Netsurfer Education 02.07

Mathematics can be fun. We hear your cybershout. "Is not!", you counter. And, then we win the day by pointing you to Plus, a lively online vehicle for increasing "public awareness of the importance of maths in everyday life". What a fine, fine effort it makes, too. Clean, appealing design draws you in immediately. An intriguing selection of mathematics disguised as something else altogether appeals to the eclectic in us. There you are, reading about sundials, and almost before you know it, you're computing angles, examining ellipses, doing that old square of the hypoteneuse thing. Rather rely on your Timex? Fair 'nuff. What about learning how to collect - instead of pay - compound interest? This excellent zine from Cambridge University presents math, even the toughest of it, in terms that you can understand - and, darn it, even enjoy. The site also offers news, links, and puzzles for students, all in the same accessible voice. Everything is available also in printable form. Try it. Even our reviewer - a hard science specialist - was surprised by Plus' considerable appeal.
http://pass.maths.org/

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

National Geographic Map Machine

The National Geographic Map Machine is not just about maps. This slick site also offers special features that on a recent visit included tracking animal species across the US and Canada, images from the Hubble Telescope, and satellite images of the Earth. That's all value-added material, because if it's maps you want, this is the place to go. From the main page click on 'dynamic maps', and you're presented with a map of the world and a box to enter place names. When you click 'go', a physical map of the requested locale appears; students can also call up maps using American zip codes. The site also lets you choose 'Atlas Maps' or 'Flags and Facts'. Atlas Maps presents a movable political map of the world, and Flags and Facts offers pictures of flags of the world together with pertinent information. There's a lot to see and do here. The entire National Geographic site is a masterpiece, a sterling example of the transposition of a print based magazine to the Web, and this subsite is no exception. Once again the National Geographic Society shows that it know maps.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/index.html

What Do Maps Show?

A thorough and entertaining basic map skills course awaits those who surf to this United States Geological Survey subsite. Complete with a teacher's guide, lessons, and activities, this site is perfect for young students and instructors. A notation at the site states that the information and activities were developed to meet national earth science curriculum standards; the lessons were written with grades 5-8 in mind. The material is clearly written and displays examples of different types of maps. What Do Maps Show is a fine example of a government agency combining its vast resources with current technology to produce good educational content.
http://info.er.usgs.gov/education/teacher/what-do-maps-show/index.html

History of Native American Health Care

The US National Institutes of Health has posted an online version of an exhibition on Native American health care, dating from the early 19th century. Documents include letters and excerpts from journal articles, mostly by EuroAmerican doctors with little understanding of or empathy for Native American medicine. Descriptions of small pox and other epidemics, which wiped out entire communities, are heartbreaking. But, some misguided efforts to 'save the savage' are almost as tragic. One interesting journal excerpt comes from Charles Eastman, one of the first Native American MDs, who compared the medicine man's world view to that of Christian Science, where mind and spirit prevail over body. The exhibition features some beautiful photos, but not enough of them.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/if_you_knew/if_you_knew_01.html

Weberian Sociology of Religion

Many sociologists and even some theologians might periodically, at least rhetorically, exclaim, thank God for Max Weber! At the turn of the century, Weber laid the groundwork for many innovative methods to study religion in a social context. Weber urged social scientists to overcome the 'self deception' of objectivity, insisting every description of an empirical fact cannot escape from the presupposition, or fundamental world view. In this way, Weber introduced the precept of an empathetic understanding of a religious culture. He went further, saying the validity of value-ideas cannot be deduced from empirical facts alone, but from the adequacy of the relationship of a value-idea to reality. At this site, read a scholarly essay pitting Weber's views and methods against Marx and Durkheim. And read important Weber works, such as 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/

Electronic Journal of Sociology

The EJS is an international, online, refereed journal for professionals published monthly on the Internet in both HTML and ASCII. At the EJS home site all five volumes of the journal are available for reading in full, along with author, date, and title indexes, side links to other full text electronic sociology journals, a style guide, submission instructions, and kudos from authors about how quickly the review process works. The articles have a neat floating contents link that at any time allows you to call up the contents page of the article being read.
http://www.sociology.org/

EXCHANGE
A web that's world wide

Turtle Tracks - Native American Newsletter for Kids

The purpose of this site is best summed up by its 'quote of the week', attributed to one Dale Old Horn: "The culture of a people only survives if people practice it". Produced by Cherokee elder Momfeather Erikson and a team of teachers and others interested in education, furthering Native culture is Turtle Tracks' number one priority. You don't have to be Native American, however, to enjoy this site. There are articles about Native American history, a spotlight on praiseworthy Native Americans called 'Hero of the Week', and plenty of artwork. There are many interesting articles about battles and wars, essays about native wildlife, stories, legends, and even recipes. This site makes for fascinating reading and exploration. For a culture to survive, its youth must be educated. This site is a great aid toward furthering that goal with regard to the cultures of the First Nations, and it also serves as an introduction to those rich and ancient traditions.
http://www.turtle-tracks-for-kids.org/page1.html

