Explore the living and nonliving components of marine ecosystems. Scientists compare and contrast two unique marine ecosystems - a tropical coral reef and a temperate rocky coast.

What good are caves? In a practical sense, they are nature's plumbing system and homes to many animals. For people with various needs, values and levels of curiosity, caves provide places for adventure, shelter, and cutting-edge research. Discoveries made in caves offer us a glimpse into the past and the future and continue to lead us into future exploration. The National Park Service protects 81 sites that contain over a thousand limestone caves and lava tubes. About a dozen sites offer tours where park visitors enjoy scenic views made up of slow-growing speleothems - what you may know as stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, etc. Visitors also marvel at the fish, bats and insects that call caves home, but it is microbes that are a main form of life in caves. By studying bacteria that exists underground, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how biology shapes our world and influences geology. Cave microbes may hold a key to a cure for cancer or may help us recognize life on Mars. Caves also preserve evidence of ancient cultures, such as pictographs and stone tools, and keep alive the spirit of exploration through the stories of past and current explorers.

Have you ever wondered about those raised red, cotton stitches on a baseball? Sure, they hold the cowhide cover together, but did you know they also teach an interesting lesson in aerodynamics? What goes up must come down; that's why velocity, air temperature, gravity, and altitude are all fascinating factors in a batter's ability to launch a longball. Catching up to a pitch hurled at 100 miles per hour and sending it into orbit is a surprisingly scientific feat. Join us in Jupiter, Florida, where spring training 2004 becomes both classroom and clinic to explore physics and nature through our National Pastime.

Learn about our nation's firsts, as we make our first stop aboard the EFT Express in historical Philadelphia! Discover the sights 'The City of Brotherly Love' has to offer as we visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and many more prominent landmarks where pivotal events took place in the assembly of the good ol' U.S.A.!

The next stop on The EFT Express will be on the brickyard of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. At this stop you will explore Sir Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion that states an object usually stays in motion with the same speed unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

During this electronic field trip, experienced museum educators will use the artifacts and stories in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's permanent exhibition, The Holocaust, to help students explore the Nazi rise to power and how countless individuals, traditionally relied upon to uphold the public good, became the active participants in civil rights violations and mass murder. Through the lens of history, students will then be asked to explore the consequences of their own daily decision making, both on their immediate environment and the world at large.

As airplanes fly, they push air out of the way and force it into taking different paths. That pushed air must go somewhere, so it "squeezes" between the wings and surrounding air. Explore the concepts of Air, Bernoulli, Wings and airplane design. Students will be taken through the "How Things Fly" exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Grand Canyon is considered the finest example of arid-land erosion in the world; however, it is more than that. A significant portion of Earth's history is revealed within the exposed rock layers of the canyon, five of the seven life zones in North America are represented within the park and it has been home to humans for nearly 10,000 years. Come explore some of the 1,217,403 acres of Grand Canyon National Park - hike into the canyon with Park Rangers, investigate fossils of animals that lived 270 million years ago, learn about the diversity of plants and animals that inhabit this semi-arid environment and explore the ruins of ancient inhabitants.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about training for space. Come discover the answer.

The World Year of Physics, Space Center Houston, and NASA have teamed up to bring the weightless world to the classroom. Fly inside NASA's vomit comet, the C-9, a plane that does a roller coaster ride in the sky. See how the astronauts train and conduct experiments during this wild ride. Take an inside peek at weightless research, a journey granted to only a select few! Learn about and explore the C-9 plane itself as we study it from the inside, miles above the earth and live from its hangar at Johnson Space Center, as well.

Native people have lived on the lands and waterways along the North Pacific Coast for more than 10,000 years. Their stories and traditions link them to the natural world in which they live. Through songs, dances, and ceremonies, the Native people of the North Pacific Coast honor their past and celebrate their present. Start your visit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. where you will hear stories of eleven different Native communities from the North Pacific Coast. See how they present their own stories and give voice to their own world views through the museum's collection.

Imagine being forcibly relocated from your home, your school or your family to a bleak prison surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. This was not a nightmare from Nazi Germany but an American injustice endured by nearly 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Thousands of innocent Japanese Americans were forced into isolated internment camps because of racial prejudice and wartime hysteria. Remarkably, they created courageous communities where patriotism prospered, loyalty to the U.S. did not falter, and they played baseball to sustain their pride and morale.

A cosmic story unfolds in the Moon, Meteorites, and Solar System Gallery as Smithsonian scientists explain how space "artifacts" help us understand the origin and shape of the Earth, moon, and solar system.

Join the staff at the world famous Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City to experience the works of renowned African-American artist Jacob Lawrence. For more than 65 years, Jacob Lawrence was both an impassioned observer and storyteller who explored the diverse aspects of the African-American experience.

The fine art of sports is portrayed in broad-brush strokes across the canvas of American culture. From advertising to motion pictures and literature to the lyrics of a Top 40 song, ours is a nation endowed by an uncommon creativity found on the field of play. Through the paintings and sculptures of America's best-known talents - such as Warhol, Rockwell and Neiman - our social history comes alive in a colorful palette of fastballs, fashion and folk art.

Families everywhere collect and pass on stories to preserve their traditions. For many Native American communities, these stories represent a unique perspective on history and culture.

During the electronic field trip, students visit the National Museum of the American Indian - where stories are brought to life through dances, music, baskets, weavings, and other objects of everyday use. The Museum's Cultural Interpreters, representing a variety of Native American tribes, will each share stories from their own communities using objects dance, and music traditions. Students will experience the diverse cultures among Native American peoples and have a better understanding of how many indigenous people preserve, share, and practice their traditions today.

Written in Israel between the years of 250 BCE and 68 CE, the first Dead Sea Scroll fragments were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd looking for his lost sheep in a cave. This electronic field trip, from the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, will examine the scrolls alongside eighty artifacts from the Qumran.

Join Space Center Houston and NASA as we experience the underwater adventures of training for space walks, also known as Extravehicular Activities or EVAs. During this electronic field trip, students will have the opportunity to meet the astronauts and other men and women behind the scenes at NASA who make these very dangerous and important missions a reality.

When Dr. Jess Parker, head of SERC's Forest Ecology Lab, walks through a forest, he looks up. The forest canopy is a microclimate of its own, one that absorbs sunlight and rain, removes particles like dust and pollen, and even affects the pH of rainwater as it makes its way down to the forest floor. The forest ceiling houses the machinery of photosynthesis, controls the growth of the entire forest, and provides habitat for many organisms.

Discover a whole new world beneath your feet and under the prairie. Based on the exhibit, "Underground Adventure" from the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, this program allows students to watch museum staff shrink to a half-inch tall and walk through a soil environment and stand face-to-face with the organisms that live there.

Many students are familiar with the feats of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle, but what about the accomplishments of baseball stars such as Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, and Masanori Murakami? Their courage as Latino, African-American, and Asian athletes helped make baseball one of the first great melting pots in professional sports. As a result, diversity and athleticism remain time-tested teammates on the field of excellence.