SIMply Prairie - Finding Information: Online Resources
Online Resources Investigation Assessment
You may want to use the Internet record sheet to keep track of the URL's you visit.
PRAIRIE RESOURCES 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 interspersed.
Center for Conservation Biology Network - http://conbio.bio.uci.edu/ (use search within site)
Conner Prairie - http://www.connerprairie.org/cp/aboutcp.html
Conner Prairie is an open-air museum located in Fishers, Indiana. It contains a modern museum center, the 1836 village of Prairietown, the 1823 Conner home, and a pioneer adventure area.
EPA Green Landscaping with Native Plants - http://www.epa.gov/greenacres
Promotes the use of native prairie, forest, and wetland plants. Sections include how to get started, what to expect while the plants are taking root, maintenance with fire or mowing, a toolkit for local governments to promote native plants, and an article on municipal weed laws.
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 viable links to other informational
resources.
Fermilab Ecology - http://www.fnal.gov/pub/ecology.html
Explore the natural world at Fermilab and the Lab's environmental efforts.
Fermilab 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.
Flight of the Bumblebee - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/franzen/Bombus.html
The only bee native to North America is the bumblebee.
Eight species have been verified foraging on the Fermilab prairie.
Interesting links to related sites.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources - http://dnr.state.il.us/nredu/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 Prairie Page - http://www.www.elnet.com/~prairie/index.html
This site contains good general information on what a prairie is, prairie cemeteries, the role of fire, and it contains a featured prairie section with good photographs.
Illinois State Natural History Museum - http://www.museum.state.il.us/mic_home/newton/project/prairie_grass.html
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.
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!
Particles and Prairies Videodisc Slides - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lasso/slides/show-slides.html
The Particles and Prairies Videodisc has over 1000 slides covering the restoration, history, ecology and research done on the Fermilab prairie. These slides have been transferred
to the web. The videodisc is an award-winning videodisc produced by the Friends of Fermilab.
The Prairie Enthusiasts - http://www.prairie.pressenter.com/
The Prairie Enthusiasts is a grassroots, volunteer organization concerned with the maintenance and recovery of prairie and oak savanna of Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The What's New, Discussion Area, Flora/Fauna, and Books We Recommend sections are excellent.
Prairie E-scan - http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jlmc/PrairieHome.html
From the E-scan site, you can research virtually all aspects
of tallgrass prairie plants, wildlife and history.
Prairie Related Links - http://www.netins.net/showcase/blestem/prarlink.htm
This site contains about eighty or more prairie related links. Categories include: Some Useful Prairie Wildflower Links, Organizations, Horticultural Links, Links that Contain Related Information, and Misc. and Interesting Reciprocal Links.
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 Tallgrass prairie are magnificently featured
in photo and text. A database with cross-reference between common and
scientific names is featured as well.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - http://www.fws.gov/index.html
(use search within site)
The search within this U.S. Fish and Wildlife site yielded over
300 options for the query "prairie."
SEED SOURCE AND RESTORATION TIPS
Forage Information System - http://www.forages.css.orst.edu/Topics/Species/Grasses/Prairie_grass/index.html
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 with an impressive list of links and information about threatened
and endangered native plants.
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.
Prairie Restoration - http://www.fnal.gov/pub/elm/natres.html
Learn how Fermilab is maintaining and adding to its 1200+ acre
restored prairie.
Prairie Restoration Information - 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.
AGRICULTURE GENERAL SITE
United States Department of Agriculture - http://www.usda.gov/nass/
WEATHER VIRTUAL SITE
Weather Underground - http://www.wunderground.com
Gives planting conditions.
Garfield Farm and Inn Museum - http://www.elnet.com/~garfarm/
Garfield Farm and Inn is a 281-acre farmstead and former 1840's teamster inn. The museum brings together the farming experiences of the past 150 years with an appreciation of the natural environment that the Garfields found when they came to Illinois. The site includes the 20-acre Mill Creek Prairie.
Kline Creek Farm at Timber Ridge Forest Preserve - http://www.dupageforest.com/EDUCATION/klinecreek.html
Kline Creek Farm is a "living history" farm depicting farm life as it was on this site and hundreds of others like it in 1890s DuPage County, Illinois. Its purpose is to explore what life was like here a century ago.
Living History Farms - http://www.ioweb.com/lhf.about.html
Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa, tells the amazing story of how Iowans transformed the fertile prairies into the most productive farmland in the world. The 600-acre open-air museum shows five historical time periods spanning 300 years.
Naper Settlement - http://www.napersettlement.org
Naper Settlement is a museum village where 19th-century homes, shops and public buildings tell the story of Naperville as it changed from a frontier outpost to a bustling turn-of-the century community.
Settlers' Letters -
http://www-ed.fnal.gov/ntep/f98/projects/fnal/student/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.