Resources to help with science fairs and projects

Useful web sites for people doing science fairs and science projects.

Version 25: July 12, 2006

This is a companion page to my Science fair projects page. It is also intended to support a number of books on projects which are being written, ever so slowly. I will have more to say about them later, but the pages stand on their own.

The art of finding suitable references on the Web often comes down to knowing the right words to chase. You may not find much when you search for "stone tools", but if you know to look for "flint knapping", you can find lots of pages. The catch is that you need to be an old hand like me, in order to know the jargon.

I have used my jargon skills to find you some starter pages, but there are probably more. When you find a page that seems useful, you should look for technical terms in that page and chase them, so you can find more pages. This is a starting place, not a finish. I have just finished checking for currency: a page has to fail twice, a month apart, before I remove the link. Quite a few of them, on past experience, will work next time. If not, they will be deleted.

Please respect the limited copyright status of this page.

       Topic       
Notes about the sites
  Last viewed  
AnatomyThe life of John Hunter.April 18, 2006
AnatomyThe life of William Hunter and the history of anatomy.April 18, 2006
AnatomyA quick history of anatomy, with links.April 18, 2006
Anemometersa brilliant set of references.March 7, 2006
Animal culturea source for many manuals on keeping or culturing from the supply house, Carolina.March 7, 2006
Animals in the wildidentifying animals by their droppings: what scat is that? March 7, 2006
Antibioticssome background, good pictures, links.March 9, 2006
Antibioticsthe sensible use of antibiotics.March 7, 2006
Antibioticsbacterial resistance to antibiotics.March 7, 2006
Antibioticsgood tutorial on antibiotics: needs Shockwave.March 7, 2006
Antibioticsthe Why Files look at why antibiotics lose their power.March 7, 2006
Antibioticsbackground from the CDC on antibiotic resistance.March 7, 2006
Aqueductssome of the Roman aqueductsMarch 7, 2006
Aqueductsan excellent encyclopaedia entry from 1875.March 7, 2006
Aqueductsanother encyclopaedia entry which has links to information on the cement used to line the aqueducts.March 7, 2006
Astronomyexcellent work from Ian Musgrave, an Australian scientist who has astronomy as his hobby.March 7, 2006
Astronomythe plan for a telescope in Antarctica makes more sense than you may think!March 7, 2006
Astronomya book-on-the-Web by David SternMarch 7, 2006
Astronomyhow to make a cross-stave.March 7, 2006
Atoms and moleculeslinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.March 7, 2006
Australian fossilsa links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.March 7, 2006
Australian science history linksa links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.March 7, 2006
Bacterial sampling in rivers and lakesa useful guide from Massachusetts.March 7, 2006
Barometera home-brew barometer, in more senses than one.March 7, 2006
Barometera barometer museum.March 7, 2006
Beach pebblesbeach pebbles at Chesil Beach, England.March 7, 2006
Beach pebblessome ideas for the study of pebbles and sand.March 7, 2006
Beach pebblessome information on Pebble Beach, California.March 7, 2006
Beach pebblessand pebble beaches on Kythera, an excellent research site (well, we can dream, can't we?).March 7, 2006
Beach pebblesabout Rocky Bay, a sand pebble beach in New Zealand.March 7, 2006
Beetles of Australiaan ABC discussion and guide to some of the fanciest beetles.March 9, 2006
Benham discthe Exploratorium's account of Benham's disc.March 9, 2006
Benham discmaking a Benham's disc.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitythe Australian government's thoughts on biodiversity with lots of links.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitybiodiversity hotspots.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitythe New Zealand government's thoughts on biodiversity with some links.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitya South African view from the Iziko Museums of Capetown: a number of good links and case studies.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitya British view.March 9, 2006
Biodiversitya USGS site with links — excellent value.March 9, 2006
Biological controlthe Biological Control Virtual Information Center of the US National Science Foundation.March 9, 2006
Biological controlcopepods eat mosquito larvae.March 9, 2006
Biological controlthe Australian leaders in biological control: weak on information, a few good links: look for the link to feral.org.au which makes it worthwhile.March 9, 2006
Biomes of the worlda good account. If you follow the links.March 9, 2006
Biomes of the worldincomplete, but the finished bits are good on detail.March 9, 2006
Bird song linkssites around the world with bird songs. See also 'dawn chorus'.March 9, 2006
Bogong mothsThese moths migrate up to a thousand km to find somewhere cool for the summer, when to go to aestivate in the Snowy Mountains.March 9, 2006
Boiling pointspecific heat, specific weight, fusion point, boiling point and calorific value for many materials.March 9, 2006
Boiling, evaporating and condensinga neat set of questions and answers, excellent for getting odd ideas.March 9, 2006
Box kitesa good box kite design, ready to make.March 9, 2006
Breaking strain.a poem by Rudyard Kipling.March 9, 2006
Bridgesmodern bridge designs.March 9, 2006
Bridgesbridge disaster links.March 9, 2006
Bridgesa How Stuff Works page on bridges.March 9, 2006
Brumbiessome background on brumbies, a few links.March 9, 2006
Brumbiesa Parliamentary speech from NSW.March 9, 2006
Brumbiesa conservationist viewpoint.March 9, 2006
Bubblesall about bubbles from the Exploratorium.March 9, 2006
Bubblesbubbles links.March 9, 2006
Bubblesbubble activities.March 9, 2006
Bubblesthe bubbularium from the Exploratorium: all about the colours in bubbles: there may be an idea for you here!March 9, 2006
Bushfire regenerationphotos and links.March 9, 2006
