Biodiversity and Conservation Research
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) at the American Museum of Natural History aims to "integrate scientific research, education, and outreach so that people, themselves major catalysts in the rapid loss of biodiversity, will become participants in its conservation." The CBC currently conducts biodiversity conservation research in the Bahamas, Bolivia, Madagascar, Vietnam, and in metropolitan New York. Click on What We Do for brief descriptions of each research project. The project
Final Implementation Report and Recommendations of the Committee on ICANN Evolution and Reform
On October 22, 2002, an attack on the thirteen servers that act as the backbone of the Internet was carried out, briefly disabling nine of them. This drew attention to the often criticized organization that operates these servers, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Coincidentally, an October 2, 2002 report from ICANN addresses the issue of internet security. The committee that prepared the report makes several recommendations for reform, but only time will tell if t
Maths Challenge.net
Maths Challenge is a fun activity to build mathematical and reasoning skills. Each month during the school year, a new set of math problems are posted online. There are miscellaneous problems at junior and senior levels, cryptography and code breaking problems, and computer programming challenges. Each section is appropriate for a different age range, but the most basic material starts at age eleven and increases from there. To participate in the programming exercises, a simple registration is r
The Pherobase
The Pherobase was developed by Dr. Ashraf El-Sayed, a research scientist at HortResearch in New Zealand, with the primary objective of providing "coverage of the literature published on chemical communication in insects." The Pherobase is intended for use by both scientific and non-scientific communities and currently contains "over 10000 entries, around 3000 molecules, and over 32000 static html pages that make it the world's largest database of behavior modifying chemicals." The site contains
IDEERS: Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering Research
Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering Research in Schools (IDEERS) is a program of the University of Bristol "to communicate the challenge and excitement of earthquake engineering research to young people." Beginning with a detailed explanation of earthquake causes and effects, the Web site provides motivation for designing structurally reinforced buildings. Five recent earthquake disasters are outlined and related to the general impact of earthquakes on society. The material then
USGS: National Geochemical Survey Database
The USGS's National Geochemical Survey (NGS) is producing "a body of geochemical data for the United States based primarily on stream sediments, analyzed using a consistent set of methods." After learning the history and background of the project, users can access the NGS data by geographic area. The website allows researchers to compare the analytical methods and view national maps illustrating the distribution of these methods for each element. Visitors can easily view maps of the distribution
Temperature World
Temperature World.com gives in-depth and varied information on temperature. The site offers links to a temperature converter, world city temperatures, a printable temperature conversion table, temperature forecasts, temperature related product recalls, and information on metal temperature by color. It also contains explanations of earth temperature issues, temperature sensors and controls, organizations and standards, temperature tools, and more. A unique and thorough site, it can be enjoyed by
Classroom Activities
StarDate.org is the public education and outreach department of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, which offers astronomy resources for teaches on their Classroom Activities site. The various projects are categorized by age and grade level including k-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Each provides a teachers guide, materials needed, a description of the process, any needed links (such as the StarDate Moon Phase Calculator within the Observing the Moon activity), and even printable versions of each l
School Science
School Science is a UK website, supported by numerous science organizations, offering educational tutorials, worksheets, and activities covering topics in chemistry, physics, and biology. The materials are broken down into three age levels: eleven through fourteen, fourteen through sixteen, and sixteen through eighteen. Among other things, each lesson offers an introduction, an activity, and a short quiz. The Students link offers fun interactive modules where users can see how atoms diffuse, bui
The World Information Network on Biodiversity
The World Information Network on Biodiversity (REMIB) is organized and provided by Mexico's National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of the Biodiversity. REMIB is a network of shared biological information databases from research centers in Mexico, the US, Costa Rica, and Spain. The databases contain "curatorial, taxonomic, ecological, cartographic, bibliographic, ethno-biological type, use of catalogues on natural resources and other subject matters." Currently, REMIB gathers information o
