Scott's Botanical Links--October 1996

October 30, 1996 - Why Does Moss Only Grow on One Side of a Tree?

What happens when a teacher asks a third grader and her friend why moss seemed to be growing on only one side of a tree? Rachel (and her Mum and Dad) surfed the Net, found some complicated sites and then asked on the newgroup bionet.plants.education "why does moss only grow on one side of a tree?" There were 23 email responses to this and everyone was very willing to help with hints on what she might look for. She and her parents spent some time in the woods, and this is where it led. I don't know if anyone could write a better case history! This site sponsored by Rosedale Heights Public School, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. (****)

October 29, 1996 - How to Get a Teaching Job at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

Interesting first-hand observations and recommendations for those searching for college teaching jobs. This is an alternative career path to that taken by a significant number of doctoral graduates and is not emphasized in the research-driven atmosphere of graduate school and postdoctoral experiences. Preparing students for such careers has been identified as a strategic priority by NAS, but it still attracts little attention in graduate school. This alone justifies the site and its inclusion as an educational link. Written by Dr. Malcolm Campbell, Davidson College and posted originally on the American Society for Cell Biology site. (****)

October 28, 1996 - World Lecture Hall

This site is a very wide spectrum collection of links to instructors' Web resources worldwide that are available on most major university topics. Although the individual resources cataloged are variable in content and quality, this resource tracks their presence and location. It looks like an excellent resource to keep track of! Assembled and maintained by the University of Texas, Austin, TX. (****)

October 25, 1996 - HomeArts: Bloom!

This is a slick commercial site for gardening that is part of an online magazine site (at the root directory). (If you are like most botanists, you have requests for such sites!) Features this time include "Urban Paradise" (a small city backyard is reborn), "Plan for Winter", "The Name of the Rose," "Tales From the Garden", More Gardening Stories From HomeArts and Country Living, email to "Ms. Grow-It-All" ("our garden expert tackles your thorniest gardening problems") and a preview of their gardening CD-ROM. The site also offers a seed swap, garden tours, catalog collection and Botanica, the newsletter of the HomeArts gardening club. This site belongs to the Hearst Corporation (****)

October 24, 1996 - Q'TAXA

An interactive system for education and information on the diversity of life on earth. Trees of the Great Peten and the Video Flora of Veracruz are still very incomplete, but will be developed into an online herbarium of photos and drawings with large format GIFs (in excess of 600 X 600 with linked thumnail index of 150 to 200 pixel range). Cycads of Mexico is an oddly linked graphic site from a spanish CD-ROM. The Online Plant Identification site is a limited test site for a pictorial dichotomous key (español) to the Great Peten trees and the cycad genus, Dioon. The El Eden Private Biological Reserve has a variety of links about the place, a few images of algae and other plants. The pages are presented in English and español. When completed (which looks like it may be a long time from now), it looks like it will be a valuable resource. Site developed by Arturo Gómez-Pompa and Orlay Edward Plummer, Plant Resources Information Laboratory, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA. (***)

October 23, 1996 - Possibilities in Science

Integrating the Internet into the science classroom is a stated goal of this site. The site includes ideas on Interpersonal Projects, Information Collection & Exchange, Problem Solving, and Projects using the tools of the Internet. Individual pages are provided for explaining the role of: E-mail, Listservs & Newsgroups, Information Searches, Collaborative Problem Solving, Remote Equipment Manipulation, Electronic Mentoring, Teacher-Based Information Exchange, Student-Based Information Exchange, Parallel Problem Solving, Career Guidance, Electronic Appearances, Social Action Projects, Theme-Based Courses, Database Creation, On-line Courses, Student-Produced Virtual Field Trips and Scientist-Produced Virtual Field Trips. There are also hints on Evaluating Internet Projects, General K-12 Education Internet Sites and a Highlight Page of the Month. This site is by William Bandrowski, Educational Technology Specialist, Kingston, Washington USA. (****)

October 22, 1996 - Poison Ivy, Western Poison Oak, Poison Sumac

This site describes Rhus-type dermatitis caused by such species as Poison Ivy, Western Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac, which are not unusual in North America. Each of the plants is described individually with good quality pictures, a description of the dermatitis that results from contact with the sap (see medical sites for more details on treatment), how to identify the plants and how to eradicate them. Beginning students may enjoy this brief, largely pictorial site. This site was constructed from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Publication No 1699 by Agriculture Canada. (***)