Bushfire regenerationthe science of bushfires, with lots of links.March 9, 2006
Bushfire regenerationthe statistics of bushfires.March 9, 2006
Calorific valuespecific heat, specific weight, fusion point, boiling point and calorific value for many materials.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in natureadaptive coloration and camouflage.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in natureperception and the laws of camouflage (go on to the 'Hide and Seek Sea' links).March 9, 2006
Camouflage in naturea How Stuff Works page, with others following on: a good place to get ideas.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in natureanother good starting place.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in naturea page from the Natutal History Museum in London.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in naturethe case of the peppered moth.March 9, 2006
Camouflage in naturea reassessment of the peppered moth case.March 9, 2006
Capillary effectan explanation from the Madsci Network.April 18, 2006
Capillary effectcapillary effects in soil.April 18, 2006
Capillary effectcapillary efects in industry: background.April 18, 2006
Chladni figuressome explanation and a neat applet to explore variations.May 10, 2006
Chladni figuresAnother source for informationApril 18, 2006
Chladni figuresHow to make Chladni figures (brief)April 18, 2006
Chladni figuresA curious application of Chladni figuresApril 18, 2006
Chromatographysome simple paper chromatography investigations.April 18, 2006
Chromatographysome sensible and useful background, but it goes well beyond the beginner stage.April 18, 2006
Circular motiona good look at the relationship between simple harmonic motion and uniform circular motion.April 18, 2006
Climate changea USGS site with links — excellent value.April 18, 2006
Climate changeThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeApril 18, 2006
Climate changeWorld Glacier Monitoring Sevice.April 18, 2006
Climate changeThe Pew Center for Climate Change.April 18, 2006
Climate changeNew Zealand Climate Change Office, a site with many links.April 18, 2006
Climate changeclimate change and deserts, with a few links.April 18, 2006
Climate changea How Stuff Works page on global warming.April 18, 2006
Climate changesome background from experts.April 18, 2006
Cloninga How Stuff Works page on cloning.April 18, 2006
Cloudsa basic view of the different types of cloud.May 10, 2006
Cloudsa good gallery of cloud types.April 18, 2006
Cloudsthe basics of clouds from the BBC Weather service, which is always excellent.April 18, 2006
Coala coal tutorial from the Argonne National Labs: excellent content.April 18, 2006
Coalhow coal is formed: follow the links to learn more.April 18, 2006
Coalthe National Coal Mining Museum in England.April 18, 2006
Coalthe history of coal mining in Cape Breton.April 18, 2006
Cockroachesa good starting place, but most of the links are very technical.April 18, 2006
Cockroachesa cockroach in verse — Archy and Mehitabel.April 18, 2006
Columnar jointinggood background material. Good photos, some theory, some links, lists and references.April 18, 2006
Columnar jointinga good image of columns, seen from below.April 18, 2006
Columnar jointingan experiment to simulate columnar jointing, using corn starch.April 18, 2006
Columnar jointingScottish geology: Staffa and Fingal's Cave.April 18, 2006
Conditioningbackground on Pavlov, and a simulation game.April 18, 2006
Conditioninga good account of classical conditioning.April 18, 2006
Conditioninganimal behaviour online.April 18, 2006
Conditioningabout the work of B. F. Skinner.April 18, 2006
Conditioningnotes on behaviourism and conditioning.April 18, 2006
Conditioninginstrumental conditioning.April 18, 2006
Conditioningabout operant conditioning.April 18, 2006
Conditioningfrom Pavlov to the Skinner Box — has lots of good links to follow.April 18, 2006
Coolgardie safedetail from a museum in Melbourne.April 18, 2006
Dawn chorusa set of 125 Australian bird calls from the ABC, in Real Audio format. See also 'Birdsong links'.April 18, 2006
Dawn chorusthe Backyard Birdwatch project from the ABCApril 18, 2006
Dawn chorusa nifty bird identifier for Australian birds, from the ABC. Conbine this with their database of bird calls.April 18, 2006
Dawn chorusmore Australian birdcalls and a commercially available CD.April 18, 2006
Dawn chorusa few more bird songs from Australia.April 18, 2006
Dawn chorusaccess to some MP3 recordings of a dawn chorus, and information on how it was done: brief but useful as a starting place.April 18, 2006
Densitymaking and using a hydrometer.April 18, 2006
Desertificationthe USGS viewpoint.April 18, 2006
Desertificationthe FAO viewpoint.April 18, 2006
Desertificationa Chinese viewpoint.April 18, 2006
Desertificationa South African viewpoint, covering the basics.April 18, 2006
Desertificationthere is even a desert in Iceland.April 18, 2006
Desertificationthe Australian Friends of the Earth fact sheet.April 18, 2006
Desertificationclimate change and deserts, with a few links.April 18, 2006
Dinosaursgood dinosaur links.April 18, 2006
Dinosaursthe Saurischia.May 10, 2006
Dinosaursthe Ornithischia.May 10, 2006
Dinosaursmeet Bob Bakker.May 10, 2006
Diseaseone of the best starting places: the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).May 10, 2006
DNA and geneslinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.May 10, 2006
Dyesgetting a purple from lichens, but look at the links for more.May 10, 2006
Earth shapebackground material: essential reading.May 10, 2006
Earth shapethe Earth's shape is changing!May 10, 2006
Earth shapea review of flat earth literature.May 10, 2006
Earthquakesa National Geographic site: the forces of nature.May 10, 2006
Earthquakesa links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.May 10, 2006
Earthwormsearthworm background article.May 10, 2006
Earthwormsearthworm anatomy.May 10, 2006
Earthwormslinks on dissecting (or not dissecting) earthworms and other invertebrates.May 10, 2006
Earthwormsearthworm facts.May 10, 2006
Earthwormsearthworm sites and books.May 10, 2006
Earthwormssome earthworm links.July 10, 2006
