Alaska Fisheries Science Center: Understanding Fish Bycatch Discard and Escapee Mortality
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's (AFSC) latest Quarterly Research Report features research on fish bycatch discard and escapee mortality conducted by the AFSC. Readers will find a summary article for the report on the main Web page. The entire 9-page report details "systematic bycatch research conducted over the past 10 years in the laboratory of the AFSC's Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Group," and may be downloaded as a PDF document. The Web site also contains links to detailed reports from
Classroom Antarctica
As part of the Australian Antarctic Division, Classroom Antarctica gives dozens of downloadable Adobe Acrobat files that allow students to discover this unique continent. Subjects include the history of the scientific research undertaken on Antarctica, surviving its climate, its biological ecosystem, the lands physical characteristics and affects on climate, and much more.
Maps That Teach: US and World Geography
Created by Owl and Mouse Educational Software, this resource uses interactive maps to teach geography. The site provides both Map Puzzles and Interactive Maps. Map Puzzles are downloadable and must be run on Windows. They challenge users to piece together the States of the United States or the countries of the world's continents, depending on the puzzle used. Interactive Maps allow users to move their cursor over a basic regional map. As the cursor hits each country, its name appears. The page a
JGOFS: Joint Global Ocean Flux Study
The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) examines the carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean in order to understand the processes influencing the fluxes of carbon and associated biogenic elements and the exchanges among the atmosphere, sea floor and continental boundaries. The website discusses JGOFS's aim to achieve the ability to predict human impacts on climate change on a global scale. Visitors can find numerous datasets associated with JGOFS's core parameters and cruises for
Two on Powered Flight (DUPLICATE)
Although the centennial anniversary of the Wright Brothers' groundbreaking achievement has come and gone, these two sites provide a unique glimpse into past events and future prospects. First, the companion website to a December 16, 2003 NOVA episode offers a retrospective on the Wright Brothers' Flying Machine. Several interactive features and picture galleries are provided. Additionally, the site includes a description of the first media coverage of the historic flight and an interview with th
Beat the Heat at Arizona Science Center
TryScience.com offers an unique energy learning activity called Beat the Heat. This fun and interactive lesson lets users design a house in a particular location and test it in various seasons to best utilize the heat of the sun for energy efficiency. You can choose various types of roofs, windows, solar panels, skylights, and plants, as well as the direction your house faces, to see how each of these variables effects your home's efficiency. This in-depth and intriguing exercise teaches some ve
NASA Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design and Manufacturing
NASA Tech Briefs is a monthly magazine that summarizes technologies developed through NASA research and their commercial applications. Free of charge, the magazine's Web site has much of the information that is published in print, while also offering an easy-to-navigate interface. The Tech Brief Library is an archive that dates back four years in twelve different categories, ranging from mechanics to software. The Technical Support Packages have even more detailed information in downloadable Ado
Standards and Interoperability
The Standards and Interoperability Web site is provided by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) to "provide a reliable network of standards-related information for use by NIMA, its contractors, and the Imagery and Geospatial Community as a whole." The main page contains links to pages that contain data architecture information from the National System for Geospatial Intelligence, geospatial and imagery standards from the oversees geospatial and imagery community, national imagery trans
Concepts and Applications of Inferential Statistics
A professor of psychology at Vassar College is the author of this impressive online statistics textbook. Seventeen chapters and numerous appendixes range in topic from beginning concepts to what would likely be covered in a second or intermediate course in statistics. Easy to navigate, the online interface provides quick access to all sections of the book, and some of the book's material is interactive, such as calculators and sampling distribution functions. A companion site to the text, offere
Molecular Monte Carlo Home Page
The Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Chemistry of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art maintain the Molecular Monte Carlo Home Page. For those unaware, Monte Carlo refers to the use of "random walks" (stochastic methods) to simulate and analyze molecular systems. The main page contains descriptions of the various types of Molecular Monte Carlo such as classical, quantum, and volumetric; links to Monte Carlo tutorials including simulation basics and stochast
National Geographic: Forces of Nature
This National Geographic offers entertaining Macromedia Flash Player enhanced tutorials about natural disasters. Students can make their own earthquake, discover why a volcano erupts, build a tropical cyclone, find out the characteristics of a tornado, and more. The website offers facts on historically large events as well as key information about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornados, and hurricanes. The simple glossary helps users understand the scientific terms presented throughout the modules. Ed
Come Grow With Us
This is an online collaborative project from the Lakeland Central School District that allows students to observe the process of a seed becoming a plant, collect data, and communicate results with other participating classrooms. Teachers can register their students to participate in the activity this fall, or simply use the lesson plans independently. The site is well organized, provides information in a simple format, and outlines the educational standards addressed by the project.
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
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
Technology and Religion
This issue of Topic in Depth explores the relationship between technology and religion in today's world. This first website, from PBS, features interviews with "a skeptic, a devout Muslim scientist, and an expert in the sociology of religion" who address the question, Can Religion Withstand Technology? (1). This blog from the Institute for the Future discusses how religion is making use of technology (2). One way that religion and technology interact, of course, is through the use of the Interne
Bionic Eyes
Both Web sites come from Science@NASA, an online source for news and information about NASA-funded research. The first article 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." Earlier this year, researchers at the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center in H
Institute for Mathematics and Applications: Mathematics of Materials and Macromolecules: Multiple Sc
The Institute for Mathematics and Applications (IMA) developed this website to promote its conferences and workshops dealing with the applications of mathematics in the study of materials and molecules. Visitors can find information on a particular event's schedule, participants, and accommodations as well as abstracts. The events dealing with the physical sciences include workshops dealing with atomic motion, macroscopic models, and biophysics as well as a program about environmental and geophy
Alabama A&M University-Howard J. Foster Center for Irradiation of Materials
The Howard J. Foster Center for Irradiation of Materials at Alabama A&M University "was established in response to the growing need for surface modification and characterization capability in North Alabama." Researchers can find images and concise explanations of the numerous material characterization and materials processing activities at the Center. The website allows users to search the Center's publication by keyword. Visitors can find out the latest meetings, conferences, and other events.
EarthÂ’s Timeline
Provided by MSNBC News Web site, the EarthÂ’s Timeline interactive activity chronicles the history of the earth. The main page describes how radiometric dating and fossils have been used to develop the contemporary geologic timescale. Users can click on one of four major geologic time divisions, including the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic, to get specific information on the individual subdivisions of geologic time and to see how the continents have shifted. These sections then t
Seaworld: Water
An educational lesson plan entitled Water is offered by the Seaworld teacher resources Web site. Objectives of the unit include having students identify the three phases of water, discuss the hydrologic cycle, describe the structure of the water molecule and the properties of water, explain ocean currents, and more. The well designed lesson allows students to study various topics by reading provided text and completing the activities described such as measuring salt content in water and estimati
