A fantastic resource for students, teachers, tourists, and anyone else interested in the globe, A+ Country Reports offers a wealth of information on all of the countries of the world. Like the CIA's World Factbook (last mentioned in the September 28, 2001 Scout Report ), A+ Country Reports presents up-to-date information on population, geography, economy, history, and politics. Aside from that,...

This United States Geological Survey publication (Circular 1075) is the first of a planned group of monographs in a series called "Public Issues in Earth Science." It discusses the dangers posed to coasts and coastal communities by "development, recreation, and waste disposal," among other activities. It describes the ever changing nature of coastlines, and both the natural and human causes of...

George Perkins Marsh had many careers during his long life, including sheep farmer, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. Without a doubt, he is best remembered today for his groundbreaking work, "Man and Nature," which was one of the first pieces of scholarship to describe in detail the significance of human action in transforming the natural world. Since its publication in 1864, the book has been...

This introductory chapter on the earth's biosphere was authored by Dr. Michael Pidwirny of Okanagan University College. This chapter is one of 10 composing an online educational text titled the Fundamentals of Physical Geography (reported on in the February 20, 2004, NSDL Report for the Physical Sciences). The biosphere sub-chapters include: Biological Classification of Organisms; Concept of...

Michael Pidwirny, an associate professor at Okanagan University College, produced this website to educate users about "the spatial characteristics of the various natural phenomenon that exist in Earth's hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere." This online textbook includes ten chapters filled with illustrations, images, and animations. The website provides links to the glossary for...

Astronauts have taken photographs of the Earth from space since the beginning of the space program more than 30 years ago. Today, NASA's Earth Sciences and Image Analysis office offers nearly 400,000 of these images to the public on their Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth Web site. The database can be accessed in several ways including a clickable map of the earth, photo number, technical...

An educator, David Robinson, created this website to supply high quality materials dealing with various aspects of physical geography to educators and students. The website provides extensive information for five main categories: earthquakes, plate tectonics and continental drift, volcanoes and volcanics, glaciers and glaciation, and a physical geography glossary. Examples of the topics covered...

WorldAtlas.com was created by the maps company Graphic Maps in an "effort to aid students, teachers, travelers and parents with their geography and map questions." The information-rich site lets users explore countries of the world through a wide array of maps, descriptions, current times, flags, populations, land size, and links to other relevant sites. Other items of interest include geography...