Electric motorgood explanation of an unusual design (reed switch).July 10, 2006
Electric motorgood explanation of an unusual design (Hall effect).July 10, 2006
Electric relaylinks to some relay projects, originallly in Italian but now translated: the circuit diagrams are OKApril 18, 2006
Electric relaysome technical background.April 18, 2006
Electric relaythe story of Edward Davy, inventor of the electric relay.April 18, 2006
Electricitya potted history with useful links.April 18, 2006
Electricityinformation about early thermopiles.April 18, 2006
Electrochemistrya set of simple projects, worth exploring.April 18, 2006
Electromagnetic radiationlinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.April 18, 2006
Electronics projectsoriginally in Italian, English translations are now up: check the circuit diagrams.April 18, 2006
Electronics projectsexcellent set of links.April 18, 2006
Electrophoruseshow to make and use one.April 18, 2006
Electrophorusesthe Exploratorium's account of the electrophorus and the Leyden jar as well.April 18, 2006
Electrophorusesfrom France (in English), a set of experiments to perform with the electrophorus.April 18, 2006
Endangered speciesa USGS site with links — excellent value.April 18, 2006
Endangered speciesshould we eat kangaroo?April 18, 2006
Endangered speciesthe Corroboree frog of Australia.April 18, 2006
Endangered speciesTasmanian devilsApril 18, 2006
Endangered speciesabout sharks in Australia.April 18, 2006
Energylinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.April 18, 2006
Energya series of detailed lectures on energy conversion: approach with care.April 18, 2006
Environmental science questionsgood answers to many simple questions.April 18, 2006
Erosiona USGS site with links: excellent value.April 18, 2006
Estimating pia good introduction to pi (though he is too kind to Lazzerini, who definitely cheated!).April 18, 2006
Estimating pithe dart-throwing simulation: follow the links!April 18, 2006
Estimating piProject pi (very bandwidth intensive!)April 18, 2006
Estimating pithe Buffon's needle simulation.April 18, 2006
Estimating pianother Buffon's needle simulation: this one offers a Java applet.April 18, 2006
Estimating pia treatise on pi.April 18, 2006
Estimating pisome more ideas for estimating pi.April 18, 2006
Evaporative coolingan unusual application of evaporative cooling in modern physics. See also the Coolgardie safe entries.May 10, 2006
Evaporative coolingthe windchill factor.May 10, 2006
Evaporative coolingevaporative cooling in leaves.July 10, 2006
EvolutionUnderstanding evolution.April 18, 2006
EvolutionHow Darwin is misunderstood: essay.April 18, 2006
Exoplanetsplanets beyond our solar system.May 10, 2006
Expansiona table of coefficients of linear expansion for common materials.May 10, 2006
Expansionhow to measure a linear coefficient of expansion.May 10, 2006
Expansionanother guide to measuring the linear coefficient of expansion.May 10, 2006
Expansionfrom Eric Weisstein's encyclopaedia, a good but no-holds-barred account of the technicalities.May 10, 2006
Faults and earthquakesA useful set of diagrams and pictures.July 10, 2006
Feral animalsan Australian government source: explore the other choices from this page!May 10, 2006
Fernssome good background on ferns.July 10, 2006
Fernssome background on ferns.May 10, 2006
Fernsa good diagram showing the life cycle of ferns.May 10, 2006
Fernsanother view of the fern life cycle.May 10, 2006
Fernssome technical background on the ferns and their allies.May 10, 2006
Fernsmore good information on ferns.May 10, 2006
Fernsfern links.May 10, 2006
Fernsanother useful set of fern links.July 10, 2006
Fernsbracken fern is dangerous: take note!July 10, 2006
Fernslinks for fern maniacs -- well, that's what it says!July 10, 2006
FernsAustralian ferns and their cultivation.May 10, 2006
Fibonacci seriesthe Fibonacci numbers, the Golden section and the Golden string.May 10, 2006
Fibonacci seriesa life of Fibonacci.May 10, 2006
Fibonacci seriesthe Fibonacci series and music.May 10, 2006
Fibonacci seriesthe Fibonacci series in nature, plus some good links.May 10, 2006
Fish stocksa USGS site with links — excellent value.May 10, 2006
Fossil linkssome fossil links: you need to burrow down to find out what else is here.May 10, 2006
Fossil linksa useful set of links to explore.May 10, 2006
Fossil linkslinks to a whole range of fossil dealers.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationthe art of preparing a fossil at home.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationthe art of preparing a fossil.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationtools for use in preparing fossils.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationthe Why Files give a neat view on the methods of fossil preparation.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationanother guide to preparing fossils.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationanother fossil preparation site with links to suppliers.May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationyou can even buy a kit, with all the tools, AND a fossil fish (and two practice fossils), but it is pricey!May 10, 2006
Fossil preparationa commercial supplier of trilobites in Oklahoma outlines the way that a fossil should be prepared.May 10, 2006
Fusion pointspecific heat, specific weight, fusion point, boiling point and calorific value for many materials.May 10, 2006
Genomicsfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.May 10, 2006
Geomorphology, structural geology and sedimentary geologya links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.May 10, 2006
Glass harmonicaBen Franklin's harmonica.May 10, 2006
Glass harmonicaa short article and illustration.May 10, 2006
Global warming and healthfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.May 10, 2006
Ground watera USGS site with links — excellent value.May 10, 2006
Ground watercapillary effects in soil.May 10, 2006
Hall effectexplanation and definition.May 10, 2006
Hall effectan unusual application.July 10, 2006
Hazardous materialsthis will give you good places to go to get Materials Safety Data Sheets.May 10, 2006