An End to Intolerance

The Holocaust has shown what unfettered hate and prejudice bring, yet our planet still suffers from these maladies. Hate is not an inherent trait of mankind, it needs to be taught and nurtured. Across the world, across cultural and national boundaries, there are those who teach their children to hate. The best way to fight hate is to fight ignorance and teach tolerance. This is exactly what An End to Intolerance, produced by students from around the globe, strives to do. The students are involved in something called the Holocaust/Genocide Project, a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness, action, and study of the Holocaust and other genocides. These newsletters are brim with content. A recent issue contained student reviews of 'Life Is Beautiful', 'Shindler's List', and 'The Diary of Anne Frank'. Articles dealt with an international Quaker school in the Netherlands, the ill-fated SS St. Louis, genocide in Africa, and much more. There are poems, photos, and special features. The articles are well written, and students in different locales often collaborate via computer. This is an impressive effort, and these kids obviously put a lot of work and heart into it. It's reassuring to know that there are young people who are unwilling to buy into hate, working to spread tolerance and peace.
http://www.igc.apc.org/iearn/hgp/aeti/student-magazine.html

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

Parliamentary Debate

If you like verbal jousting, the thrust and parry of oratory, rapier-like reasoning, and the cut of a well-honed argument, listen up, because - helpful as always - we have some useful sites for you. The Parliamentary Debate site is intended for students who already know the basics and are familiar with the Karl Popper format. It's a good, thorough review that runs to over 9000 words and surveys how the debate format works and what is effective, and with specific ideas and descriptions of each of the roles in the Parliamentary debate format. The Oxford Union's Rough Guide to Debating is a similar length pamphlet metamorphosed into online text. Its strong points are the use of examples to illustrate the basics of how to construct arguments and its emphasis on Points of Information. Rounding out this triumvirate of debating sites is a short one that emphasizes eye contact, reveals how debates are marked, always good to know if you're vying for a win - and if you're not, why aren't you, we want to know - and basic debating skills. All of these sites are self-contained places with no links elsewhere. We think they're pretty good and since we're right and that's all there is to it, we're not accepting any rebuttals.
Parliamentary debate: http://www.idebate.org/Parliguide.htm
Oxford Union: http://www.britishdebate.com/handbooks/oxfordguide.htm
Basics: http://www.actein.edu.au/ACTDU/basicskills.html

FINE ARTS
Visual arts, music, theater, and dance

Teaching the Blues

For those of us who jumped on board with Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads Blues' down in the delta or, later, up the Illinois Central Railroad line in Chicago with Muddy Waters - the soul train had been rolling a hundred years before 'I'm a Man' was immortalized in vinyl. Professor Ralph Easton has assembled a lesson plan to teach the origins of American blues and jazz, and the profound influence these forms have had on pop music all over the world. Find out how the 'call and response' idiom came from West African language intonations used in slave work songs; how the 'blue note' came from African Americans adapting to the European diatonic scale; why 12-bar blues became a standard form for improvisation. Some of the links on this site don't work, but it would be a low down dirty shame and a sin to stop preachin' the blues over that.
http://www.gse.uci.edu/Lessons/blues.html

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

Circles of Light:

We saw one the other day: a complete rainbow arc illuminated by the setting sun in a rain-washed prairie sky, and we couldn't help wondering just how such magnificent images form. Frankly, the Mathematics of Rainbows site doesn't tell you, directly at least. Instead, it challenges you to find out and guides you through the mathematics necessary to do so. That may be more work than you care for, especially if your calculus is a little rusty. It's an interesting application of mathematics in an everyday situation and, if you can manage it, you'll come away with answers to all those tantalizing questions like how rainbows form, why they occur only when the sun is behind the viewer, and where we should expect to see a rainbow relative to the angle of the sun.
http://www.webnexus.com/users/billv/rainbow/rainbowmath.html

Communication Skills for Chemists

Chemists are known for their chalk talk, the sulfurous smells they make, the bright flashes with which they singe their eyebrows, right? But talk, as in real, live, two-way, meaningful communication using language, not symbols and equations? "I don't think so", as the ad says (those of you of a northern persuasion may know what we mean). There's nothing mysterious about the purpose of this site, which nicely and briefly reviews key communication challenges that professional chemists face. The specific topics comprise note taking, lab records, reports, oral presentations, poster sessions, information retrieval, and additional notes. The latter opens into another list of communications-related topics, including curricula vitae, interviews, interpersonal skills, team work, meetings, letters, e-mail, fax, memo, phone, grammar/spelling/style, proof-reading/editing, and preparing graphics. The site offers concise practical advice about communication skills, attractively presented, and organized so that you can quickly flick to the relevant sections.
http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/~davidc/cchem/home.html

Real Life Maths

Like it or not, know it or not, many things in life involve mathematics. To prove it, this site celebrates many of the ways in which mathematics can help us deal with all of those common situations, ranging from buying a car, feeding a crowd, or redecorating the condo. Sections include playing to win, savings and credit, population growth, home decorating, and cooking; within these headings the subjects tackled are numerous and varied, all involving the universal language of mathematics. The language of the site is accessible, the examples are down to earth, and each is seasoned with side dressings of annotated links related to the subject being discussed, although some of these links are dead. We think this is pretty neat, useful, interesting as well, and that no one should leave the nest and venture into the wide wicked world without this grounding in mathematical reality.
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/dailymath/

