The Challenge of Materials is an online gallery of information and graphics of common materials; the site is based on an exhibit at the Science Museum in London. It is divided into four main components. World Changers features materials which have significantly impacted civilization. What are Materials features nine atomic structures of materials and a matching game, complete with snippets of...

The first Web site related to lubrication is presented by SynLube.com and its relevant page is entitled Basics: What You Need to Know About Lubrication (1). Visitors can learn why lubrication is so important to mechanical devices, why oil needs to be changed in your car, what synthetic oils can do, and more. Although the site is for a manufacturer of synthetic oil, there is a good amount of...

The University of Cambridge Department of Engineering operates a very informative site on material selection and processing. Its purpose is "to aid good practice in the selection of materials for product design." Of the many features offered on the site, a particularly valuable section is the Process Encyclopedia. This has a long list of manufacturing processes with detailed descriptions and...

The Materials World Program is an educational program created at Northwestern University intended to teach kids about science, math, and social issues by letting them investigate the objects that surround them in their everyday lives. While traditional science teaching divides the sciences into various disciplines, each studied separately, this program shows students that science is more than a...

The Gateway Engineering Education Coalition consists of a group of universities that are concerned with providing high-quality educational resources in the field of engineering education. Their site contains a number of topical sections that deal with the different branches of this field. This particular section deals with educational resources in the area of materials engineering, and visitors...

The National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education (MatEd) is based at Edmonds Community College in Washington and funded by a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant. MatEd was established to create "a national network of industry and educational professionals to increase the number and diversity of highly skilled technicians ready for employment." As might...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has a number of thematic areas dedicated to providing resources for educators interested in the physical and biological sciences. This particular collection brings together items related to chemistry, many of which come from the National Science Digital Library. The items here are introduced in a way that's familiar and friendly and topics include Chemistry...

"The field of Nondestructive Testing (NDT) is a very broad, interdisciplinary field that plays a critical role in assuring that structural components and systems perform their function in a reliable and cost effective fashion." This surprisingly in-depth site offers detailed information about NDT, its applications, and the technologies used in its practice. After a brief introduction, the user can...

What's That Stuff? Well, the Web site provided by Chemical and Engineering News answers this question on many of those everyday items that are just a bit curious. For example, Silly Putty is a "dilatant compound, which means it has an inverse thixotropy--that is, as a viscous suspension or gel, it becomes solid under the influence of pressure." The site explains the history and characteristics of...