Netsurfer Education 02.06

Teaching evolution has never been easy. Indeed, some American jurisdictions actively discourage it. This site is a rich set of resources for teaching evolution to secondary school students that uses hands-on experiments to make the topic lively and exciting. Whether it's studying the evolution of protective coloring or camouflage in animals, or exercises that explain the advantages of opposable thumbs in evolutionary terms, this site is a gold mine of pedagogical possibilities to spice up any lesson plan or inspire emulation and adaptation. No expensive materials are required in nearly all the demonstrations and potential discussion questions and further activities accompany each demonstration.
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/bi/1995/

SOCIAL SCIENCES
History, geography, political science, sociology, law, anthropology, philosophy, and archeology

America Before First Contact

In the 13th century, Cahokia, with its huge ceremonial mound, probably had as many residents as the London of its day. Pueblo Indians have inhabited the stone apartments of Acoma, New Mexico continuously since the 12th century. The list goes on, but the point is that history was already there when the Europeans landed, that it didn't start with Columbus. That's the message in America Before Columbus, an article that makes a moving case for us to understand the deep roots of American history. Here was a continent rich in people, highly diverse in language and custom, and with cities as populous as any in Europe. Europeans achieved dominance quickly but remained ignorant about what they encountered and marginalized throughout the Americas. The article is sprinkled with amazing anecdotes and fascinating facts that will interest anyone ready to understand the real history of the continent. And it will make you wonder what might have happened if the oceans had been a real barrier to exploration and movement of people rather than just a challenging obstacle.
http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/data/art/LORD-01.ART

The Galileo Project

The Galileo Project by Rice University is a large and useful site on the life and work of the great scientist. No effort has been spared, not only to portray the man and his discoveries, but to place him in perspective by examining the physical and intellectual conditions of 16th-century Italy, including the role of the Catholic Church and the Inquisition. This student-friendly Web site also features maps, pictures, timelines, and pages on recreating his experiments. In addition, the section on his daughter has all of the letters she wrote to him. A notable achievement for lovers of the history of science.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/

EXCHANGE
A web that's world wide

Antidote to Native Stereotypes

For humans the greatest crimes are not to listen and not to see. Yet sometimes both are difficult in the smoke and noise of myth and lies. This site tries to help us see clearly by presenting a reading list of fiction and nonfiction works by native American authors writing about the people who populated this continent before the European settlement began. The idea is to strip away false and demeaning stereotypes about the First Nations that separate us from our common humanity and poison our minds. While you may find yourself unable to share all the views expressed here, the sobering commentary raises significant issues of appropriateness. We found the article on techniques for evaluating American Indian Web sites interesting. We'd have liked a few more general articles about the topic, fewer broken links, and a little less stridency about the names of sports teams, but there's still plenty to look at and ponder.
http://www.hanksville.org/sand/stereotypes/

LANGUAGE ARTS
English studies, grammar, poetry, prose, and second language studies

Our Town

Our Town is a perennial favorite for high school drama presentations and local theater groups, a production that can be staged simply, at the same time wise and accessible, intimate and observational, unmistakably American and yet universal. These three sites offer three different but equally valid and complex approaches to the play, placing it in the broad context of other letters. The first two are curricula produced by the same teacher. In the first unit, author Bill Coden incorporates opportunities to discuss elements of family life and considers the play's common themes with such other works as Lord of the Flies, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Raisin in the Sun. Ironically - because of the very spare production that is integral to the play - Coden's second unit considers it in relation to themes of orientation and architecture; here Alice in Wonderland and The Fall of the House of Usher become companion pieces. The third site details a sophomore curriculum called Only the Good Die Young. It addresses the loss of innocence and the first steps into maturity. For these students, Our Town is just one element, along with Lord of the Rings, Of Mice and Men, and Saroyan's The Human Comedy.
Family: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/1/86.01.01.x.html
Place: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1983/1/83.01.01.x.html
The good: http://www.capecod.net/~bbarsant/class/good.html

Netsurfer Recommendations

Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the cover or title to order the item at a hefty discount from Amazon.com and send a few pennies our way as well.

