Cooperating Orcas

For an amazing demonstration of the brain power of Orcas, check out this videowhich shows a group of Orcas working together to hunt a seal on an ice floe. Can you think of other examples where animals cooperate to accomplish things that they couldn’t do alone?

Incredible Skulls

Brains are important, but without our skulls they’d just be a mushy lump inside thin skin. Animal skulls also tell us lots about evolution, structure, size and lifestyle. Get inside the heads of lots of amazing skulls at this incredible skull site from the California Academy of Sciences. The fully rotatable skulls are fun!

Dig into Gardening

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to get into the garden. The Science of Gardening site provides interactives, videos, and articles covering many aspects of gardening, including carnivorous plants, gardening in the Antarctic, and the secret lives of flowers. Find out what motivates people to grow giant pumpkins or prized orchids and enter them in competitions. Get the dirt on dirt!

World Statistics

Statistics about population growth, the environment, and other large-scale topics can seem abstract and even unfathomable. The World-o-meter shows a variety of world statistics in real-time. Try updating your computer clock for statistics in the future.

Don’t wash fossils!

Recent research has shown that the standard conservation techniques of washing, brushing and varnishing fossils used by many fossil hunters and museum curators alike vastly reduces the chances of recovering ancient DNA.

Snails in Hot Water

Are snails as important as grizzly bears? Parks Canada thinks so! The Banff Springs Snail (Physella johnsoni) is the most at-risk wildlife species in Banff National Park. It lives in the mineral springs on Sulphur Mountain, and nowhere else on earth. Survival in this harsh environment requires extraordinary adaptations. See a photo and read more about species at risk.

Hotspring Extremophiles

Single-celled microbial life is found almost everywhere – in your digestive tract, in the air, in the soil and in water. Microbes are found almost anywhere you can think to look (even in the extremes of the Antarctic, or in searing hot undersea thermal vents). Warm up in the hotsprings of Kamchatka (in eastern Siberia). There you can take a helicopter ride to a caldera, find out how researchers work in a hotspring environment, see the organisms that live in such an extreme environment, and find out how these micro-organisms are linked to a Martian meteorite debate. This site has great videos, slide shows and even instructions for making your own colourful bacterial garden at home.

Deep In Caves

Diana Northup works with SLIME (Subsurface Life in Mineral Environments), a group of cave scientists studying microbes that thrive in environments that would terminate humans in seconds flat. She searches for bacteria that gobble up hydrogen sulfide gas and other noxious chemicals like we do bread and water. These bizarre creatures may hold clues not only to the earliest life on Earth but to the possibility of life in outer space.

Read an interview to find out what Diana’s job as a microbiologist involves.
See how caves form with an online interactive demonstration, and view a slide show of amazing cave formations.

Psychrophiles Are Cool!

Visit the Arctic Sea Ice: Channels of Life web site. It includes photos of some of the creatures that live in the ice, and great information about the research that is being done. See also Microbial life in extreme environments.

New Mammal Species Discovered

Unbelievably, scientists are still discovering new species in the world. This web page shows a recently discovered mammal from Borneo and includes some photos. How do you make discoveries in your life? What sorts of new discoveries are happening in your mentor’s field of science, engineering or math?

New Mammal Named After Chocolate Maker!

Here’s a great story about a new species of mammal named after a chocolate maker (yay)! Dubbed Kryoryctes cadburyi—as in Cadbury chocolate—the dinosaur-era mammal was roughly the size of a large cat, covered with quills, and toothless. Enjoy the story. It literally involves a ton of chocolate – yum!

Popsicle Frogs

We can spend our winter inside warm buildings, and we love to watch for signs of spring. Think about one of those signs – the frog. Northern Wood Frogs, which are found in most of Alberta, spend the entire winter outside, and they freeze solid, like little popsicles. Take a look at the website (including an amazing video) which shows how these small frogs survive the winter and thaw out again as spring arrives. Wow – now that’s a reason to smile about spring! Cryobiology is the study of life at temperatures too low to support life. For more information, see Frozen Alive(brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!).

Make A Difference

Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz to estimate how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you throw away. After answering some easy questions you’ll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet. You can also discover simple ways to reduce your ecological footprint.

NatureWatch

Get involved by collecting simple yet vital observations of changes in our natural environment. NatureWatch programs allow you to participate at your own pace and chosen location, even in your own backyard. You can learn about the environment while gathering the information scientists need to monitor and protect it. Get involved in one or more NatureWatch program and discover how natural ecosystems are changing in Canada—and why. In partnership with Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN), Nature Canada offers five NatureWatch programs (FrogWatch, PlantWatch, ButterflyWatch, WormWatch and IceWatch).

Predator or Prey?

Which are you? (activity about stereo and peripheral vision). See also Two Eyes = Two Views for more stereo vision information.

Cloning

Most of us have heard about cloning and have some idea about what it might be. Cloning is seen in movies and books, on the TV and in newspapers, but what is it really? Here are some facts, some interesting insights and some laughs. Enjoy!

Nature Nation

Become part of a global network of people who love and respect nature. Join the Nature Nation, the online community of Nature Canada. You’ll have access to monthly newsletters, action alerts, nature screensavers and more.

Frog Watch

You can help increase our knowledge of frogs and toads across Canada (includes great identification aids and audio files).

Plant Watch

Get involved in helping scientists discover how, and more importantly why, our natural environment is changing. Record flowering times for selected plant species and report these dates to researchers through the Internet or by mail.

Singing Mice (listen to a mouse melody!)

Tree of Life Project

A collaborative effort of biologists around the world, this site provides information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history and characteristics.

Worm Watch

Get the dirt on earthworms and learn about the biodiversity right below your feet.