(the last update of this page, number 92, was on 02.11.06, but
I'll leave this page up for a bit longer as I see people are using it: in April
2007 I deleted many of the references to S269 and in August 2008 I have deleted
most of the specific references to stories - some will be out-of-date now.
Science moves on. If you are reading S269 course books be aware that some of the material is out of date).
(S269
was an innovative second level 30 points science course: 2006 was the final year for this
course. There is a range of
other Earth Science courses. You can also see what
students and tutors say about
different OU courses, and there's even an on-line
learner's guide if you want
to study - but cannot decide what to study, or what to study next. S269 and S267 were
replaced in 2007 by a
single 30 points Earth Systems Science course, S279, Our
dynamic
planet.
The OU has a front page, the Open University,
but you can go straight to earth sciences, the virtual microscope or staff,
or head off to palaeobotany and climate change on the
CLAMP website, which connects with Google Earth.
Or go direct to the Open Library.
Much information is available to everyone, but for some you will need
passwords.
There's a vast resource on-line at the Natural
History Museum. The NHM also has the Earthlab data site which is
searchable for UK minerals, rocks and fossils. Also ‘ask-a-scientist’.
Another resource is
PaleoNet -
"designed as a resource for palaeontological professionals and graduate
students" but welcomes "all persons interested in the study of ancient life".
Geological Society of London ("The
Geolsoc") has an excellent collection of links (including geol surveys and geol
socs world wide) plus a geological news section (and old stories are
archived).
Blackwell's, the
publishers, runs
Earth Pages. In the USA the
Geotimes has news. Another is ScienceDaily . And
there are earth science and environmental stories on the
Sci-Tech News pages of
the BBC.
There's a pleasantly idiosyncratic (and witty)
news file run by an English geologist (Richard Cowen) now enjoying the
Californian climate at UC Davis.
Geologists’ Association ("The
GA") with links to local geological societies. The GA also runs 'Rockwatch'
for kids.
British Geological Survey …with a
photo-archive and links to geological surveys world-wide (some have good
material to download). Possibly the best part is the
seismology section. Also you can read Earthwise
on line, or get a hard copy free. BGS has a free downloadable
Geological Time Scale - in some detail!
BGS also has set up an 'Ask-a -geologist' service by email or phone.
Also worth exploring is NERC, the Natural
Environment Research Council. You can get the glossy Planet Earth
(formerly NERC News)
free*.
United States Geological Survey has much
educational material (mostly aimed at schools). [Scientific American and other bodies run
‘ask-a-scientist’ sites].
An amazing amount of stuff at NASA: images,
papers, educational material, .....geological maps of planets e.g.
Mars
and information about the rovers. 'Astrobiology' (also known as 'Exobiology') and other subjects are on
Origins - including the original archived press release on life in that
Martian meteorite. You
can get news linked to images sent to you weekly from
Earth Observatory (EO): this is
really excellent bite-size science!
Visible
Earth is a source of stunning images. There’s also the European Space Agency
(and info about Mars Express ... and another
email newsletter you can sign up for). EO is really something for
everybody - I've sent images to artists, and an image to friends about to walk
in the Atlas mountains.
The
PLATES site is pretty amazing - reconstructions, etc. Useful to have
PowerPoint, but there's plenty of useful stuff without it. (PowerPoint Viewer seems to be in most versions of MS Office). You can print
off a copy of an
Age of the Ocean Floor poster.
Oceanic images from NASA or NOAA
(National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) or direct through
SeaWiFS. You can
browse SeaWiFS data. And make your own
SeaWiFS globe,
just for fun.
This should keep kids quiet for a few minutes (?nanoseconds) - and impress their
teachers! (SeaWiFS? That's Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor). Look out
for images of blooms and red tides off Cornwall in the summer,
processed by the Remote Sensing Group of Plymouth Marine Lab; these
are usually
interpreted SeaWiFS imagery. Much more about blooms on the
Emiliania huxleyi homepage,
including stunning images [and there used to be a link to a movie which showed
oceanic currents and eddies but I could not find it last time I looked - so
HELP, please, if you know where to find it].
Numerous sites for climate modelling and climate change (NASA lists
many - e.g. NOAA Paleoclimatology Program). e.g. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC),
and IEA (this mostly for methods
of carbon dioxide capture and storage) or go via the
Met Office (or direct to the
Hadley
Centre). The field is so political, and with so much waffle on the
web, that it's best to use links from a reputable site rather than wading
through the results from a search engine.
Volcanoes worldwide can be accessed from a dedicated volcanoes site (quite a few
volcanoes have webcams - including Mt St Helens).
***
Other sites:
Cornish images at
CSM's virtual museum site with many images of specimens, geological
maps, guides to selected areas, etc.
West’s geological directory - field guides to download for your DIY fieldtrips. But much more. A
labour of love by Dr Ian West, a lecturer at Southampton University. There are
some free field guides for Cornwall on other pages in this Earthwords site (go to
Home, then look).
And if you want to pay (or belong to a library
which has paid) there are OUP's
(Oxford University Press) dictionaries at
www.oxfordreference.com.
OU staff and students can access this free through the
OU library. (I think Oxford's
Concise Dictionary of Earth Sciences is more useful than Berkeley's glossary -
but then I would, wouldn't I - as I contributed! Certainly the OUP has more
information about each term defined. )
You might wish to work out your ecological footprint
using EcoCal™ which is freely downloadable
by UK households from Best
Foot Forward. EcoCal is also used in one
of the OU's technology courses.
***
And if you've got this far - best wishes for any OU courses
you are taking!
Sowena
(cheers!) ..............(that's a Cornish flag - flag of
St Piran, patron saint of tinners. St Piran's Day is March 5th.
Parades, speeches in Cornish, eating of pasties, etc. Worldwide. The
Cornish diaspora was the result of the frequent downturns in hard-rock mining.
So you'll see Cornish names, and Cornish engine houses, in the USA, Mexico,
Spain, Australia, South Africa, ..... Some of the mining area here in Cornwall is now a
World Heritage site - usually called the Cornish
Mining Landscape - and this has links to all the places abroad where Cornish
mining influence went). There's also the
Geomincentre website - lots of stuff here about mining too.
This should keep kids quiet for a few minutes (?nanoseconds) - and impress their
teachers! (SeaWiFS? That's Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor). Look out
for images of blooms and red tides off Cornwall in the summer,
processed by the Remote Sensing Group of Plymouth Marine Lab; these
are usually
interpreted SeaWiFS imagery. Much more about blooms on the
Emiliania huxleyi homepage,
including stunning images [and there used to be a link to a movie which showed
oceanic currents and eddies but I could not find it last time I looked - so
HELP, please, if you know where to find it].
Sowena
(cheers!) ..............(that's a Cornish flag - flag of
St Piran, patron saint of tinners. St Piran's Day is March 5th.
Parades, speeches in Cornish, eating of pasties, etc. Worldwide. The
Cornish diaspora was the result of the frequent downturns in hard-rock mining.
So you'll see Cornish names, and Cornish engine houses, in the USA, Mexico,
Spain, Australia, South Africa, ..... Some of the mining area here in Cornwall is now a
World Heritage site - usually called the 