www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS

How long have women been scientists?...The answer is the same for both women and men - as long as we have been human. This University of Alabama site offers fascinating facts about women in science, from Hypatia of Ancient Egypt to the 20th century.

The website is an overview of significant women scientists, mainly pre-20th century. Find biographies and photographs of female scientists of note, and check in on news of current-day women in science.

Amazing Space (for kids & teachers)

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/

Online explorations for kids: get to know our vast universe by exploring its planets, galaxies, comets, black holes, and more.  Online resources for teachers:  Reveal the wonder of the cosmos to your students with this comprehensive listing of all of our interactive activities, graphic organizers, science content reading selections, and more.

Amazing Space (for kids & teachers)
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/

Online explorations for kids: get to know our vast universe by exploring its planets, galaxies, comets, black holes, and more.  Online resources for teachers:  Reveal the wonder of the cosmos to your students with this comprehensive listing of all of our interactive activities, graphic organizers, science content reading selections, and more.

American Museum of Natural History - Astronomy (for kids)

http://www.amnh.org/ology/index.php?channel=astronomy

The American Museum of Natural History's online educational exhibit for kids - activities, games, images, videos and more will introduce novices to the wonders of space.

American Museum of Natural History - Astronomy (for kids)
http://www.amnh.org/ology/index.php?channel=astronomy

The American Museum of Natural History's online educational exhibit for kids - activities, games, images, videos and more will introduce novices to the wonders of space.

ARKive gathers together films, photographs, and audio recordings of the world's species to establish a comprehensive multimedia digital collection of profiles of species either rare or threatened with extinction. Tip: Incorporate these materials into lesson plans, presentations, work sheets, projects in hard copy or digitally to engage students in key science and biology topics, or use as creative inspiration for art and design projects.

www.ARKive.org

Astronomy Picture of the Day (for all ages)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111024.html

NASA invites us to discover the cosmos through their amazing picture of the day: each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.  Worth visiting every day.

Astronomy Picture of the Day (for all ages)
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111024.html

NASA invites us to discover the cosmos through their amazing picture of the day: each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.  Worth visiting every day.

Global Astronomy Month

http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org

Throughout the month of April, stargazers around the globe will celebrate a resource common to all of us, no matter where we live, the night sky. Explore the site to find out what you can see in the night sky or search for activities in your area. The website includes interactive features for everyone such as the AstroPoetry Blog, Online Observing and the World at Night - spectacular images of Earth and Sky from around the world.

www.astronomerswithoutborders.org

On March 15th, 2012, according to Astronomy Without Borders, Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will be within 3 degrees of each other in the evening sky (15 March 2012 at 10:37:46 UTC).  This will be quite a spectacle, as both planets are very bright - and this will be a fantastic visual and photographic opportunity, as it?s not often that you get the brightest planets in our Solar System so close together.  Find out about the Conjunction of Glory and much more at this amazing astronomy website.

Bat Conservation International

http://www.batcon.org/index.php

Some bat-lovers among us might celebrate August 3, 1915, the birthday of biologist Donald Griffin, who may have single-handedly improved the public image of the bat when he discovered that bats use high-frequency sounds for echolocation. Their interesting form of "sight" and ability to hunt and devour thousands of insects, including mosquitoes, every night are only a few of the facts one can explore on the Bat Conservation website. The United Nations has declared 2011-2012 as International Year of the Bat and Bat Conservation International (BCI) as an International Year of the Bat Founding Partner. This site offers something for everyone, including journalists, educators and for children, the Kids Cave: http://www.batcon.org/index.php/all-about-bats/kidz-cave.html

More details:

The site is filled with current events affecting bats and bat populations. From how wind energy facilities are affecting birds and bats, the increasing threat of white-nose syndrome in bat colonies, to how urban development and drought are taking their toll on bats, you can read about it here. Also find useful information on how and where to place bat houses around your home for mosquito control, and how to support bat conservation through their "Adopt-A-Bat" program. You can also view the largest collection of bat photography on the web in their on-line Photo Gallery. http://www.batcon.org/

August 25, 2012:  Astronaut, aerospace engineer and inspiration to all, Neil Armstrong passed away on at age 82. His life, his work and legacy can be found at this Biography website.  Features include Military Service, Astronaut Program, Moon Landing, Later Contributions, and Death & Legacy along with original footage of the moon landing, images and quotes from Armstrong (Image: Astronaut Neil Armstrong, 1966 from NASA).