I Have to Go!
Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko (illustrator)
Firefly Books; ISBN: 0920303749

Listen, we have a dirty little secret. Harry Potter's okay in our books, but when we want to sneak in the guilty pleasures of children's reading at our age, it's Robert Munsch that we'll turn to every single time. No matter how often we've read these books to the kids in our lives when they were five, we never tired of their whimsical charms and skewed humor. This man understands children. There's The Paper Bag Princess, who discovers that a prince can be a toady. And, Good Families Don't, in which Munsch makes very serious fun of the thing that kids think is the most uproarious subject of all, the fart; in Munsch's story, you can never be sure just where that little dickens is hiding. Try the delightfully illustrated 50 Below Zero. Or, Mud Puddle and The Dark, where both title characters stalk clever little heroines who outwit them. Each story has a twisty little ending or a subtle little lesson - nothing to hit you over the head with, just something to make it that much more satisfying. Mr. Munsch, will you write something for us, please?

FINE ARTS
Visual arts, music, theater, and dance

Get Cultured Online - Picasso in His Internet Period

Can't tell an impressionist from a cubist? Refine yourself at Online Picasso Project, which offers a detailed look at the life and works of the infinitely influential artist, Pablo Picasso. In the Life section, you can examine this genius' artwork piece by piece and learn about what was going on in his life at the time he created them. Embedded links whisk you to complementary reference materials such as maps and photographs to give further insight into the artist's world. The News section of the site keeps you current on the latest Picasso-related news and Books refers you to a selected bibliography for further reading. All in all, despite a few broken links, the Online Picasso Project serves as a wonderful way for students to access a wealth of information about one of the world's greatest creative minds.
http://www.tamu.edu/mocl/picasso/

Paper Airplanes

There are few things as universal as the paper airplane. What child - or bored office worker - hasn't folded and thrown a paper plane? While many of us lose our penchant for aerodynamics, there are some who still marvel at a well-crafted plane. For Ken Blackburn, the holder of the Guinness Record for paper airplane time aloft, the thrill is still there. His site is a compendium of paper airplane information. There's a question and answer section and directions for building planes, including directions sent by surfers. Blackburn has also included a wonderfully lucid essay on paper airplane aerodynamics, complete with diagrams and illustrations. As you might expect, the site offers for sale several books about paper airplanes, including some signed copies.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1817/index.html

MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
Mathematics, chemistry, physics, astrosciences, computing, technology, biology, and botany

Newton's Window

Newton's Window is for parents, teachers, and students who want to know more about math and how to make math accessible. The site is a rich smorgasbord of exercises, quotations, product reviews, and test-taking tips. The whole point is to make math less frightening and more enjoyable. Hence, the site offer advice on overcoming math anxiety that may help parents even more than students. Exercises are grouped according to grade level and the main goal is to make you come back for more math. It's a fun and interesting site that's especially well suited to parents who have problems keeping up with their kids.
http://www.suzannesutton.com/

Free Chemistry Software: Orbital Viewer

Orbital Viewer is a powerful piece of software that you download to explore the wonders of atomic and molecular structure. The program allows you to create atoms with multiple protons and then displays the electron orbitals in striking color. You can rotate the images, as well as zoom in and study particular details. This program is a triumph of computer graphics and requires a Pentium class machine. Given its requirements, the payback is immense - a quick and colorful way to visualize the quantum mechanical aspects of atomic structure.
http://www.orbitals.com/orb/ov.htm

Photo Encyclopedia of Ants

The Japanese Ant Color Image Database has proved to be so unexpectedly popular (more than 250,000 hits last year) that it's been translated into English and published on the Web. For a short but thorough introduction to myrmecology, click on the Terminology link and you'll get information on castes, body parts, and characteristics, all linked to drawings and photographs that can be enlarged twice. The Contents section deals with ant activities and behavior (feeding, combat, social behavior, mating, rearing, and so on) and there's information for students on catching and keeping specimens and doing research. The heart of the site is the Taxonomy section. All 262 known Japanese ant species are available for viewing with photos, descriptions, and distribution. There are also lists of genera and subfamilies with multiple photos and descriptions; all of the images are remarkably clear and detailed. Search by image or by region and there's an excellent links list of ants and other social insect resources on the Web.
http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/INTRODUCTION/Gakken79E/title.html

Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology

With over 130,000 terms - and a claim to be the world's largest English language scientific dictionary - Harcourt's Dictionary of Science and Technology keeps its definitions short, concise and without illustrations, thus assuring quick answers to the needy, especially useful for those of us with low bandwidths. Search by word or browse the scientific fields (engineering, life sciences, medicine, physical sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, social sciences, and general and miscellaneous) which are further broken down into 130 sciences. Choosing a field will take you to the first page of the alphabetically-organized section. The dictionary is also available in hardcover or CD-ROM. An extremely bookmarkable page.
http://www.harcourt.com/dictionary/

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Sports and Health

An Ounce of Prevention

Did you know that each year Americans are sick more than 4 billion days? The National Center for Infectious Diseases aims to improve this statistic with its Ounce of Prevention: Keeps the Germs Away Web site. The organization's experts give Web surfers all they need to know to minimize their interactions with germs and infections. The site's diverse categories of information include pets, food, immunization, and antibiotics. Use the wealth of tips presented here to reduce medical costs and increase your individual productivity. Your body will thank you for it.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/op/

iHigh

With a strong focus on athletics, iHigh, the High School Internet Network, is certainly cool enough to attract Web surfing jocks. In partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations, the iHigh Web masters work with 19 state high school athletic and activities associations across the country to provide up-to-date schedules, scores, and news to network members. Each participating state receives its own channel, which provides the local headlines and links. There are also sections devoted to college and nonsports activities - but the world of athletics certainly seems to dominate this site. In the Your World section, teens can read about topics like prom, zits, and fashion. There's at least a little bit of something for every type of teen and the site serves as a great place for local high schools to announce their athletic accomplishments.
http://www.ihigh.com/index.html

SKILLS FOR LIVING
Domestic sciences, study skills and other day-to-day skills for getting through life

Peace It Together

With violent school shootings dominating headlines, the Peace It Together Project couldn't come at a better time. The group's Web site strives to involve teenagers, educators, parents, youth service providers, and other community members in a concerted effort to prevent violence. The site's Web zine is created for teens by teens as a showcase for stories, poems, and strategies for dealing with conflict and aggression. Concerned visitors can also Ask the Expert to get thoughtful answers from a noted violence prevention expert. Teachers can access a violence prevention curriculum and links to violence prevention resources on the Web. The wisdom and focus of Peace It Together make it a relevant and important stop for any online educator, as well as kids, parents, and anyone who works with young people.
http://www.mcet.edu/peace/index.html

College-Scholarships.com

We all know that the World Wide Web is bursting with useful, time-saving information. But, it really doesn't save time at all if you can't find what you need when you need it. Current college applicants are definitely in luck if they happen to click on College-Scholarships.com. This site's done almost all of the work for them, compiling contact information for US universities, scholarship offices, standardized test preparation resources, and more. They've got e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and snail mail info. The online database is organized by state, helping users get several steps closer to a college education. They even have links to each college's home page, so students can learn all about their prospective alma mater. Oh, how we wish that such a practical and convenient resource had been available when we were applying to schools.
http://www.college-scholarships.com/

RESOURCES
Encyclopedia, libraries, reference resources, and other places to which teachers can turn

The National Museum of Natural History

Everyone loves a museum. It's a perennial field trip favorite, and even the least enthusiastic students enjoy the visit. The eclectic nature of a museum lends itself to engaging short attention spans, and attentive students are rewarded with an abundance of information. The Web site for the National Museum of Natural History does an excellent job of capturing the feel and essence of a bricks and mortar museum. The home page is simple and clean, and belies the wealth of material to be found here. Graphic links present featured exhibits, and textual links at the top send visitors to the museum directory, a calendar of events, and access to online exhibits and resources. The site is searchable, and a search for 'dinosaur', the highlight of any field trip to a museum of natural history, yielded five hits, including a link to an entire subsite devoted to these ever-popular beasties. The department of paleobiology, as the dinosaur section is called, is chockablock with dinosaur information, and includes pictures of their intriguing skeletons. A current featured exhibit, "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga", is everything an online exhibit should be. Each room of the actual exhibit is briefly described, and exquisite photos of Viking artifacts, like a silver drinking horn and a whalebone ironing board, accompany the descriptions. This is a beautiful, well thought-out site, and an excellent spot for a virtual field trip.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/

