SIMply Prairie -
Finding Information - Online Resources

Flight of the Bumblebee - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/franzen/Bombus.html

The bumblebee is native to North America. Eight species have been verified foraging on the Fermilab prairie. The honeybee familiar to many of us is not native. It was introduced by the Jesuits in the 1500s. Interesting links to related sites.

Online Prairie Data - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/data/stud_index.shtml

Fermilab provides online resources for students to conduct research studies on the prairie.

Particles and Prairies Videodisc - Slides: http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lasso/slides/show-slides.html
and Video: http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/ppvideo/

The Particles and Prairies Videodisc has over 1000 slides and video covering the restoration, history, ecology and research done on the Fermilab prairie. The videodisc is an award-winning videodisc produced by the Friends of Fermilab. The streamed video requires the Realplayer and a fast Internet connection.

Plant Database - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lasso/plant_search/search_kids.html

Database of plants found at Fermilab with accompanying images.

Prairie Panoramas and Close-ups http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/pans/

Panoramas and closeups of the Fermilab prairie throughout the growing season.

Prairie Restoration - http://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/campus/ecology/prairie/index.html

Learn how Fermilab is maintaining and adding to its 1200+ acre restored prairie.

Prairie Restoration: History http://www-ed.fnal.gov/ntep/f98/projects/fnal/student/betz_draft.html

Read a report on the first two decades of prairie restoration at Fermilab.

Prairie Restoration: A How-to Guide for Schools - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/Prairie_Res/index.html

Individuals and schools interested in developing a prairie parcel will find this "how to" site essential in the process.

Settlers' Letters - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/letters/

Includes descriptions of the prairie from early settlers to Illinois. All excerpts from letters, journals and personal accounts are from original materials in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society.

The Beauty & History of the Prairie - http://www.visi.com/~cindy/prairie.html

Written by a prairie advocate in the private sector, this site offers many links and beautiful photographs with language arts connections.

Grand Prairie Friends - http://www.prairienet.org/community/clubs/gpf/natives.html

Primarily developed as a resource for prairie "gardening," this site offers excellent information for the development of a school or home prairie as well as links to other resources.

Great Lakes Information Network - http://www.great-lakes.net/

Although not specifically prairie-oriented, this rich global site offers a wealth of information about the Great Lakes vicinity. Included in the topics are economy, ecosystem, education, environment (including environmental law), weather patterns, and many viable links.

Iowa State University Public Hoomepage Server - http://www.public.iastate.edu/

From a search one "prairie," you can research virtually all aspects of tallgrass prairie plants, wildlife and history.

National Biological Information Infrastructure - http://www.nbs.gov/nbii/

The NBII is an electronic gateway to biological data and information maintained by federal, state, and local government agencies; private sector organizations; and other partners around the nation and the world.

Northern Prairie Science Center - http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/

Maintained by United States Geological Survey, this site hosts a database with over 1,000 articles specific to prairie study along with general information, seasonal attractions, and much more. Send a virtual prairie postcard to a fellow prairie advocate, too!

Good background information on Illinois prairies with lots of beautiful illustrations of prairie plants with descriptions by Dr. John Hilty.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - http://www.fws.gov/index.html

The search within this U.S. Fish and Wildlife site yielded over 300 options for the query "prairie."

Chicago Wilderness Magazine: "Classic Prairie Restorations" - http://www.chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer2000/fermilab.html

This magazine highlights Fermilab's prairie restoration as one of the classic restorations.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources - http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/classrm/classrm.htm

Illinois Natural History Survey - http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairieplants.html
and
Illinois Natural History Survey library - http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/

Natural History Survey scientists study the plants and animals of Illinois and how they interact among the variety of ecosystems throughout the state. Through its research and other activities, the Survey fosters intelligent and responsible management of the biological resources of Illinois and public appreciation of the state's natural heritage. It is recognized as the nation's premier natural history survey.

