WOW! Go to A Science Odyssey (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/) to try the Atom Builder (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/atom). Combine the right number of up and down quarks to form protons and neutrons. Too many protons and not enough neutrons? The atom smashes! Then you have to start the game over. Electrons, photons, and ions are all part of the action. Lots of challenges with this creative game that combines the Bohr atom with quarks! A Science Odyssey Web Page accompanied the TV broadcast on PBS of the same name. Short sketches of people and discoveries are part of this atomic site; other sections of A Science Odyssey Web Page parallel different topics covered during the PBS broadcast. Here is a great example of the Web adding value, not just repeating information. Did I tell you that it needs Shockwave?

http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/optics/sources/graphics/dyelaser.gif

And, of course, you know that talk about atoms soon leads to talk about the universe. See another wonderful site with images from our universe: http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/images/hubblecrab.gif, the Crab Nebula from the Hubble telescope. From this page, we can go to an animation of a pulsar model which rotates if you have a Java-capable browser: http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/help/tutorials/pulsar.htm.

To see more Space Science Tutorials from the NASA/Marshall Space Science Help Page, go to http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/help/tutorials/. There is so much for you at this site, which aims to combine research and education. Another page to help with searching the vast information from NASA is the subject search page, http://www.nasa.gov/hqpao/nasa_subjectpage.html.

Now for another site with lots of information about the wonderful world of photons, go to the Science Hypermedia Index page, http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/scidex.htm. Let's look at lasers and how they work: http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/optics/sources/lasers.htm. Look at the great graphic of a gas laser by Brian Tissue of Virginia Tech: http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/optics/sources/graphics/gaslaser.gif. The graphics shown are used with permission of B. M. Tissue.

See another type of laser, the dye laser at http://www.scimedia.com/chemed/optics/sources/graphics/dyelaser.gif The Science Hypermedia site is a real storehouse of value. Mark it well. How a laser works is also found at http://lasers.llnl.gov/lasers/aboutlasers/how.html. Historical details about the first laser, the ruby laser, are here. This is brought to us by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Page on Lasers, http://lasers.llnl.gov/lasers/. And finally go to the Tutorial on Laser Safety from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at http://phantom.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/laser/tutorial2a.html.

Let's leave this subject with a warning from the FDA on laser pointers, necessary because the low price of these tools makes them readily available for children: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/NEW00609.html.

For all of us, there is a very important page on the state of math/science: http://nces.ed.gov/timss/. Go the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for data on half a million students from 41 countries. We all have lots to learn from this site.

Summary of World Wide Web Addresses:
A Science Odyssey: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/
Atom Builder: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/atom
FDA Issues Warning on Misuse of Laser Pointers: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/NEW00609.html
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Laser Programs: http://lasers.llnl.gov/lasers/
How a Laser Works: http://lasers.llnl.gov/lasers/aboutlasers/how.html
NASA Organization Search Page: http://www.nasa.gov/hqpao/nasa_subjectpage.html
NASA/Marshall Space Science Help Page for Tutorials: http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/help/tutorials/
Crab Nebula from the Hubble telescope: http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/images/hubblecrab.gif
Pulsar Tutorial­NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center Astronomy: http://wwwssl.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/help/tutorials/pulsar.htm
Science Hypermedia Index page: http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/scidex.htm
Lasers­Science Hypermedia: http://www.scimedia.com/chem-ed/optics/sources/lasers.htm
Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS): http://nces.ed.gov/timss/
UIUC Laser Safety Tutorial: http://phantom.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/laser/tutorial2a.html

access date for all sites: March 1998