Earth Science Week
The American Geological Institute organizes Earth Science Week (ESW) each year in October "to help the public gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Earth Sciences and to encourage stewardship of the Earth." The website offers highlights, evaluations, and news clippings of past ESW events. During the months leading up to ESW, users can search for Earth Science events taking place in their area. Teachers can find numerous classroom activities for grades K-12 based in the National Sc
Partnerships to Advance Learning in Science: Java Simulations
Provided by Iowa State University, the Partnerships to Advance Learning in Science: Java Simulations Web site contains several interactive science simulations. Visitors can explore advection, the energy budget, adiabatic processes, and radiation. For example, the mountain simulation teaches about adiabatic processes by allowing users to adjust various parameters such as temperature, dew point, mountain slope, and cloud base altitude. The simulation then blows a leaf over the mountain and moves i
Consensus CoDing Sequence Database
The Consensus CoDing Sequence (CCDS) Database "project is a collaborative effort to identify a core set of human protein-coding regions that are consistently annotated and of high quality. The long-term goal is to support convergence toward a standard set of gene annotations on the human genome." CCDS project collaborators include the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI), European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), and University of California, Santa Cruz
Flesh and Bone: A New Generation of Scientists Bring Dinosaurs Back to Life
The online version of the March 2003 issue of National Geographic Magazine (NGM) includes this interesting multimedia feature about "a new generation of scientists [that] is using computer modeling and a better understanding of living animals to bring dinosaurs back to life -- virtually." In addition to the feature article, the Web site includes an online-exclusive image gallery, "On Assignment" notes from National Geographic writers and photographers, related Web links and other resources, and
Bush Cites Need to Develop Affordable Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cells
In his State of the Union Address on January 28, 2003, President Bush made a case for further fuel cell development. Current efforts in this area have not determined how to efficiently produce or extract hydrogen for the cells. In hopes of solving this problem, Bush proposed a $1.2 billion FreedomFUEL initiative. The first site discusses the initiative and its potential to create a nearly pollution-free method of electricity generation.
Study Points to Acid Rain in Decline of Songbirds
New research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology points to acid rain as a major cause of songbird decline, where previous research focused on forest fragmentation. This Web site is a brief article highlighting the research findings from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published on the Natural Resources Defense Council's Web page.
Mathematics Animated
Professor Talman of the Metropolitan State College of Denver offers this site as a reference for both students and teachers of mathematics. It is an assortment of animations that demonstrate many mathematical concepts, which are often difficult to visualize. The only downside of the animations is the lack of explanation associated with them. Some have short descriptions, others are somewhat self explanatory, but the rest can initially be quite confusing.
Honey Bee Brain EST Project
Honey bee RNA data from a recent study at the W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been integrated with gene research on other organisms to create this database. The project is intended to provide updated information on honey bee genes, supplemented with information from other organisms to "suggest cellular roles, biological functions, and evolutionary relationships." Users can search for information by BLAST sequence, key
The Fields Institute: Lecture Audio and Slides
The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences aims to "enhance mathematical activity in Canada by bringing together mathematicians from Canada and abroad, and by promoting contact and collaboration between professional mathematicians and the increasing numbers of users of mathematics." They support research in pure and applied mathematics, statistics and computer science, as well as collaborative projects between mathematicians and those applying mathematics in areas such as enginee
What is Design?
Children between the ages of nine and twelve will be drawn into this site that explores the world of design. It encourages "kids to develop critical viewing, technical mastery, artistic awareness, and practical, just, solutions." Many interactive games and activities are available, allowing users to create their own designs and share them with others. For example, children can design their own watch with a simple step-by-step process, and many watches are featured in a gallery. A wealth of infor
Planetary Fact Sheets
Offered by the National Space Science Data Center of NASA, the Planetary Fact Sheets Web site contains helpful information for students studying astronomy. The site lists links to all of the planets, their satellites, and their rings, as well as to tables comparing all the planets. The planet pages contain a photograph and a simple list of dozens of facts such as mass, volume, distance to the earth, temperature, and much more. Although not flashy, the information provided by this site can be ver
Learning math : Measurement
This college level course, developed for elementary and middle school teachers, begins with the fundamentals of measurement, then examines standard units in the metric and customary systems. Online workshop sessions cover measurement of a circle, area and volume formulas, angle measurement, and indirect measurement encountered in trigonometry. The final session explores ways to apply these concepts to K-8 classroom teaching. Each of its ten sessions contains video programming, problem-solving ac
Observe images of different climate zones
This Earth science resource shows students the location of 10 different climate zones on a world map. Red dots mark the location of deserts, highlands, and ice caps, as well as tundra, tropical wet and dry zones, and subtropical areas. Students are instructed to click on each red dot to see a photograph from that region. Each photograph includes a caption that describes its location. Copyright 2005 Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
Science Sampler : Capitalizing on student travel in Earth science classrooms
Students who take extended vacations during the school year can present a recurring challenge for educators. However, this article outlines creative strategies that will enrich students as they travel abroad, and engage them in the process of inquiry along the way.
Soil as Living Skin
In this two-minute radio program, a soil scientist introduces listeners to reasons why soil is crucial to the planet. The scientist lists functions of soil that include nutrient cycling and water filtration, and he also uses living skin as an analogy for soil. The program, part of the Pulse of the Planet radio show, is available here in text and audio formats. Copyright 2005 Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
Biodegradation
This single-page resource addresses the topic of biodegradation. The word biodegradation is broken down and defined. Composting, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation are discussed as undertakings in which humans capitalize on biodegradation processes. A link is provided to information about Decay and Renewal, a book in the Cornell Environmental Inquiry curriculum series. The resource then ends with two groups of links to information and activities about biodegradation and landfills.
Compare and contrast warm and cold fronts
This pair of Earth science animations show students what happens at cold and warm fronts as clouds are formed by the interaction of warm air and cool air. The cool front animation depicts cumulonimbus clouds forming as a cold front moves into a region of warm air and forces the warm air to rise. In contrast, the warm front animation shows how warm air, moving over cold air, causes a progression of nimbostratus to cirrus clouds to form. Movie controls allow students to repeat, pause, or step thro
Polyhedra Collection
Galleries of polyhedra shown using JPEG pictures and 3D objects in VRML2.0 format. Uniform polyhedra; Duals; Compounds; Johnson's solids; 59 stellations of icosahedron; 270 stellations of deformed dodecahedron; symmetric stellations of rhombic triacontahedron: polyhedra and stellation diagrams; Spherical Platonic polyihedra; Infinite regular polyhedra ; Compounds Composer (an interactive building of polyhedra compounds); Polyhedral Kaleidoscope; Symmetrical compounds of uniform polyhedra; Stella
Your sense of smell
This single-page resource about the sense of smell presents a handful of facts about smell together with scientific illustrations. For example, the resource points out how many odors humans can detect and what scientists still do not know about smell. It also compares our sense of smell to that of rodents. The scientific illustrations are a set of connected, labeled diagrams of the key structures and pathways involved in sensing smell, including the olfactory membrane and olfactory receptors. Th
Mathematics Museum
Like any museum, this website called the Mathematics Museum provides some interesting visuals and explanations of various aspects of its subject, in this case mathematics. For example, the Fractal 3D Gallery includes video footage of 3D fractals and an FAQ section that provides some basic information on fractals. The Kodawari house includes some interesting math games and instruction for children as well as more advanced mathematics. Visitors can browse images created using Mathematica software