Illinois State Natural History Museum - http://www.museum.state.il.us/mic_home/newton/project/prairie_grass.html

Illinois Prairie Page - http://www.prairiepages.com/

Information about where to find prairies in Illinois including prairie cemeteries. Links to other Websites.

Illinois Tallgrass Prairie - http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/tallgrass.html

Authored by Kenneth R. Robertson of the Illinois Natural History Survey, most aspects of the Illinois Tall-grass Prairie are magnificently featured in photo and text. A database with cross-reference between common and scientific names is featured as well.

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie - http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have joined to restore this natural area in Northern Illinois to tallgrass prairie. Information on restoration and maintenance of prairie is highlighted.

Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois - http://conbio.bio.uci.edu/

Maintained by Rice University/University of California, Irvine, this site focuses upon environmental biology in general. Topics include Native Americans. Use search within site.

vPlants - a virtual herbarium of the Chicago region - http://www.vplants.org/

Three major botanical institutions, The Morton Arboretum ,The Field Museum of Natural History , and the Chicago Botanic Garden are developing an on-line searchable herbarium (vPlantsĒ, or "virtual plants") that will provide herbarium specimen data and digitalimages of specimens and labels to anyone with internet access.

Exploring the Prairie - http://campsilos.org/mod1/students/index.shtml

Camp Silo's site on the tallgrass prairie for students include Quick Facts, Scavenger Hunt, A Prairie Problem, Build a Prairie, History Detective and other activities.

Iowa Prairie Network - http://www.netins.net/showcase/bluestem/ipnapp.htm

Iowa Prairie Network is a grassroots organization of over 800 members dedicated to creating awareness of and preservation of our tallgrass prairie heritage. Many viable links are presented.

Prairie E-scan - http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jlmc/PrairieHome.html

Developed at Iowa State University, from the E-scan site you can research virtually all aspects of tallgrass prairie plants, wildlife and history.

Bell-Live's On the Prairie - http://www1.umn.edu/bellmuse/mnideals/prairie/

Discover the plants and animals that compose the prairie ecosystem with the On the Prairie online activities and resources from Bell-Live. Minnesota IDEALS, operated by the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota, presented this award-winning distance learning program in 1999. Check out Build-a-Prairie

Establishing and Maintaining a Prairie Garden - http://www.ent.agri.umn.edu/cues/extpubs/6748/DG6748.html

The University of Minnesota Extension Service's guide to prairie gardens.

Prairie Frontier Wildflowers and Prairie Grass Seed - http://www.prairiefrontier.com/pages/plantipsa.html

Although presented by a commercial seed company, this site offers good information regarding propagation and sustenance of prairie plants.

Heyne Custom Seed - http://www.netins.net/showcase/bluestem

Although presented by a commercial seed company, this site offers good information regarding propagation and sustenance of prairie plants. Also included is a page of links to other resources and information about threatened and endangered native plants.

Fermilab Weather Data - http://www-esh.fnal.gov/public/weather.html

Use Fermilab weather data starting in 1994 to learn about the weather when the quadrat data was collected at Fermilab.

Illinois Weather Trends - http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/atmos/statecli/Climate_change/iltrends.htm

Study the trends in weather for prairies in Illinois.

Steve Templeman's Weather World - http://www.speedsite.com/~temps/index.html

Created by Steve Templeman, meteorologist at the FOX affiliate in Dubuque, this site provides a general weather overview.

Weather Links from The Size Spot Kid Zone - http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/kdzweather.html

Assembled by Tracy Trimpe, ISTA member (chair for ISTA programs 2001), this page provides links to MANY kid tested, teacher approved weather sites. The top set includes a number of comprehensive weather sites that are excellent.

Climate Information from NOAA - http://www.cdc.noaa.gov:80/USclimate/

Search climate information for precipitation and temperature data.

Weather Channel - http://www.wunderground.com

Gives planting conditions.