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| Engines of Our Ingenuity |
| Cartographic Communication |
| The Medieval Source Book |
| ESLflow |
| Dakota Language Homepage |
| The Role of Black Religious Music in the Struggle for Freedom |
| The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia |
| Colorful Mathematics |
| Who Am I and Why? |
| Globe Online |
| Journey North |
| Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP) |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Laugh Your Way to Well-Being |
| DiabetesLine.com |
| Showing Tooth Decay in Action |
| Help for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Teens |
| Careers Online |
| Student.com |
| EncycloZine |
| The Smithsonian Institution |
| Filters and the Public Library: A Legal and Policy Analysis |
| "Beware", Says Censorware |
| Scholarships for Native Americans |
| Locate Grant Opportunities with SchoolGrants.org |
| The College Quarterly |
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SOCIAL SCIENCES
History, geography, political science, sociology, law, anthropology, philosophy, and archeology
http://www.uh.edu/engines/
This short syllabus from the geography department at the University of Texas grapples with the issue of how map-making differs from other forms of graphic communication in a basic outline for an introduction to cartography. Maps, as symbolic abstractions, represent reality, but issues of size, form, layout, and composition are what separate good maps from bad. The site deals with these concepts in a brief but intensive study of the visual resources available to the cartographer, stressing all the time the importance of context: where is the map to be displayed and to whom? There is also a discussion of mapping software strengths and weaknesses and a look at possible future "virtual maps". Each page, as well as the homepage are linked together, and each subheading has materials for supplemental reading, plus numerous maps as illustrations (our favorite: "Bigfoot Sightings in the Pacific Northwest"). A fine resource for those starting a cartography course or those who wish to increase their cartographic awareness.
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/cartocom/cartocom_ftoc.html#contents#contents
A true treasure trove for anyone studying the period between the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, this site is an enormous collection of primary sources and other material for medieval studies. The main section consists of selected sources of various types, full text sources and saints' lives (some of which are available both in the original and in translation). There are also French- and Spanish-language sections, an atlas, a section on medieval legal history and a guide to medieval-themed films. It even has medieval music in .midi files for background music! In addition to the main sections, a side menu offers topics of specific interest, such as various periods, kingdoms, ethnic groups, women, Jews, intellectual life, etc. First time visitors would do well to consult the help section for an overall guide to the site, how to exploit its seemingly endless content and to get further information and related sites. The image section isn't up yet, but there is a handy guide for citing Web pages in your bibliographies.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
LANGUAGE ARTS
English studies, grammar, poetry, prose, and second language studies
http://www.homestead.com/ESLflow/multilevelesllinks.html
This all-too-brief Dakota language site from the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux tribe employs a teaching system based on Gattegno's Silent Way method, stressing speaking by the student instead of the teacher. Lessons center on a cool sound/color chart for the learning of Dakota sounds, emphasizing sounds and words and not definitions and vocabulary. The whole scheme is very much based on memorizing the color chart. The site is a work in progress and should not be seen as a gateway to fluency in Dakota. It is rather an introduction to the language and its pronunciation. Additional material would be required for further study.
