Imagiverse: Engineering and Technology
Imagiverse has been developed by a team of people inspired by former students of Montessori School of Corona, Calif., who "believe that imagination is the key to learning." The group offers here a collection of interviews with people who work in various fields, including engineering and technology, as one way to "spark the flame that will lead young and old to pursue learning as an adventure through imagination." The Activities section also includes some lesson ideas such as a robotics project a
South Carolina Seismic Network
The University of South Carolina offers data from the seismic network that stretches from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic coast. Users can view maps of earthquake activity in South Carolina since 1996. The website offers a synopsis of the Charleston Earthquake in 1886, which was the largest historic earthquake in the Southeastern United States. Visitors can find a catalogue of the earthquakes occurring between 1698 and 1998 and a map of the East Coast seismicity from 1973 to 2000 as wel
Research of ICM: Interactive Demos of Mathematical Computations
The Institute for Computational Mathematics at Kent State University offers this very useful tool for complex calculations. Most of the demos given on this Web site range from beginning to advanced calculus; however, there are a few conversion utilities and function plotters. The interface of the demos allows the user to input a symbolic expression to be evaluated, and the result of the operation is displayed. Some of the functions include integration, limits, Taylor Series, and more. MathML is
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Department: The Gellman Group
The Gellman Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison presents its research "focused on understanding the interactions involved in the folding of natural and unnatural amide polymers." After learning the basics of the Group's unnatural amino acids and beta-peptide foldamers work, users can discover its biological applications. The website offers helpful figures to explain the protein-protein interactions and Beta Hairpins and Sheets. Researchers can find downloads to Gellman's numerous public
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
The Platypus: A Very Special Australian
The Australian Platypus Conservancy, "an independent organisation dedicated to conserving the platypus and its freshwater habitats," offers this informative Web site about "one the world's most unusual animals." Visitors can learn about platypus biology and ecology in the Platypus Fact File; find out how to become involved in platypus conservation efforts; read the latest platypus-related news in Ripples, the organization's newsletter; and more. The Platypus Fact File is particularly comprehensi
Scientific American Frontiers: Make Up Your Mind
This Web site is the online complement to Make Up Your Mind, a recently aired episode of the PBS series Scientific American Frontiers. This site would be a great addition to classroom material on brain anatomy and function, and could be tailored for a broad range of grade levels. Features include a Teaching Guide with downloadable activities and a quiz (for grades 5-8), plus Web links and other references. Users can also watch the entire documentary online, and view related stories from earlier
Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center
Part of the Earth Observing System Data Information System, the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center is responsible for archiving and distributing data relevant to the physical state of the ocean. The data, which are intended for use in oceanographic and other interdisciplinary scientific research, is freely available. Products include sea surface height, ocean wind, and sea surface temperature data. Recently added datasets include BYU High Resolution Images of ERS Sigma0 Meas
Silent Invaders
A joint effort of the Interactive Media Science Projects at Florida State University and the Bureau of Land Management, US Department of the Interior, Silent Invaders presents a comprehensive and very visual introduction to invasive species in the US and Guam. Click on Introduction to view five QuickTime documentary-style movies that provide an overview of the topic. Other categories offer detailed information, photographs, and more movies addressing invasive plant and animal species, control me
Environmental News Network
The Environmental News Network (ENN) has as its primary goal to educate the world about environmental issues facing our Earth. People can freely read articles that change daily on the latest news that affects our planet, read stories from major environmental organizations, search past stories, learn about upcoming events on the provided calendar, listen online to EarthNews Radio, and more. An example of a current in-depth article describes how fossil fuels today are depleted 100,000 times faster
Oil, Out of Control
Oil, Out of Control is an in-depth Whyfiles story that follows from news coverage of an oil spill off Spain's northwest coast in 2002. This Web site offers a straight look at the issues surrounding this and other famous oil spills, particularly that of the Exxon Valdez off Prince William Sound in 1992. The authors make clear the allegiances of people quoted in the story, while clearly explaining both the science and politics of oil spills and cleanup efforts. The Web site also features a news re
Music Acoustics
The Music Acoustics Web site is maintained by the University of New South Wales School of Physics. General topics covered include what a decibel is, what interference beats are, what a sound spectrum is, what acoustic impedance is, and others. Specific instrument questions are also answered, such as waves in strings, flute and clarinet acoustics, Helmholz resonance, and pipes and harmonics. This very interesting site, with its many illustrations and animations, along with its easily-read text, a
Frontline: Dangerous Prescription
In the recent PBS broadcast Dangerous Prescriptions, Frontline "investigates the integrity of America's drug safety system." The documentary (viewable in its entirety online) explores "the FDA's handling of several drugs that were approved but later were pulled from the market after causing injuries and even deaths." The companion website offers a look at how the FDA works and details of its recent record, based on interviews with current and former FDA officials. Also, readers may share their t
The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies
The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas "brings together the considerable expertise of a network of researchers with a long-standing history of GIS development at the University." Visitors of the site will find links to geo-data delivery systems, interactive mapping programs, reports and publications, and a wide array of other geographical information related to the state. One highlight is the newly released GeoStor version 2.0, which allows users "seamless acc
Highlight of Biochemistry: Molecular Structures Made Visible
This Web site from the University of Hamburg Faculty of Biology offers useful three-dimensional images of molecular structures, many of them animated. The dozens of images included in this site should help visual learners understand molecular structure and function in a number of contexts, including virology, immunology, neurology, photosynthesis, genetics, and more. Detailed descriptions and related information accompany each image. This Web site also provides links to three tutorials covering
Microbiology Current Issues: Water Quality
This well-designed Web site from the American Society for Microbiology offers a comprehensive introduction to microbial contamination of the water supply. Visitors to the site will find information on water-borne pathogens and the diseases they cause, where our drinking water comes from, how water becomes contaminated, scientific advances that could make our water supply safer, and much more. The information in this Web site is clearly explained and does not require an active interest in microbi
University of Strathclyde: The Z-Transform
This site offers a no-nonsense introduction to the Z-Transform, which "is used to take discrete time domain signals into a complex-variable frequency domain." It is divided into two main sections; the first derives the Z-Transform and considers its properties, while the second describes its applications for solving various types of mathematical problems. The material is mostly text and equations, but there are some graphics and diagrams that depict important concepts. For practice, users can try
International Cryobiology Young Researchers Group
The International Cryobiology Young Researchers Group, an organization designed to foster communication among young cryobiology researchers and promote the science of cryobiology, has recently redesigned its Web site. Some parts of the site are restricted to members of the organization, but other parts are available to anyone. In addition to learning what cryobiology is, the most useful part of this site for educators is the section of Science Fair Ideas. Several ideas are presented for conducti
Mesothelioma Information: The Asbestos Cancer Resource
Although this Web site is provided by a law firm promoting its legal services, it serves as a broad overview of the disease mesothelioma, usually caused by exposure to asbestos. The site addresses what mesothelioma is, the various types of mesothelioma, and its risk factors. A brief overview of asbestos and some types of workers who are often exposed to it is also provided. Other information includes medical treatment options, frequently asked questions about legal issues surrounding asbestos ca
USC Institute for Creative Technologies: Graphics Lab
The Graphics Lab is part of the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies. The lab performs research on computer graphics and modeling techniques such as image-based lighting, range scanning, and animation. This is all made possible by a U.S. Army contract "to advance the state of immersive training simulation." The Lab's homepage offers many details on the various projects within each research area; there are several publications that can be downloaded to complemen
