Stephanie Vande Kraats's List: science

This site contains information about Canada's aerospace industry, including facts and figures of annual industry performance, and the economic impacts of the aerospace industry to different locales in Canada. Current issues, news, events, and FAQs are also highlighted. UFV has several aerospace and aviation programs.

This site provides information and links to material broadly related to the field of chemistry. It serves as an index to chemistry publications, conferences/meetings, and chemical databases. Most are fee-based, so you will not be able to take a look. However, it does provide the latest news from the field of chemistry and has an educational link for people who are teaching chemistry at all levels.

Thomson Reuters Biology Browser is a free database of biology resources and web links. It's an information portal to science news sources and evaluated Web sites. This site is designed to connect life sciences researchers with useful resources and with other like-minded scientists from all around the world. The content includes free access to many full-text articles. Try searching for 'volcano' in the search box to see the kind of information you could access here, or follow the Geography links to see the range of external links suggested.

This institute is one of the research arms of the National Research Council of Canada and participates in and tracks astronomical missions from four different international observatories in Hawaii and Chile. The site also includes a tool for calculating the sunrise/sunset at various Canadian cities on a given date.

This international association is a leading authority in telecommunications, electric power, computer engineering, aerospace applications, consumer electronics, biomedical technology, and other related areas. Information on careers in the technology sector, standards, and membership to this association is all available.

INTUTE Science specializes in online information in the physical sciences for students and researchers. The subjects covered include: Astronomy, Chemistry, Computing, Earth Sciences, Engineering, the Environment, Geography, General Sciences, Mathematics and Physics.

This site, authored by Erik Max Francis, a science enthusiast living in San Jose, California is a personal page, so not to be used as a definitive academic source but it is a fascinating and unique resource. The purpose of this site is to provide an overview of physics concepts for the novice scientist and, though not updated very often, it is good place to start for defining and explaining scientific laws and principles.

NASA’s website provides links to many web pages that exist under the NASA umbrella. The graphic capabilities of new computers have given even more value to the educational merit of this site. There is a NASA Kids Club has activities for children and information for parents and teachers. One of the beauties of this site is the wonderful collection of images of our solar system. Examine the site for information about NASA as an organization and for all of the various activities and missions that NASA has undertaken. Canada and Canadians are becoming more and more involved with NASA projects so it is interesting from our perspective, too.

This site is the official portal for NOVA, the preeminent science and documentary television show available on the American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) network. These television shows have won numerous awards for science journalism and broadcasting excellence. Each past show has its own companion page, complete with activities, links to related articles written by experts in the field, a resource list, and teachers' guide. All available shows can be searched for by either clicking on the appropriate topic area (e.g. Technology, science, disasters, forensics, nature, etc.), year of broadcast, or by title. The website now offers online viewing and podcasts of some programs.

This site is from the British online education group Zephyrus and provides good biographical information on scientists from across the disciplines, including Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Nikola Tesla, etc. Each biography includes a picture, demographic and family information, and inventions, ideas, or theories the person is famous for. These are basic biographies and, unfortunately, not every scientist listed actually has a corresponding biography.

This site is the homepage for the Tree of Life Web Project, a project by professional biologists across the globe to "present a modern scientific view of the evolutionary tree that unites all organisms on Earth", and "to aid learning about and appreciation of biological diversity". Users are offered a variety of ways to browse through the site such as, starting at the root of the tree, following the link to the most popular pages, and by searching the entire site database using the common or scientific name of an organism. Each informational page includes images of the organism(s), a short introduction with characteristics of the group, exhaustive subject bibliographies, and the taxonomy of the organism (its place on the phylogenic tree). If you drill down into this site and the information you find fabulous images (note the descriptive data or metadata included with each image).

This huge database provides detailed information for all types of plants by either common or scientific name, or its symbol. There are also fact sheets and plant guides, information on threatened or endangered plants, invasive and noxious plants, alternative crops, and an image database. A user can also search for a plant based on plant characteristics such as duration, growth habits, and state or provincial distribution.

This is a very handy site for Canadians to know about. Everything here is about the weather: forecasts, historical data about weather, air quality, sea ice, hurricanes, etc. The website is maintained by the Meteorological Service of Canada's national and regional offices. From the list of links down the left-hand side of the main page look for "Past Weather". Following this link leads to the Canadian Climate Normals (1971 - 2000) where you can find out how much rain fell, say, in Saskatoon, in 1989. It is also where you could verify just how many hours more sunshine White Rock gets each year than Abbotsford does! Because weather conditions in the Lower Mainland vary so widely I always check this site when the winter weather descends and snow is forecast. There is also an Air Quality Health Index reading, a measure of air pollution, which can be very useful for people who have compromised health.

WebElements is an online periodic table (the first of its kind). By putting the mouse over each square the name of the element is revealed. Each square on the table is hyperlinked to information about that element: Essentials (name, atomic number, atomic weight, group and group name, description, and an image), History, Isolation, Compounds, Uses, and a whole list of Data types. The site also provides the element's name in seven languages other than English (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish). Now you there is the ability to download the information to Palm and Flash Elements for quick retrieval!

This site which is from the Discovery Channel group, is absolutely one of the best sites on the Internet. It is an innovative and fun site on, well, how stuff works! Featured sections are auto, health, science, entertainment, people, computer, electronics, home, money, travel, and shopping. For example in the auto section, alternative fuels, concept and hybrid cars, fuel pricing, engines are all explained in depth through the site content, or links to other specialized sites. This is a really good site if you want basic information and makes a great jumping off place to further research.

Virtual field trips to study ecology and wildlife preservations efforts around the world.

Learn how to identify Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, its life history, cool facts, sounds and calls, and watch videos. A striking and gregarious duck of the Neotropics, the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck reaches the United States only in the very southern parts. Its long neck, long legs, black belly, and white wing patch make it a distinctive-looking waterfowl.

Asteroids and comets are believed to be ancient remnants of the earliest years of the formation of our solar system more than four billion years ago. From the beginning of life on Earth to the recent spectacular impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, these so-called 'small bodies' play a key role in many of the fundamental processes that have shaped the planetary neighborhood in which we live.