http://www.alliance2k.org/daklang/dakota9463.htm
FINE ARTS
Visual arts, music, theater, and dance
The Role of Black Religious Music in the Struggle for Freedom
Don't music and freedom come together at the appropriate time? Marcella Flake, of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute has created, on a single page of text, a curriculum for teaching the Black musical experience in relation to the African-American response to slavery and oppression. Readers could well be skeptical of her opening section on the presence of Africans in the preColombian western hemisphere, but Ms Flake is on firmer ground when dealing with the conditions, music and resistance of enslaved and emancipated - but segregated - African-Americans. For slaves, religious music was not only "therapy", but a kind of underground communication, whose rhythm, instruments, and lyrics all became a kind of code for the yearning for freedom and for tactics of escape and revolt. With the onset of the civil rights movement, Black churches became the centers of organization and agitation. Here again, the music played a major role, with songs such as "We Shall Overcome", "We Shall Not Be Moved", and "Keep Your Eyes On The Prize" serving to strengthen the resolve of those involved in the struggle. The author has written plans for three lessons dealing with the use of music as a reflection of oppression and the use of "double entendre" to express an ideal in a spiritual. There is also an annotated bibliography for additional reading.http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/5/97.05.07.x.html
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Housing one of the world's finest collections of art, the Hermitage was one of the last of the great museums to go on-line, since it took IBM a while to get their site up and running, but the wait's been worth it. Aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate, the Hermitage offers its virtual visitors two splendid ways to view its collections. One can visit the Digital Collection for a pleasurable browse of artwork images with cool IBM zoom features or go to the heart of the site: the Collection Highlights. It could be that one could find some of the images elsewhere on the Web, but this is a terrific resource for those areas in which the Hermitage is unique: Russian art and culture, numismatics (especially medals, orders and insignia of the czarist era), Eastern European pre-historic art and the Arsenal, a beautiful collection of pre-modern arms and armor. The historical and cultural background of each category is described in a short, but informative, text introduction, which is accompanied by enlargeable thumbnails of the works in question and each category has a dropdown menu for quick accessing and there's a Quicksearch if you seek a specific item or genre. One should remember that the Hermitage also features a beautiful collection of Western European art (13th - 20th centuries). In short, this site's a must for anyone curious about the cultural history of Russia. www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.htmlMATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
Mathematics, chemistry, physics, astrosciences, computing, technology, biology, and botany
http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math/workbk/map/map.html
This three- to four-week unit on genetics is for third graders but can be adapted for grades one to four. In an age of human chromosome exploration and genetically modified foods, programs on genetics seem particularly timely and useful. The activities and instruction combine science teaching with an emphasis on social development in a program that looks to us like noisy, useful fun suffused with good ideas and wholesome notions. This is Curriculum Unit 96.05.07: by June Pellegrini, and as with other sections from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, the only sour note is that the online version lacks illustrations, which seems to us to be anachronistic in this multimedia day and age. The plentiful inexpensive activities involve beans, corn seeds, cards, index cards, beads, colored paper, and lots of creativity. We were left wishing somehow we could take grade three over again.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1996/5/96.05.07.x.html#top#top
With its proud banner of educating for the 21st century, Globe Online has huge ambitions but, alas, lousy execution. We don't normally bring you sites we don't think much of, but there's a warning here we think should be heard. We peeked inside Our Nuclear Era, the only section available so far (and it's only partly built), and found suspect economic data and errors such as a hypertext link marked fission that brings up a page about fusion, the same page popping up when you click on the term fission chain reaction in a page on the atomic bomb. Such sloppy organization is inexcusable in any site, let alone one intended for educational purposes. Lofty goals are fine, but good results take careful work. Still, we like Globe's aims and hope it will eventually achieve them.
http://wso.williams.edu/~globe/
Journey North is a wonderful participative project involving animal migration and seasonal change. You can register online and take part in the spring 2000 migration for no charge. Beginning in February, daily updates on the migration will be posted on the Web site. Last year over 200,000 students from all 50 US states and 7 Canadian provinces took part in the spring 1999 Journey North program. And since what goes north must go south, right, there's a journey south program as well. The site has archive material from previous seasons, classroom lessons, teacher tips, and loads of interesting material about specific projects and activities. As well, the Journey North teacher's manual is online or you can order a printed copy for a reasonable price. This is a great way to involve students in real-life nature activities.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/index.html
Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)
If you've ever pondered why the universe contains so much more matter than antimatter, you'll want to drop in here. CPEP is a nonprofit organization of teachers, educators, and physicists that develops materials to "present the current understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy". You'll find anything you want to know about quarks, leptons, hadrons, baryons, or mesons in this site's three major sections: (1) The Particle Adventure: "An interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter, the fundamental forces, dark matter, accelerators and particle detectors"; (2) Fusion - Physics of a Fundamental Energy Source, an interactive course for introductory physics students and teachers; (3) "The ABC's of Nuclear Science: antimatter, beta rays, cosmic connection, and much more". Colorful charts and illustrations help clarify the material. High school teachers and students will find directions for experiments that can be done with inexpensive equipment in a chemistry or physics class.http://pdg.lbl.gov/cpep.html
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How Rude! The Teenagers' Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behavior, and Not Grossing People OutHEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Sports and Health
http://library.advanced.org/25500/
From the islets of Langerhans to the development of modern insulin therapy, DiabetesLine.com explains almost every aspect of diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. DiabetesLine.com is a subsection of BrainPOP.com, developed by Dr. Avraham Kadar as "an Internet environment where young people could learn about health, science and technology while having fun". Sections on the history, definition, and treatment of diabetes explain the condition in a refreshingly straightforward, jargon-free way. However, the depth of detail and complexity of the explanations make the material more appropriate for high-school students and adults than for the upper-elementary and middle-school students toward whom BrainPOP.com appears to be aimed. Parents, therefore, might wish to consult the site with their children. A mailing list and links to other sources such as the American Diabetes Association and various subsections of the National Institutes of Health round out this resource.