On the website students can take a photographic tour of the mission experience, learn about summer camps, and download desktop images. Teachers will find a comprehensive mission tour, learning results, workshop information, and all the forms necessary to begin a classroom mission experience. Funding ideas and learning results are provided for school administrators. http://www.clcofme.org

For this awards program, middle school students use the scientific process to solve real-world problems and change their community. The Christopher Columbus Awards is a national, community-based science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program for middle school students. The program challenges the students to work in teams of three to four, with an adult coach, to identify a problem in their community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative solution to that problem.

Website:  www.christophercolumbusawards.com/

Quote of the Month:

You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

? Christopher Columbus

On September 11, 2011, our country will reflect back on the tragedy that has largely shaped our public psyche in the 21^st century and will honor those who died at the World Trade Center on that fateful day. This unique site shows time-lapse images of the reconstruction of the site at Ground Zero, archived images of tragic day, and the heroes who responded to the disaster.  In addition to the World Trade Center Memorial, Earth Cam provides live camera images from around the globe. A source of both fascination and fear, webcam technology has become part of our lives and Earth Cam provides a way for you to visit the world, from your desk.

On April 22, 1970 the world celebrated the first Earth Day, a recognition of the living earth and the interconnection of all the species who depend on the earth, and each other. Explore the interactive, global collection of images, locations, and scientific information on this website.

There are few sights that can stir our love of nature like the changing colors of autumn leaves in New England and beyond. This site, hosted by the College of Environmental Science & Forestry, one of the oldest colleges dedicated to environmental science, provides simple, scientific explanations of life science topics, such as "Why Leaves Change Color" and more in ESF's Articles on Resources, Habitat, Wildlife and the Natural World.

Website:  http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/leaves/leaves.htm

Earth Day 2012: EPA

http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

On April 22^nd, we celebrate the 42^nd anniversary of Earth Day, which began in 1970 at the height of public awareness and realization that our actions are as vital as policy in protecting the earth. The Environmental Protection Agency has created a dynamic website with something for everyone - writers, photographers, teachers, students and activists.

October 1, 2012:  Seems obvious, but is it really? The real reason - and the physics - behind the night sky are explained in a cartoon video by Minute Physics featured in Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog. Note: In this case, the word "bad," means really cool.

On the Summer Solstice in 1633, Galileo was forced to renounce his theory of a heliocentric view of the solar system, and sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life.  Galileo's scientific observations of the sun as the center of the solar system - not the earth - was so considered dangerous to the medieval church that he faced a death sentence had he not retracted his theory.  It wasn't until 1992, under Pope John Paul II, that the Vatican pardoned Galileo and recanted its notorious action.

Find out more about his life and his experiments at this companion site to the PBS special, Galileo's Battle for the Heavens.

Globe at Night (for all)
http://www.globeatnight.org/

The perfect winter/spring project for individuals and families: GLOBE at Night program is an international campaign to raise awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations to a website from a computer or smart phone. Light pollution threatens not only our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health.

The GLOBE at Night campaign has run for two weeks each winter/spring for the last six years; 115 countries have contributed 66,000 measurements, making GLOBE at Night one of the most successful light pollution awareness campaign. The GLOBE at Night website is easy to use, comprehensive and holds an abundance of background information. The database is usable for comparisons with a variety of other databases, like how light pollution affects the foraging habits of bats.

Text adapted from http://www.globeatnight.org/, Feb 2012.