Heart and circulationa very neat tutorial on the basics, with some useful links to follow.May 10, 2006
Heart and circulationan excellent set of links, though you will need to drill down. The anatomy page, for example, has many excellent illustrations.May 10, 2006
Heart and circulationa good brief account from the Franklin Institute, but see the links for more.May 10, 2006
Heart and circulationan excellent set of links on blood and circulation.May 10, 2006
Heart and circulationa reasonably simple account of the human blood circulation.July 10, 2006
Heart and circulationfrom the American Heart Association: about heart failure.May 10, 2006
Human evolution humans, hobbits and Neandertals: background.May 10, 2006
Hygiene a very neat tutorial on the basics, with some useful links to follow.May 10, 2006
Hypnosisa How Stuff Works page on hypnosis.May 10, 2006
Imagesa Dutch museum of scientific instrumentsMay 10, 2006
Imagespictures of scientists from many fields.May 10, 2006
ImagesBritish Library Images OnlineMay 10, 2006
Immune systemhow Edward Jenner developed inoculation.May 10, 2006
Immune systemlinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.May 10, 2006
Insect trappinga commercial site with useful background.May 10, 2006
Insect trappinginsect trapping research in New Zealand.May 10, 2006
Insect trappingsome useful background material from Florida.May 10, 2006
Insect trappinginformation on the use of pheromone lures.May 10, 2006
Insect trappinga range of commercial traps, showing some of the designs that are sold.May 10, 2006
Insect wingssome basic details and definitions.May 10, 2006
Insect wingsusing wing venation in bees.May 10, 2006
Insect wingsusing wing venation in dragonflies.May 10, 2006
Integrated pest managementfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.May 10, 2006
Interferometerthe Very Large Telescope Interferometer.May 10, 2006
Interferometersome background on interferometers.May 10, 2006
Invasive speciesan official Australian government portal.May 10, 2006
Invasive speciesa South African view.July 10, 2006
Invasive speciesa USGS site with links -- excellent value.May 10, 2006
Invasive speciesan official US government portal.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencegood story.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencecurious.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencedebunking the paranormal: lots of links.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencethe Encyclopedia of Psychology: pseudoscience: good links.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencethe home page of Victor Stenger, with interesting links, but most of them heavy going.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencethe Museum of Unworkable Devices.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencehow to detect Crank Physics.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencea review of flat earth literature.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencethe Bad Science site.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencethis page is called physics abused. Read it.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencesome of the urban myths of science.May 10, 2006
Junk sciencea method of assessing potentially revolutionary contributions to physics that you think may be crackpootery.May 10, 2006
Kitsthis site has lots of neat kits, though some may be unsafe or unsuitable: check first!May 10, 2006
Knots, breaking strain.handy material, how to tie the knots.May 10, 2006
Latin squaresthis is the home of EDGAR, a really neat program for generating Latin squares.May 10, 2006
Leyden jarsa museum of old electrical apparatus, with pictures of Leyden jars and some history.May 10, 2006
Leyden jarshow to charge a Leyden jar: see the link to a dissectible Leyden jarMay 10, 2006
Leyden jarsa good guide to making a Leyden jar: some of the links don't work.May 10, 2006
Lichenswhat a lichen is, different types.May 10, 2006
Lichensbackground and definitionsMay 10, 2006
Lichenslinks relating to lichens.May 10, 2006
LichensNorth American lichens, and a photo gallery: may be useful elsewhere.May 10, 2006
Lightningpreventing ESD. (What's ESD? Read on!)May 10, 2006
LightningElectrostatic Discharges (ESD).May 10, 2006
Linksthe P. L. Duffy Resource Centre, Trinity College, Western Australia: brilliant collection.May 10, 2006
Linkssome assorted experiments. See also Pot Luck.May 10, 2006
Linksa links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material: you need to drill down in this one!May 10, 2006
Linksthe Gateway to Educational Materials (I happen to be a consortium member): use this US government portal to search for stuff that has been carefully selected.May 10, 2006
Linksthis is a page off another of my listed pages, but it is worth listing separately. Drill down!!May 10, 2006
Linksthe main entry point for How Stuff Works.May 10, 2006
Linksthe Exploratorium's Ten Cool Sites page: look out for the archives link on the left, because there are HEAPS of other sites listed here.May 10, 2006
Linksthis has a number of links I already have, but it has even more that I don't..May 10, 2006
Linksscience forums, periodicals and programs.May 10, 2006
Linksscience cresources: make sure you drill down through some of the links.May 10, 2006
Linksan excellent set of links.May 10, 2006
Living fossils the Wollemi pine.May 10, 2006
Mantidsthe care of mantids, has some links.July 10, 2006
Mantidskeeping mantids factsheet from an English zoo.July 10, 2006
Mathematical amusementssome unusual bits and pieces of mathematics, well worth digging into.July 10, 2006
Microbesa large number of links relating to microbiology.July 10, 2006
Microscope linksa handy set of links, but scroll up and down to see the others while you are there!failed July 10, 2006
Microscopyhow to use the microscope.July 10, 2006
Microscopythe virtual microscopy library.July 10, 2006
Microscopythe Amateur Microscopy Net — watch out for their link to their Links page!July 10, 2006
Microscopyan excellent set of sources on the history of optics.July 10, 2006
