research scientist Charles Calvo.
By accessing the Digital Darwins Research Project, students may download quick-time virtual reality files of a jaw and tools from some of the earliest human ancestors, skulls and teeth of early and modern primates, or a variety of objects dating from the Iron Age.
The site--accessed at http://www.digitaldarwins.sarc.msstate.edu--is one of several projects in which the architecture school's Digital Research and Imaging Laboratory is working to bring museum artifacts to life for classes from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"We want to deliver a 'virtual' museum and find new ways to let students and classrooms discover artifacts," Calvo said, adding that the Internet allows direct delivery of the information to students.
Support has been provided by Silicon Graphics, Apple Computers and the Immersion Corp. of Dallas, among others.
Working with Alife Rosenberger of the Biovisualization Laboratory at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Calvo and two Mississippi State students have created a "virtual" display of artifacts that focus on the wonders of natural history.
The Iron Age figurines are provided by Mississippi State's Cobb Institute of Archaeology, which maintains an extensive on-line database of objects in its collection.
The 3-D images are the next best thing to being there, Calvo said. "They allow viewers to examine an object in great detail from any angle simply by moving a computer mouse or trackball," he explained.
New technological tools being developed will allow artifacts to be superimposed on three-dimensional models for comparison, or for researchers and students to "slice" through 3-D models to compare specimens at any angle.
"It promises to yield new information that allows students and researchers new insights," Calvo said.
In cooperation with the Cobb Institute and with other researchers at the university, Calvo is working to extend the "virtual" library to include additional archaeological and biological resources. He is seeking funding from several federal agencies to develop an electronically navigated artifact-based learning environment.
"'Digital Darwins' has demonstrated what is possible and what Mississippi State University can do," he said. "We want to expand the learning opportunities for students to explore connections to their own environments and history."
Students working with Calvo include Chris Holland, a senior art major from Little Rock, Ark., and John VanderZwaag, a senior computer science major from Memphis, Tenn.