Springfield Library: Science Links

Science

Animals and Biology

Audubon's Birds of America: A multimedia presentation of the complete John James Audubon's Birds of America (1840-1844), with full text, color plates, figures and bird calls.
eNature Field Guides: Field guides to over 4,800 species of North American plants and animals (mammals, birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles, sea creatures and more), with descriptions, photographs and audio files where appropriate. Fill in your e-mail address and zip code to receive local guides, or sign up to start your own life list or subscribe to newsletters.
Animal Diversity Web: A collection of descriptive information including classification of animals, their food, habitat, behavior and reproduction. This site has limited pictures. From the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
Cells Alive!: Good site for basic information about cells and their functions. Brief explanatory text with excellent photographs and graphics. Text can be translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, and Portuguese.

Archaeology/Paleontology(Fossils)/Anthropology

ArchNet: The Archaeological Research Institute at Arizona State University provides access to archaeological resources on the Internet. Information is categorized by geographic region and subject, with news and links to museums and journals.
Archaeology Exhibits: Engagingly written and informative introduction to archaeology, from Minnesota State University. Explains general terms, different archaeological areas, fieldwork, dating techniques, and other aspects of the modern discipline, with additional sections on ancient technologies, rock art, underwater archaeology, and the technological feats of 'virtual archaeology'. Also, visit some of the other sections in MSU's EMuseum: history, biology, cultures, and prehistory.
University of California, Berkeley: Museum of Paleontology: Provides information on the conservation of fossils including protists, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, geology, and evolution.
Dino Directory: A guide to the most well-described dinosaurs, with meanings of names, taxonomies, images, and more. From London's Natural History Museum.
Zoom Dinosaurs: All sorts of information on dinosaurs with fact sheets, time charts, a dinosaur dictionary, quizzes and learning activities. From Enchanted Learning Software.

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Astronomy

Springfield Stars Club: The local astronomy club has its own Web site, with a schedule of events including programs at the Springfield Science Museum, photos of Comet Hale-Bopp, and other astronomical information and links.
Astronomical Resources on the Internet: Extremely thorough, annotated gateway site, with links to organizations, observatories worldwide, sky charts, educational resources, and much more.
Your Sky: An interactive planetarium. Create a sky map, horizon view or virtual telescope for any time and date, viewpoint, or observing location. Links to related software programs are listed also.
Nine Planets: A multimedia tour of the solar system with a digital table of contents. A Big Bang!
NASA Homepage: From those fine folks who gave us "One small step for man...," well, you know the rest.
San Francisco Exploratorium: This guide to astronomy resources includes spectacular cosmic views.
Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center: Another great learning site from NASA, this includes a timeline of scientific history, great links to other NASA Web sites, teacher resources, and other space-related sites.

Biography & History

Eric's Treasure Trove of Scientific Biography: Good selection of international scientists, past and present, with biographical sketches and pictures.
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences: Contains profiles of past and present African American men and women scientists.
4000 Years of Women in Science: Includes biographical information on over 125 women inventors, scholars, writers, mathematicians and astronomers.
ECHO: Exploring and Collecting History Online: Science and Technology: Provides a wealth of links to other websites with information on the history of science, technology and medicine. Formerly the WWW Virtual Library for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
History of Mathematics: Archive of biographies of famous mathematicians, mathematical topics, math in various cultures, and more. Searchable.

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Botany (Plants)

PLANTS Database: The PLANTS Web Site, created by the Department of Agriculture, provides taxonomically standardized information about the land plants of the United States and its territories. Includes images, distribution maps, and easy navigation through the plant classification hierachy. There are also lists of invasive and noxious species, as well as and endangered plants grouped by state.
Botany.com: Encyclopedia of plants by common names and botanical names, with a word dictionary, botanical gardens and societies, and weather.

Chemistry

WebElements: The Periodic Table on the World Wide Web (Scholar edition): Provides a wide range of information on any element of the periodic table. This site includes ChemPuter, which provides interactive calculators for chemistry. The Sheffield ChemDex Index points to nearly 3,000 chemistry sites worldwide.
Periodical Table of the Elements: Another periodic table site. From the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
International Programme on Chemical Safety: INCHEM: Includes pesticide data sheets, health and safety guides, poison information monographs, international chemical guidelines, and more.