Moon phasesa neat lunar calendar: find out when that next full moon will be, or where the moon was, the day you were born.July 10, 2006
Mosquito culturea manual on mosquito culture.July 10, 2006
Mosquito culturegrowing a variety of small invertebrates, emphasis on using them as fish food.July 10, 2006
Museumsthe National Museum of Australia.July 10, 2006
Museumsthe Questacon site in Canberra, a bit heavy on bandwidth.July 10, 2006
Museumsthe Exploratorium in San Francisco, one of my favourite places.July 10, 2006
Museumsthe American Museum of Natural History.July 10, 2006
Museumslinks to science centres and organisations.July 10, 2006
Newtonian mechanicsa book-on-the-Web by David SternJuly 10, 2006
Nuclear powerthe future of nuclear power, as seen by MIT.July 10, 2006
Nuclear powerthe OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has some good links.July 10, 2006
Nuclear powernews stories with a pro-nuclear slant.July 10, 2006
Nuclear powerfrom How Stuff Works: an explanation.July 10, 2006
Nuclear poweran essay favouring nuclear power.July 10, 2006
Nuclear powerthe Greenpeace organisation opposes nuclear power.July 10, 2006
Oil viscosityan excellent idea for a method.failed July 10, 2006
Oil viscositysome useful lab procedures: fairly advanced, but worth reading.July 10, 2006
Oil viscosityexcellent background on automotive oils.July 10, 2006
Oil viscosityinterpreting automotive oil viscosity numbers.July 10, 2006
Oil viscosityanother background pieceJuly 10, 2006
Oil viscositythis is advanced, but may give you some hints on procedures.July 10, 2006
Oil viscosityviscosity measurement: this is probably too technical, but explore the links.July 10, 2006
Optical illusionsa quick run-down from one of the world experts.July 10, 2006
Optical illusionsthis has some good copies of the standard ones.July 10, 2006
Optical illusionsa good set of links.July 10, 2006
Optical illusionsa set of curious Japanese illusions.July 10, 2006
Optical illusionssome mediocre but different illusions on the main page, but check the links on the left, and ignore their nonsense about colour blindness.July 10, 2006
Opticsan excellent set of sources on the history of optics.July 10, 2006
Orrerya Java applet that simulates an orrery is one of the links from this page.July 10, 2006
Paper planesa set of links.July 10, 2006
Paper planesa huge set of links in many languages relating to paper and cardboard models and other aeronautical things.July 10, 2006
Paper planesa set of links.July 10, 2006
Paper planesa New Zealand site describing a paper plane experiment.July 10, 2006
Parachutessome notes on parachutes.July 10, 2006
Parachutesteachers notes for making parachutes: check the links.July 10, 2006
Pascal's trianglebackground information.July 10, 2006
Pascal's trianglegenerating Pascal's triangle in a spreadsheet.July 10, 2006
Pascal's trianglea guide for teachers that may give you some hints.July 10, 2006
Periscopethe invention of the periscope.July 10, 2006
Periscopea design from the Exploratorium.July 10, 2006
Periscopethe periscope rifle.July 10, 2006
Periscopepicture of William Beech with his periscope rifle.July 10, 2006
Perpetual motiona history of perpetual motion machines with excellent links from a brilliant source..July 10, 2006
Perpetual motionan amusing background piece.July 10, 2006
Perpetual motionthe Museum of Unworkable Devices.July 10, 2006
Petroleumthe museum that commemorates Drake's first oil well in Pennsylvania.July 10, 2006
Phenomicsfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 10, 2006
Physics informationthis is Eric Weisstein's encyclopaedia of physics, a nexcellent resource.July 10, 2006
Physics linksanother excellent page from Donald Simanek.July 10, 2006
Plant culturea source for many manuals from Carolina.July 10, 2006
PlatypusesAustralian egg-laying mammals.July 10, 2006
Plimsoll lineencyclopaedia entry with picture.July 10, 2006
Plimsoll linehistory behind the Plimsoll line.July 10, 2006
Plimsoll linemaking and using a hydrometer.July 10, 2006
Poetrya cockroach in verse — Archy and Mehitabel.July 10, 2006
Poetryan engineering poem.July 10, 2006
Pollutiona USGS site with links — excellent value.July 10, 2006
Pot luckfrom 'Scientific American': seek, and you never know what you will find!July 10, 2006
Pot luckfrom 'Scientific American': seek, and you never know what you will find!July 10, 2006
Pot luckfrom 'Scientific American': seek, and you never know what you will find!July 10, 2006
Pot luckamateur science sites: give this a try!July 10, 2006
Pot lucksome interesting home experiments: the site is a bit cumbersome, but worth persevering with.July 10, 2006
Pot luckan excellent set of links — as the front page calls them, science gems, all sorted by age suitability. Get in here and burrow!July 10, 2006
Pot luckphysics toys from the incomparable Donald Simanek.July 10, 2006
Pot luckDonald Simanek's scrapbooks.July 10, 2006
Pot luckbuy the 'Scientific American' Amateur Scientist CD-ROM here (or get your librarian to look — this is a brilliant resource!). July 10, 2006
Pot luckthis is a brilliant archive of experiments, a great source for ideas and methods. Go there now! See also Links 2.July 10, 2006
Pot luckthe Access Excellence Classic Collection, a set of essay/tutorials.July 10, 2006
Pot lucka set of Shockwave interactive modules that may give you some ideas.failed July 10, 2006
Pressing plantshow to make a plant press.July 10, 2006
Pressing plantsa second plant press design.failed July 10, 2006
Pressing plantssome advice on collecting and mounting pressed plants.July 10, 2006
Pressing plantsa more detailed account of how to prepare and mount plant specimens for a herbarium: this is the best!July 10, 2006
Pressing plantshow to collect and press seaweeds.July 10, 2006
Pressing plantshow to collect and press seaweeds.July 10, 2006
Properties of metalsthermal conductivity and other properties of metals.July 10, 2006
Proteomicsfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 10, 2006
Radio historythe apparatus used by Hertz in 1888.July 10, 2006
Radio history designs for spark transmitters. WARNING: these are illegal in most countries because they broadcast on all frequencies and cause interference.July 10, 2006
