This week's 12 February 2005 "Earth Science Sites of the Week" feature:
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1) all about Mars
2) evolution of the cosmos
3) shuttle radar imagery
4) geologic time scale update and stratigraphy
5) environmental treaties
6) virtual geology field trips
7) animations: weather fronts
8) computer tip: Google Desktop
9) quote from Martina Navratilova
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1) MARS EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY VISUALIZATIONS, SERC, (suggested by John
McDaris, SERC), this collection from On The Cutting Edge includes
visualizations of Mars exploration and geology. Visitors can access
animations and interactive images from Martian rovers and landers,
including Spirit, Opportunity, Pathfinder, and Sojourner. There are also
visualizations detailing Mars' surface geology, as well as animations
and information about the historical and current presence of water on
Mars.Mars Exploration and Geology Visualizations
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/visualization/collections/mars.html
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2) COSMOLOGICAL EVOLUTION, Western Washington University, (suggested by
Charles Burrows, Spring Valley, NY), `one of the principal goals of this
web site is to develop and make available to science educators the
resources necessary to teach the history of nature using the concept of
evolving historical systems. This page is devoted to cosmological
evolution and takes advantage of the explosion of information about
astronomy and astrophysics on the Internet as shown in the following web
papers. Find sections for The Evolution Of The Universe, The Origin Of
The Elements, The Life History Of Stars, Stellar Nursery In The Orion
Nebula, The Formation Of Stars, And Solar Systems. `
http://fire.biol.wwu.edu/trent/alles/Cosmic_Evolution_index.html
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3) SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY, University of Maryland, (suggested by
Joseph Kerski, USGS), the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
archives remote sensing data for the entire globe. The SRTM was a sensor
on a space shuttle in 2000 that collected 30m elevation data for the
world (it is resampled to 90 m). The USGS has been processing the data
ever since and there is now over 13 Terabytes available.
http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml
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4) THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISION ON STRATIGRAPHY, The International
Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS),(suggested by Illinois Earth Science
Teachers) the site is concerned with stratigraphy on a global scale. One
of its major objectives is the establishment of a standard, globally
applicable stratigraphic scale. The commission has recently created the
Geologic Time Scale 2004, which includes many updates and a major
nomenclature revision of the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods. The site
also includes GeoWhen, comparative time scale charts, and several links.
Check out the â??Newsâ?? and download the .pdf version of the 2004 Geologic
Time Scale update.
www.stratigraphy.org/
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5) ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES AND WILDLIFE INDICATORS: Columbia University
Center for International Earth Science Information Network, (suggested
by Virginia Malone, Hondo, TX), this site contains the texts of treaties
and identifies the countries ratifying each treaty. Environmental
issues classes will find these primary sources on international treaties
a rich resource.
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/entri/index.jsp
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6) VIRTUAL GEOLOGY, Oxford Brookes University, (suggested by Cheryl
Dodes, Port Washington, NY), this site allows teachers to take their
students on virtual field trips to such diverse locales as the volcanoes
of Alaska, the Devonian limestones of France, and the Florida Keys. Also
included are images of sedimentary structures such as bedded sediments,
dunes, and deltas. In addition, find online materials about
sedimentology, environmental geology, and mineralogy.
http://www.virtual-geology.info/index.html
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7) WEATHER FRONTS ANIMATIONS, variety of sources, 3 -D animations for
warm and cold fronts, life of a midlatitude cyclone, and stationary front.
http://webs.cmich.edu/resgi/links.asp?mc=Other Resource Links&cad=Earth
Science Animations&to=267&tod=Weather Fronts
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8) COMPUTER TIP, GOOGLE DESKTOP, Google, (suggested by Virginia Malone,
Hondo, TX), download a free desktop search engine from Google. The
utility searches many types of emails, complete text of documents,
including Excel and Access documents, and Internet bookmarks. Easy to
install and use, by using keywords you can find a document, no matter
what you called it. If your filing system is less than organized you
will find this desktop search engine useful
http://desktop.google.com/
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9) QUOTES, as quoted in ACSD Briefs,
The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing
else." --Martina Navratilova
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These links are archived at RESOURCES FOR EARTH SCIENCE AND GEOGRAPHY
INSTRUCTION at http://webs.cmich.edu/resgi . The links are organized
around the sequence of topics typically taught in an introductory earth
science or physical geography class. Links are also available for a
variety of animations, environmental science, earth science/geography
education, career opportunities, and more. The sites selected are based
on image quality, ease with which lesson plans can be developed,
organization, authenticity, scope, and format. Please contact me at
Mark.Francek@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:Mark.Francek@xxxxxxxxx> to remove
yourself from the mailing list, add a new subscriber, or suggest a site
to be listed.
Mark Francek
Professor of Geography and Earth Science