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Environment

Connecticut River Homepage: Contains information about the River's biology, history, and geology as well as links to other websites. From the University of Massachusetts Biology Dept.
Massachusetts Dept. of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement: This department protects and manages the Commonwealth's various natural habitats, native plants and wildlife, freshwater fish and marine species. Contains fishing and hunting information.
Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program: Link here to lists of Massachusetts endangered, threatened and special concern species, plant and animal, as well as to other documents, reports, surveys and forms in the program.
Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute: Provides contact for technology information references and outside links to other websites to promote reduction in the use of toxic chemicals. This site also allows you to e-mail your questions to the institute. At UMass, Lowell.
U.S. Endangered Species Program: From the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA's website offers regulations and proposed rules, codified regulations and current legislation, and a section for kids. Also available in Spanish.
Enviro$en$e: A joint program of the EPA, the Dept. of Energy, and the Dept. of Defense; provides a source of pollution-prevention compliance, assurance, and environmental enforcement information and databases. Also useful for small businesses.
Committee for the National Institute for the Environment: Contains three sections: Congressional Research Service Reports, Reference Resources, Environmental Virtual Libraries.
National Wildlife Federation: Contains information on environmental issues including camps, educational activities and more.
Wild World @ National Geographic: An interactive map of ecoregions throughout the world. Click on region of map to pull up detailed information for that ecosystem, including photographs. You may also search by ecoregion name, habitat type, place-name, zip code, or map key number. Includes an educator's guide, a glossary, and related links.
World Rainforest Information Portal: A gateway to rainforest information, protection, destruction, regions and action.
The World's Biomes: An introduction to earth's biomes, "the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment." From UC Berkeley.

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Evolution

DNA from the beginning: An animated primer on the science behind genetics, heredity and DNA. Requires the Flash plug in.
AAAS Evolution Resources: The American Association for the Advancement of Science has developed this web site to serve as a resource on the ongoing dialogue between science and religion on evolution. The website includes: current issues, educational and scientific resources, perspectives, historical information and more.
The Evolution Pages: UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology has online exhibits covering the theory of evolution and the history of evolutionary thought.
The Long Foreground: Human Prehistory: A student learning module from Washington State University, with sections including an overview of human evolution, a hominid species timeline, and human physical characteristics, with links to other resources.
PBS: Evolution: The companion site to the television series, this site includes an overview of evolution, with teacher resources and a multimedia library.
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General Science

SciTech Daily Review: A newsletter featuring breaking news in the science and technology fields. Features, background stories, book reviews, essays and opinion pieces are added daily, and links to major science publications, news sources, and other useful media outlets are included.
SciCentral: This may be the only site you'll need! A wealth of information and websites for all ages. Includes science subjects for K-12 students. Provides access to over 50,000 sites for engineers and scientists to share their ideas in the business community.
Education in Forensic Science: Resources for one of the hottest fields in science and law, with a timeline, bibliographies, information about careers and education in the field, with comprehensive links to other sites.
700+ Great Sites for Kids: Science and Technology Links: These links, compiled by the American Library Association are a great educational resource for children from pre-school through age 14. Topics include general science, math, chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy and science experiments.
The Why Files: The Science behind the News: "Why is the sky blue?" etc. Ask your question and you'll be linked to an appropriate website for your answer. Supported by Univ. of Wisconsin Grad School.
National Geographic: Great design, easy to use and full of fascinating information.
The Discovery Channel: Provides web links to many topics with detailed information.
PBS Science & Technology: This is a companion site for public television programs which focus on science topics. Some sites included are: Stephen Hawking's Universe, , Nova, Nature, Newton's Apple, and Scientific American Frontiers, to name a few.
NBII Digital Image Library: Welcome to the National Biological Information Infrastructure’s Digital Image Library. Here you will find a diverse range of images related to nature and the environment. Our current and future collections contain images associated with plant and animal species, scenic landscapes, wildlife management, and biological study/fieldwork. You may browse our broad subject categories or search for specific images using the search feature. Each image’s metadata record contains valuable information about the image, i.e. scientific name, description, location, etc.

