Virtual Science

The following list contains examples of the types of interactive science teaching resources available on the web. Although the list is by no means complete, an attempt has been made to include a variety of activities, representing as many disciplines as possible and to include Australian examples where they were available. If you are using any of these resources or have found more appropriate resources, we welcome your comments. If you are interested in evaluating any of these web sites, please contact UniServe Science.

Virtual Field Trips- help for teachers who want to create a virtual field trip
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/

Virtual Field Trips - from Web Tools Newsletter
http://webtools.cityu.edu.hk/news/newslett/virtualField.htm

Examples of Virtual Field Trips

Virtual Field Trip - Kiama, NSW - prepared by UniServe Science as an example of a local area study, explore the geology of a local area and investigate how the geology has impacted on the landscape
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/virtexps/vftkiama/

Virtual mangrove fieldtrip - produced by Jane West, OTEN, a practice session for students about to complete a field study or a replacement for those students who are physically unable to go into the field to complete their study
http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/jwest/Draft/splash.html

Towra Point Mangrove Excursion - from the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, includes a transect and vegetation studies
http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Mangroves/html/home1.html

Intertidal Zone Field Trip - from the northwest coast of USA
http://www.poulsbomsc.org/tutorial.htm

Who lives in the Intertidal Zone?
http://www.poulsbomsc.org/wholives.htm

A Last Interglacial estuarine deposit at Largs, New South Wales, Australia - from University of Newcastle. The Largs site is significant because it provides an opportunity to quantify sea levels in eastern Australia for the last Interglacial
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/geology/research/shaun/molluscs.htm

Glacial Geology at University of Cincinnati - view images of, and learn about, glaciers
http://tvl1.geo.uc.edu/ice/glacier.html

Plant collecting in Western New South Wales - from the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, aims to set out the general sorts of things that happen on a botanical field trip
http://www.anbg.gov.au/projects/field-trips/western-NSW/western-NSW.html

Fossil Forest near Lulworth Cove, southern England - the Fossil Forest, west of Lulworth Cove, Dorset, southern England, is a classic geological locality with the remains and moulds of late Jurassic or early Cretaceous coniferous trees rooted in a palaeosol (ancient soil), the Great Dirt Bed
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/forest.htm

Physical Geology Virtual Field Trips - Big Bend National Park - from Texas A&M University
http://geoweb.tamu.edu/faculty/herbert/bigbend/

Physical Geology Virtual Field Trips - Texas Hill Country - from Texas A&M University
http://geoweb.tamu.edu/faculty/herbert/hillcountryvft/

Physics 2000 Applets - from University of Colorado at Boulder
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/applets/

Amusement Park Physics - activities in the exhibit invite visitors to design a roller coaster and determine the outcomes of bumper car collision
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/

The Virtual Laboratory - from Hallym University
http://physics.hallym.ac.kr/education/TIPTOP/VLAB/about.html

Virtual Chemistry- from Oxford University
http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/vrchemistry/

Virtual Earthquake - from California State Univerisity, LA
http://vcourseware3.calstatela.edu/VirtualEarthquake/VQuakeExecute.html

Virtual Dating - from California State Univerisity, LA
http://vearthquake.calstatela.edu/VirtualDating/

Electrophoresis Simulation Site - from Rochester Institute of Technology
http://www.rit.edu/~pac8612/electro/E_Sim.html

SkyView - Virtual Telescope, generating images of any part of the sky at wavelengths in all regimes from Radio to Gamma-Ray
http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov

Visualize Science - from Explore Science, includes interactive resources in Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Life Sciences including The Virtual Mouse House, Astronomy, and Optics, some activities free, some require subscription
http://www.explorelearning.com/

Virtual Photosynthesis Experiments - ASU Photosynthesis Center, use mutant bacteria to discover which proteins are necessary for photosynthesis
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/education/experiments/virtual.html

Virtual Molecules

The plug-in 'Chime' is useful for visualizing compounds. Free registration is required. Description: MDLŽ Chime is a plug-in that interactively displays 2D and 3D molecules directly in Web pages. You can rotate, reformat, and save the molecules for use in other programs. You will be required to accept a license agreement when you install the program. To preview the agreement, which explains the permitted and nonpermitted uses of this no-fee software, click on the End User License Agreement link below. http://www.mdli.com/downloads/downloadable/index.jsp