Creature Feature: Vampire Bats
This Web site from National Geographic (last mentioned in the October 11, 2002 Scout Report) offers a short multimedia introduction to vampire bats. Geared toward younger kids, this site includes vampire bat audio and video files, Fun Facts in the form of a brief but educational article, a map of vampire bat global distribution, links to bat-related Web sites, and an email postcard. It may be too late to get much Halloween mileage out of this site, but teachers and students should enjoy this qui
Nutrition Café
Developed jointly by the Pacific Science Center and the Washington State Dairy Council, Nutrition Café offers students three interactive games to explore the world of nutrition. The first game, Nutrient Sleuth, is an entertaining hangman-style game where students try to discover what nutrients different characters are missing based on clues and letter guesses. Another enjoyable offering is Grab A Grape, a Jeopardy-style game where site visitors try to match nutrition-related questions with answ
General Interest Publications Online
The US Geological Survey maintains the General Interest Publications Online Web site. The over thirty publications include a range of subjects, with such diverse titles as Acid Rain and Our Nation's Capital; Birth of the Mountains: The Geologic Story of the Southern Appalachian Mountains; Deserts: Geology and Resources; and Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present, and Future. Each attractive document, which can be viewed or printed freely, contains non-technical text and interesting photo
Physical Science Information Gateway: Training
Another helpful resource from the Physical Science Information Gateway (last mentioned in the September 14, 2001 Scout Report , the Training Web site contains "free "teach yourself" Internet tutorials aimed at students, researchers and other members of staff who want to get the most out of the Internet". The topics covered include chemistry, earth science, physics, and the history and philosophy of science. Users get to tour key internet sites on each of the general topics, learn how to search f
Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) works to improve the scientific basis for environmental decision-making. The NCSE Web site provides access to Reports produced by the Congressional Research Service, which is a branch of the Library of Congress that provides nonpartisan research reports to members of the House and Senate. Now available on the site is a recently updated report entitled Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues. The
Cosmochemistry
NASA's Cosmochemistry Program (CCP) assists cosmochemical investigations that involve laboratory studies of extraterrestrial materials, examine the geochemistry solar system bodies, and/or study the formation and development of the solar system. Visitors can read abstracts of the proposals that have been awarded funding. The website offers a detailed strategy for the implementation of the program, which includes discussions of the facilities and methods, demographics, management, and challenges.
Sky Chart
The Sky and Telescope Web site, which is the companion site to the long running magazine of the same name, hosts the online interactive Sky Chart. Users can choose from any location on earth by inputting a city or a latitude and longitude, after which they then choose the direction they want to view in the sky. The tool allows anyone to view an image of the sky from any location on earth, which is pretty darn cool. The ease of use is another highlight of the Sky Chart, making it easily accessibl
NATURE: Kalahari
This website is the Web companion to the two-part NATURE documentary on the Kalahari Desert, which aired on PBS during fall 2003. The first episode, Kalahari: The Great Thirstland, explores the intense extremes of the Kalahari landscape, where wildlife "struggle for survival on the African plains." The site offers a number of Web-only extras, including a species guide in the form of animal trading cards, a slide show showing seasonal change in the Kalahari, and more. Episode Two, Kalahari: The F
The Messier Catalog
The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space of the University of Arizona maintains The Messier Catalog Web site. Named after the French astronomer who first discovered the objects, the catalog describes and features what are considered to be some of the most beautiful nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies in the sky. Visitors can read about Messier and about each individual object in the actual catalog, which includes a picture, its distance, brightness, the history of its discovery
Chasing Storms: Storm Photo Gallery and Case Study Page
John Monteverdi created this website to educate and entertain visitors in the science of storm chasing. Online storm journals for Spring Storm Chases from 1994 to the present take visitors through the life of a storm chaser. Throughout his discussions, the author provides weather charts and satellite images to assist visitors with the weather-related concepts. The site contains countless pictures of tornadoes and the destruction they leave behind. Although some of the amazing images take a few m