Go Astronomy

http://www.go-astronomy.com/

The night sky has always loomed large in our imaginations, and perhaps was one of the first incentives for early humans to use scientific reasoning purely for the sake of discovery and understanding of our place in the universe. As summer fades away and cool, clear nights return, find out more about the stars by visiting this site, or local planetarium. This site offers a wealth of resources, such as: astronomy clubs near you; a calendar of astronomical events; and an interactive map of planetariums throughout the US: http://www.go-astronomy.com/planetariums.htm

Go Camping America entertains and educates kids on the excitement of camping.  It provides games for the car ride, games for sitting around the campfire, and interesting information about the animals and plants you'll run into along the trail.  Go Camping America also provides kids and adults with information on how to stay safe in the wilderness.  This site even recommends many tasty recipes to have on the trail, including s'mores and banana split cereal! http://www.gocampingamerica.com/kids/index.aspx

Green Belt Movement
http://greenbeltmovement.org/index.php

On September 25, 2011, much of the world mourned the loss of an iconic and influential woman, Wangari Maathai.  She was the leader of the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya, an activist, author, parliamentarian, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, Maathi worked tirelessly to create change at the grassroots level by planting trees and communicating the integral relationships between human beings and the environment.  Photos, videos and interviews of the activist can be found on this website, as well as the current projects that are underway through the Green Belt movement.

How to Smile

www.howtosmile.org

How to Smile is an online community of educators that have vetted over 3,000 engaging hands-on, interactive STEM activities. With both desktop and mobile capabilities, How to Smile is full of activities that are both physical and virtual that are sure to get students involved. Tip: Use How to Smile's search by chemical directory to find activities for any type of experiment.

Selected from the American Association of School Librarians' Top 25 websites for teaching & learning (June 2012).

www.iwaswondering.org

A Curious Look at Women?s Adventures in Science: A lively, interactive site designed specifically for girls, from the National Academy of Sciences. The companion series of biographies to this site is the ten-volume, Women's Adventures in Science, published by Joseph Henry Press (an imprint of the National Academies Press) and Scholastic Library Publishing.

Educators, this is a wonderfully organized and amazingly inclusive guide to insects.  This website covers anatomy, identifying features, natural history, and tips on collecting.  This website provides very helpful fact sheets to be used by learners of all ages.  http://insected.arl.arizona.edu/info.htm

The IPY is organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009.

This IPY is actually the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8. www.ipy.org.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. It seems this one has been taking the country by storm, ever since a thoughtful young man decided to help his cousin with math homework using the internet.  Featured on CNN, PBS and 60 minutes this spring, and used by thousands of people every day, Kahn Academy offers short, easy to follow on-line explanations of everything from basic addition to physics. 

Worth checking out; for students, teachers, and lifelong learners.  According to Kahn site, "it is our mission to accelerate learning for students of all ages."

Lawrence Hall of Science: Happy 2012

http://lawrencehallofscience.org/happy2012/

The Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, may not be close enough for a visit, but their website and its many resources are just a click away. Lawrence Hall designs programs for students of all ages, and has created a fun, interactive site for exploring science and mathematics on your own. On the Happy 2012 page, you can: Reach for the Stars; Make Animal Friends; Puzzle Your Brain;  Design, Build & Test; or Touch, Climb & Crawl for some great science fun.

It is time to engage your senses in outer space. Join the NASA Kids Club and take off into a universe of STEM activities that engage and inspire teaching and learning. Join the Discovery Crew with Buzz Lightyear, visit NASA with Elmo, explore outer space with Nebula, and follow those Angry Birds into another universe. NASA Kids Club guarantees an out-of-this-world experience. Tip: Use with a digital projector and full classes can get involved

Selected from the American Association of School Librarians' Top 25 websites for teaching & learning (June 2012).

On July 8, 2011, our nation watched the flight of Atlantis, the final planned mission of the Space Shuttle program. Even before the first moon landing on July 20, 1969, the intrigue of space travel has been a part of human imagination forever and for the past 42 years, part of our reality.  Follow the updates of this final mission to the International Space Station and learn more about the science, the history, and the future of our space program at this NASA website.

December is a great time to observe the wonders of the night sky as the winter solstice approaches and nights grow longer; sunset in Maine is as early as 4 pm and the opportunities for viewing abound.  This site, hosted by NASA, includes events and night sky facts for beginners and hobbyists alike.   

 Check out the Sky Charts, Weather Forecasts and the Satellite Sighting feature - to find out when the International Space Station can be seen from your location.

"It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more."  On November 12, 1912, a search party found the haunting last words of British explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, in his expedition journal found near the South Pole.

Stark images from the journey, many never seen before, were published by National Geographic in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the infamous expedition to Antarctic. Along with vivid images and informative captions, the site includes a quiz on Living in Antarctica today.