Molecular Models - from Okanagan University College
http://people.ouc.bc.ca/woodcock/molecule/molecule.html

Basic Organic Nomenclature - from Okanagan University College
http://people.ouc.bc.ca/woodcock/nomenclature/index-2.htm

Lycoming Chemistry 3-D Molecules - from Lycoming College
http://www.lycoming.edu/chem/rasmol.htm

Real World Data

El Niño Theme Page- Access to information about El Niño
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino/nino-home.html

Bureau of Meteorology - temperatures, rainfall, satellite maps
http://www.bom.gov.au/

Update on Current Volcanic Activity - from Volcano World, North Dakota University
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/current.html

Weather Climate and Drought - vegetation greenness change maps - based on satellite imagery - show the relative change in the density of vegetation
http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/climate/

Images banks

The University of Newcastle Pollen Collection - University of Newcastle
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/discipline/geography/research_information/pollen/search.html

Virtual Herbarium at Charles Sturt University
http://www.csu.edu.au/herbarium/

Photo Gallery - from Molecular Expressions
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/micro/gallery.html

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science - the use of case studies holds great promise as a pedagogical technique for teaching science, particularly to undergraduates, because it humanizes science, from University of Buffalo
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html

Case Studies in Science - University of Buffalo
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm

About Teaching with Problems and Case Studies - from the Journal of Chemical Education
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/AboutJCE/Features/TPCS/

Teaching Science as Inquiry - outline of a course for teachers "CLASSROOM CASE STUDIES: Teaching Science as Inquiry" as a 13 page .pdf file
http://halvas.colorado.edu/broker/jimshort/CLASSROOM%20CASE%20STUDIES.PDF

Your Genes, Your Choice - 7 case studies involving genetic engineering, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science
http://ehrweb.aaas.org/ehr/books/contents.html

Energy and the Environment - ideas for case studies, from California State University, Fullerton
http://energy.fullerton.edu/case-ideas.html

Nova - Science in the News- from Australian Academy of Science, new Nova topics are being posted regularly
http://www.science.org.au/nova/

News in Science - from Australian Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/default.htm

News in Science: Space and Astronomy - from Australian Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/space/default.htm

News in Science: Environment and Nature - from Australian Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/default.htm

News in Science: Health and Medical News - from Australian Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/default.htm

In the news - geology links from publisher Houghton Mifflin
http://college.hmco.com/geology/resources/geologylink/news.html

BBC News: Science and Nature
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm

Science and Space - from CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/

Health - from CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/

Today's Stories - from Science at NASA
http://science.nasa.gov/

Science in the Headlines - from the National Academies
http://nationalacademies.org/headlines/

News Service - from American Chemical Society
http://center.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm

Enthusiasts Information - from American Chemical Society
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/enthusiasts.html

Biology in the News - from Discover Biology
http://www.discoverbiology.com/bionews/newswise.htm

Virtual Workshop - Transport of East Asian Dust Pall Across the Pacific
http://capita.wustl.edu/ASIA-FAREAST/

Science in the Courtroom
http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/courtroom/animations.htm/

Toxic Legacy - Hazardous Waste and the Lessons of Woburn, Massachusetts
http://home.earthlink.net/~dkennedy56/woburn.html

Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre Pty Ltd
http://www.aip.com.au/amosc/

Human Genetics - A Worldwide Search for the Dominant Trait.
This is an opportunity for students to study genetics as experienced scientists do. Students are asked to complete survey forms, formulate hypotheses, and use the data complied by students around the globe to test their hypotheses.
This Collaborative project is being conducted by CIESE from 13 September 1999 - 10 December 1999.
http://k12science.ati.stevens-tech.edu/curriculum/genproj/

WHY DO LEAVES CHANGE COLOR? A WebQuest for second-fourth graders about fall leaves and why they change colors.
http://www.esc13.net/nixon/fallfestivalmr.htm

Morton Arboretum http://www.mortonarb.org/color/fallcolor.htm
Best Gardening NZ http://www.bestgardening.com/bgc/howto/botany04.htm

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