Rainbowsthe mathematics of rainbows.July 10, 2006
Rainbowsbuild a rainbowJuly 10, 2006
Rainbowsa lesson on rainbows and their causes.July 10, 2006
Rainbowsthe physics of a rainbow: Java applet, needs Java, OK but not brilliant. Some useful links.July 10, 2006
Rainbowsrainbow links.July 10, 2006
Rainbowsa Mad Scientist view: rainbows and cubic droplets.July 10, 2006
Referencesthis is Project Gutenberg, a great place to find older books.July 10, 2006
Rock collectinga useful set of links.July 10, 2006
Safetythis will give you good places to go to get Materials Safety Data Sheets.July 10, 2006
Sand particles some ideas for the study of sand particles.July 11, 2006
Science humourmolecules with amusing names.July 11, 2006
Science news Science News Online.July 11, 2006
Science news the Newswise Science News site: this is the best, especially when you begin searching by keywords.July 11, 2006
Science news Nature, a world journal published in Britain.July 11, 2006
Science news Science, a world journal published in the USA.July 11, 2006
Science news Scientific American, a world journal published in the USA.July 11, 2006
Science news a US government science portal.July 11, 2006
Science news Science Daily.July 11, 2006
Science news Eurekalert is sponsored by AAAS, and offers news releases.July 11, 2006
Science news Popular Science magazine.July 11, 2006
Science news an Indian online popular science magazine.July 11, 2006
Science news a science news site called 'Science News for Kids'.July 11, 2006
Science projectsproject ideas: the companion page to this page.July 11, 2006
Science projectsa good question, which they answer very well: what is a science project?July 11, 2006
Science projectsfrom the ACS, the American Chemical Society.July 11, 2006
Science projectsa handy guide with useful links.July 11, 2006
Scientific frauda case study of faked data from 1819.July 11, 2006
Scientific frauda different take on Intelligent Design.July 11, 2006
Scientific frauda case study of people being duped.July 11, 2006
Scientific methodthe seven types of science: the text of two radio talks, showing that there is more than one sort of thing called science.July 11, 2006
Sediment in riversthis deals with the Colorado River: look in particular at the second link (overview), but many of the links are worth chasing.July 11, 2006
Sediment in riverssome good background on simple sampling methods from the FAO, with pictures and diagrmas: essential reading.July 11, 2006
Sediment in riversbackground material from the WHO.failed July 11, 2006
Sediment in riversa Bulgarian sediment study, in English.July 11, 2006
Sediment in riversusing acoustic sampling: this is too advanced, but skim it to find out how real scientists do it!July 11, 2006
Sediment in rivershow stream samples are taken by scientists.July 11, 2006
Seed viabilitya good explanation.July 11, 2006
Seed viabilitytesting viability.failed July 11, 2006
Sensitive plantsabout Mimosa pudica.July 11, 2006
Sensitive plantsabout Mimosa pigra.failed July 11, 2006
Sensitive plantsthe carnivorous plants FAQ.July 11, 2006
Simple machinesall about the block and tackle.July 11, 2006
Simple machinesexcellent links, list of terms.July 11, 2006
Skeletonshow to prepare a snake skeleton, good links.July 11, 2006
Slugsa manual on keeping slugs.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionall about snails, and a few links.failed July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionsome background on apple snails.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionsome snail information and links.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionsome mollusc links from the University of Melbourne.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionsome mollusc links from the Australian Museum.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotiona serious study of factors influencing snail speed: this is not easy reading, but go to the PDF (needs Acrobat) and give it a try.July 11, 2006
Snail locomotionanother serious study on snail locomotion.July 11, 2006
Soil salinityfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 11, 2006
Soil salinityfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 11, 2006
Soil salinitylinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 11, 2006
Soil salinitynative vegetation in Australia and soil salinity.failed July 11, 2006
Soil salinitymeasuring soil salinity.July 11, 2006
Soil waterhow soil holds water.failed July 11, 2006
Soil watersoil water monitoring and measurement: fairly technical.July 11, 2006
Soil waterthe Australian Soil Water Website: an archive with some useful links.failed July 11, 2006
Soil watercalibrating soil water measurement devices: skim this for background.July 11, 2006
Solar cellsmaking a solar cell in your kitchen: full instructions.July 11, 2006
Solar cellsa German site showing how solar cells work.July 11, 2006
Solar cellsa PDF file of informations and ideas for projects.failed July 11, 2006
Solar cellsan Australian company selling commercial products.July 11, 2006
Solar heatinga set of neat designs for solar cookers in different languages. I liked the 'Fresnel' design.July 11, 2006
Solar heatinga useful set of links to chase.July 11, 2006
Solar heatingthe Solar Oven Development and Testing Project.July 11, 2006
Solar heatingthe Solar Oven Society: information and a few links.July 11, 2006
Solar heatinga commercial site which explians the benefits of solar heating, with a few links.July 11, 2006
Solar systemNine Planets: this is THE place to start!July 11, 2006
Solar systema simulator from NASA.July 11, 2006
Solar systemhow to get the right scales to build a model: needs Javascript enabled.July 11, 2006
Solar systema solar system coloring book - think of this as a source for your own pictures.July 11, 2006
Solar systemplanets beyond our solar system.July 11, 2006
Solar systemlinks from NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 11, 2006
Space historyDoug Rickard was an Australian scientist who was invoved in the early days of space tracking. He had many hair-raising tales to tell: these are just a few of them.July 11, 2006