National Geographic: Titanic 100^th Anniversary

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/04/titanic/titanic-photography

At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic disappeared beneath the waves, taking with her 1,500 souls. One hundred years later, new technologies have revealed the most complete - and most intimate - images of the famous wreck...

The ship, and nearly all that it contained, remained preserved on the Atlantic seafloor until its discovery nearly a century later. New images of the shipwreck, and its century-old stories have been released by National Geographic in this haunting collection.

For an essay on David Gallo's "Titanic and Beyond: Lessons from the Deep Ocean" visit: http://thetruevoyage.blogspot.com/2011/04/titanic-and-beyond-lessons-from-deep.html

In October 1991, a rare combination of meteorological events came together to form the Perfect Storm.  At the time of this writing, a similar line-up of a large hurricane and Arctic cold front are combining forces to bring the Northeast another Perfect Storm. "It's a very, very rare storm, and the way it is going to interact, the confluence of things coming together late in the season, is something we'll be taking a look at for years to come," said Steve Zubrick, science and operations officer at the National Weather Service's Sterling, Va., office.

This site will help you understand how storms are predicted and keep you updated on storms on the horizon.

Every year, our National Parks are one of the biggest attractions for visitors from around the world. This year, take a "stay-cation" and visit one of these national treasures right in your own backyard.  The National Park Service site can lead you to places that will inspire through natural beauty, historic significance and cultural heritage - in places much closer than you might imagine.

For more options, check out your State website - the State of Maine helps you navigate to a site within your designated driving range: http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/index.pl

Nobel Prize in Physics - "Written in the Stars"
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/press.html

October 3-7, 2011: All week, there was good news for a change: the announcements of the Nobel Prize awards, to honor the people who make the world a better place from their contributions in science and the humanities.  This link takes you to the announcement of the winners of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics - Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess - who looked deep into space and made the recent discovery that since the Big Bang, the universe is not only expanding, but it is doing so at an ever-accelerating rate - which surprised the researchers themselves. 

Find out more about this incredible new discovery and more on the Nobel Prize website - which highlights the news, biographies and accomplishments of some of the greatest scientists - past and present. 

On September 17^th, 2011, you can join in one of the largest global efforts toward protecting our waterways and oceans, including Maine, North Carolina, and yes, even Arizona. According to their website; Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup has become the world's largest volunteer effort for ocean health. Nearly nine million volunteers from 152 countries and locations have cleaned 145 million pounds of trash from the shores of lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean on just one day each year. They have recorded every item found, giving us a clear picture of the manufactured items impacting the health of humans, wildlife, and economies.  This effort is more than a clean-up, it is a global citizen science effort which allows for the collection and analysis of debris from around the globe. By understanding the sources of litter and improper disposal, Ocean Conservancy and its partners can help target efforts to help prevent it.

svr: 9/2011

November 23, 2012:  This is an eye-opening collection of interviews on the changing world of book publishing, authorship and readership.  Find out the role Amazon plays in undercutting book prices; how unknown authors can publish copycat books like "I Am the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; how books are translated and pirated for non-English readers; and the future of book publishing in the electronic age. 

PBS Learning Media (for kids, teens, and teachers)
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/content/#taxonomy=Science

This content-rich explores a diverse number of topics using great videos to learn math and science in an easy-to-use site. One can sort by topic, grade to find a video, on-line activity or other educational tool to explore science on-line. Produced for PBS by WGBH through a National Science Foundation grant.

PBS: The Great Trans-Atlantic Cable

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/cable/index.html

International communications have changed a lot since August 16, 1858, when the first official message was sent along the undersea cable from Ireland to Newfoundland. According to the website timeline, the message was a formal congratulations from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan, taking a mere 16 and 1/2 hours to transmit. Find out why this new technology was considered the Victorian equivalent of putting a man on the moon and how the errors made helped standardize engineering projects around the globe. So significant was this milestone, that PBS created an American Experience documentary and website on the subject. There is much to discover at this website designed for history buffs, technology wizards, and the interested public, including a teacher's guide for classroom discussion: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/cable/tguide/index.html

American inventor and philanthropist George Eastman was born July 12, 1854. He founded the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY and is considered the Father of Modern Photography. His invention of roll film and the production of Kodak cameras is credited for making photography widely available to the public. Roll film also led to the invention of motion picture film, the first by Louis Le Prince in 1888. The Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film website offers the history of the technology which helped change the way we see the world, including Alexander Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War, plus more educational resources.

