Electric Vehicle History Online Archive
This website is self-proclaimed as the "first online archive created to encourage electric vehicle enthusiasts to help preserve the recent history of electric vehicles." A wide variety of information is presented, ranging from performance data and historical policy documents to retrospective articles and amusing forecasts of electric vehicle technology from decades past. The operators of the archive encourage electric vehicle drivers and enthusiasts to contribute anything they might have to the
Roman Numerals
This website provides an overview of the Principles of Roman numerals as well as a history of Roman numerals, which dates back to 1st millennium BC when they were used by Romans to record numbers in stone, art and coins. Some pictures in the gallery highlight the ways in which Roman Numerals are used today, such as on watch and clock faces. The authors point out that Roman numerals have a classic style and are less functional than the Arabic (decimal) numbers ( 0 to 9 ) which were introduced int
Boeing: International Space Station
Boeing, the prime contractor for the International Space Station (ISS), has developed this website to provide information on the technology of the program. The ISS will be more than four times as large as the Russian Mir when completed, and is "the largest, most complex international scientific project in history and our largest adventure into space to date." Boeing is responsible for the design, development, construction and integration of the ISS and assisting NASA in operating the orbital out
The Brighton University Resource Kit for Students
The Brighton University Resource Kit for Students (BURKS) is an archive with "compilers, tutorials and reference manuals for dozens of different programming languages, a dictionary of computing with over 13,000 entries...a vast amount of useful software, information about the Internet itself, and much more." BURKS is primarily intended for individuals who do not have access to an Internet connection, which is why the collection mostly consists of resources from external websites. The collection
Graph Theory
Graph theory is widely used in computer science, engineering and of course, mathematics. Wikipedia offers this definition and overview of Graph Theory (1). This next website from Mega-Math (2) reviews some of the Vocabulary of Graphs and highlights some applications for graph theory, such as the design of computer systems and games. Some additional applications for Graph Theory are discussed in this more technical book called Graph Theory with Applications (3). This website from Georgia Tech (4)
Dan's Wild Wild Weather Page
Created by a meteorologist, this weather site is for students from 6 to 16 years old and their parents. Information and experiments are provided about radar, tornadoes, clouds, precipitation, lightning, humidity, satellites, temperature, forecasting, hurricanes, wind, and climate. While in the tornado section, students can click on any state on the map to get a hourly weather report, state forecast, zone forecast, short term forecast, forecast discussion, weather summary, public information, cli
American Bird Conservancy
The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a nonprofit organization working to "conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas." The ABC website provides informative and useful features such as the Bird Conservation Directory, a searchable directory of contact information for professionals engaged in bird conservation throughout the Americas, and the downloadable Birdwatcher's Guide to Global Warming (last mentioned in the June 28, 2002 NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences). The s
Physicians for Social Responsibility: MercuryActionNOW
MercuryActionNOW is an "online resource created by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) to provide health care professionals and concerned citizens with information about the effects of mercury emissions on public health." The website is full of links to reports, fact sheets, letters, and other websites regarding mercury-related pollution and health issues. Examples include a downloadable Salmon Contaminant Factsheet; the Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury website; the CDC's Second
Stanford University Medical Center: Ovarian Kaleidoscope Database
The Ovarian Kaleidoscope Database (OKDB) was developed by the Hsueh Lab in the Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics at Stanford University Medical Center. The OKDB "provides information regarding the biological function, expression pattern and regulation of genes expressed in the ovary. It also contains information on gene sequences, chromosomal localization, human and murine mutation phenotypes and biomedical publication links." Database users can conduct a Gene Search, or browse an extensive
Wayne's Word: Lemnaceae
This instructional website on Lemnaceae--aka the Duckweed family--was created by Professor Wayne P. Armstrong of Palomar College. The informative site contains concise text sections accompanied by excellent images and diagrams of duckweeds. Site visitors will also find A Key to the Genera of Lemnaceae, a Worldwide Lemnaceae Species List, and descriptions of Species of Lemnaceae In Western North America. This site is housed within Armstrong's larger website, Wayne's Word: An Online Natural Histor
Plants in Motion
Roger P. Hangarter of Indiana University's Department of Biology has created this wonderful collection of time-lapse photography that allows us "to see the movements of plants and clearly demonstrates that plants are living and capable of some extraordinary things. " The videos available show a broad range of plant growth phenomena, including germination, circadian responses, phototropism, and much more. The movies are fun to watch in and of themselves, but don't miss out on the informative desc
MultiMedia Schools
"MultiMedia Schools (MMS) is a practical how-to magazine sharply focused on the needs of school practitioners." It is published six times a year, and roughly half of its articles are made available for free online. In the last issue of 2002, the editorial offers suggestions for how school media specialists can take advantage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Other articles discuss a proposed technology-integrated teaching system, tools and techniques to continuously improve and adapt to c
Data Products at COAPS
Florida State University's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) (last mentioned in the February 28, 2001 Scout Report for Science & Engineering) provides a wealth of information on its Data Products at COAPS Web site. Visitors have access to scatterometry, ocean surface meteorology fluxes, and ocean psuedostress products, among others. The site also contains relevant publications and research information for those interested.
Grant Prideco: Engineering Toolkit
The Engineering Toolkit is a diverse assortment of utilities and interactive tools developed by a drilling manufacturing company. Possibly the most useful item in the toolkit is the Equation Bank, which contains nearly 100 equation solvers. Most are related to civil engineering and calculate effects due to pressure, parameters for pipe threading, and more. Another resource is the unit converter, a powerful tool with both metric and English units and over 20 dimensions from which to choose. A lar
Bridge Building: Art and Science
This site is one of the most substantial, comprehensive sources on the Internet dedicated to bridge design and history. It has an incredible list of sections from which to choose, and each describes a particular bridge type or characteristic. Several pictures are included from all over the world that give examples of arch, truss, suspension, and many other bridge designs. There are also explanations of forces that act upon bridges, as well as what issues are considered when choosing the kind of
Fossil Hominids: The Evidence for Human Evolution
This Web site from Talk.Origins, a "Usenet newsgroup devoted to the discussion and debate of biological and physical origins," aims to "provide an overview of the study of human evolution, and of the currently accepted fossil evidence." Recognized for excellence by a number of science and education organizations, this site has been updated to include new material concerning Homo habilus and two newly discovered fossil hominid skulls. As before, the site also offers an overview of the latest deve
Mars Exploration Rover Mission
Scheduled for launch in 2003, two NASA rovers will set out to explore Mars and determine whether water ever existed on the planet. This is the home page of the Mars rovers, and it has a great deal of information about the specifications and technology of the missions. Detailed descriptions of the scientific instruments equipped on each rover are provided. Color diagrams show the main components of the rovers. A special section is dedicated to the camera systems, which are used for hazard avoidan
Top 20 Activities in Chemistry
At this website, Quia furnishes 20 interactive activities to educate students about chemistry. Students can play matching, word, and concentration games to learn the names and formulas of binary ionic compounds, element symbols, common names of chemicals, and other basic chemistry concepts. The website also offers a quiz about chemical bonds, a chemistry Jeopardy game, a Battleship game about balancing equations, and much more. While users can subscribe to customize the activities, the free acti
American Heart Association: Children's Health
This website was developed by the American Heart Association to promote healthy hearts in children. The site provides a solid collection of downloadable games and songs for kids to learn about hearts (worksheets are available for pre-kindergarten-through eighth-grade students). For parents, the website offers basic information about a number of heart conditions that affect children such as congenital heart defects, heart failure, Kawasaki disease, and DiGeorge syndrome. The American Heart Associ
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