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Geology

Massachusetts Geology: This research guide compiled by Boston University librarians will direct you to relevant geological surveys and fact sheets about the state.
VolcanoWorld: Provides descriptions, photos and analysis of recent eruptions. From the University of North Dakota.
Geological Time Machine: Located on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, the Museum of Paleontology has put together the "Geological Time Machine" which gives an overview of specific geologic time periods.
Mineralogy Database: Provides more than 5,000 pages of data on on over 4,000 individual mineral species descriptions with links. Includes definitions, crystallography, chemical composition, classifications, a gallery of photographs, and more. Browse using the alphabetical index, or use the search engine.

Mathematics

WebMath: Good site for homework help for math. This site has over 100 instant-answer, self-help, math solvers, ready to help you figure out your math problem -- and teach you how to solve it yourself the next time!
MathForum: The Dr. Math section archives K-12 student math questions and answers. Includes other math resources, teacher's guides, discussion groups, a newsletter and the Internet Mathematics Library. Hosted by Drexel University.
The Mathematical Atlas: A Gateway to Modern Mathematics: A collection of short articles designed to provide an introduction to the areas of modern mathematics and links to further information. The material is arranged in a hierarchy of disciplines, and allows for searching by subject headings or keywords.
S.O.S. Mathematics: A good review and study site for math students in high school and college and for adult learners. Provides brief explanations for math concepts in algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus and calculus, from simplifying fractions to differential equations. Includes free cyberexams to practice your skills and a message board.
Understanding Algebra: An online algebra text, by James Brennan of Boise State University.

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Museums/Nature Sites/Zoos/Aquariums


The Franklin Institute Science Museum: Explore interesting exhibits at this science museum. Includes tips for study for teachers and students.
The Smithsonian Institution: Click on "museums" and then select any of the outstanding museums of the Smithsonian to tour. Many other resources and information are available. Or use the Encyclopedia Smithsonian for quick A-Z links to information.
The National Academy of Sciences: Lists organizations, committees, contact people, as well as current news and archives of NAS projects.
Association of Science-Technology Centers: Find a Science Center: List of hands-on science museums around the world.
American Zoo and Aquarium Association: Directory: Find zoos and aquariums throughout the U.S. Searchable by name or state.

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Physics

Physics Web: A searchable guide to physics resources in education, companies, institutions and organizations, and employment. This site is a massive link to other websites.
How Stuff Works: A great site with lots of diagrams to illustrate the mechanics of a variety of things; for example, the toilet and the telephone. Marshall Brain is the creator of this site and has written several books. He communicates complicated ideas clearly.
How Things Work: Text about the physics behind the way things work, provided by Louis Bloomfield, Professor of Physics, University of Virginia. The information is based on his book How Things Work.
The Official String Theory Web Site: Unintimidating, introductory essays on strings and related theories, including the foundations of particle physics, the properties of black holes, and an overview of the Big Bang. Each topic is available in a basic or advanced version.
The Particle Adventure: An interactive tour of particle physics - learn about the fundamental building blocks of the universe, and how they are studied. Versions are available in 12 languages.

Science Projects & Experiments

Ideas for Science Projects from the Springfield Library: A bibliography of the many books available on science fair experiments and projects for grade levels 7-12 in the adult collection of the Springfield Library. They may be borrowed except for the few Reference items listed.
Science Fair Central: This site has sections for students, teachers and parents. It includes a list of topics, a guide for getting started, and an outline of what to cover in a project, with a sample project to view. From The Discovery Channel.
IPL Science Fair Project Resource Guide: The Internet Public Library has links to sites to help learn how to do a science experiment, with samples, ideas, magazine articles and other resources for science projects.
Intel International Science & Engineering Fair: Science Fair Resources: Known as "the Olympics of science fairs," Intel provides great links to resources, with information for parents, teachers and students.
Experimental Science Projects: An Introductory Level Guide: A step-by-step guide to planning and completing a basic science project. Includes links to intermediate guide and other resources.

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Springfield Library
http://www.springfieldlibrary.org
220 State Street
Springfield MA 01103
413-263-6828

This page last updated: December 27, 2006