http://www.diabetesline.com/HIST/HIST01.shtm
From the AskERIC database of lessons, the "What Causes Tooth Decay" lesson plan asks students to examine a representation of tooth decay in the classroom, using eggshells and vinegar. Rather than just lecturing students about the importance of brushing their teeth, the students can actually perform an experiment over several days to track the decomposition of egg shells, which are made of the same elements as teeth. At the end of this Web page, you'll find several high quality links to supplementary dental hygiene resources on the Web.
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/quickndirty/eric/toothdecay.html
SKILLS FOR LIVING
Domestic sciences, study skills and other day-to-day skills for getting through life
Help for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Teens
As many as 30% of gay teens attempt suicide, and a shockingly high percentage of teen suicides and runaways are associated with the youngster's emerging sexual awareness as a gay or lesbian teen. !OutPride! is a bright, positive site with excellent resources specifically designed for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens, and even teens questioning their sexual orientation. There are several online brochures to help teens understand themselves, two to help teens come out to parents, and a 'way current one called Watching Out for Yourself in Online Relationships. There's an online support group, and the school resources library section offers tools to help schools become safe and supportive environments. The site includes the results of an online survey; respondents may have self-selected, but analysis and reporting are first-rate. The youngest respondent was 10 years old; the average age at which respondents first suspected they were gay was 12.2 years. Small wonder invisibility and suicide are issues. We're in the process of trying to confirm contact numbers for suicide-prevention hotlines for gay and lesbian teens; information at some online sites we consulted seems to be outdated. Please check our next issue for current numbers. The most confusing time in a young life shouldn't become the most lethal, too.http://www.outproud.org/
If you register, as you must (name, e-mail address, and country) at Australia's Careers Online, what can you expect? The Choose a Career tutorial looks useful. Designed to help you determine what career might be best for you, it helps you figure out your interests and abilities and then tests various job categories and candidate careers for fit against those interests and abilities. Once you've done that, you can move on to consider preparing your resume, seeking out the jobs, and preparing for the interview. The virtual Online Careers Show has job descriptions of hundreds of real jobs in the US and Australia. This is certainly a good starting point for those vexed with career choice or change questions, as well as those who help students through such conundrums. Not everything is free; the RezWiz service, for example, is free only for 72 hours.
http://www.careersonline.com.au/
Ah, the irreverent exuberance of youth! You can find it in abundance at Student.com. Subtitled College Life Online, this site, written by students for students, deals with "everything that has to do with college life". (Mom-O-Matic, a fill-in-the-blank form for sending an e-mail message home, should be particularly helpful to the average college student.) But don't let the overall irreverence fool you. The various sections present solid information in a lively style. In the campus section, for example, a recent segment entitled "When Holidays Attack" dealt with seasonal affective disorder, how to deal with difficult family situations at home, and inexpensive holiday gifts. The text hyperlinks to other Web sites that pepper the articles (such as a link to a nutritional analysis of popcorn in a passing comment about a movie) can become annoying, but they're never dull.
