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
NOAA Weather Education
NOAA offers links to a variety of educational materials on meteorology, hydrology, climatology, and other weather-related fields for children, teens, and young adults at this website. Students can find websites where they can learn about hurricanes, storms, tornadoes, and floods through interactive games. Teachers can find lightning safety presentations, satellite images, lightning photos, and glossaries. The website offers materials on weather related careers, degree programs, distance learning
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
Tropical Prediction Center
The Tropical Prediction Center Web site is maintained by the National Weather Service of NOAA. Visitors will find current information on tropical storms and hurricanes, including public advisories. Also available are hurricane facts, historical data, tracking charts, satellite imagery, season summaries, and a wealth of other interesting and important information.
The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight
Visitors can learn astonishing facts in historical astronomy, astrobiology, astrophysics, space missions, and many more space science topics at this comprehensive website. David Darling, a British astronomer and science writer, provides straightforward explanations of seemingly difficult concepts. In addition to an easily navigable alphabetical list and a keyword search, the encyclopedia is interlinked so that users can easily progress through the materials. The website also features the latest
EnvironmentalChemistry.com
Produced by Kenneth Barbalace with help from Roberta and Julia Barbalace, the EnvironmentalChemistry.com website supplies innumerable environmental, chemistry, and hazardous materials information and resources. Under the Environmental Issues header, students can learn about the chemical and physical properties of asbestos, the Chernobyl disaster, and the proper way to handle household chemicals. One of the newest additions to the website is the Emergency Response Guidebook, which is used during
GIS for Everyone
The GIS and mapping software company ESRI's Web site (last mentioned in the May 19, 1998 Scout Report for Social Sciences) contains a set of educational pages called GIS for Everyone. Here, visitors can learn the basics of GIS technology and how it's used, download software tools and data for free, and more. One highlight is found on the GIS in Your Everyday Life link, which offers an interesting Flash movie that explains how geography matters to us all.
Biomedical Simulations Resource
The Biomedical Simulations Resource (BMSR) is operated by the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. The BMSR has four main research areas that focus on developing modeling and simulation techniques "for the advancement of scientific knowledge and improvement of clinical practice." Detailed descriptions and papers of each of the four core projects are given on the site. Additionally, the Publications section has research volumes available for download. The
Backyard Weather Stations
Learn how to build your own backyard weather station with complete directions provided by FamilyEducation.com's Web site, Backyard Weather Stations. The site shows exactly what you'll need and how to build the necessary components (e.g., rain gauge and barometer), as well as how to keep records of the data collected. Parents and teachers will enjoy watching the kids "learn the basics of scientific observation and record-keeping while satisfying their natural curiosity about weather."
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
Quick take on exploring careers in mathematics
Even though the potential connection between today s math classroom and the jobs of the future is frequently cited in speeches, reports, and news headlines, busy middle school students may not be paying attention. Here are five online resources that can help you make the connection more relevant, and a lot more engaging, to preteens. In some cases, the connection appears in the words of young people who recognize that math and science were the keys to jobs they love.
Idea Bank : A Big Bang Lab
The authors of "How Far are the Stars," featured in the February issue of The Science Teacher, showed how the measurement of parallax permits scientists to infer astronomic distances. Give your students the chance to make similar inferences through a free module available online that allows students to scale sizes and distances, and then create models from which they calculate inferences that, in simplified form, give results that astronomers obtained similarly in recent times.
Maximize area
Maximize the area of a rectangle with a given perimeter. Vary the perimeter, base, and height of the rectangle and examine changes to the graph of the area.
The secret life of the brain
This web site was developed to accompany the PBS television series The Secret Life of the Brain, which explores how the human brain develops and changes from infancy through late adulthood. Among the site's features are a timeline of human knowledge of the brain, an interactive three-dimensional brain model, and illustrated descriptions of various brain scanning techniques. There are also sections devoted to each episode of the TV series that provide an overview of the episode, brief video clips
Similarity
In this workshop session, elementary and middle school teachers explore scale drawing, similar triangles, and trigonometry in terms of ratios and proportion. Besides explanations and real-world problems, the unit includes video segments that show teachers investigating problems of similarity. To understand the ratios that underlie trigonometry, participants use an interactive activity provided online. This is session 8 of Learning Math: Geometry, a free online course.
Mortality rate of captive-bred and released carnivores is 70%
This January 25, 2008 entry in the NSDL Expert Voices blog Connecting News with National Science Education Standards deals with survival rates of captive-bred carnivore released into the wild. It points to modifications breeders should make to decrease mortality rates. Additional links to teaching resources related to populations, ecosystems, and diversity are provided
Frequently Asked Questions: Questions About Paleontology
This site asks and answers questions about paleontology, fossils and dinosaurs. Paleontology questions are: What is paleontology? How does paleontology differ from anthropology and archaeology? What are the practical uses of paleontology? How do paleontologists know how old their fossils are? What training is necessary to become a paleontologist? What organizations exist for paleontologists?
El Nino Returns
This web page is an online companion to CNN's special coverage on El Nino for the 1997-98 season. El Nino is a strange but powerful weather phenomenon; tracker and background reports provide the user with the science behind El Nino, its history and impact. Topics covered include: forecast; ground zero (Peru); strange brew (weather); prediction meter; the wet coast (California); and the trackers. Links to other web sites are provided, and users may access more up-to-date El Nino stories by clicki
History and Philosophy of Western Astronomy
These web pages give a brief history of the imporatant figures associated with shaping Astronomical thought into what it is today. It covers the work and discoveries of the ancient Greeks, Ptomely, Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and others. This is a part of Astronomy notes, an educational resource for introductory undergraduate astronomy classes.
Extreme Animals
This online news article discusses the ability of tardigrades to withstand harsh conditions. The article covers the history, biology and significance of tardigrades, as well as the different types of cryptobiosis. It includes detailed images of the organisms and links to related web pages.
