SOLV-DB
http://solvdb.ncms.org/solvdb.htm
The nonprofit National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) offers an online solvent database called SOLV-DB. Users can choose to browse by eight categories: solvent name, chemical abstracts, sax number, chemical number, chemical formula, property category, matching range, and solvent synonym. Once presented, queries provide a list of physical properties such as specific gravity and boiling point, as well as links to regulatory data, environmental fate data, and health and safety data. The main page contains a how-to link that gives additional user information for this already well-designed and user-friendly resource. [JAB]
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SuperCosmos Sky Surveys
http://www-wfau.roe.ac.uk/sss/index.html
Part of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, the Wide-Field Astronomy Unit maintains the SuperCosmos Sky Surveys Web site. The SuperCosmos is an advanced photographic plate-digitizing machine that produces data derived from the scans of photographic Schmidt survey plates. Visitors can "extract images (pixel data) up to 15 arcmin across and/or object catalogues covering up to 100 sq. degrees. The data cover three wavebands (BRI), with one colour (R) represented at two epochs." March of 2002 has brought a new release of data that bring the database even closer to completion. [JAB]
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Astronomical Data Center
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Part of the Astrophysics Data Facility of the Space Science Data Operations Office at NASA, the Astronomical Data Center provides astronomical catalogs and journal tables to the scientific community. The site includes nine data categories: Astrometric and Positional, Photometric, Spectroscopic, Cross Identifications, Combined and Derived, Miscellaneous, Nonstellar and Extended Objects, Radio Sources, and High-Energy Data. Users can search by keyword, author name, and year of publication; or browse by catalog category, journal title, and author name. The How to Find ADC Data link gives helpful information on using the database, making this already well-designed site easier than most to find specifically what you need. [JAB]
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Chemistry.org
http://www.chemistry.org
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a self-governed organization that consists of more than 163,000 members at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry. The ACS hosts the Chemistry.org Web site, whose professionals page offers free and continually updated information and resources organized for easy access. Visitors can read recent articles, find out about upcoming meetings, search databases and directories, and much more. With free registration, users can have a personalized mychemistry.org page and, if interested, receive a monthly email newsletter on chemistry.org information. Any educator or professional will find the site a great source of up-to-date chemistry specific information. This site is also reviewed in the March 22, 2002 Scout Report. [JAB]
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National Diatom Database
http://sts.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/clf/geoserv_diatom.asp
Single-celled diatoms are "powerful indicators of environmental conditions as they respond quickly to environmental changes, and are widely utilized in stratigraphic investigations." The Geological Survey of Canada's National Diatom Database contains two components, the first of which includes about 5,000 diatom samples, their description, and precise geographic location. The second has 1,500 entries that give "information on the environmental and ecological tolerance of individual diatom species." The GIS interface of the database allows users to click on the map to zoom in and out and to get the specific information about a particular site. Although easy to view, printing any desired information is a bit tricky. The site recommends hitting ALT-PrintScreen to capture the active window only and then paste the image in any image software to print. [JAB]
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Physics and Astronomy Departments Worldwide Directory
http://www.physlink.com/Directories/Departments/Index.cfm
Hosted by physlink.com, the Physics and Astronomy Departments Worldwide Directory Web site is a great tool for university students, educators, professionals, or anyone needing to get specific contact information from over 1600 departments around the world. The directory is first organized by continent and number of departments, and then listed alphabetically for each country. The United States listings can be searched by school name, research area, or facilities. It can also be browsed alphabetically by state or even ranked by number of Nobel Prize winners, faculty, staff, postdocs, grad students, or undergrad students. A typical listing contains all forms of contact information as well as a link to the department's Web site. [JAB]
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CSMoS Ground-Water Modeling Software
http://www.epa.gov/ada/csmos/models.html
The Environmental Protection Agency Center for Subsurface Modeling Support (CSMos) Web site provides free public domain groundwater and vadose zone models. Currently, twenty six models are available, which are listed on the main page along with each one's version, release date, and operating system requirement. Each link gives a more in-depth commentary on the models description, system requirements, instructions for installing the program, and more. CSMos provides free technical support for many of the models listed and has a informative statistics link that gives distribution numbers for each model. [JAB]
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Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms in Geographic Information Systems, Cartography, and Remote Sensing
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/abbrev.html