Just in time for spring cleaning, here's a site to help you go at it in an environmentally responsible way. With homemade alternatives to toxic cleaners, green cleaning techniques, lists of green cleaning products, and reviews of books on safe and healthy cleaning, this site is the perfect place to start your spring clean-up projects. http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-cleaning/

World Wildlife Foundation and Canon have teamed up for this site, with lots of information and videos about how and why they track polar bears, the current threats to polar bears, and profiles of the researchers working on this project. There's also a really cool "Canon Kids Zone" with an animated family of polar bears and a series of adventure/learning games about how they try to affect change and save their environment.  http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/europe/what_we_do/arctic/polar_bear/index.cfm

Artful Assessment is a teacher resource site through the Portland Museum of Art that shows how the visual arts can be integrated with other areas of study, such as language arts, social studies, and science. Maine author/artist Dahlov Ipcar's painting "Blue Savanna" is the focal point for lesson plans and activities relating to the study of biomes, energy cycles and food chains. Teacher reflections, connections to Maine Learning Results, examples of student work and more can be found at this excellent site. http://www.artfulassessment.org/teaching-with-art/blue-savanna/science-lesson/

Read about what to add to your soil and the effects each ingredient will have. This article is part of a larger website (Vegetable Gardening Guru) with sections on Building the Soil, Insect Pests, Plant Diseases, and Starting Seeds. Be prepared for the growing season soon to come! http://www.vegetablegardeningguru.com/soil-amendments.html

Join thousands of others in gathering valuable environmental and climate change information from across the country. Project BudBurst engages the public in making careful observations of the phenophases such as first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening of a diversity of trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses in their local area. Get outside and contribute your data! http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/

Embrace the winter - count feeder birds for science!  Beginning on November 10, 2012, Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. Feeder Watchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. The data help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance (Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada).

These days, so many kids play sports very intensely, and then have their athletic careers cut short by injuries, especially those to the knees. It is important for us to know what safety precautions to take in order to prevent these injuries. Save Your Knees (Kids Corner) is a site in accords with to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The site offers coloring pages, interactive activities, word puzzles, and many tips on how to stay healthy and safe. It's definitely worth checking out if you're an intense sports player, or even if you like to stay active without sports.

This site for children puts a world of fun and interesting science information at their fingertips. The home page is a landscape of different objects and natural features that link to stories about science. Linked topics include insects, nutrition, outer space, weird science stories, research to help small towns, and science careers. Check it out, and leave yourself plenty of time! http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/

Winter's departure brings the seeds, buds, and flowers of Spring. This website is a fun site for kids to explore plants' growing processes. Through 'Science of Spring', one can find suggested readings, cool facts, guided explorations, and awesome experiments. Kids should check out this site for a fun and educational experience.
http://seeds.sciencenetlinks.com/

This website provides a pictorial guide to the identification of seashells. It also includes sections about beachcombing and cleaning seashells. http://www.seashells.org

Signs of the Seasons: Maine Sea Grant (for all)
http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/education/signs-of-the-seasons

Waiting for the first signs of spring? Use your keen observations to help do research.

Signs of the Seasons is a citizen science environmental monitoring program which began in 2010 at Maine Sea Grant. Participants help scientists document the local effects of global climate change by observing and recording the phenology (seasonal changes) of common plants and animals living in their own backyards and communities. Please visit the project website to learn more about Signs of the Seasons, or to sign up as a phenology observer.