http://www.student.com/
RESOURCES
Encyclopedia, libraries, reference resources, and other places to which teachers can turn
http://encyclozine.com/
Think of it as a kind of portal for the exact, earth, and social sciences, as well as the arts. The Smithsonian is dedicated to "the increase and diffusion of knowledge", and its Website is basically a guide to its own and related sites, including associated museums and institutions. The amount of material here is enormous. Museum sites include the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Air and Space Museum, all of which have online exhibits. There are also various resource centers, some of which have online material, such as the Archive of American Art. There are links to affiliates, such as the National Gallery of Art. The homepage features a topic list but one should go to the Encyclopedia Smithsonian (which is really the site index), available through the "Where Do I Find?" link for a total list of resources. The site certainly rewards and educates the casual browser, especially if one has a couple of hours to explore, but for serious research it definitely helps to know what you're looking for.
http://www.si.edu/
ADMINISTRATION
Education theory, school and board administration, and teaching aids
Filters and the Public Library: A Legal and Policy Analysis
This is a typical, fine article from First Monday. Corporations filter the Internet, so why not libraries? Corporations do it to keep employees' minds on their business. Libraries may do it because of urgings from parents, administrators, and pressure groups. Should they do it? What is gained and what is lost? And how should it be done if it is done at all? Libraries encourage open inquiry but would not normally purchase extremist literature or pornography, so why should they leave open Web doors to that kind of material? Yet all filters are crude. Here Mary Minow offers a thoughtful exploration of this contentious issue, including legal, community, and technical aspects, with 231 references! She presents an interesting, thoughtful history and analysis, and concludes with a useful summary of options, and their pros and cons. Although the history recounted here deals specifically with Santa Clara County in California, and the legal situation may vary elsewhere, the subject is of general interest.http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue2_12/minow/
Schools do it, homes do it, even public libraries do it (sometimes): block access to certain Web sites using filtering software. But censorship always gives problems, and Salon magazine reminds us that however well intentioned, blocking "bad" sites and allowing "good" sites is problematic and no system seems to have a really effective answer. Salon reports specifically on Bess blocking software, used in some schools and clearly less than fully effective. Censorware.org believes filtering does more harm than good and points to a New York Times report that schools in New York City are blocking access to tremendous numbers of valuable sites with their I-Gear censoring software. In their view, "surfing the Net is safer than crossing the street, going to school, or riding in a car to the supermarket".
Salon: http://www.salonmagazine.com/tech/log/1999/07/29/censorware/index.html
Censorware: http://www.censorware.org/
Scholarships for Native Americans
Native American Scholarship Fund, Inc. (NASF) raises funds to help college-bound, high-achieving Native American students further their education. This simple, straightforward site explains the purpose of the NASF scholarships, who qualifies, and how to apply. The standards are high but the aims commendable - nothing less than a kind of bootstrap function to improve the economic, social, and business life of Native communities. The site also describes NASF programs to encourage reading and to help students prepare for university, such as the annual Exemplary Programs in Indian Education award.http://www.nasf.com/index.html
Locate Grant Opportunities with SchoolGrants.org
Motivated by a goal to provide the "most good to the most kids", SchoolGrants offers a database of K-12 funding opportunities, as well as tips on how to increase your chances of successfully securing a grant. The webmasters also include government- and education-related news from various Web sites and publications. Recognizing that its database is not comprehensive, SchoolGrants links to other grant resources in effort to ensure that as much money as possible benefits today's children.http://www.schoolgrants.org/
Based in Toronto, at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, The College Quarterly aims to serve college educators throughout North America and worldwide. This academic journal presents articles of interest to administrators, faculty, and staff at community and junior colleges and universities in subject areas such as applied science and technology; business and administrative studies; continuing education; institutional governance (planning, evaluation, administration, human resources, and institutional diplomacy); and learning resources and educational technology. One of the largest sections is institutional governance, which treats topics like academic freedom, assessment of student outcomes, and telecourse delivery. The latest articles presented are from spring of 1998.
http://www.collegequarterly.org/CQ.html/A.000.Master.TOC.html
RESIDUE
A little of this, a little of that
http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/coe/shed/espinoza/s/dennis-g-lp1.html