Los Alamos National Labratory

(SPH-4A0 Group ISU)

Website Questions:

1. What is the URL for the website?

• The URL for this website is: (www.lanl.gov/)

2. What is the name/title of the site?

• The name and title for this website is the Los Alamos National Labratory : Science and Technology

3. Who authored and/or website?

• The University of California for the US Department of Energy authored this website.

4. Is there an institutional or organizational affiliation for the website?

• The institution is the University of California for the US Department of Energy.

5. How often is it updated and/or when was it last modified? Is there a web counter?

• The website was last modified on January 9, 2000. There is no web counter.

Content Questions:

6. What is the primary focus or purpose of the webpage?

• The purpose of the website is to strengthen the foundations of science and technology, and to update the public on daily scientific advancements.

7. Make a complete inventory of the physics topics explored or investigated by this website.

• The table above is a list of physics topics explored and investigated by this website.

8. How well is the website organized? Please provide a table of contents for this site?

• The above table illustrates the table of contents for this website.  This website is easy to navigate.

9.What is the intended target audience of this website?

• This website is intended for students in High School, College, and University, as well as curious individuals fascinated with the advancements in science.

10.Is there a links page? How many physics - related links are provided? Give at least 5 examples.

       No, there is no links page to outside physics websites.  However, there are links to specific physics topics within the Los Alamos website.  They are:

Click here to visit this link page:

http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/science/subjects/phys.html

11. Are there any special features used in this website? (ex video clips, etc) How are they used?

       There aren't any special features except pictures and graphics. Most of the site is text based.  The pictures and graphics are used primarily to reinforce what is being said in the text.

12.Does the website make "good" use of graphics and multimedia? Explain and provide examples.

       No, this site does not make good use of graphics and multimedia.  In fact, We did not come across any multimedia at all.  The reason for this because the website is geared more towards providing sufficient information then to impress with fancy features.

13.Provide printout examples of how a specific academic topic or physics concept is covered by this website. (ex. specific problems, diagrams)

        Instead of print outs, we have provided links to the examples we found:

Seismic and Acoustic Wave Phenomena

Quantum Computing

These two are just few of the many physics topics researched at Los Alamos.  To view more of them, visit the link provided in question 10.

14. Are links of textbooks, references and/or educational software provided?

A few good links are provided:

Interactive Periodic Table - you can click on an element and find out everything you want to know about it.  The history of the periodic table is also provided

Other Educational Resources - provides extensive links to science resources outside Los Alamos

Library - Has an extensive collection of books, CD-ROMS. electronic journals, etc.  This is only of LANL staff to access.

15. Make a general assessment of the educational value of this website.  You should include at least 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses in your evaluation.

        We think that this site is a valuable educational asset primarily for three reasons.  One, It Indicates the latest advancements in scientific research and gives us a glimpse of where science is going in the future.  Secondly, it gives students an appreciation of science and technology.  It's something that students might want to be apart of in the future. Thirdly, and perhaps the most important of all, this website provides a feeling to the visitor that science is "real." It's not something that took place years ago and is mentioned in textbooks over and over again. 

        The only major limitation to this website is that the information provided are all brief.  There are no in-depth reports or journals that can be found on the website.  Therefore, this is not the site to visit if you're doing a project of High-energy physics or lasers.

16.What are your overall impressions of this website.  Comment on the scope of topics and how they are treated.  Make suggestions on how you would improve this website.

        On a scale of 1-5, we would give this website a 4.  It's a great and extensive site with a large concentration of topics not only in physics, but from all areas of science.  To get a 5, this site needs to provide detailed information on the topics covered with diagrams and pictures.