Space historythe first successful firing of a scramjet engine: and it was an Australian engine!July 11, 2006
Space travelhow humans dream of going into space.July 11, 2006
Space travela translation of Noordung's The Problem of Space Travel.July 11, 2006
Space travelthe Virgin Galactic site.July 11, 2006
Space travela site for younger usersJuly 12, 2006
Spaceflight and spacecrafta book-on-the-Web by David SternJuly 11, 2006
Specific heatspecific heat, specific weight, fusion point, boiling point and calorific value for many materials. See also properties of metals.July 11, 2006
Specific weightspecific heat, specific weight, fusion point, boiling point and calorific value for many materials.July 11, 2006
Spidersa manual on managing orb weavers.July 11, 2006
Spiderskeeping (or getting rid of) spiders, from the Iziko Museums of Cape Town.July 11, 2006
Spiderskeeping Singapore spiders.July 11, 2006
Spidersspider page with several useful pages coming off it.July 11, 2006
Spiderssome background on spiders.July 11, 2006
Star mapsprint off a star map for your own sky.July 11, 2006
Star mapsanother site with some handy links.July 11, 2006
Star mapssome information about constellations.July 11, 2006
Star mapsa good set of links on sky maps and atlases.July 11, 2006
Statisticscan you trust statistics? Examples of dopey correlations.July 11, 2006
Statisticsabout significant figures.July 11, 2006
Statisticshow to graph and do basic statistical tests of significance using Excel -- a very good source.failed July 11, 2006
Statisticsfrom the British Medical Journal: a very good and thorough course in statistics for medical researchers: advanced material, but it has exercises and answers, and is well-planned.July 11, 2006
Statisticsall about Student's t-test, including a neat little system to compare two sets of data and compare the null hypothesis that there is no difference between two samplesJuly 11, 2006
Statisticsanother page that offers excellent online help in doing statistical tests.July 11, 2006
Stem cellsfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 11, 2006
Stone toolsa useful introductory article with a number of links.July 11, 2006
Stone toolsresources, books and links.July 11, 2006
Stone toolssome useful background.July 11, 2006
Stone toolssimple illustrations.July 11, 2006
Stone toolspictures of some American examples.July 11, 2006
Suna book-on-the-Web by David SternJuly 11, 2006
Sundialsan excellent site French site in English: includes a freeware sundial design program and many links. See also timing devices.July 11, 2006
Technology newsabout word recognition.July 11, 2006
Technology newsPopular Science magazine.July 11, 2006
Telegraphya potted history.July 12, 2006
Telegraphyabout Stephen Gray.July 12, 2006
Telegraphythe Wheatstone two-needle telegraph.July 12, 2006
Telegraphya history of the telegraph: sketchy on earely attempts, but good on the later stages.July 12, 2006
Telegraphyanother view of the history of the telegraphJuly 12, 2006
Telegraphythe text of 'Heroes of the Telegraph' by John Munro, a download from Project Gutenberg.July 12, 2006
Telegraphya slightly peculiar history of the telephone, covering much of the telegraph in passing: worth putting up with the hopeless layout.July 12, 2006
Telegraphyan encyclopaedia entry on Wheatstone and his design.July 12, 2006
Telegraphya sketch of the Wheatstone apparatus (or it was - it seems to have grown).July 12, 2006
Telescope basicsthis is from a commercial supplier, but will give you good coverage.July 12, 2006
Telescope basicssome excellent historical notes on telescopes, and even better links to many useful sites.failed July 12, 2006
Telescope basicssome excellent historical background on telescopes.July 12, 2006
Telescope basicssome historical background from the University of Hawaii.July 12, 2006
Telescope basicsan excellent set of sources on the history of optics.July 12, 2006
Telescope basicsa good encyclopaedia entry.July 12, 2006
Telescope linksa handy set of links, but scroll up and down to see the others while you are there!failed July 12, 2006
Telescope linksabout buying a telescope in Australia — essential reading, with links to many dealers.failed July 12, 2006
Telescope linksthe Southern Skywatch page from Ian Musgrave, an all-round Good Bloke: this page has many links and is also essential reading. See also Astronomy 1July 12, 2006
Telescopesmodern telescopes: follow the links.July 12, 2006
Telescopesthe Anglo-Australian Telescope.July 12, 2006
Telescopescolour pictures from the AAT.July 12, 2006
Terrariuma simple version.July 12, 2006
Terrariuma terrarium in a bottle.July 12, 2006
Terrariumdesign tricks.July 12, 2006
Terrariumhow to make a Wardian case.failed July 12, 2006
Thereminsa handy introduction with some links.July 12, 2006
Thereminsmore theremin links.July 12, 2006
Thin rock sectionsa quick introduction to thin sections with some useful links.July 12, 2006
Thin rock sectionsmaking thin sections by hand.July 12, 2006
Thin rock sectionssome selected images of rock sections.July 12, 2006
Time sensean odd side-issue that may be worth chasing (or may not — I just chanced on this).July 12, 2006
Time sensetime sense exercises for people with brain injuries: a possible source of ideas.July 12, 2006
Time sensea system for testing time estimation that does not work all that well: can you make a better one? (Needs Java)July 12, 2006
Time sensea rather better time estimation system. (Needs Shockwave).failed July 12, 2006
Time senseanother page that offers some ideas on how to set up your experiment. (Note that you have to ask for a log-in code to actually use it.)July 12, 2006
Timing devicesa history of clocks. See also torsion pendulum.July 12, 2006
Timing devicessome useful history, but check the pages before and after.July 12, 2006
Timing devicessome unusual designs, but rather technical.July 12, 2006
