ALABAMA SUPERCOMPUTER AUTHORITY
The recent destruction wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita has driven home the importance of backing up school data. Every school should protect its essential data before an emergency strikes, and school leaders should know what to do with these data when an emergency is imminent. Does your school system have a disaster recovery plan? If not, contact the Alabama Supercomputer Authority (334.242.0100) to learn about our options.
READING ABOUT EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY
EdWeek.org recently launched a new monthly e-newsletter about educational technology issues. It will include stories on the latest trends and news developments in the world of K-12 eductional technology, roundups of technology reports, statistics from edweek.org's Research Center about issues such as student computer use and online learning, and updates about upcoming edtech conferences, seminars and grants. Sign up today! http://www.edweek.org/denial.html?destination=https%3A%2F%2Fc4.erightsweb.com%2Fedweek%2Fshow%2Fmyaccount%2Fupdatenewsletters.do%3Fcommand%3Dview&levelId=1000
EDUCATION AND THE INTERNET
Answerbag.com Question, 'What's in the bag?' Answer, 'Just about everything!' "Answerbag is a compilation of human knowledge and experience. It is a universal, user-generated set of frequently-asked questions (FAQs). It is built and policed by its users, a worldwide information community that is working together to make Answerbag an authoritative collection of questions and answers on any topic relevant today." A unique concept, Answerbag allows visitors to vote on the information contained in its pages, resulting in answers that are actually graded by the community, graded from A+ on down the scale. The answers have additional resources listed that pertain to the subject; although some may be commercial, the wealth of information makes a good resource for research on just about any subject. Should you choose to join the community, you can always present your own answers to the questions. Just remember, yours will be graded along with those of everyone else! http://www.answerbag.com/
Smithsonian Students: Education The Smithsonian has an interesting site for 'Students, A Place for Kids to Explore, to Discover and Learn.' Visitors will find sections on 'Everything Art,' 'Science and Nature,' 'History and Culture' and 'People and Places.' The Ideal Labs feature such activities as Smithsonian Kids where there are 'lots of fast, fun, cool, scary, patriotic, and beautiful things,' Walking on the Moon, a 'journey back in time to experience the incredible Apollo 11 mission,' Amazing Collections where you can 'explore the riches of the Smithsonian’s collections, learn how to start your own collections, and see what kinds of things other kids collect' and the ever popular Mr. President section where you can 'learn the facts about each of our nation’s presidents.' Here's 'a great place for browsing, research, or homework help!' You'll certainly want to check the other sections not directly related to the Students section. This site is an excellent way to take advantage of one of the national treasures of the United States, the Smithsonian! http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/students/
Artistic Exchange: Europe and the Islamic World presents 31 paintings, bowls, and other objects that illustrate the Islamic world's influence on European art. Elements of Islamic art are identified in each of the European pieces, which date back to the Middle Ages. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2004/artexchange/artexchange_ss.htm
Alexander Calder looks at the works, working methods, and the life of a man who revolutionized sculpture by introducing movement as a key component. Take a virtual tour of the "mobiles" (a form of sculpture he invented) and "stabiles" that use untraditional materials and that, at the time, challenged the prevailing notion of sculpture as a composition of masses and volumes. Learn how this mechanical engineering student ended up creating a new type of public sculpture. http://www.nga.gov/collection/calderinfo.htm
Jazz in America: National Jazz Curriculum offers lessons for teaching about jazz in American history or music class for Grades 5, 8, and 11. Learn about the evolution of jazz, different jazz styles, improvisation, basic musical elements, and how jazz influenced (and was influenced by) American culture. http://64.78.6.235/home.asp
Origins of European Printmaking features 12 early woodcuts, books, and printed textiles from an exhibit (through November 27, 2005) examining the role of replicated images in late medieval culture. The advent of mass produced images in Europe in the 15th century made it possible for all people, not just the wealthy, to own a picture. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/originsinfo.htm
