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Ecosystems
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Baileys' Eco-Regions - Net-mom was interested to know that she lives in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest region of the U.S., characterized by rolling hills, oaks and wildflowers, and squirrels everywhere. This is in contrast to the Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe, where there are rugged mountains, spruce and fir, and all kinds of large mammals like elk and bear. All of the above is really different from the Hawaiian Islands Province, with its tropical climate and ohia and koa trees. What eco-region do you live in? There are more than 50 described and pictured here.
Biosphere 2 - Did you know there is a rain forest in the middle of the Arizona desert? There's also an ocean. It's true, and the most amazing part: they are both indoors! Biosphere 2 is a 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and space frame structure, and inside are seven wilderness ecosystems, or biomes, including a rain forest and a 900,000-gallon ocean. The idea was to find out how people could survive inside a sealed environment, in case we wanted to colonize other planets. Could they grow all their own food? Manufacture their own air? Recycle their own waste? The first crew of biospherians (four women and four men) entered Biosphere 2 on September 26, 1991. They remained inside for two years, emerging again on September 26, 1993. Biosphere's original experiments were very controversial, but the results were undisputed: we don't know how to successfully accomplish this mission--yet. Columbia University now operates the facility as a learning center about the greenhouse effect. See what they are up to and take a cybertour. Go into the Home section to check up on temperature, humidity, and other sensors around the building.
Can the Everglades Survive? - It's not really a swamp and not really a bog: it's known as the River of Grass, and there is no other place like it in the world. Birds, alligators, fish, amphibians, and reptiles make it their home. You can find out about the challenges facing this important Florida watershed at this official National Park Service site.
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum - Although the museum is located in Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay's estuary runs 190 miles and touches several states, from the mighty Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to Virginia's capes. At its widest point, the bay is 30 miles across, and its greatest depth is 174 feet. An interesting array of boats has developed around the bay's main occupations: crabbing, oystering, and waterfowling. Take the online museum tour to get a look at some of these sleek maritime beauties, and learn a lot about the Chesapeake Bay as you explore.
Earth:The Living Planet - Editors of the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia have prepared a feature on the earth, including information on the planet's physical features, its geological history, earth science, and human population. The feature includes an interactive quiz and multimedia.
EcoKids Online - It's never too early to teach your kids about the environment. This site uses games, friendly graphics, quizzes, and clubs, all in a treehouse format. A definite success in its effort to make learning fun, it's computer time you can feel good about.
Environmental Protection Agency - Teachers & Students - Check out these excellent handouts on the functions of a wetland, the various types, and the threats facing wetlands today. You can find out how to adopt a nearby wetland and help protect it. Tothese files you will need an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) reader. The Adobe Acrobat reader can be downloaded for free if you don't already have it.
Everglades Forever - Saw grass meets sea grass and freshwater mingles with salt — the Everglades joins Florida Bay. Other, more common waterways may rush to the ocean for all to see. Not the River of Grass. The Everglades is uniquely subtle and inherently complex, perhaps never more so than at its terminus. Here, water percolates through a fringe of mangroves 5 miles thick before mixing with the shallow lagoon that is Florida Bay. Here, water flows in myriad directions as it moves in a sheet of interconnected ponds, rivers and rivulets. Discover more here!
Evergreen Project Adventures - This site from the Missouri Botanical Gardens is awesome. A biome is the collection of creatures and plants living in a particular region. In What's It Like Where You Live? you can explore six different biomes: grassland, rain forest, taiga, deciduous forest, desert, and tundra. You'll learn about the features of each area and its plants and animals. You don't have a clue what living in the taiga is like? Ask a kid at a school in Finland or Russia--links to schools in each biome area are included here. Other sections of the site offer plant projects and stories.
Explore the Fantastic Forest @ Nationalgeographic.com - You may want to tell people to leaf you alone while you trek through this fantastic forest, picking up clues along with maple leaves. We encountered a deer, a woodchuck, and some running buffalo clover. You can learn a lot about the forest and its inhabitants by spending an afternoon here. Remember to pack out your trash, if you have any.
Freshwater: The Nature of Water - How much do you know about water? It's great to drink a cool glass of it on a hot day, you like to swim in it, your little sister likes to play with her boats in the bathtub--these are some of the things you know about water. But do you know about the water cycle? That's the path water takes as it passes through the environment. First there is condensation in the clouds, then precipitation as it rains. Runoff from the rain goes into our lakes and reservoirs, and some of it drips down into the ground and becomes ground water. Ground water helps feed streams and rivers, which flow to the lakes and the ocean. Water evaporates into the air, where it later condenses in the clouds, and the whole process starts again. Did you know it is solar powered? Without the sun, water wouldn't evaporate and go into the atmosphere to fall again as rain!
