This resource offers information on the history and current management of sanctuaries, scientific and educational programs, and continuing efforts to conserve U.S. ocean and coastal treasures. The sanctuaries featured include: the Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Fagatele Bay, Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks, Grays Reef, Gulf of the Fallarones, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale, Monitor, Monterey Bay, ... Full description.

The New Millennium Observatory (NeMO) is a seafloor observatory off the coast of Oregon, which studies the relationships between submarine volcanic events and the chemistry and distribution of hydrothermal vents and the biologic communities that depend on them. The research activities at NeMO provide an extraordinary educational opportunity, both from the daily reports from expeditions at sea and ... Full description.

The goal of the PALEOMAP Project is to illustrate the plate tectonic development of the ocean basins and continents, as well as the changing distribution of land and sea during the past 1100 million years. In the section on Earth history you can select any time period, read about that period, and see the plate distribution during that period. There is also a section on climate history where you can ... Full description.

This activity allows students to better understand aquifers and the issues of climate, spring flow, environmental protection, and water use. The activity centers around a constructed ground-water system and contains vocabulary, materials, procedures for two labs, data sheets and information on analyzing the data. Full description.

This publication provides an introduction to the theory of plate tectonics. It was intended as a companion to the map entitled 'This Dynamic Planet', published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Smithsonian Institution. Topics include the history and development of the theory, lines of evidence, plate motions and interactions, hotspots, what drives plate motion, and extraterrestrial plate ... Full description.

This activity is a fun and easy way to understand the geology of an aquifer. Students will build an edible aquifer, and learn about confining layers, contamination, recharge and water tables. This demonstration is designed to illustrate the geologic formations in an aquifer, how pollution can get into groundwater, and how pumping can cause a decline in the water table. Students will notice how the ... Full description.

This site presents a take-home web-based project for introductory geology students. The exercise has the students interpreting the sedimentary geology (lithology and fossils) of the Grand Canyon to create a geological history for the region. It is an open-ended exercise with no absolutely correct answer; it involves students acting as scientists - that is, the way real scientists think and combine ... Full description.

Windows to the Universe is a user-friendly learning system pertaining to the Earth and Space sciences. The objective of this project is to develop an innovative and engaging web site that spans the Earth and Space sciences and includes a rich array of documents, including images, movies, animations, and data sets that explore the Earth and Space sciences and the historical and cultural ties between ... Full description.

The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation) brings together data and information providers from government agencies, universities, non-profit organizations, and businesses in an effort to make Earth science information available to a broader community. The objective of the Federation is to develop methods that make space-based imagery and related Earth science data easy ... Full description.

This website features the most complete set of astronaut photography of Earth from the beginning of human spaceflight in the 1960s to the digital photographs being downlinked daily from the International Space Station. The underlying database includes over 430,000 records in 2002, with new data added daily. The pages are maintained by the data source at NASA's Johnson Space Center and include search ... Full description.