NASA Goddard Institute: Hansen and Sato 2001 [.pdf]
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/gpol/abstracts/2001/HansenSato.html
The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is under the direction of Dr. James Hansen, conducts basic research in space and earth sciences. A recent publication by Dr. Hansen and Mki. Sato, entitled Trends of Measured Climate Forcing Agents, found (in part) that a "remarkable deceleration in the growth rate of GHG climate forcing occurred in the past 20 years." The report explains why they believe this is the case and how similar actions, if continued, will keep greenhouse gases from increasing. The site includes a downloadable Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file of the report and a link to an online science brief. [JAB]
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ACD/ChemSketch 5.0 Freeware
http://www.acdlabs.com/download/chemsk.html
In August of 2000, Advanced Chemistry Development (ACD) released the free all-purpose chemical drawing and graphics software ChemSketch 5.0; recently, ACD announced its 150,000th download. The software allows users to "click and draw molecules, ions, stereobonds, text, polygons, arrows, and do automatic calculation of Molecular Weight and formula and see estimates of density, refractive index, molar volume, etc." The site offers the download, demo movies, reviews, instructions, requirements, and more. Any professional, educator, or higher level student should definitely check out the site, and see if they could use this free product. [JAB]
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Theoretical Chemistry: a Self-Guided Introduction for College Students [.pdf]
http://simons.hec.utah.edu/TheoryPage/index.html
University of Utah professor of chemistry Jack Simons offers the Theoretical Chemistry: a Self-Guided Introduction for College Students Web Site. Dr. Simons presents a thorough description of the history and present-day importance of theoretical chemistry and even offers his book Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry free online. The site is intended and provides an excellent resource for advanced high school, university students, professionals, and researchers wanting to know more about the various aspects of theoretical chemistry. [JAB]
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T-2 Nuclear Information Service [.ps]
http://t2.lanl.gov/
The T-2 Nuclear Information Service Web Site is presented by Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is operated by the University of California for the US Department of Energy. The site "concentrates on nuclear modeling, nuclear data, cross sections, nuclear masses, ENDF, NJOY data processing, nuclear astrophysics, radioactivity, radiation shielding, data for medical radiotherapy, data for high-energy accelerator applications, data and codes for fission and fusion systems, and more." Visitors can tour the site, browse and view the data, see computer codes for nuclear data, or look at relevant publications (.ps format) about nuclear data and techniques for working with nuclear data. [JAB]
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National Solar Radiation Data Base
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/
The Renewable Resource Data Center (RReDC) is managed by the Department of Energy and "provides information on several types of renewable energy resources in the United States, in the form of publications, data, and maps." The National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB) contains data from 1961-1990 on solar radiation and supplementary meteorological data from 237 sites in the US, as well as Guam and Puerto Rico. Data includes daily statistics files, hourly data files, a solar radiation data manual for buildings and for flat-plate and concentrating collectors, typical meteorological year (tmy) data, and resource maps. The page also has an online user manual to help decipher and best utilize the files. [JAB]
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National Academy of Sciences Awards
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/nas/nashome.nsf/WebLink/Awards?OpenDocument
The 2002 National Academy of Sciences Awards were recently announced, spanning a range of scientific disciplines and recognizing outstanding achievements in science. The page lists the fourteen awards and their recipients, such as Roger K. Ulrich, professor in the physics and astronomy department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Ulrich, who won the Arctowski Medal, was chosen "for recognizing the solar five-minute oscillations as acoustic modes in the solar interior and systematically developing both the theory and the observations to establish today's precise standard model of the solar interior." The page has links to this year's winners, the last seven years' winners, and the 2003 nomination forms. [JAB]
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Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium: Panel Reports
http://bob.nap.edu/books/0309070376/html/
The latest release from the National Academy Press is the free online version of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium: Panel Reports. The book contains contributions from the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Space Studies Board, and National Research Council. Although the online version is a "free, browseable, nonproprietary, fully and deeply searchable version of the publication," a disclaimer suggests that it is not designed to replace printed books. Users can search, browse, or print the document through the easy-to-use Open Book page image presentation framework. [JAB]
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Our Solar System
http://www.sciencemonster.com/planets.html
Sciencemonster.com, from the creators of the larger commercial CoolMath.com Web Site, strives to make learning fun through interesting, interactive and easy-to-use activities. Part of Sciencemonster.com's offerings include the section named Our Solar System. Its main page gives general descriptions and illustrations of our solar system, including a clever way of remembering the order of the planets. Further down the page, each planet is shown and is linked to a page that has additional information, such as its diameter, mass, its composition, and "other cool info." Geared towards grade-schoolers, the site provides a well done and understandable introduction to the potentially overwhelming subject. [JAB]
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All About Atoms
http://education.jlab.org/atomtour/index.html
Jefferson Lab (last mentioned in the February 16, 2000 Scout Report) is a Department of Energy national laboratory that conducts basic research into the atom's nucleus and whose education office and Web Site offers several on-line activities. The All About Atoms site offers a simple and easy to follow lesson on protons, neutrons, and electrons that includes illustrations and descriptions of each as well as a fun facts section. Users click on the animation and follow through the progressive lesson that will give grade-schoolers a good introduction to the subject. This is one portion of an extensive accumulation of other good teacher resources within the Teachers Resources link. [JAB]
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What's Your Latitude/Longitude?