Fynbos - Kingdom Threatened - Fynbos refers to "the characteristic shrubland of the southwestern and southern Cape of South Africa." To continue to amaze you, we offer this tidbit: "The 470 square kilometers of the Cape Peninsula, including Table Mountain, is home to 2,256 different plant species--more than the whole of Great Britain (which only supports 1,500 species), an area 5,000 times bigger!" This outstanding site will introduce you to Fynbos and its plant life. You'll also learn about the threats to this shrubland, which include everything from humans to alien plants. The best part is that the entire site was done by kids--it was a winner in 1998's CyberFair, and for good reason.
GORP - Okefenokee - National Wildlife Refuge - Between northern Florida and southern Georgia lie the 700 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp, home to critters as diverse as coral snakes, alligators, and--yes--tourists! You'll be amazed at the dark, mirrorlike water of the swamp, with its overhanging trees draped in swaying strands of Spanish moss. Explore old Seminole canoe routes and learn about the fragile ecology of this very special area. Just remember, don't turn your back on that gator!
Lorax Saves the Trees Game - "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!" Even very little children will have fun trying to catch seeds in this Shockwave game inspired by Dr. Seuss. Use your mouse to position your basket just right. If you catch ten seeds, you'll be able to replant the Truffula Forest, and the Truffula Forest is what everyone needs.
New York Botanical Garden - Back before there was a New York City, a forest covered the whole island of Manhattan. Of course, there isn't much of a forest left these days, but 40 acres of the natural, uncut, 200-year-old forest has been saved at the New York Botanical Garden just as it was. The garden, one of the oldest and biggest in the world, also has 27 specialty gardens featuring everything from rocks to roses, all of which you can visit online. Make sure you read all about the garden's scientists, who travel the world looking for medicinal plants that may help to fight cancer and other diseases.
Northern Wisconsin / Northwoods Activity Calendar - You don't have to live in Wisconsin to download this activity calendar and have way too much fun! In November, the daily suggestions include examining resin from a pine tree, making origami animals, and creating a musical rattle out of a gourd. Other months suggest seeing how far a grain of popcorn will pop, learning how to make rock candy, and stuffing a pillow with cattail fluff.
Plants and Our Environment - If you don't know a sepal from a cotyledon, this is the place for you! Learn all about plants at this site, which was one of the finalists in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior competition. The handy A- to- Z glossary reveals that the cotyledon is the hard outer case of the seed, which holds the embryo (baby part of the plant) and gives it a food supply, whereas the sepals are the outer green parts of the base of the flower. Sepals protect the flower bud before it. The entire process of growth is explained, and the site includes lots of great graphics.
Shades of Green: Earth's Forests - Learn about all different types of forests: tropical and temperate rain forests, broadleaf forests, and coniferous forests. Find out what types of trees, plants, and animals live in them. Explore a virtual forest walk and examine diagrams such as a cross-section of a tree. What threatens these forests today? Pollution, fire, deforestation, erosion, and climate change are only a few of the problems you can learn about here. This site was created by students for the ThinkQuest competition.
Terry the Prairie Dog Home Page - Follow Terry the Prairie Dog and discover facts about the plants and animals that live on the tallgrass prairie in the American Midwest. This page was created by fourth graders for the CyberFair `98 contest. You'll love the animated drawings the kids made to help you learn about this ecosystem. They do take a long time to load, but it's worth the effort. Can you guess who might want to start a prairie fire?
The Amazing Story of Kudzu - Love it or hate it, you can't ignore kudzu--the vine that ate the South! It's not a native plant, but it now covers over seven million acres, climbing up and over everything in sight. How did it all start? Where did kudzu come from, and more importantly, where is it going? (What's that climbing up your leg?) Is there any use for the stuff? Find out here.
The Kelp Forest - Have you ever heard of a kelp forest? At the Monterey Bay Aquarium site, you can see photos and learn about this interesting forest, which is home to hundreds. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the gray whales who sometimes pass through, to tiny hermit crabs on the sea floor below. You can even see some of these species through the "kelp cam."
The Wonderful World of Trees - This resource has several sections. Let's explore A Year in the Life of a Tree. Did you know that trees have flowers? Some are so small we don't even notice them, but they are necessary for the tree to reproduce. At this site, follow a Canadian tree through its four seasons. Click on the buds, the branches, the roots, and the leaves, and see what's going on at each time. In the Formidable Forms section, you can learn how to classify trees by the properties they have in common. Other areas of this site discuss protecting trees, paper recycling, and an update on the devastating ice storms of the winter of 1997-1998. (Hint: Click on the camera icon toan encyclopedia of trees, with photos and information on each. If you click on the tic-tac-toe icon, you'll discover several tree-related games and word-find puzzles. The file-folder icon reveals a table of contents for the entire site.) Check it out, otherwise you'll miss something.
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