Torsion penduluman excellent description of the physics of the pendulum and its setup.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumthe Michell-Cavendish experiment.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumanother account of Cavendish's experiment, with full lab instructions. Note the safety warning about the laser.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumabout Henry Cavendish, with advice on repeating his experiment and good links.July 12, 2006
Torsion penduluman account of the Coulomb balance.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumabout Maskelyne, Cavendish and Boys.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumsome background on John Michell.failed July 12, 2006
Torsion penduluma clock hobbyist's view of the pendulum. See also timing devices.failed July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumsome useful links on the Cavendish experiment, fairly advanced text.July 12, 2006
Torsion penduluma highly technical account of the torsion pendulum.July 12, 2006
Torsion pendulumthe Coulomb balance: an account notable only for a legal disclaimer that is longer than the instructions.July 12, 2006
Tsunamisfrom NOVA at the Australian Academy of Science: always a good starting point.July 12, 2006
Tsunamisa University of Washington site.July 12, 2006
Tsunamisa USGS site with links: excellent value.July 12, 2006
Tsunamissome background from experts.July 12, 2006
Ultraviolet detectorsmaking a detector (needs electronics skills).July 12, 2006
Vaccinesa very neat tutorial on the basics, with some useful links to follow.July 12, 2006
Venerable wombata pointer back to the origins of this page.July 12, 2006
Viscositygood background.July 12, 2006
Viscosityhow to measure viscosity.July 12, 2006
Volcanoesglossary of volcano terms. See also columnar jointing.July 12, 2006
Volcanoesa useful USGS site with links.July 12, 2006
Volcanoesthis is Volcano World.July 12, 2006
Volcanoesa National Geographic site: the forces of nature.July 12, 2006
Volcanoesa links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.July 12, 2006
Watercurious.July 12, 2006
Water clocksome useful history, but check the pages before and after.July 12, 2006
Water clockhow to build one, from the AAAS.July 12, 2006
Water pollutionbasics and terminology for water pollution.July 12, 2006
Water pollutionsome background and useful links.July 12, 2006
Water pollutionsome USGS background and links in eutrophication.July 12, 2006
Water qualitya USGS site with links: excellent value.July 12, 2006
Water qualitya South Australian view of water quality with many links.July 12, 2006
Water resources, marine and coastal geologya links site from the University of Adelaide with excellent material.July 12, 2006
Water salinitywater salinity in Australia, but explore the other tabs and links here!July 12, 2006
Water salinitysome CSIRO salinity research.July 12, 2006
Water salinitysalinity in the Murray-Darling basin: map and links.July 12, 2006
Water salinitya South Australian view of Murray salinity problems: check the links on the left.July 12, 2006
Water wheela fairly advanced design project, with helpful information.July 12, 2006
Water wheela water wheel project, though this one seems more decorative than useful.July 12, 2006
Water wheela chaotic water wheel: this is seriously advanced, but looks like fun: note that there are other pages on this topic, so do a search.July 12, 2006
Wattles in winterwhy do some Acacias bloom in winter in Australia?July 12, 2006
Weather linksa handy set of links, but scroll up and down to see the others while you are there!failed July 12, 2006
Weather, extremea National Geographic site: the forces of nature.July 12, 2006
Wind vaneA simple model.July 12, 2006
Wind vaneUsing a wind vane in wind power generation.July 12, 2006
Wind vaneA South African design.July 12, 2006
Zircon extraction.some methods of extracting zircons and zirconia.July 12, 2006
Zoetropebackground about zoetropes, and links to more information.July 12, 2006
Zoetropehow to make a zoetrope, with a link to all the bits you need to print.July 12, 2006
Zoetropeearly animation devices.July 12, 2006
Zoetropelinks to animation-related pages.July 12, 2006
Zoetropea commercial site with useful information.July 12, 2006


This file is http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/scifun/resource.htm, first created on June 17, 2005. Last revision and date prepared are shown at the top. At the moment, it is being worked on intermittently, and gets an upgrade about once a month: it really depends on what I am working on. Right now, I am going through, checking for dead links, and augmenting in odd places.

Worried about copyright? You need to go look at my fine print. Well, maybe you don't after you read the next three paragraphs . . .


©The author of this work is Peter Macinnis -- macinnis@ozemail.com.au, who asserts his sole right to the product as it is packaged here, recognising that many of the ideas are common. Any non-profit educational or home use is completely acceptable without let or hindrance. Copies of this whole file or site may be made and stored or printed for personal or educational use.

In educational and home use, this page may be reproduced and/or pillaged and/or modified, so long as the phrase "venerable wombat" appears at some point in the text. As well, a pointer back to this page would be courteous. This page will grow until I get tired of it.

No commercial or for-profit uses are allowed without permission. I am sharing it for free — you should do no less!

Note that the email address above will not reach me: it is a sp@m tr@p. If you add my first name in front of it, you will get through. Dumb robots that harvest email addresses can't work this out :-)


The HTML for the table is generated from a simple data table in Excel, using the =CONCATENATE command, and other aspects are created in HTML-Kit and NotePad. I used to use HotDog from Sausage.com, but their customer service was so woeful that I gave up on them. Even writing to their CEO got nowhere. HotDog is RUBBISH! Please do not buy any sausage.com or hotdog products.
This site had 219,000 hits on the index page from 1999 to January 2007 and an unknown number on other pages. In January 2007, a combined counter was placed on all of the pages, counting page hits which now total