Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a 20 mile long series of bridges and tunnels that connect Virginia Beach/Norfolk to Virginia's Eastern Shore. The project is an engineering marvel; besides supporting vehicular traffic, the tunnels allow sea-going vessels passage into and out of the bay. A great deal of information is given on the project's home page, including a map of the surrounding area, historical perspectives, interesting facts, tourist attractions, and frequently asked questions. There
Stanford University: Center for the Study of Language and Information
The Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) "is devoted to research in the emerging science of information, computing, and cognition." This "new science" is an interdisciplinary project that developed through a shared interest among computer scientists, linguists, logicians, philosophers, psychologists, and artificial intelligence researchers "in how agents, whether biological or artificial, acquire, process, and convey information." The Center, initiated by researchers from Stan
NatureWorks
Developed by New Hampshire Public Television and the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, NatureWorks offers teachers an excellent resource for biologically related subjects geared for students grades 3-6. Sixteen topics are included, ranging from species diversity to fresh water communities. Each subject has a one page description for students to read and a short quiz for them to take. A teacher's guide offers additional vocabulary, hands-on activities, teaching tips, and external links.
Southern California Swell Model
The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) created the Southern and Central Swell Model experiments for those with a general interest in oceanography. After learning how the model works, users can view several up-to-date graphics illustrating regional and detailed swell heights on maps and plots. Although acknowledging possible errors, the website provides three day forecasts for coastal waves, tides, and swell heights. The Frequently Asked Questions link provides sufficient information on how
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was established in 1876 and remained the only high quality research facility for the basic sciences until the early decades of the twentieth century. Visitors can discover an abundance of information on its research in the fields of Material Science, Solid State Physics, Inorganic Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Energy Research, and much more. Scientists can find out about upcoming conferences such as the Colloquium for Young Physicists. The
DNA from the Beginning: An Animated Primer on the Basics of DNA, Genes and Hereditary
Maintained by the Cold Spring Harbor Research Laboratory and the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, this animated DNA primer (last mentioned in the February 19, 1999 Scout Report) now has three major sections -- Classical Genetics, Molecular Genetics, and Genetic Organization and Control. Each section covers several concepts by description and in animation, along with interviews and biographies of scientists, a quiz to test your understanding, and related Web links. This is a well-organized site with
Center for Research in Scientific Computation
The Center for Research in Scientific Computation (CRSC), based at North Carolina State University, aims to "foster research in scientific computing and provide a focal point for research in computational science, engineering and applied mathematics." The Center has developed a teaching experimental laboratory "where students are exposed to experimental design and data collection through demos and actual hands-on experience." The Center's multidisciplinary research addresses topics in scientific
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- From Alchemy to Chemistry: Five Hundred Years of R
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created this online exhibit to illustrate several of the major shifts in chemistry from alchemy to modern chemistry and how chemists changed the way in which they discussed their field. Curious students and educators can find descriptions of thirty-six chemistry books covering the years from 1500 to 1964. Historians will adore the images of pages from the old books and find source links for some of the books discussed.
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species
This US Geological Survey database provides information on nonindigenous aquatic species for resource professionals and the general public. Distribution maps and species information for a variety of aquatic vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant species includes photos, description of the life cycle, native and non-native habitat range, and potential impacts the non-native species has on its habitat. The site is easy to navigate; users can find information by species name, state, or drainage basin.
Urban Aeronautics
This Web site introduces the X-Hawk, "a vehicle that has the [vertical takeoff and landing] capability of a helicopter, but without the exposed rotors that make it dangerous or impossible for helicopters to maneuver in complex urban and natural environments." It has received considerable attention from the media, as is apparent from the press clippings provided online. The Film and Downloads section has a technical document that was presented to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau
IOL: InterOperability Lab
The University of New Hampshire has compiled this excellent collection of resources on networking and computer technology. Over twenty categories are represented, including emerging technologies such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Very high rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), and wireless standards. Many of the resources are papers or tutorials written by researchers at the UNH InterOperability Lab, while others are links to various academic and industry efforts. The site is suitable for a broad audie
Digging into Minnesota Minerals
The Digging into Minnesota Minerals Web site is part of the larger Minnesota State Department of Natural Resources site. These fun and interesting pages explain how Minnesota came to acquire its most common minerals over geologic time, what the basic types of rocks are, mining history of the state, the geology found in state parks, and much more. Included are basic descriptions, photographs, illustrations, and even educational activities for teachers related to the minerals. This well-designed s
EuroHaptics 2003
Haptics is the science of incorporating touch and physical stimuli into computer applications. A haptics interface can allow the user to feel responses from a program, thereby providing an additional level of perception in a virtual environment, for example. This site hosts the proceedings of the 2003 EuroHaptics conference. Over 30 papers and several more poster presentations are available, spanning the areas of interaction, hardware, algorithms, and psychophysics. Proceedings of the 2001 and 2
Yeast Cells Respire, Too (But Not Like Me and You)
Students set up a simple way to indirectly observe and quantify the amount of respiration occurring in yeast-molasses cultures. Each student adds a small amount of baking yeast to a test tube filled with diluted molasses. A second, smaller test tube is then placed upside-down inside the solution. As the yeast cells respire, the carbon dioxide they produce is trapped inside the inverted test tube, producing a growing bubble of gas that is easily observed and measured. Students are presented with
Topo Triangulation
In this activity, students will learn how to read a topographical map and how to triangulate with just a map. True triangulation requires both a map and compass, but to simplify the activity and make it possible indoors, the compass information is given. Students will practice converting a compass measurement to a protractor measurement, as well as reverse a bearing direction (i.e., if they know a tree’s bearing is 100 degrees from you, they can determine what bearing they are from the tree).
The Boxes Go Mobile
To display the results from the previous activity, each student designs and constructs a mobile that contains a duplicate of his or her original box, the new cube-shaped box of the same volume, the scraps that are left over from the original box, and pertinent calculations of the volumes and surface areas involved.
Solar Power
In this activity, students learn how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings by investigating the thermal storage properties of some common materials: sand, salt, water and shredded paper. Students then evaluate the usefulness of each material as a thermal storage material to be used as the thermal mass in a passive solar building.
Pointing at Maximum Power for PV
Student teams measure voltage and current in order to determine the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) panel. They vary the resistance in a simple circuit connected to the panel to demonstrate the effects on voltage, current, and power output. After collecting data, they calculate power for each resistance setting, creating a graph of current vs. voltage, and indentifying the maximum power point.
Oceans, climate and weather
What is the difference between weather and climate? What do the oceans have to do with them? Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere and its short-term (minutes to weeks) variation. Climate is typically described by the regional patterns of seasonal temperature and precipitation over 30 years. The averages of annual temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, and depth of frost penetration are all typical climate-related statistics. The oceans influence the worlds climate by storing solar ener
How Do Seasonal Temperature Patterns Vary Among Different Regions of the World?
The purpose of this resource is to have students use GLOBE visualizations to display student data on maps and to learn about seasonal changes in regional and global temperature patterns. Students learn how sunlight spreads over the Earth at different times of the year, emphasizing the solstices and the equinoxes. Students investigate the effect of the Earth.s tilt on the spread of sunlight by modeling different tilts using a three-dimensional polyhedron which they construct from paper. Students
