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
Urban Habitats
_Urban Habitats_, published by the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), is "a peer-reviewed, fully indexed scientific journal written and edited for a wide audience of researchers, restoration ecologists, park and preserve managers, government officials, and naturalists." The premier issue of this e-journal (focused on urban flora worldwide) is available online, and researchers are encouraged to submit articles and multimedia resources for future issues (detailed submission guidelines pr
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
Dams
National Geographic's Dams Web site offers an interactive investigation into the good and bad impacts of dam construction. Visitors choose to view a river system before, during, or after a dam is built. Then at each time interval they can click on various sections of the river and read a short description of what is happening there. For example, after the dam is built, the reservoir that is created upstream causes several hydrological problems such as loss of water from evaporation. Although the
IPv6: The Next Generation Internet!
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is a new standard that will gradually replace the aging IPv4. Spurred by problems with the previous version, its development has the advantage of assigning each device connected to the Internet with its own unique address, as well as several other features. This site is an information page with plenty of resources and links for people to learn about the new protocol and how the transition between IPv4 and IPv6 will occur. A list of applications already using IP
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
The TOPEX/ Poseidon Kids Page
In an effort to disseminate information from the TOPEX/ Poseidon satellite project, the Center for Space Research and the Texas Space Grant Consortium have developed the TOPEX/ Poseidon Kids Page. This online activity for younger students explains through simple descriptions and fun illustrations how the satellite measures the height of the ocean. Additional pages include an online quiz, a downloadable coloring book, an Ask a Scientist section, and other relevant facts and information.
British Society of Scientific Glassblowers
In this website, the British Society of Scientific Glassblowers (BSSG) describes its work to organize meetings, present papers, and encourage the enhancement of knowledge about glass and the related equipment. Visitors can read council reports, learn the rules of the society, and find out how to become certified in the science of glassblowing. The site features past and future symposiums held at one of the Society Sections, which includes various places in the United Kingdom as well as overseas.
The AgNIC Dairy Information Center
The AgNIC (Agriculture Network Information Center) Dairy Information Center -- "a guide to quality information on the Internet" -- is a new open-access Web portal from the University of Wisconsin's Steenbock Library. The site is intended for "researchers in the field of dairy science, for farmers and others who raise dairy cattle, and for students of all ages interested in dairy." Users may easily browse the guide by navigating the website's nested categories, or simply search the entire site by
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
America's Backyard: Exploring Your Public Lands
America's Backyard: Exploring Your Public Lands is the featured topic of National Geographic's Geography Action! -- an "annual conservation and awareness program designed to educate and excite people about our natural, cultural, and historic treasures." This Web site offers a number of public land-related educational activities, many of the which apply directly to the life sciences. Activities are available for grades K-12, and cover such topics as the role of forests in our daily lives, conserv
The NASA Sci Files
The NASA Sci Files website "is designed to enhance and enrich the teaching of mathematics, science, geography, and technology in grades three through five." Educators can find the television broadcast schedule, past episodes for free, and innumerable in-class and at-home activities. Students can solve NASA problems, find animations and videos, discover experiments they can do at home, and much more. Parents can find out why and how they can become involved in exciting their children about scienc
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
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
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards
ExploraVision is a competition sponsored by Toshiba, Inc. and the National Science Teachers' Association (NSTA). The competition, which is open to all students in grades K-12 attending a school in the U.S., Canada, U.S. territory or a Department of Defense school, provides students a chance to "develop skills that will prepare them well for the 21st century workplace." Through ExploraVision, students work in teams to select a technology, research how it works and why it was invented, and then gi
Welcome to the Web
Welcome to the Web is a great place to learn the basics of using the Internet and the World Wide Web. It is tailored to children, but if inexperienced adults can get past the cartoon drawings, anyone can benefit from the site. The first section provides an overview of the Internet and some terminology. Next is a section on guestbooks, followed by an overview of Web browsers. "Searching the Net" and research techniques comprise the last two sections. Each category consists of several interactive
Conservation International: Biodiversity Hotspots
The nonprofit organization Conservation International (CI) aims to "conserve Earth's living natural heritage, our global diversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature." This Web site from CI's Center for Applied Biodiversity Science explains how biodiversity hotspots are designated and offers visitors a look at efforts to protect "these biologically rich areas around the world under significant threat of destruction." The highlight of this site is t
Chocolate Exhibition
Chicagos Field Museum invites educators to use the enticing subject of chocolate to teach your class about the intriguing relationship between nature and culture. Click on Educators Resources to access 12 downloadable lesson plans, 6 of which focus specifically on the relationship between chocolate and the environment. Not only do these lesson plans offer students a fun way to learn about botany, ecology, and agriculture, they also demonstrate how an everyday item we all take for granted is more
Flu in the United States
Visitors to this Web site provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Infectious Diseases will find detailed, authoritative answers to any questions they may have about the flu. In addition to explanations of flu transmission, treatment, vaccination, etc., this Web site offers updated surveillance reports on the status of influenza in the US. The Questions and Answers page is a good source for quick, easy-to-absorb information, and it clears up many misconcep
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
The mission of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center at Georgia Tech is "to promote universal access to mobile wireless technologies and explore their innovative applications in addressing the needs of people with disabilities." Anticipating that wireless devices are likely to become an integral part of daily life, with applications ranging from conducting financial transactions to setting a home thermostat, these researchers are working to ensure that people with disabilities are able