Civil War Treasures from the New York Historical Society offers materials for teaching about the Civil War. It includes recruitment posters, sketches, photos, a prison camp newspaper, and letters Walt Whitman wrote to wounded servicemen. Special sections examine the 1860 election, secession, war, African Americans in the Civil War, and recruitment and conscription. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/collections/treasures/
Constitution Toolkit includes images of newspaper articles (1787), notes Washington and Jefferson wrote on drafts of the Constitution (1787-88), Jefferson's chart of state votes (1788), Washington's diaries (1786-89), Hamilton's speech notes for proposing a plan of government, a Philadelphia map (1752), the "broadside" Bill of Rights (1791), and other artifacts. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/community/cc_wethepeople_kit.php
Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Photogravures provides teaching materials for learning from newspaper images about the Great War. Features include a timeline, events and statistics, pictorial highlights, the Lusitania disaster, pictures as propaganda, chronological thinking, analyzing photos and captions, themes in literature, posters, and ads. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/collections/rotog/index.html
Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party presents 448 photos documenting the National Woman's Party's push for ratification of the 19th Amendment and passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Taken from 1875-1922, these photos include portraits of leaders and tactics used by the organization -- picketing, pageants, parades, demonstrations, and hunger strikes. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/
Activity-Based Physics presents "thinking problems" for physics topics: vectors, kinematics, momentum, circular motion, universal gravitation, sound, energy, temperature, and circuits. Problems include designing a roller coaster, riding a bicycle efficiently, tailgating, tuning a radio, electrical safety, and how bats and dolphins "see" with sound (echolocation). http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/ripe/perg/abp/
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education provides inquiry-based activities and collaborative projects in science and math. Topics include real-time weather and climate data, air pollution, remote sensing data, the Gulf Stream, water use and testing around the world, boiling water, plants and animals in your schoolyard, measuring the circumference of earth, population growth, and tracking a real airplane in flight to see how vectors and trigonometry are used for navigation. http://www.ciese.org/currichome.html
Current Science and Technology Center looks at science and technology in the news, including leading edge research and exploration. Learn about the fats of life, ritalin, garlic, carbon nanotubes, stem cells, diabetes, experiments in near zero gravity, visualizing influenza, growing heart cells, regenerative medicine, amorphous metals (metallic glasses), and nanotechnology. http://www.mos.org/cst/index.html
Exploring the Nanoworld Teaching Modules helps teachers incorporate nanotechnology into high school chemistry and middle school technology classes. High school modules explore x-ray diffraction and scanning probe microscopy, shape-memory alloys, light emitting diodes, and ferrofluid. Middle school modules examine magnetism, memory metals, and "how we can 'see' what we cannot see." Modules include overviews, curriculum suggestions, lesson plans, guided notes, experiments, and assessments. http://www.mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/modules/index.html
Global Warming Facts and Our Future explores the latest scientific information from the National Academy of Sciences. Is our climate warming? Are humans causing it? What might be the effects? What can be done? Learn about the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, and past changes in our climate. See predicted changes and how they could affect sea levels, agriculture, and ecosystems. Find out about options for reducing CO2 emissions. http://www.koshlandscience.org/exhibitgcc/index.jsp
Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center introduces students to nanotechnology. Learn how we can "see" atoms, manipulate them, and create nano-architectural wonders. Watch nanoscience demonstrations. Read profiles of nanotechnologists. Look through nanotechnology slide shows and course descriptions. Manipulate an interactive polyhedral model. http://www.mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/index.html
Minerals Management Service Kids' Pages offers activities for learning about tidepools, energy, sea water, ocean sand and gravel, drilling for oil in the ocean, and historic shipwrecks of the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.mms.gov/mmskids/
Physics offers a bird's-eye view of the great challenges in physics today. Read about self-organization, network theory, superconductivity, superfluidity, supersolids, quantum mechanics, quantum computing, quantum cryptography, nonlinear equations, chaos theory, the human genome, human consciousness, fundamental forces, grand unified theories, Higgs field, string theory, loop quantum gravity, supernovae, cosmic microwave background, neutrinos, dark energy, and cosmic rays. http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/physics/index.jsp