The University of California Berkley Library maintains the Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms in Geographic Information Systems, Cartography, and Remote Sensing. This online dictionary can assist those users working in GIS and related fields by providing an easy way to find definitions to the ubiquitous and often confusing acronyms and abbreviations used on various publications (e.g., maps and Web sites). From "A," which denotes Acre or Auto House, to "ZTS" for Zoom Transfer Scope, the site provides hundreds of listings and, resultantly, a handy tool for professionals and researchers. [JAB]
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BrainPop
http://www.brainpop.com/science/seeall.weml
Brainpop describes itself as the leading producer of educational animated movies. Their Web site of the same name has a science page that currently contains sixty-five animated movies, with a large portion of them being physical science related. Each subject contains a 3-4 minute Movie, an Interactive Quiz, an Experiment, a Comic Strip, a How-to hands-on application, a Timeline, and a printable Activity Page. Visitors can play three movies per day for free (all of which begin by a somewhat annoying ad for subscribing) and then must pay if more are wanted. The well done movies and accompanying quizzes and activities provide excellent educational material for students between grades 5-8 and really are a joy to watch for anyone interested in learning. [JAB]
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BigChalk.com
http://www.bigchalk.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WOPortal.woa/db/Home.html
BigChalk.com's goal "is to be the single education destination that's trusted by teachers, used by students, and relied on by parents." This education mega-site contains excellent resources ranging from lesson plans and homework help to in-depth articles. For example, the physical science subject page contains over twenty subjects that lead to well written explanations and visually pleasing illustrations, along with links to pages with further information. Containing far too much to mention, BigChalk.com gives educators and students an online source of information and activities to help make teaching and learning easier and more fun. [JAB]
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Characteristics Of Matter
http://www.quia.com/hm/40795.html
The Quintessential Instructional Archive (QUIA) Web site (last mentioned in the July 13, 2001 Scout Report) contains fun, online science-related activities. The Characteristics Of Matter hangman game was created by students to test your knowledge of matter in the universe. Users can choose individual letters to see if they're right; if not, another body part appears on the hangman illustration. Puzzles include hints such as "Changes from a liquid to a gas" and "A change in which a new substance is formed." This activity gives students a fun way to use the Internet to learn about science and spark interest on a particular subject. [JAB]
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EarthNet Activities [.pdf]
http://agc.bio.ns.ca/schools/EarthNet/english/start_activities.html
The Activities page of the EarthNet Web site is offered by the Canadian Natural Resource Geological Survey. Twelve earth science topics are presented, including fossils, oil and gas, landforms, and more -- each containing easy-to-do learning activities to be completed with the help of a teacher or parent. One such activity in the Landforms page teaches students how mountains are built by using different colored clays and two books. Each lesson gives directions and a What's Going On? Section that explains the science behind the experiment. [JAB]
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The Planetary Fact Sheets
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html
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 very useful to anyone wanting to learn more about our solar system. [JAB]
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Backyard Weather Stations
http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,22-5168,00.html
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." [JAB]
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SandlotScience.com
http://www.sandlotscience.com/
SandlotScience.com is a Web site devoted to optical illusions. Over 100 online exhibits are available, with a majority of them contained in six main categories: Impossible Objects, Distortions, Contrast and Color, After Images, Ambiguities, and Typographics. Topics include such things as perspective and refraction, as well as many more complex illusions. Although the main page had difficulty loading at times and I could not locate specific information about the maintainers of the Web site, the rich and interesting content will give older students a fun and interactive way to learn about optics. [JAB]
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The Physical Characteristics of Minerals
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/physical.htm#phy
Offered by Amethyst Galleries, Inc. (an online minerals store), the Physical Characteristics of Minerals Web site offers a detailed description of how minerals are identified. Each page gives good information and examples of a particular characteristic (e.g, color, hardness, cleavage, feel, and taste). Also, on the first page are links to dozens of minerals that are categorized by name, class, interesting groupings, and great localities. These give the class, subclass, group, uses, physical characteristics, and sample photographs of that particular mineral. Anyone interested in geology, minerals, or gemstones will find this site very informative and fun to explore. [JAB]
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Geologic Maps
http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/usgsnps/gmap/gmap1.html
Geologic Maps are unique in that they show the distribution of geologic features on a landscape through specific symbols and colors. The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) site Geologic Maps provides visitors with a good introduction to these concepts, which include the unique features of a geologic map; the meaning of their lines, colors, and symbols; the location of faults; and more. Anyone working with geologic maps or just interested in learning a little about cartography or geology will find this site easy to explore and full of good information. [JAB]
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Earth Today: A Digital View of our Dynamic Planet