http://www.studyworksonline.com/cda/content/explorations/0,1035,NAV2-5_SEP374,00.html
Presented by the commercial software company MathSoft Engineering & Education, Inc., StudyWorks Online provides excellent online interactive educational lessons. The What's Your Latitude/Longitude link provides descriptions and illustrations on what lines of latitude and longitude are and how to determine what your own latitude is using a protractor. Also on the first page is a link to the Anchors Aweigh: Longitude Mapping Game, which gives a fun way to practice determining latitude and longitude. These pages together provide students a great introduction to the subject of physical geography and cartography through easy-to-follow instructions and interesting exercises. [JAB]
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An Animated Tectonic History of Western North America and Southern California [QuickTime]
http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/%7Eatwater/Animations/Animations-FR.html
Professor Tanya Atwater of the University of California at Santa Barbara offers a great collection of QuickTime movies involving tectonic movement. The Animated Tectonic History of Western North America and Southern California Web Site consists of twelve animations that include the history of the Pacific plate from 80 Ma to the present, tectonic history of California from 20 Ma to the present, Mesozoic subduction of the transverse ranges of southern California, and more. The main page lists each movie, gives a short description and screen shot, and gives a link to the movie preview and download page. The movie preview page plays a small version of the animation and contains a narrative written to accompany it, while the main download page (which can only be accessed after a free registration) contains the larger files and a downloadable .pdf file of the narratives. These well done animations could accompany any relevant lesson plan or provide a unique look to anyone interested in geologic history or the workings of the earth in general. [JAB]
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Dragonfly
http://www.muohio.edu/dragonfly/
The Dragonfly Web Site (last mentioned in the March 27, 1997 Scout Report) has since been updated and is definitely worth another look. This interactive site covers many scientific topics, including water, space, flight, and other life and environmental subjects. Users can use the clickable Dragonfly Pond illustration to explore a topic or scroll down to see each one listed. For example, the water link contains pages that describe related topics, such as water pollution and what happens when you flush. The illustrations and fun narrations should keep the interest of kids for hours while educating them along the way. [JAB]
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Electromagnetic Spectrum
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html
Part of the larger Imagine the Universe educational site, the Electromagnetic Spectrum site is another great resource from NASA. The site gives clear and easy-to-understand explanations, while providing keywords throughout the page that are linked to a dictionary of terms for easy access to further information. Students will enjoy the colorful illustrations accompanying the text, which vertically follow the spectrum from radio to gamma rays, while teachers will appreciate the related lesson plans link that will help reinforce the learning. [JAB]
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A Dictionary of Units
http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm
Students and teachers alike will appreciate the very helpful Dictionary of Units Web Site. As part of the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching, the site "provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard' unit of the Systeme International." The single (long) page contains everything a student would need to figure out a scientific conversion and understand different systems of measurement, as well as other historical and interesting facts about "Metrication." [JAB]
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Education World
http://www.education-world.com/
Founded in 1996, Education World is an online everything education site dedicated to teachers. Besides having a search engine devoted to education sites, the science page contains lesson plans organized by grade level and subject, a "great scientists" page, national and state science standards links, science message boards, and much more. Even though it is a commercial venture, the site offers free access and is full of wonderful resources for dedicated and busy teachers. [JAB]
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www.hawking.org.uk
http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html
Professor Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge University scholar and author of A Brief History of Time, has been called the greatest mind in physics since Albert Einstein. His Web Site (maintained by Graduate Assistant Chris Burgoyne) gives a description of his life, achievements, and his struggle with the physically debilitating disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. The sites lecture links page gives descriptions of and downloadable Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files of past lectures and colloquiums, while the news link page provides information on current events, such as the Professors recent sixtieth birthday. The site is easy to navigate and offers physics novices and experts interesting reading regarding the works and life a person whose name will certainly be remembered along side Einstein and Galileo. [JAB]
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Top 20 Hazardous Substances
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cxcx3.html
A recent release from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, lists the top twenty hazardous substances to the public. Each substance's page answers what it is, what happens when it enters the environment, how the public may be exposed, how it could affect your health, and more. For example, arsenic, which was found to be the most toxic, is mainly used to preserve wood and in pesticides, while potentially causing everything from a sore throat to cancer. The twenty substances are part of a larger list of 275 from the 2001 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Priority List, to which visitors can link and find additional information. [JAB]
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Auroras: Paintings in the Sky [RealAudio, QuickTime]
http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/selfguide1.html
Taking two to four days to reach the earth, the sun's solar winds and magnetic particles strike the magnetosphere like a shockwave, causing the hauntingly beautiful aurora borealis lights. Another great site from exploratorium.edu, Auroras: Paintings in the Sky showcases these northern lights, offering the lay person a good introduction to this mysterious phenomenon. The site has six sections: what aurora's look like, what makes them happen, what their solar connection is, where you can see them, what they look like from space, and why they are different colors. Each link provides non-technical descriptions and incredible photographs, illustrations, and movies of auroras that make the site enjoyable and educational. [JAB]
