www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
(Canadian Geographic Atlas)
The folks at Canadian Geographic have developed a fully interactive online
atlas. The website is based upon the information gathered for the print
version of the atlas Canadian Geographic published last year. You can
access maps of any region in Canada and adjust the resolution to show the
amount of detail you require. The “explore the maps” section takes
you to a search interface that lets you select the name or the type of feature
you are looking for in an area. Or you can leave it to search globally.
There is information on the specific geological and geographical regions
of Canada. Of course there is a section devoted to weather also.
This is a great learning resource for children as well as a useful tool for
adults.
www.growercentral.com (Evergro – Westgro)
This is the company website of Evergro / Westgro. They supply products
to the turf, landscape, nursery and greenhouse trades. The website
boasts a fully searchable catalogue of all the products they sell.
The main page is broken down into areas of specialization. Each area
has its own main sub-page with all sorts of relevant useful info. The
main page features information about the latest challenges arising to growers.
A very handy feature of the site is the MSDS and LABEL search utility.
It is located at the top of the main page and allows you to search the database
of pesticides and chemicals they sell for the appropriate MSDS or the label.
It is very easy to use and all of the reports are available as PDF files.
www.horticopia.com (Horticopia)
One of the most complete plant databases I have seen to date. Follow
the link to “Plant Lists” in the upper menu bar. Once here click on
the link to “online plant pages” and you will be presented with an A-Z list
of plant genuses. You can search or select your choice from the list.
A list of plants they have information on in the genus will be displayed.
The information on the website is basic, but will give the average person
an idea if the plant is suitable for their application.
earth.google.com (Google-Earth)
Google-Earth is simply one of the best tools that the Internet has generated
in a long time. It is a 3D interface to the whole planet. Once
installed on your computer you have access to free satellite imagery of the
planet. If you have access to a broadband Internet connection, then
I encourage you to go their site and download the software. Updated
image sets can be downloaded from the website as events happen on earth.
For example, new imagery of New Orleans was made available in the aftermath
of Katrina.
worldwind.arc.nasa.gov (NASA World Wind)
Wow, yet another tool for viewing our world. This one created by NASA
is not quite as intuitive as Google Earth, but is just as impressive once
you get it figured out. As above it is fully interactive and 3-dimensional.
Unfortunately the highest resolution images are of the United States.
It has datasets available from numerous satellites. For fun checkout
the great mountain ranges of the world. Of course updated imagery from
the hotspots in the world is available a couple of days past the event.
A broadband Internet connection is also a must as the software downloads
are sizeable, not to mention the transfer of data to create the images.
As it is a little more complicated than Google-Earth you will want to view
the tutorial.
www.metric-conversions.org
(Metric Conversions)
An excellent site with easy to follow conversions to and from metric.
There are calculators for temperature, length, volume, area and mass.
Each calculator has an explanation of the math behind the conversion, allowing
you to build the formula into your favourite spreadsheet.
If you come across some interesting websites that you would like to pass
on, please email Dave at dallan@nait.ca or Jeff at jeff.hoyem@ualberta.net.