HomeWork Elephant

This expansive British site may have a bizarre name, but its benefits to students are quite clear. Riffing off the Agony Aunt advice columnists familiar to English readers, this pachyderm offers an "Agony Elephant" feature. Post a perplexing question on the Message Board to receive an answer from the HomeWork Elephant staff or from just a regular ol' Web surfer. Students who need homework help can browse the Subjects listing which designates sites by their UK grade level appropriateness. The reference section lists a wide variety of online resources, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, world maps, and famous quote databases. Useful external links for teachers and students are scattered throughout the site, especially on the home page and the side margin. All in all, HomeWork Elephant is a fun place for teachers, students, and parents to discover quality links that further education goals in any country.
http://www.homeworkelephant.free-online.co.uk/

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION
Distance learning, home schooling, and special education opportunities

DownsNet

DownsNet is run by the Downs Syndrome Educational Trust in England, an organization dedicated to furthering education and research for children with Downs Syndrome. The information provided here will be of interest to anyone who works with children with Downs Syndrome, from parents to professionals. There are scholarly articles on inclusion, improving quality of education, early intervention, and much more. There is also information regarding conferences and training provided at the Sarah Duffin Centre in Hampshire, England. A pricing policy posted at the site explains that they charge for these services, but only enough to recoup their losses. This is an attractive site, but it is a work in progress. The Online Library, for example, houses only one book, and there is a note that says the diagrams and tables for the book will be put up shortly. The site is well designed, with lots of growing room. There's already a great deal of valuable information at this site, and there promises to be much more as it matures.
http://www.downsnet.org/

TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
Computing as the medium

How Cool is That? Helping Teachers and Kids Build a Web Presence

The mass of content offered on the Web presents many opportunities for learning across the curriculum. This is most evident in Web page creation. Teachers may be reluctant, but with a little help from Web savvy kids and school resources, you can take advantage of the opportunities for your own students and for students right across the Net. Whether you use hand coded ..html or a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) program like FrontPage for your site, there's always room for more tools, help, instruction and graphics. Luckily, numerous free resources dot the information landscape. Projectcool Media is one such place, a slick site that provides links to Web development resources, and valuable original content. They claim to have 'something for everyone', and they may be right, from detailed tutorials for basic Web building to .xml and JavaScript. They also offer e-mail mailing lists. Another site that yields a wealth of material for current and aspiring Web masters is the CNet Web Building. The topics here are finely honed, and you can choose from areas like E-commerce Basics, Track and Analyze Traffic, and Accept Credit Cards. C-Net is an Internet monolith, and it shows in the quality of the offerings. There are also expert tips for commercial programs like Flash 4, Homesite, and others. Some of the articles are densely technical, like the one about the integration of Internet Information Server with Windows 2000, but there's enough here to keep anyone who's interested busy for hours.
Projectcool: http://home.cnet.com/webbuilding/0-3880.html
CNet: http://home.cnet.com/webbuilding/0-3880.html

Instructional Enhancement

Heh, heh, today we're going to administer a little instructional enhancement! Well, it's not as deviant as it might sound, this. To get to the page we review, load the site through the URL below, then click on Computer Assisted Instruction (sorry, you're on your own for the rest of the site's content). The result is access to an interesting article titled Implementing UCLA's Instructional Enhancement Initiative: Experiences in the Department of Economics. This is Geoffrey Gerdes' and Trudy Cameron's cue to discuss their experiences using computers and the Internet to strengthen undergraduate courses in economics. The motivation seems to be to mitigate the expected crush as the children of Baby Boomers reach college age. The authors recount their careful explorations with skill and provide sound conclusions about the value of using Web tools to enrich teaching and learning.
http://jevons.sscnet.ucla.edu/gerdes/RESIDUE

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CREDITS

Publisher: Arthur Bebak Editor: Judith David Contributing Editor: Production Manager: Bill Woodcock Netsurfer Communications, Inc. President: Arthur Bebak Vice President: S.M. Lieu	Writers and Netsurfers: Jon Baum Mary Daniels Brown Michael Aaron Dennis Beth Lewis Michael Luke Elizabeth Rollins Dov Schwartz
NETSURFER EDUCATION © 2000 Netsurfer Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. NETSURFER EDUCATION is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.