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President Announces Clear Skies & Global Climate Change Initiatives
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020214-5.html
On February 14, 2002, President George Bush gave a speech at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that addressed the new Clear Skies & Global Climate Change Initiatives. The President outlined what was called "the most aggressive initiative in American history to cut power plant emissions, as well as a bold new strategy for addressing global climate change." The official White House Web Site provides a complete online transcript of the address, as well as links to a fact sheet, the Clear Skies policy book, and Global Climate Change policy book. [JAB]
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Super Conductors
http://www.physicscentral.com/action/action-01-3.html
From the American Physical Society and their Physics Central Web Site comes Super Conductors. For those unaware, superconductivity is what allows Maglev trains to levitate and reach speeds of more than 300 miles per hour. Through basic descriptions and interesting pictures and illustrations, this site explores and gives information on the history, applications, and future potential of superconductors. [JAB]
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The National Park Service Geologic Resources Photo Search
http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/cfprojects/photodb/Photo_search.cfm
More than two hundred photographs of the US's spectacular national parks are compiled in the Geologic Resources Photo Search Web Site. Users can search by park name, state, year, or photo name, and results appear in a page of thumbnail images and titles. Once chosen, the larger photo appears along with a description, photographer's name, and any other relevant information. Although simple, this site is easy to use and gives visitors the specialized accumulation of information the web is known for. [JAB]
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National Museum of American History: Surveying and Geodesy
http://americanhistory.si.edu/surveying/index.htm
The National Museum of American History Virtual Exhibition Web Site (last mentioned in the November 16, 2001 Scout Report) presents another interesting collection. The Surveying and Geodesy instruments site "reflect[s] the importance of these activities in America since the first European colonists settled here some 400 years ago and turned the American landscape into property." The 250 instruments within the collection are organized by maker and by instruments. Each instrument link contains a picture (if available), inscriptions, dimensions, a description, and any other available information. This simple but well done site offers a unique and educational look into this historically significant field. [JAB]
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Innovative Lives
http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/ilives/index.html
The Innovative Lives Web Site is offered by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the Smithsonian Institution. "Innovative Lives counters commonly held stereotypes about inventors by featuring speakers with diverse backgrounds," such as Dr. Patricia Bath, an African-American woman who invented the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts and founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. Over thirty inventors are featured on the site, which gives excellent information about each, telling of their lives and what they have accomplished. Although it is intended for kids, the site will be of interest to anyone looking to learn about many of the most important and unknown contributors to the scientific world. [JAB]
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Yellowstone National Park
1. The Official Web Site of Yellowstone National Park
http://www.nps.gov/yell/home.htm
2. Yellowstone Geographic
http://www.yellowstonegeographic.com/home.html
3. Weird Geology: Geysers
http://www.unmuseum.org/geysers.htm
4. Geyser: Cyclic Hot Water Fountain
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/geyser/index.html
5. Geysers and the Earth's Plumbing Systems
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/geysers.html
6. GPS Surveys of the Yellowstone Hotspot and the Wasatch Fault, Utah
http://www.mines.utah.edu/~rbsmith/RESEARCH/UUGPS.html
7. Yellowstone River Basin National Water-Quality Assessment Program
http://wy.water.usgs.gov/YELL/
8. Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/
Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872, as the first national park in the world. The overwhelming and unique beauty found in this natural wonder is truly difficult to describe.
This Topic In Depth begin with the excellent National Park Service's (1) official Yellowstone Web Site, which contains the park's history, virtual field trips, park information, visitor guides, web cams, kids pages, and more. The next site offered by EarthTalk Studios is called Yellowstone Geographic (2). This extensive and graphically reliant site contains superb interactive activities related to the park and comes close to its goal of being "the best Yellowstone Web Site on the planet." The third site from UnMuseum.org called Weird Geology: Geysers (3) explores the workings of Yellowstone's famous geysers with descriptions, photographs, illustrations, and a movie of an eruption. The next site from Exploratorium (4) is a learning activity called Geyser: Cyclic Hot Water Fountain. With the help of their teacher, students build a working model of a geyser from common chemical equipment. From the University of Michigan, Meg Streepey's Geysers and the Earth's Plumbing Systems Web Site (5) describes (for more advanced students) how geysers work, including how to analyze their thermal and hydrologic regimes. Another research site, from the University of Utah's College of Mines and Earth Sciences, is the GPS Surveys of the Yellowstone Hotspot and the Wasatch Fault, Utah (6). Objectives of the study are "to measure and understand the spatial and temporal variations of the crustal deformation produced by the interaction between lithospheric plate motion and the asthenospheric hotspot." The last two sites are from the USGS, the first of which is the Yellowstone River Basin National Water-Quality Assessment Program site (7). It contains a project description, available data, and other relevant information. The last site, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (8), is a facility that is designed for observing volcanic and earthquake activity in the park. This site also contains a project description, volcanic data, maps, descriptions of volcanic rock, a frequently asked questions link, and more. [JAB]
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From The NSDL Scout Report for Physical Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2002. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.
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