Geosphere
| Site Name | Determining and Measuring Earth’s Layered Interior |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | IRIS |
| Suggested by | Becky Remis |
| Description | “Michael Hubenthal and I presented a session at the recent STANYS conference on this activity. I've used it with my students and it works very well.” |
| Site Name | Geologic maps of US states |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | USGS |
| Suggested by | Don Duggan-Haas |
| Description | “Digital geologic maps of the US states with consistent lithology, age, GIS database structure, and format.” |
| Site Name | 360 Degree Spherical Panoramas In and Around Utah |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Martin Van Hemert |
| Suggested by | Pat Ward |
| Description | “Utah, in full surround 360 degree interactive panoramas. It's the next best thing to being there. Click on any preview to open a panorama, then click and drag in any direction, including up and down.” As you pan the images, don’t look for a forearm under a boulder. |
Hydrosphere
| Site Name | Freshwater Geography Quiz |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | About.com |
| Suggested by | Randy Bertolas |
| Description | “Cap off your 'Geography Awareness Week: Freshwater' experience by taking this 15-question water quiz from About.com.” It’s a tough quiz to ace. |
Atmosphere
| Site Name | 101st Airborne Delivers Game Ball From Above |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Wired.com |
| Suggested by | Larry Claypool |
| Description | “What it looks like from a parachutist's view, dropping into a football stadium. He tried to make a standup landing, but didn't quite succeed.” This video is a good intro to convection, atmospheric pressure, thermals, and the value of the atmosphere. |
| Site Name | Length of Day |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Creative Commons |
| Suggested by | Virginia Malone |
| Description | The cause of seasons can be particularly difficult for students to grasp. This animation provides a polar view of the Earth with shadow and light throughout the year. You can stop on any day. The earth continues to turn giving you time to discuss day length as well as season. In the upper left corner is a small orbital view of earth's position. |
Space
| Site Name | Planet Hunters |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Planethunters.org |
| Suggested by | Galaxy Zoo |
| Description | “Ever dreamed of being the first to make a discovery? Want to find a planet of your own? Thanks to http://www.planethunters.org, the latest Zooniverse project, you might just be able to, using data from NASA's Kepler mission.” |
| Site Name | Meteor Impact Calculation Site |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Purdue.edu |
| Suggested by | Stephanie Burns |
| Description | Who doesn’t enjoy destroying a planet now and then? “Here's a pretty neat website to help you calculate the impact of a meteor. You can enter data and the site calculates the damage we might experience on Earth.” |
| Site Name | A View of the Solar System Outside in and Inside out |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | NASA |
| Suggested by | Lou Estey |
| Description | “The cameras of Voyager 1 on Feb. 14, 1990, pointed back toward the sun and took a series of pictures of the sun and the planets, making the first ever "portrait" of our solar system as seen from the outside” and “the MESSENGER spacecraft collected this series of images to complete a “family portrait” of our Solar System as seen from the inside looking out. |
General
| Site Name | Wikipedia Comes of Age |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | The Chronicle |
| Suggested by | Marion O. Weaver |
| Description | “There's an interesting article about Wikipedia in the Chronicle Review of the Chronicle of Higher Education wherein the author is now supportive of the use of Wikipedia because it can play a valid role in formal educational settings. He feels that the role of academic publishers is now to strengthen links from entries to more advanced resources. And he gives documented examples.” |
Teaching
| Site Name | Is Teaching Like Running a Business? |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Jamie Robert Vollmer |
| Suggested by | Rob DeMarco |
| Description | “I am reminded of the popular story from Jamie Robert Vollmer about a shipment of blueberries that a company sent back instead of using them to make their ice cream...” As teachers, can we do that with our students? |
| Site Name | Formulating Science Questions |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Exploritorium.edu |
| Suggested by | Dave Smith |
| Description | “The Exploratorium's Institute for Inquiry has an activity called Raising Questions. It is intended as a professional development activity for teachers, and I have used it as such from pre-K through grade 12 teachers. It uses exploration of ice balloons (frozen water balloons) as an activity to generate questions. Embedded within it is a great discussion of the strategy of a "variable scan" intended to move students away from non-investigable "why?" questions into investigable questions about the behavior of variables. You can download the facilitators guide and read about the technique from You must register, so that they can track the use of the materials. Raising questions is the third workshop in the Inquiry Institute. ” |
Computer Tips
| Site Name | Social Bookmarking |
| Site URL | |
| Site Author | Delicious.com |
| Suggested by | Hannah Naczi |