Putting DNA to Work looks at where DNA is found, similarities in the DNA of humans and other species, and how traits are inherited from one generation to the next. Learn how DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), discovered 50 years ago, is used today to detect diseases, improve crops, and catch criminals. http://www.koshlandscience.org/exhibitdna/index.jsp
Cisco has created lesson plans, activities, games, and other resources to help you engage your students in IT. www.cisco.com/go/packetville
Kids do Ecology Here's an ecology site for kids presented in both English and Spanish. The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis 'teamed up with Los Marineros, a yearlong marine educational program in Santa Barbara, and formed Kids Do Ecology.' Budding young ecologists will find an introduction to the scientific method, a learning lab, pages on Marine Mammals, a section on World Biomes and Conservation Projects. Should your inquisitive youngster have questions, he/she can also 'Ask an Ecologist' if the question is not already answered in the FAQ's. The site is geared toward fifth-graders but should be of helpful to anyone interested in ecology and the presentation of these concepts to children. Don't miss the EcoLinks, especially the 'Fun' ones, for great activities to support the conservation issues. http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids/
A Celebration of Food Did you know that October 8-14 is National School Lunch Week? What better time to learn about and discuss a favorite topic of students – food! Yes, food is a great common denominator among us; it's something we all need and enjoy every day. So, to celebrate food, glorious food, you'll find a few of our favorite food-related lessons in this month's MarcoGram. Bon appetit! http://www.marcopolo-education.org/MarcoGrams/Oct2005.html.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
SMART Technologies Inc. announces the addition of free Two-Minute Tutorials to its suite of training resources, providing SMART Board interactive whiteboard users with a quick introduction to interactive whiteboard basics. The tutorials employ Macromedia Flash with optional narration to demonstrate SMART Board software basics such as Touch, Write and Save, Notebook Software Basics, Objects in Notebook Software, and The Notebook Software Page Sorter. Two-Minute Tutorials are designed to reach visual or auditory learners, self-starters, and those with busy schedules. The four tutorials are available at http://www.smarttech.com/trainingcenter/tutorials.asp .
Global Nomads Group and Semester at Sea are proud to introduce CURRENTS, an international education program uniting American youth with their peers around the world via videoconferencing and the internet to discuss the most pressing global issues of our time, and work together on collaborative solutions. Learn more and sign up your class soon! http://www.gng.org/currents/
IM Lock Internet security company Comvigo has released IM Lock 1.4, IM-blocking software for school and home use. IM Lock blocks the most widely used instant messengers, including AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, as well as 16 other protocols. The program was created to protect users, especially young children, and equipment against the new dangers posed by instant messaging, which has become the new access vehicle of choice for hackers, worm virus writers, identity thieves, online predators and cyber stalkers. It also saves districts money by reducing the time employees spend on unproductive Internet activity, and has optional settings to block other actions such as Internet browsing, P2P file sharing, streaming media, and music downloading. IM Lock runs on Windows NT/XP/2000 platforms; a five user license costs $79. http://www.comvigo.com
Technology & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in the 5th annual digital photography contest. This year's theme, "Express Yourself," encourages students to capture and share their vision with our editors and readers.The contest is open to all K-12 students who may submit up to three digital photos electronically. Photos must be taken between January 1, 2005 and October 15, 2005.
Complete the online entry form for each photo. The entry form must be submitted and photographs must be uploaded by midnight, October 15, 2005.
NetDay is pleased to announce its third annual Speak Up event. This fall, both teachers and students are invited to take the online Speak Up survey to contribute to a national dialogue about technology use and needs and the development of 21st century skills. The online survey will be open October 21 – November 18, 2005. Schools and districts can register for the event starting September 15. Please visit www.netday.org for more information.