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
Puff - A Volcanic Ash Tracking Model
This website, provided by the University of Alaska and Geophysical Institute, explains the Puff-A Volcanic Ash Tracking Model project, which uses representative ash particles from volcanoes to study the advection and diffusion of ash within the atmosphere. After learning about the history of the project, visitors can find animations and images of the model's predictions for various volcanoes as well as the technical documentation. The website offers downloads of the latest version of the model,
Atmospheric Variables Plotting Page
The Atmospheric Variables Plotting Page is part of the larger Climate Diagnostics Center Web site (last mentioned in the December 6, 2000 Scout Report for Science & Engineering ), which allows users to freely plot available data online. Inputs include date (going back to 1980); variable, such as geopotential height, eddy height, relative humidity, vector winds, and air temperature among others; analysis level, plot type, map domain, as well as several formatting options. Once obtained, the plots
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
Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rock Info
Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rock Info, is part of the University of British Columbia Introduction to Petrology course Web site. Visitors can learn the basics of petrology, and the specifics about each individual rock type. For example, the sedimentary rock page gives definitions, normal constituents, limestone and dolostone facts, and siliciclastic rock information. One of the highlights of the site lets users go through the process of rock classification by determining its grain size,
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
EDUCAUSE Quarterly
EDUCAUSE Quarterly "is a practitioner's journal about managing and using information resources in higher education." It deals with many issues about implementing information technology (IT) practices as learning tools. The material is suitable for anyone interested in IT applications, but is particularly useful for those who work in computer services or other IT organizational positions. This site offers full text articles from the journal at no cost, and several back issues can be viewed as wel
2001 Annual Energy Review
The US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) describes itself as providing policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. The EIA Web site provides many informational pages and publications including the newly released 2001 Annual Energy Review. The report covers fossil fuels, nuclear electricity, renewable energy, and t
International Association of Sedimentologists
"The International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) was founded in 1952 with the goal to promote the study of sedimentology and the interchange of research, particularly where international cooperation is desirable." The website provides visitors with the association's monthly newsletter, which discusses conferences, recent studies, workshops, and more. Students and educators can learn about and view the beautiful sedimentological exposures in Arizona and Utah. PhD students can find informa
Captology: Computers as Persuasive Technologies
"The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products -- from websites to mobile phone software -- can be designed to change what people believe and what they do." This unusual field of study is called captology, and the subject is explored in detail on the lab's homepage. The Key Concepts section provides a brief overview of captology and links to another page with nine topic papers published by researchers at the lab. In a series of examples demonstrating how comp
Chinese Space Program
China will soon make history by sending the first Chinese man to space. Scheduled for sometime in 2003, it will be the first step toward China's highly ambitious plans for space exploration.The China National Space Administration Web site (1) has a detailed description of the country's space policy. Aerospace China, a journal published online by the administration, has information on space development plans and other issues. The history of China's space program is recounted by the online Encyclo
Idaho State University: Biology Resources for Active Learning
The Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University offers this website as part of a project "to enhance teacher preparation in the sciences by emphasizing inquiry and experimental approaches to science teaching." The site offers one or two lesson plans (mostly at the high school level) for the following subjects: the cell; molecular basis of heredity; biological evolution; interdependence of organisms; matter, energy, and organization of living systems; and behavior of organisms. Mo
Better Bone Implants
This Web site come from Science@NASA, an online source for news and information about NASA-funded research, and describes the work of researchers at the Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space, who are developing artificial bones for long-lasting, pain-free hip and knee replacements. These ceramic bones are touted as "so much like the real thing that they could actually meld with living bone."
MECO - The Muon to Electron Conversion Experiment
A part of the Rare Symmetry Violating Processes initiative in the National Science Foundation Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction program, the Muon to Electron Conversion Experiment (MECO) "is an experiment to test conservation of muon and electron number by searching for muons converting to electrons in the field of a nucleus." This website, created by the University of California at Irvine, furnishes a technical library, the management documents, project proposal, magnetic inf
Coral Reef Information System: Discover NOAA's Data
Part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS), this Web site is "designed to be a single point of access to NOAA coral reef information and data products, especially those derived from NOAA's Coral Reef Initiative Program." With Discover NOAA's Data, users can access information by a text search of metadata records, or by a spatial search using an Arc IMS application. The two approaches share many of the same data sets. With the text search,
The CBD for Botanists
One of the two conventions signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) seeks to "conserve biological diversity, use biological resources sustainably -- to ensure that we do not use up our resources faster than they can recover, and share the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources fairly and equitably." This site, a link off of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew main site, provides the complete CBD for Botanists. Offered in several pd
Panda Central
Panda Central, "the exclusive Web home of Shi Shi, Bai Yun, and youngster Hua Mei," is provided by the San Diego Zoo. Visitors may view real time footage of pandas at the zoo with Panda Cam, have their questions answered at the Panda Facts page, or read up on each panda with Panda Profiles. And of course, no one should miss the features devoted to panda Hua Mei, who seems to have spent nearly every minute of her life in front of a camera since her birth at the San Diego Zoo in 1999. Visitors can
NPR: Titanic Baby
This Web site contains an audio file of a story broadcast on National Public Radio earlier this month. The broadcast relates the poignant story of a four-year effort to identify the exhumed body of a 13-month-old child who died in the Titanic disaster. A metal medallion buried with the body serendipitously preserved a bit of the wrist bone, from which forensic scientists could extract mitochondrial DNA and eventually find the child's living relatives.
Net-Weather
Net-Weather presents a host of meteorological information for the UK at this website. Users can find out seasonal, monthly, 10-day, and additional relevant weather forecasts. The Charts and Data link offers live satellite images, links to numerous forecast models, and data on sea temperatures and anomalies. For people who like winter and snow, the website offers interesting stories about famous British winters as well as snow reports. The Net-Weather Forum is a great place to discuss any weather
Daily Lesson Plan: Brain Brands
Why do those holiday cookies and candies -- placed conveniently at child height at the cash register -- get you drooling and entice you to fill your cart with unintended purchases? It might be neuromarketing at work. In this thought-provoking activity, created by Georgia Scurletis and Briget Anderson and offered through the _New York Times_ LearningNetwork, students (grades 6 - 12) are challenged to think about how branding and marketing may influence their taste more than their taste buds thems