| Description | “Tech day today: one site we learned about was Delicious.com. At first I didn’t get how helpful this could be, but I really like it. It is a web based site where you can bookmark sites (so they aren’t stored on a specific computer) AND you can make notes to yourself (and others) about the sites, AND tag them and you can also search by tag or see what other people have tagged. Really is an interesting way to share sites professionally. You can also tag certain sites for a class, and send students there for a project, etc.” |
Demos
| Site Name | Illustrating Shadow Zones |
| Suggested by | Steve Kluge |
| Description | “I did it this way a few times.... I had a 30 cm diameter fish bowl and I'd put a smaller beaker inside of it, as diagrammed below. Then I'd shine a projector through the thing (the light represented P waves) and project that light on a sheet of white paper on the other side of the fishbowl. The P wave shadow zone actually appears quite nicely, and by putting water in one or the other containers, you could change the size of the resulting shadow zone, or alternatively by putting a smaller beaker in the center. Never took pictures of it, and at some point my fishbowl disappeared and I kind of stopped doing the demo.” |
Teaching Tip
| Site Name | Review Line |
| Suggested by | Mark Francek |
| Description | 1. Have students or you create a fill in the blank question relating to an upcoming exam on an index card. 2. Take students out to hall or open space, form two equal lines, facing a partner. 3. On cue, students greet each other, shake hands, then take turns asking each other the index card question. Students take notes on correct answer, you query for misconceptions or errors. 4. One side of the line rotates, other line is stationary. 5. The last person in the left line will rotate to the head of the line. 6. IMPORTANT: After the third or fourth question exchange, take notes on what you learned. Students get a lot of information in a hurry so give time for reflection. Bottom Line: How many times have you had review sessions with most students unengaged or uttering the lame, “will this be on the test?” This technique, in addition to forming social bonds, is an effective review method. But remember, give students a chance to summarize their learning while on the line. They are getting LOTS of information in a short period of time. This is also a noisy activity. |
Quotes
| Quote | “My name is Bond, Ionic Bond: Taken, not shared!” – Caren Thomas |
| Suggested by | Ellen Mandel |
| Quote | The world looks so different after learning science. For example, trees are made of air, primarily. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming heat is released the flaming heat of the sun which was bound in to convert the air into tree. And in the ash is the small remnant of the part which did not come from air, that came from the solid earth, instead. These are beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them. They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others. Richard Feynman |
| Suggested by | Gary Pinkall |
Humor
| Title | A list of some of the Responses to the Smithsonian’s Holiday Party |
| Suggested by | Mike Nolan |
| Description | Michelson and Morley said they encountered a little interference on the way. Coulomb said he was all charged up and ready to go. Tesla recoiled at the idea. Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard responded that they had a pile of work to attend to. Fulton was steamed that he was not invited. Benjamin Franklin told them to go fly a kite. Avogadro RSVP’s that he would attend if his number came up. Jane Goodall went ape over the invite. Columbus said that he was setting sail today. Galileo had scoped things out and replied that things were looking up. Van Leeuwenhoek said that he would look into it while Robert Hooke told them to put a cork into it. Adam and Eve said they would be arriving in new designer jeans. Murphy said he would be there if nothing went wrong. Gregor Mendel declined saying that he would be praying for whorled peas. Pasteur said that things were heating up. Hwang Woo-suk said he would bring the baloney. Archimedes replied at once describing in detail his buoyant expectations. Ampere was worried that he was not current. Boyle said he was under too much pressure. Charles Darwin was excited that he was naturally selected and worried that he would be fit enough to survive the journey. Descartes thought about it for a while, then said I am. Dr. Jekyll declined – he had not been feeling himself lately and had gone into Hydeing. Edison thought it would be illuminating. Einstein theorized that it would be relatively easy to attend. Gauss was asked to attend because of his magnetic personality. Hawking tried to string enough time together to make space in his schedule. Heisenberg was uncertain that he could make it. Hertz said in the future he planned to attend with greater frequency. Morse’s reply: “I’ll be there on the dot. Can’t stop now, must dash.” Isaac Newton calculated that he could drop in. Ohm resisted the idea. Pavlov was drooling at the idea. Pierre and Marie Curie were radiating with enthusiasm at attending. Schrodinger had to take his cat to the vet, or did he? Stephenson thought the whole idea was loco. Volta was electrified at the invitation. Watt reckoned it would be a good way to let off steam. Wilbur Wright accepted, provided he an Orwell could get a flight! Guttenberg printed out his reply in triplicate. Liu Xiaobo replied that he was barred this year from attending. Henry Ford said he would drive down after assembling his gear. Richard Dawkins arrived late and blamed his watchmaker. Johannes Kepler said he would be there if the planets were in line. James Watson RSVP’d and said he would show everyone how to twist. Alfred Wegener agreed to drift on over, in time. Sigmund Freud’s response, “In your dreams!” B.F. Skinner was excited to come and observe the animal behavior. Alfred Kinsey’s reply has been (CENSORED) |
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