Fundamentals of Physical Geography - Nothing seems to have been missed out by webmaster Michael Pidwirny from his introdiction to physical geography. Pidwirny is a research at Okanagan University College in British Columbia, Canada, although at the time of writing he was on study leave putting together a couple of books. A detailed and comprehensive glossary prevents jargon overload, but saying that Pidwirny's text is clear and concise enough for all but the most junior reader and any jargon is linked straight back to the glossary entry, anyway. There is a study guide to help learners make the most of the site and Pidwirny offers instructors the free use of his materials in their courses and asks users to provide feedback as to how useful his online physical geography textbook is. Speaking of which, the site very much follows the old- style layout of an online textbook, with long scrolling pages a particular characteristic. Fortunately, there is a search engine built in, so there's no excuse for not finding what you need. Score: Rating: 8 out of 10 (16 February 2003) DB
http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/
Canadian Council for Geographic Education - The Canadian Council for Geographic Education (CCGE) was established in 1993 by the The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the National Geographic Society of Washington, DC with the aim of putting the emphasis on geography in education and increasing public understanding of the subject and the need for better public awareness of its capabilities. As such, the organisations site carries some useful links to educational resources. A map-making applet is useful for studies of Canadian geography allowing you to zoom in on specific areas highlighted in the usual geographical divisions - agriculture, industry, climate, population, ethnicity and physical environment. While the program works well enough, my browser became entangled and I had to reload the URL to get back to the home page. The site carries the ubiquitous lesson plans covering clouds, forests, glaciers, endangered species, mountainsŠindeed almost every topic you might want to teach in this subject. All with a Canadocentric flavour of course. The "geography on the job" section makes for interesting careers ideas especially how an understanding of geography can be useful in the police force. Rating: 7 out of 10 (5 February 2003) DB
http://www.ccge.org/geosources/English.htm
Geography for Kids - This colourfully illustrated introduction to the world of physical geography is simply bursting with information on the natural world, presented in a logical and informative fashion which will appeal to both young and old alike. The site is simple to navigate, with a tour of the site included for those who are overwhelmed with the amount of information on offer. All aspects of physical geography are covered, split into topics covering energy, sky, land, earth, water and climate, where land refers to the biosphere and earth to the terrasphere below. The site is written with a practical informality that should keep children interested, and although detailed, comes in small, easy to manage sections with key terms reviewed at the bottom of the page where necessary. Various Flash based quizzes are provided on the site in addition to an 'expeditions' page that allows you to tour some interesting locations, including a high-altitude lake and rocky shore, with the aid of photos and QTVR spins. If you don't wish to navigate via the main page, a site map is also available and an examples page which links directly to an alphabetised directory of various examples of geographic occurrences across the globe. GEOGRAPHY4KIDS links directly to its sister sites PHYSICS4KIDS, BIOLOGY4KIDS and CHEM4KIDS, which, if this site is anything to go by, will be well worth a visit. Rating 9 out of 10 (30 December 2002) LH
http://www.geography4kids.com/index.html
International Year of Mountains - Most of us appreciate mountains all that clean, fresh air, breathtaking scenery and après-ski. But did you know that these graceful giants are home to one in every ten people, and that the water flowing from them sustains half the world's population? Or that they are where most of the world's wars are fought? Enter the United Nation's awareness-raising campaign to promote understanding of the key issues affecting mountains and mountain people the International Year of the Mountains 2002. The online site explores the idea that every one of us whether highlander or lowlander is intimately linked to and depends on mountains for our survival. So it is in everyone's interests, the site says, to take an interest by promoting sustainable development and helping to protect mountain habitats. The main message is 'we are all mountain people.' On the site you can download fact sheets on the issues including biodiversity, climate change, conflicts, hunger and gender. On a lighter note, you can e-mail in your favourite images of mountains to the online gallery and say why these mountains have meaning to you. Rating 7 out of 10. (9 July 2002) JS
http://www.mountains2002.org/
The Discovery of Longitude - With Dava Sobel's book Longitude and its subsequent popular BBC adaptation, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in the history of the discovery of longitude. The first prize for the discovery of longitude was issued by Philip II of Spain in 1598, followed within 50 years by similar prizes offered by Holland, Venice and Portugal. As one historian observed, this would have been like the Americans offering a prize for the discovery of the nuclear bomb in 1930, because the science simply didn't exist. In 1714 Queen Anne of England put her signature to a Parliamentary Act establishing the magisterial award of 20,000 pounds for the discovery of longitude, an almost unthinkably rich sum. A century of technological progress, which lay behind the prize, had seen the invention of the pendulum, the balance spring and temperature compensation turning the clock from a crude timekeeper set by the sundial into a precision scientific instrument. A little over 20 years later, in 1735, Harrison produced his Chronometer No.1 which qualified to win the prize and then spent the rest of his life fighting among other, Massey, the Astronomer Royal, to have it granted. This exceptionally thorough site is an outstanding site about the search for longitude, going beyond the invention of the marine chronometer, up through Cook's navigation and to the GPS systems of the present day. Looking at the quality of this site, it's difficult to believe that it had its genesis in a student project. Rating 10 out of 10 (10 February 2002) WTS
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects97/n...
USGS National Geologic Map Database - The US Geological Survey provides a convenient searchable database of maps and related data covering all Earth Science disciplines. Both paper and digital maps have been catalogued and can be queried on a number of criteria such as theme, geographic area, state, author, scale, publisher etc. Current mapping projects are also available and can be selected from a base map at two scales. Links are provided to other USGS earth science databases including coal resources for example. At present, however, this portion of the site was under construction. Overall, the easy to use search engine and a web resource section make this a valuable resource for mainly American published data. (27 December 2001) NJF
http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/
