The FirstGov at www.firstgov.gov is the place to begin any exploration of our government's vast data resources.

Do you want to find out more about the federal work force? All the up-to-date data can be found at the web site of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov). See if you can find the answers to the following:

• What is the average age of the typical federal employee?
  
  
• How many federal government employees work in California? How many work in Maine? What does a level GS-13 federal employee do when he or she enters government employment? What if she or he works in San Francisco? In New York?

As another activity, find the web site addresses (URLs) for the following federal and state agencies:

• The U.S. Department of Commerce
  
  
• The Internal Revenue Service
  
  
• The National Park Service
  
  
• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
  
  
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  
  
• The Office of Management and Budget
  
  
• The Texas Rangers (the state police organization, not the baseball team!)