October 21, 1996 - SyllabusWeb

The SyllabusWeb site promotes the development of technology to enhance education. The site contains links to information about conferences, a "News, Resources, and Trends" newsletter, highlights from their monthly magazine (Syllabus), a product guide, case studies on the use of technology in the classroom and their top 40 pick of educational sites. October articles in Syllabus include: "Resources for Multimedia Production: A Guide for Educators," "Multimedia in Cyberspace: Teaching with Virtual Reality," a Multimedia Buyer's Guide, New Products for Windows and three columns covering the topics of the Internet, Quantitative Tools, and Publishing. Subscriptions to Syllabus are free to educators and an online form is available. This site is sponsored by Syllabus Press, publishers of Syllabus magazine and producers of the annual Syllabus conference. (****)

October 18, 1996 - The Plant Tracker

The Plant Tracker notes that it "...is not your grandmother's botanical database!" This site tracks plants not only by common and scientific name, but by ethnobotanical uses of the plant. Plants can also be searched by growth requirements, including soil type, soil pH, hardiness zone, moisture, and sunlight, Plants are also rated based on future potential value and reference citations are being developed. Currently, 7000 plants are cataloged. The database was compiled by Plants For A Future, a non-profit organization located in Cornwall, U.K. (***1/2)

October 17, 1996 - Website Instructor's FAQ

One of my obvious goals in creating this site was to gather resources to aid students and instructors using the Internet. This site tells the reality of creating and maintaining a large component of a college class (Soil/Hort/Agron 326) on the Web: what to expect, what you need, how long it will take (longer than you think!), and how to asses the outcome. This is part of a future that seems to be emerging from current Web trends, and it will alter instruction as much as the first use of copying devices did in the classroom. This site created and maintained by Phillip Barak, Dept of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. (****)

October 16, 1996 - Essential Elements for Plant Growth

Today's site is part of Soil/Hort/Agron 326: "Plant Nutrient Management" at the University of Wisconsin. The Essential Elements pages include a definition of "essential elements," a List of Essential Elements, soil conditions in relation to ion uptake, and photographs and descriptions of plants displaying deficiencies. This is an attractive and reasonably complete site for an intro botany student! (The course home page also contains staff info, syllabus, grading, class notes, problem sets and readings.) Maintained by Phillip Barak, Dept of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. (****)

October 15, 1996 - Curious Kids Science Newsletter

Today's site does not really meet all my criteria, but it is a truly excellent children's site for science. The truth is not compromised for pedagogy and it even has ideas for experiments. The plant project for this month is Why do Leaves Turn Colors? They cite sobering results on science among adults (many of whom grew up during the resurgence in science during the space program). Barely half of the adults knew that the Earth revolves around the sun once a year, only 20% can define DNA, just 1 in 10 can describe a molecule -- 87% of the American people are classified by NSF as being scientifically illiterate. One reason I include this page is that I would like to see a lot more sites like it. In a best of all possible worlds, someone would just sponsor this; instead it looks like this site could privatize if it is a success. Site sponsored by Curious Kids Science Newsletter, Voorhees, New Jersey. (****)

October 14, 1996 - BIOL 342 Plant Physiology

This is a syllabus/lecture and lab readings site for plant physiology. It is solidly academic and provides a reasonably comprehensive approach to this topic. Since Ross is just developing this site, it is still appearing day-by-day as the class proceeds. Site developed and maintained by Ross Koning, Dept of Biology, East Connecticut State College. (***1/2)

October 11, 1996 - Costa Rican Fern Exploration Page - not found 1/98

Roy Lent, who lives in Costa Rica, shares his explorations into the jungles and wilds of Costa Rica in search of interesting ferns and "fern allies." These explorations can be enjoyed vicariously by others through this page. As of this date, two expeditions have been conducted: the hills of Pico Blanco behind Escazu (with bits of cloud forest at close to 2,000 meters elevation) and Vara Blanca, a tiny settlement on the "saddle" between Barba and Poas Volcanos (somewhat over 2,000 meters elevation and very rainy. Additional exploration is planned! Site assembled by Roy Lent and sponsored by 7 Continents. (***1/2).

October 10, 1996 - Stein's Virtual Herbarium

This is principally an image site with photographs of wildflowers and herbs of the Appalachians, although most of the species shown are widely distributed east of the Mississippi. He has especially emphasized plants with alleged medicinal value. There are over 300 images at this site, all of which are excellent quality and have labels on their download size (most are mid-sized JPG files [60 to 100 KBytes, 300 x 400 or so]). The photographs are copyrighted and for instructional and educational uses only. This site by Kenneth J. Stein, Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. (****).

October 9, 1996 - California Wildflowers Collection

This site will be the location of 20,000 images of 2,000 species of California wildflowers taken during the life of Brother Alfred Brousseau F.S.C. (1908-1988). As of late August 1996, 5400 images were included in the database. Photographs are accessible through a search engine. This site is part of the Berkeley Digital Library Project. (***).

October 8, 1996 - A Study of Plant Anatomy

This site distinguishes itself as the only plant anatomy site that I know of to date. It features mainly diagrams (usually quite nicely constructed), definitions and slightly larger than thumbnail photomicrographs. It is well adapted for an overview of plant structure for a beginning botany class, for example. Entry to the site may also be made through another front page, but this has a 173K background and it isn't worth it via modem [removed 6/1/99]. This site is created and maintained by Sr. Frances M. Cardillo, O.S.F. and Tonya S. Samuels, Department of Biology, Manhattan College and the College of Mt. St. Vincent. (***).

October 7, 1996 - North American Pollen Database (NAPD)

This site provides access to a number of pollen databases: ASC - Raw counts in a simple, ASCII text format; F70 - Raw counts for a selected set of Northern Hemisphere pollen types (comprising the "fossil 70" list of important types) in a simple, ASCII text format; P15 - percentages for the top 15 pollen types in a simple, ASCII text format; and Modern 70 - counts for the "modern 70" list of important pollen types in Paradox format. There is also a search engine for locating appropriate FTP sites. This is part of the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, which includes a European Pollen Database, Global Pollen Database, and Latin American Pollen Database. This site is hosted by NOAA. (***). [Formerly at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pollen.html]

October 4, 1996 - WQA Glossary of Terms

This glossary is actually a wide-ranging list of definitions that includes a wide variety of biological terms. Although it is essentially unillustrated, the definitions are quite accurate and useful. The original WQA Glossary of Terms was written by Joseph Harrison, P.E., CWS-V, Technical Director of the Water Quality Association and Wes McGowan of Wes Max Consulting; and edited by Judith Grove, Ed.D., CAE, Director of Education for the Water Quality Association. This site is hosted by the Water Quality Association. (****).

October 3, 1996 - Texas Plant Disease Handbook

This is an online, encyclopedic manual on plant diseases on a wide divesity of plant diseases that occur in Texas and elsewhere, listed by plant type. A wide variety of plant hosts are listed, including: vegetable crops, fruit crops, nut crops, flowers, ground covers, shrubs, lawns and turf, trees, cereal crops, fiber, oil and specialty crops, forage crops, sugar crops and problems affecting multiple crops. Only drawback: no graphics but great content! This was first issued as a pamphlet in 1988, under the editorship of C. Wendel Horne (retired) and is now available free on the Web, thus fulfilling the editor's goals of timeliness and ready access. Site developed by Texas Extension Plant Pathologists and hosted by Texas A & M University. (***1/2).

October 2, 1996 - Plant Disease Information Notes

Links to diseases of: alfalfa, corn (maize), cotton, fruit crops, ornamentals, peanuts, small grains, soybeans, tobacco, turfgrass and vegetables, with links to general principles of plant pathology and other links, including Plant Pathology Extension Programs. This site is sponsored by North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Still under construction and illustrated. (***1/2)

October 1, 1996 - The Antibodies Resource Page

Nicely organized resource page on antibodies with excellent graphics. In plant biology, antibodies are used for identifying plant proteins and are the basis of numerous food allergies. They are essential to modern cell biology, cytochemistry, molecular biology, and medicine. This site explains how antibodies are elicited, collected, examined and purified, and has a lot of other links besides. (****)

Past, past links (by date):

2006: January

2005: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2003: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2002: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2001: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2000: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1999: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1998: January*, February*, March*, April*, May*, June*, July, August, September, October, November, December   (*Leigh's links)

1997: January, February, March, April, May, June, September*, October*, November*, December*    (*Leigh's links)

1996: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Or search by: Subject Index

http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/oct96.shtml