Gateway to U.S. Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research Image Galleries

The United States Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research has compiled this prodigious image gallery from a wide range of scientific research projects. The materials here come from the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, the Human Genome Project, and the Microbial Genomics initiative. Visitors can make their way through galleries that include Genomic Science Image Gallery, Climate Science Image Gallery, and Human Genome Project (1990-2003) Gallery. 

https://public.ornl.gov/site/gallery/default.cfm

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

webGURU: Guide for Undergraduate Research

Created via a partnership between the National Science Foundation and Northeastern University, the Web Guide to Research for Undergraduates (WebGURU) is an "interactive web-based tool intended to assist undergraduates navigate the hurdles of an undergraduate research experience." The site offers great primers for undergraduates seeking such an experience, and sections of note here include Professionalism, In the Lab, Communicating Science, and Mentoring Issues. Undergraduates new to the world of lab research should start by looking over the Getting Started section. Here they will find important articles on topics such as Questions To Ask, Negotiating Your Salary, and Getting Selected.

http://www.webguru.neu.edu/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

BioQuest

The original idea for BioQUEST came from Professor John R. Jungck, who taught at Beloit College in southern Wisconsin. Soon after its creation, the organization found willing partners in the guise of the Annenberg/CPB
Project and other parties, including the National Science Foundation and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The goal of BioQUEST is to support "undergraduate biology education through collaborative development of open
curricula in which students pose problems, solve problems, and engage in peer review." The site features information about BioQUEST's upcoming teacher education events and conferences, along with a section of Open Resources, located on the left side in the center of the page. These are publicly-accessible resources for teachers, and first-time visitors should start by looking over the Problem Spaces. The problem spaces offer "a way of organizing diverse kinds of resources to support student inquiry." Undergraduate biology teachers can take advantage of these clusters of resources organized around topics that include West Nile virus, chimpanzee conservation, and other topics. Moving along, visitors can also take advantage of the Investigative Cases, which are learning modules designed to help students in a range of fields like chemistry and health science explore different scientific scenarios. The site is rounded out by information about ongoing projects and a place where visitors can sign up for the RSS feed.

http://bioquest.org/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

The Nature of Science and the Scientific Method

For those who haven't been in science class for some time, the scientific method may be a bit of a hazy memory. Those people (educators and others included) who need a bit of a refresher, along with a nice guide to talking about the scientific method, will find this resource from The Geological Society of America most efficacious. Authored by scientist Christine V. McLelland, this 9-page document "promotes understanding of the nature of science and how the scientific method is used to advance science, focusing in particular on the Earth sciences." The document covers topics like "What is Science?" and breaks the scientific method down into its five primary parts. It also offers some brief talking points about the nature of science, and a nice bibliography.

http://www.geosociety.org/educate/NatureOfScience.htm

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Interactive Physics Simulations

At the top of this site's homepage, visitors will see a banner that proclaims "Over 70 million simulations delivered." Needless to say, the Interactive Physics Simulations site is quite popular, and the offerings here can be used in the classroom or by persons with a general curiosity about static electricity, alpha decay, and other related topics. The site is sponsored by a range of institutions, including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The site includes three dozen different simulations, many of which are available in over a dozen languages, including French, Russian, Chinese, Italian, and Vietnamese. First-time visitors might want to start with the "Build an Atom" which affords visitors the opportunity to build an atom out of protons, neutrons, and electrons and then play a fun game after they're done. Also, users can look at the simulations by topical headings, which include "Sound & Waves", "Heat & Thermo", and "Light & Radition"

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

The Science of Speed

A unique partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASCAR is the basis for this fun and informative website. The site features twelve episodes created as part of "The Science of Speed," hosted by Diandra
Leslie-Pelecky. Each episode features a NASCAR car in a variety of racing and testing situations, and some special guests turn up, such as Jeff Gordon and Michael McDowell. The topics covered here include car safety, drag &
drafting, grip, sound, and friction. Each clip is accompanied by racing footage and expert commentary that makes each encounter lively and compelling. This is a great way to pique the interest of those persons who might find certain aspects of physics and related fields a bit inaccessible. Visitors shouldn't miss the "Firesuits" episode as it explores the world of
these very important safety devices.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/sos/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research

The Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research is committed to a number of research goals, one of which is "to determine whether and how a detailed understanding of molecular mechanisms defined in model plant species can be used to rationally manipulate selected traits in crop plants." The Institute was founded in 1928 as part of the Kaiser-Willhelm-Gesellschaft and the first director, Edwin Baur, was interested in creating breeding programs with fruits and berries, though the Institute's scope has expanded since then. Visitors to the homepage should start by clicking on the News section. Here they can peruse recent releases from the Institute on how plants use mobile proteins to defend themselves against bacteria and the evolutionary "dead end" of powdery mildew. Scholars and others will want to click on the Reports and Publications area to look at some recent scholarly works and annual reports from 2009, 2006, and 2003. 

http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/2169/en

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Lecture Archives - Environmental Science Institute

The Environmental Science Institute (ESI) at the University of Texas at Austin is dedicated to "fostering environmental research, education, and outreach across disciplines." To this end, the ESI has developed a set of resources for educators, including a nice series of lectures dating back to 1999. This section of the site provides interested parties with access to 77 of these talks, which address topics like fracking, dark energy, the evolution of human vision, and autonomous robots. Visitors can browse through the lectures at their leisure, and will find supplementary materials accompanying most of the talks. Users are encouraged to use these lectures in a variety of ways, and it is easy to imagine that the talks could be used in the classroom or in other informal settings.

http://www.esi.utexas.edu/hot-science-cool-talks/lecture-archives

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

"The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is one of the most ambitious and influential surveys in the history of astronomy .... SDSS data have been released to the scientific community and the general public in annual increments, with the final public data release from SDSS-II occurring in October 2008 .... Meanwhile, SDSS is continuing with the Third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III)..... SDSS-III will continue operating and releasing data through 2014"

http://www.sdss.org/

NASA's Space Biology Outreach Program - Web of Life

Describing and discussing NASA's space missions and research is the goal of the Space Biology Outreach Program Web of Life. Questions covered range from those about the effect of weightlessness on the health of the astronauts to the significance of finding life on Mars to the definition of gravity. The Flight Experiments link on the same menu relates almost a dozen experiments that have been performed on space flights. Visitors can read about arterial remodeling and functional adaptations in the space experiment that used rats to model the human arterial system. Additionally, they can learn about how the blood vessels of the rats were examined to detect changes in a gravity-free environment. Finally, teachers should be sure to explore the Learning Resources section, which includes activities, resources, and links for teaching students of all ages.

http://weboflife.nasa.gov/

From the Scout Report. Copyright Internet Scout, 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu