Research and Education
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/collection/chinese-m1183.html
Archaeological digs can tell us much about ancient civilizations, but what about more recent periods of human habitation? This fine collection from the USC Digital Library presents over 1,100 images of artifacts excavated from two sites in Southern California. The Chinatown section features 1,040 color images of artifacts from the original Los Angeles Chinatown. These items were recovered during the construction of the Metro Rail Red Line by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The online collection includes photos of wine bowls, ink stone boxes, and other fragments of items from daily household life. The second segment includes items excavated in 1992 from an old adobe structure in Santa Barbara that housed a Chinese laundry from the mid 1880s to 1905. The collection can be searched via keyword, and it is quite a resource for historians, archaeologists, and others. [KMG]
As their tagline notes, "Every day is Science Friday." With a deep archive of past programs and video clips, the website for NPR's Science Friday program is quite a find. The program is hosted by Ira Flatow, and each week he and his colleagues "focus on science topics that are in the news and try to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand." Recent segments on the show have covered space weather, magnetic soap, and stem cell eye therapy. The video segments are remarkable, and visitors shouldn't miss "What's So Cool About Frozen Water?" for a wonderful film exploration of the elusive properties of ice. Interested in the intersection of science and art? Click on over to the SciArts tab to read and listen to pieces on a variety of topics, including the beauty of a lobster brain or "science ink," which features photos the tattoos of people in love with science.
[KMG]
To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at
http://amser.org.
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/structure04/activities/3863.html
Understanding certain aspects of structural geology can be challenging for undergraduates, and the good people at "On the Cutting Edge" have worked to create this useful resource to help students and educators. This particular lesson plan was created by Paul Kelso of Lake Superior State University, and it was designed for students who have a bit of background knowledge of structural geology. The activity will help students learn about the concept of Mohr-Coulomb failure and also afford them a physical understanding of conjugate fracture/fault systems. As with other plans offered in this series, the piece provides information on the necessary materials (such as clay) required for the activity, along with teaching tips, assessment tools, and techniques.
[KMG]
To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at
http://amser.org.
http://www.cur.org/quarterly/webedition.html
The mission of the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) is to "support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship." CUR disseminates some of its work and findings through the Council of Undergraduate Research Quarterly (CURQ) and this site provides access to some of the articles from that publication. Currently, visitors can search past articles back to 2008, and visitors can browse through articles like "Putting Undergraduate Research on the Map for Women," "Peer Mentoring in an Introductory Biology Laboratory," and "Undergraduate Research on Writing: Benefits to Faculty and Curriculum Development." All told, the site provides a cornucopia of articles related to making the undergraduate research experience a bit more meaningful, and educators will find much to enjoy here. [KMG]
http://credo.library.umass.edu/
The Credo online repository contains over 40,000 items held by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries' Department of Special Collections and University Archives. During the launch of Credo in June 2011, the organizers digitized and released the complete papers of noted African American intellectual and activist W.E.B. Du Bois. This project was made possible with support from the Verizon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visitors can browse Du Bois' papers here and also look over the Halpern photograph collection. These photographs were taken by noted anthropologist Joel M. Halpern and they document his extensive visits to the Arctic in the 1950s. Visitors looking for a bit more orientation to the entire Credo repository should look over the "How To Use Credo" guide. [KMG]
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) was formed in 1972 as a result of a meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council. CAST's mission is to "assemble, interpret, and communicate credible science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the public." Visitors will find the Education tab near the top of the page to be particularly helpful for those who want to pursue agricultural careers or learn about agricultural education, such as 4-H or Future Farmers of America. The CAST Videos section has a number of PowerPoint presentations on current topics of importance in agriculture, such as "The Science and Regulation of Food from Genetically Engineered Animals," "Food Safety and Fresh Produce," and "Probiotics in Human Health." A number of the papers that accompany the PowerPoint presentations are available for free.
[KMG]
To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at
http://amser.org.
This website is an excellent resource for math teachers teaching any age and level of students. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), "support[s] teachers to ensure equitable mathematics learning of the highest quality for all students through vision, leadership, professional development and research." Visitors interested in making math fun will certainly want to read the lead article on the homepage of the Lessons and Resources section, "Learn Ways to Evaluate Math Games," as it not only helps with game evaluation, but also provides links to good free games. Below the lead article are categories for Elementary, Middle School and High School math. Each category has a publication especially for those grade levels, with current and archived issues available. Also on the homepage of the Lessons and Resources section, visitors will find Family Corner, Teaching Tips, and Lessons and Teaching.
To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at
http://amser.org.
This website outlines the steps Canada's government is taking to recover from the recent economic crisis. It addresses jobs, communities, education, and Canada's fiscal advantages. Visitors interested in seeing short videos that aid Canadians in obtaining federal grants should click on the Video Vault link at the top of the page. A video entitled Apprenticeship Grants explains how federal grants encourage training in the trades, and another video informs people how they can get up to $5000 to make their homes more energy efficient. Moving on, visitors can also see the number of projects the action plan has started on the Projects Map link, located on the bottom of the homepage. This interactive map enables visitors to click on different locales to read about each project, and is searchable by province, city and project title. [KMG]