Choose "Maine" and "Fall" or "Spring", and see a county-by-county listing of different bird species and their approximate arrival/departure dates in that area during spring and fall migrations. Other pages on this site help with bird identification, explain bird taxonomic classification, and explore different habitats and the species they contain.http://www.birdnature.com/timetable.html

Celebrate the art, music, and poetry of science at this site dedicated to delivering scientific knowledge in musical form. Here you can watch music videos, download songs, read lyrics and find links relating to the messages conveyed by the music. We recommend you view the music video "Symphony of Science - The Poetry of Reality", featured on their homepage. http://www.symphonyofscience.com/

Here you'll find a short slide show with color photos and basic information about the taiga (boreal forest), what grows there, and why. A good introduction to this important biome. http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/taiga/plants/index.htm

Performing well during sports requires healthy food in the right amounts. Not only do kids need this food to fuel their performance, but also to fuel their growth! There's a lot to think about when planning out meals around sports activities. This website offers many tips on how to eat healthily at game time. Not only does it tell you what snacks to include in your bag, but also gives recipes of what to eat the night before. Teens Health also provides a guide to all sorts of other healthy living.

Pictures, diagrams, and thorough but easy-to-follow explanations of how birds achieve flight are featured at this site. Wing shape, lift, thrust, drag, as well as the difference between flying and gliding are all explained. http://www.earthlife.net/birds/flight.html

A project through Rice University which aims to provide information about Galileo and the science of his time. Use the site map to find information about his life, his family, the scientists who were his peers, the scientific tools they used, the invention of the telescope, and much more. http://galileo.rice.edu/index.html

The Great Backyard Bird Count

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages birdwatchers of all ages to count birds to creat a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning birdwatchers to experts.It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It's free, fun and easy - and it helps the birds.

Sponsored by Adudubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

On May 27th, 1907 in Springdale, Pennsylvania, a new mother gazed upon her baby girl and may have wondered if she would grow up to make the world a better place in some small way. Neither her mother nor anyone could have known how much Rachel Carson would accomplish and how her name would be included amongst the most influential writers and scientists in history.   

This website is a comprehensive tribute to an extraordinary life.

Quote of the Month:

The New York Times: Science
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/

Newspaper subscriptions may be on the decline, but newspapers have kept up with the times, including of course, The Times. On their science page, The New York Times continues to deliver excellent articles and information about discoveries, cutting edge research and scientists around the globe.  Their multimedia website is rich with in-depth articles, images, interviews, podcasts, video, and blogs for students, educators, and science enthusiasts of every ilk.

Why is the ice slippery? What mechanics does skating involve? These questions and more are answered with on this site. For hockey connoisseurs, this is a great resource to better understand the science behind the sport.

So much of children's time is spent playing sports....after school, on the weekends, in the evenings with friends. What so many kids don't realize, though, is how much science applies to the sports they play. This website explores many different sports, including cycling, skateboarding, baseball, and others, to analyze the science behind our athletics. The site includes games, pictures, experiments, and a whole lot of fun information.

This website is based on the PBS series by the same name and includes some video clips from that program. Broken into sections - The Baby's Brain, The Child's Brain, The Teenage Brain, The Adult Brain, and The Aging Brain - this site makes it easy to search for the information you're interested in most. There are also sections on the history of the brain, mind illusions, and five of the most important technologies that have allowed scientists to peer into the workings and structure of the living human brain. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/

Big, colorful pictures are the highlight of this site. Contains information about the indicator species of both plants and animals in the boreal forest, as well as a photographic tour of boreal habitat. www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/boreal.htm

This site is chock-full of information and amazing photographs of whales, dolphins and seals. Pages include Amazing Facts, Recent Sightings, Strandings of Marine Mammals, Species Information, and the 33-page Photo Album. http://www.whalecenter.org/index.php

From a photo of a busy outdoor scene on the home page, you can click on any object and be taken to more information and links on that topic. The links are to activities, suggested reading, related topics, and observations from other site users. This site seems boundless in its possibilities, and easily navigated by young people. There is also a section called "Theme Clusters" where you'll find different ideas and links gathered by topics such as Shapes, Tropical Rainforest, Air, Students as Designers, and Books You Can Use. http://www.thinkingfountain.org/

This is a great resource to use for interpreting tracks and signs we find on the trail.  When in the wilderness, we?re in the natural home of many different kinds of animals.  We can tell which animals are nearby by examining the things they leave behind: tracks, scat, markings, fur, feathers? This website provides a comprehensive guide to placing a sign to an animal! http://www.biokids.umich.edu/guides/tracks_and_sign/

