Koko's World
Koko's World is provided by the Gorilla Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to "bring interspecies communication to the public, in order to save gorillas from extinction, and inspire our children to create a better future for all the great apes." KokoTV, part of the Koko's World Web site, offers video clips of Koko (the famous signing gorilla) communicating with friends. A recently added clip contains footage of Koko purring, an expression of contentment. In watching this and the eight
A Calculus Review
A professor of mathematics at San Jose State University created this online review of calculus concepts. It is divided into three main categories: integration, derivatives, and limits. Each section begins with some review material, explaining the necessary rules and equations. After reading the review, users can then take an interactive quiz over what they just learned. There is one quiz on limits and two on derivatives. The integration section is a bit more in depth, with focuses on two differe
Atrevida: Game Programming Tutorials
Although it is labeled as an introduction to PC game programming, the tutorials given on Atrevida additionally cover many aspects of mathematics and general computer science. A modest background in the C language is suggested, but many of the sections involve more theory than actual programming. There are nearly twenty topics that explain basic computer operation, graphics programming, and the 80x86 assembler. A very interesting section describes sound waves and compression techniques, while ano
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences presents its work in three main topics: environmental geochemistry and hydrology, geochemistry of the Earth's interior, and solid-earth geophysics. For each topic, the website offers summaries of the faculty's successes and current projects as well as links to the latest research news stories. Visitors can discover the equipment and technology available at the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center and the Materials Re
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
A Butterfly's Life
Teachers in the market for lesson plans about butterflies can find hundreds of pages of Web-based material, but those looking for something simple and straightforward might be interested in this Web site, a joint project of Lotus School, Hult Museum, and the Wildlife Prairie Park in Illinois. Well-organized pages of text and images offer descriptions of butterfly migration, life cycle, habitat, food web, body parts, and gender. The site also provides research questions and steps that "outline a
10Ticks.co.uk
10Ticks is a montage of free mathematics lessons, worksheets, and games based on the UK's National Numeracy Strategy. One of the most popular attractions of the Web site is Pac Math, a fun game that allows children to practice basic arithmetic. Over 200 worksheets discuss topics in algebra, geometrical shapes and spaces, statistics, and more. Several more features are available after registration. For example, teachers can access free sample learning packs with suggested exercises to present in
The Graphite Page
John A. Jaszczak at Michigan Technological University presents the characteristics of graphite at this website. Students can find concise descriptions and helpful images about graphite properties, spirals, and structures. The website offers images and descriptions of graphite found all over the world. Using Macromedia Flash Player, students can observe graphite levitating due to its diamagnetic susceptibility. The website also offers an interactive applet presenting the atom positions for nano-t
Gflow 2000
Gflow 2000, which was developed by Haitjema Software, is described as a highly efficient stepwise groundwater flow modeling system. It is based on the analytic element method and models steady state flow in a single heterogeneous aquifer using the Dupuit-Forchheimer assumption, and is particularly suitable for modeling regional horizontal flow. The free educational version of the software is available for download from the site, as well as descriptions of the analytic method, stepwise modeling,
Wired: New Browsers, Same Unwanted Ads
This article from Wired News reports on current trends in spyware and adware. The author discusses how people who stopped using Internet Explorer and started using alternate browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, to avoid advertisements and improve internet security, may find that "spyware and adware writers are also making the switch." The author argues that as Mozilla gains more users, writers of spyware and adware programs will start writing for those browsers as well. On the positive side, the a
Design a Parachute
After a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works, students will create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students will test their designs, which will be followed by a class discussion (and possible journal writing) to highlight which paper material worked best.
The TeraGrid: A Primer
A project of the National Science Foundation, the TeraGrid is "a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's largest, fastest, distributed infrastructure for open scientific research." This paper, published in September 2002, describes the activities and ongoing projects that will ultimately lead to the project's completion. TeraGrid, as the name implies, is based on principles of grid computing. It will eventually consist of a massive network of computers spread out over several sites tha
The United States National Arboretum: Invasive Plants
The US National Arboretum offers this straightforward guide to invasive plants that gardeners and property owners in general should watch for. The Web site begins with an explanation of what the term "invasive" really means, followed by photos and descriptions of species to avoid planting altogether (such as purple loosestrife), and those that are less problematic if managed wisely (like English ivy). The site also describes the origin and current distribution of some of the most commonly encoun
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
University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Department of Statistics
The Department of Statistics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has an impressive Web site with a lot of good research information. The Research section of the site is divided into five different group areas, consisting of applied statistics, applied probability, medical statistics, Bayesian statistics, and bioinformatics. Each of these has a statement of the work performed and a list of recent publications. The Postgraduate Study section discusses a number of research projects currently u
Nutrition Cafe
Developed jointly by the Pacific Science Center and the Washington State Dairy Council, Nutrition Cafe 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 answe
Observe one place at many scales
Developed for high school students, this Earth science resource utilizes a set of six enlargeable images to illustrate the meaning of map scale. Introductory text explains that because of the incremental changes in scale, the details in each image appear ten times larger than in the prior image. The first image in the set was taken at a scale that shows the globe, and the final image shows a city block in Atlanta, Georgia. There is an animation below the images that begins with the global view a
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
Function machine (grades 6-8)
Applying a machine metaphor for functions, this virtual manipulative allows the learner to examine the relationship between input (domain) and output (range). The learner inputs numbers from one to four and the virtual machine generates output information in a table. The learner is challenged to find the output for values five through seven and enter them in the table. Errors are noted automatically. Using a new function button, different types of functions are randomly offered for investigation
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
