The cat sat on the mat. Who else sat on the mat? I bet you don't know that.

This book provides information about microbial mats, from early fossils to modern mats located in marine and terrestrial environments. Microbial mats – layered biofilms containing different types of cells – are most complex systems in which representatives of various groups of organisms are found together. Among them are cyanobacteria and eukaryotic phototrophs, aerobic heterotrophic and chemoautotrophic bacteria, protozoa, anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, and other types of microorganisms. These mats are perfect models for biogeochemical processes, such as the cycles of chemical elements, in which a variety of microorganisms cooperate and interact in complex ways. They are often found under extreme conditions and their study contributes to our understanding of extremophilic life. Moreover, microbial mats are models for Precambrian stromatolites; the study of modern microbial mats may provide information on the processes that may have occurred on Earth when prokaryotic life began to spread.

Beginning in 1928, the Grenfell Mission sent out a call to socialites: When your stockings run, let them run to Labrador! The creative recycling of tattered stockings, dyed in soft hues, is just one of many innovations that made Grenfell hooked mats highly collectible folk art. In Silk Stocking Mats, Paula Laverty chronicles the development of a local craft into an art form. For generations Newfoundland women had augmented their family's unreliable fishing income with a matting season in February and March. Through the Grenfell Mission's Industrial Department, set up in 1909 to help develop cottage industries, the mat industry became an increasingly important source of income, reaching peak production in the late 1920s and early 1930s when the women's mats became renowned for their strong design, meticulous craftsmanship, and distinctive images chronicling life in the north. Reindeer, sled dog teams, polar bears, schooners, outports, and florals are but a few of the mat designs. Silk Stocking Mats is the result of over seventeen years of exhaustive research and draws on personal interviews with older women who recall their hooking days, the study of hundreds of archival documents, and careful examination of countless Grenfell hooked mats. Laverty's book is beautifully illustrated with photographs and descriptions, including rare and unusual as well as common mat designs.

This standard specifies the classification and code, product specifications, requirements, test methods, inspection rules, marking, packaging, transportation and storage of glass fiber chopped strand mat and continuous strand mat (hereinafter referred to as felt).  This standard applies to glass fiber chopped strand mats (hereinafter referred to as chopped strand mats) and glass fiber continuous strand mats (hereinafter referred to as continuous mats) for reinforcing plastics and reinforcing cementitious materials. For glass fiber continuous monofilament felt, glass fiber needle felt can also be used as reference.  This standard does not apply to fiberglass stitching felts, fiberglass mats, or fiberglass mats for thermal insulation applications.

Enhance your classroom centers with this collection of learning kits that cover a wide range of topics in reading, math, science, and more. Colorful mats, picture cards, foam shapes, and crayons appeal to children, even as they learn and develop essential skills for academic success. Each kit comes with an activity guide with suggestions for use. For use with Grades K-2.