This site provides a simple identification guide that allows you to ID a tree by leaf, fruit, or name. It was developed for Ohio, but many of the species have a wider range so it is well worth a visit by tree lovers everywhere. http://www.oplin.org/tree/

Head to this site for information about saving energy on heating and cooling, water heating, lighting, driving, and more.   Also useful links to information about energy-saving appliances, windows, and renewable energy possibilities.   Check out the "Energy Tip of the Month" section as well. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/index.html

This site includes a downloadable PowerPoint presentation, podcasts, a featured pollinator page, links to educational resources, and National Pollinator Week (4^th week of June) activities. Podcast topics include native bees, endangered butterflies & plants, backyard habitats, and pollinator gardens; available as audio or transcript. http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/

Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle events: leafing and flowering of plants, the emergence of insects, the migration of birds. The USA National Phenology Network brings together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. Learn about the natural world while you help the planet! http://www.usanpn.org/

Venture Beat - 10 Important Products Steve Jobs Helped Bring to the World
http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/06/10-important-products-steve-jobs-helped-bring-to-the-world/

October 5, 2011, the world's most well-known inventor, Steve Jobs of Apple Computers, died at age 56 after a long battle with cancer.  In honor of his contributions to technology, this blog offers a look back at the 10 most important products developed by Steve Jobs.  With great images of the first Apple Computer to the iPad, it is an amazing look back at the rapid changes in technology the computer world has experienced since the first personal computer developed by Apple was released in 1977.

Quote of the month:

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me...Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful...that's what matters to me. 

- Steve Jobs in Wall Street Journal, 5/25/93

Another good resource for water-saving tips in the home and in the garden. Small, easy steps can make a big difference in cutting down on our water usage. There is also a Kids page with games that teach children about water conservation while they play. http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/

The Wildflowers in Bloom photo album contains images of many of the most showy wildflowers. The images of the flowers are "clickable"; click on the image and a full screen photo appears. The pages contain pictures of the plants in their seedling stage, a map of the U. S. showing their distribution range, and other useful information regarding planting and growing the wildflowers. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/wildflowers.html

This is a wonderful site full of great information and amazing photos. You'll find information on tracks, scat, and other signs used in animal tracking. There are sections about tracking molds, techniques, gait, measurements and path deviation. Several seasons of the Algonquin Winter Tracking Expeditions are documented with beautiful photos of the scenery and wildlife, as well as the tracks that were found. This site will inspire you to head out on your own tracking adventures! http://wildwoodtracking.com/index.html

This site, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, provides winter preparedness information along with general information about snow, ice, cold and wind & wind chill. Forecasts, warnings and the weather outlook for the current winter are available through links. A list of the "billion dollar storms" with associated satellite and radar images and narrative about each storm is also provided. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/winter/index.shtml

Wolfram/Alpha is a long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. Enter a question or calculation and the site uses built-in algorithms and a growing collection of data to compute your answer. If you're still not sure what this is all about, there are some ideas on the site to get you started, and once you get started.....it may be hard to stop! http://www.wolframalpha.com/

This site is full of excellent resources for both aspiring and established female scientists. There is a searchable list of women scientist mentors in different fields, with e-mail addresses for contacting them directly. An Online Interview section asks the same eight questions of 34 female scientists, involving their childhood interests, fields of study, and advice to up-and-coming women scientists. And you can add your own information as well in the Future Scientists section, where users are encouraged to write about their plans to affect or change science in the future. http://library.thinkquest.org/20117

Much has changed since the World Wildlife Foundation opened its headquarters in Morges, Switzerland on September 11, 1961.  The early mission of those scientists and conservationists were focused on the legal hunting and illegal poaching of some of the world?s most charismatic animals, like the iconic Panda, found on its familiar logo. Since then, WWF has done much to raise awareness and protect many threatened and endangered species, as well as the threats to the habitats they need to survive. 

 View 50 years of WWF history on their interactive timeline, as well as the places, the species, and the science behind their conservation efforts.

Much has changed since the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Germany first opened on July 31, 1752.  Originally designed as places to satisfy curiosity seekers about creatures unknown, zoos and aquariums of the world are now the leading educators on issues of biodiversity and conservation throughout the world.  This site will offer you a range of information on these global issues, direct you to nearby centers, and provide a tour of a virtual zoo.