http://www.nasm.si.edu/earthtoday/
Earth Today: A Digital View of our Dynamic Planet is offered by the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and is described as a "state of the art digital theater that's updated several times daily to show near real-time satellite views of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses." The Our Dynamic Earth section contains several topics, such as The Atmosphere, in which users can read about the subject and see impressive satellite images and animations of Earth from space. The Earth in Near Real Time segment has similar topics but contains links to current data on global cloud cover, sea surface temperature, earthquakes, and more. [JAB]
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Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams, 1999-2000: A National Reconnaissance [.pdf]
http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/est/es011055j_rev.html
A recent study released by the US Geological Survey is the first in a series of reports that looks at 95 contaminants from industrial, human, and agricultural wastewater sources. Looking in 139 streams during 1999-2000, the study has found that surprisingly high levels of household chemicals, pharmaceuticals, detergents, and disinfectants have found their way into US streams. The complete report and accompanying news article is available from the Environmental Science and Technology online journal in both html and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) formats. [JAB]
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The Principles of Flight
http://www.pilotsweb.com/principle.htm
The Principle's of Flight Web site is offered by the Pilot's Web Aviation Journal and contains an excellent introduction to the physics of flight. Topics include Newton's laws of motion and force, airfoils, lift and drag, forces acting on an airplane, speed, flight maneuvers, the effects of roll, and more. Each topic contains good illustrations, descriptions, and equations. Overall, the site is an interesting and informative look behind the science of flight. [JAB]
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Ocean's Alive
http://www.mos.org/oceans/
Presented by the Museum of Science, Boston, the Ocean's Alive Web site takes a look into the fascinating world of oceans. The Water Planet link has information about the physical features of oceans, how they've been created, the water cycle, and ocean profiles. Other links explain ocean currents, winds and waves, tides, life in the sea, and scientists who study the oceans. The site contains good and easy-to-read descriptions, along with unique and interesting illustrations that make it fun to explore and a must-visit for users interested in the subject. [JAB]
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Ireland
1. Republic of Ireland
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/ireland/index.shtml
2. The Irish Scientist
http://www.irishscientist.ie/
3. The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland
http://www.iwai.ie/
4. Water Quality in Ireland
http://www.epa.ie/rivermap/data/rivmaptop.html
5. Ireland's Seabed Survey - Mapping the Irish Seabed
http://www.gsiseabed.ie/main.html
6. The 600 Metre Tops of Ireland
http://www.mountaineering.ie/features/list600/l600main.htm
7. Agroclimatic Atlas of Ireland
http://www.ucd.ie/~agmet/Publications/Atlas/Soils_colour.html
8. Climate of Ireland
http://www.met.ie/climate/
9. Press Releases
http://www.epa.ie/Press%20Releases/
This Topic In Depth focuses on the land, science, and scientists of Ireland.
Offered by Enchanted Learning.com, the first site (1) gives kids a brief introduction to Ireland's geography through a description of its location, size, and major rivers; online and printable maps; and a quiz. The next site is called the Irish Scientist (2), which is an online version of a yearly publication that "provide a means for Irish scientists and technologists to describe -- to colleagues, legislators and the general public -- what they are doing." The 1999, 2000, and 2001 versions are on the site and contain each article, grouped by varying categories. Offered by The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (3), this site is a clickable map of all the major waterways in the country. Additional information is offered, including a description of that particular stretch of water, its history, and any locks along the route. Provided by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland, the next site is called Water Quality in Ireland (4). Another clickable map, this site gives water quality descriptions and data that is available for particular monitoring sites around the country. The Mapping the Irish Seabed Web site (5), offered by the Geological Survey of Ireland, gives a complete description of the goals, procedures, and products of the survey's attempt to map an area ten times the size of Ireland's land area. The next Web site, presented by the Mountaineering Council of Ireland, is called 600 Metre Tops of Ireland (6). This database offers listings of mountains in the country, arranged by name and height, and can be queried by location, height minimums and maximums, and much more. Next, from the University of Dublin, comes the Agroclimatic Atlas of Ireland (7). Although just one page, it does give basic soil information for the entire country that may be difficult to find otherwise. The Irish Meteorological Service offers the next site called the Climate of Ireland (8). This site gives general descriptions of Ireland's climate, including 30-year averages as well as sun, wind, rain, and temperature information. The last site, also from Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency and called Press Releases (9), gives visitors a chance to view a series of reports that have been published in 2001 and 2002 that include topics such as air and water quality assessments and annual reports. [JAB]
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Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from The NSDL Scout Report for the Physical Sciences.
The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format:
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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