Museum of Ancient Inventions

The Museum of Ancient Inventions is a virtual museum produced by Smith College. A virtual museum is a cross between a brick and mortar museum and a coffee table book. Like a 'real' museum, a virtual museum affords a glimpse at objects and artifacts that would otherwise be available only to academicians and scientists, in this case ancient inventions. Like a coffee table book, we can only look at pictures of these items, albeit glossy Web photos. Of course, in a physical museum we could only look at the items too, but there's a lot to be said for being in the same room with a painting, sculpture, or ancient invention. The advantages the Web brings to this equation are accessibility, convenience, and ease of navigation. The majority of the world does not live within driving distance of Northampton, Massachusetts, and so this exhibit would be out of reach to most if not for the Web. In a tangible museum, the building and its exhibits are a mystery, and we must trudge the halls looking for items of interest, or blindly follow a set tour. Not so at a virtual museum. From the main page, a link clearly marked 'Exhibit' takes you to the 'museum directory', a page that displays thumbnails of all the 43 inventions on exhibit. Here you can peruse the entire contents of the exhibit. The inventions are actually reproductions made by students in the Ancient Inventions class. A description accompanies each picture and a page provides a description of the making of the invention and sources for further study, in some cases including links to other sites. While nothing can take the place of a real museum (at this point, anyway), if you can't make it to Northampton, you may want to surf on over to this site.
http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/home.htm

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Sports and Health

Kids Get Arthritis, Too

Kids Get Arthritis, Too is a site under construction, promising stories about kids with arthritis. The stories aren't there yet, but what is there is a set of links to fine sites the address the clinical and emotional issues in juvenile arthritis. The sources are smart and credible - the American College of Rheumatology, the Arthritis Foundation, the Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago, for example - and the subjects cover a range of arthritis conditions that afflict children - ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, for instance. Parents may be interested in GRACE, the model of a support group and site for parents of children with arthritis, or in Having a Child with Rheumatoid Arthritis, in which parents share their experiences.
http://home.att.net/~r.drackley/KidsArthritis.html

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

Kids and Money

Teaching kids the value of work and responsibility with money are among the prickly problems that parents face. Kids' Money is a comprehensive advice guide for parents and kids, addressing questions about allowances, part-time jobs, and even what precautions kids can take to keep themselves safe during job searches or when they're working. The links are very good, although a few are dead. The authors acknowledge that the thorny question of money plagues families everywhere; the site seems to be available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, but the pages other than English are actually links to the Alta Vista BabelFish translation service. Yes, the site does sell related merchandise. The design here is basic, but the content is unpretentious and very, very practical. The University of North Dakota offers 'Kids and Money', a discontinued but eminently sensible 1995 monthly newsletter for kids and parents.
Kids' Money: http://www.kidsmoney.org/
Kids and Money: http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/pipeline/d-parent.htm

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

Teaching Problem-Based Learning

Should you and your students continue to gnash teeth and bang head, or should you consult the good people of the Illinois Problem-Based Learning Network? That depends on the problem. If A) it's really messy and complex; B) it requires serious inquiry, information gathering, and reflection; C) it's a moving target, changing all the time; D) has no simple 'right' answer - then, yes, by all means, check out this stalwart outpost of reason and strategy. Learn how to coach students in handling real sticky wickets, such as: a PTA petition to ban Huckleberry Finn, or advising President Truman on ending the Pacific war right after the Los Alamos bomb test.
http://www.imsa.edu/team/cpbl/intro/whatis/slide1.html

Woodrow Wilson Foundation

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has the lofty, altruistic goal of maximizing human potential through education. The Foundation tries to achieve this laudable, if ambitious, objective through three areas of concentration, which they call A Renaissance for the Liberal Arts, Access and Opportunity, and Teachers as Intellectual Leaders. The fact is, though, that this Web site is really about the Foundation and its activities rather than a key component in achieving its aims. As a result, there's a lot here that isn't here yet, with substantial areas under development or nothing more than parking spaces. Still there is some substantial content, notably in the last section, where in Schools and Scholars, you'll find highlighted presentations, best practices, meetings, principles, and challenges. The latter certainly has some good questions but, alas, not many answers yet. The site also has newsletters, the Foundation's annual report and info about the President, staff, and Board of Trustees. And of course there's lots of material about the Foundation's grants and fellowships.
http://www.woodrow.org/

Netsurfer Recommendations

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Watch IT: The Risks and Promises of Information Technologies for Education
by Nicholas C. Burbules, Thomas A. Callister
Westview Press; ISBN: 0813390826

"New technologies in education have become an educational issue, a challenge, an opportunity, a risk, a necessity - all of these - for reasons that have little to do with wilful choices made by educators", say authors Burbules and Callister. The technology is critical in work, in our everyday lives and in "a host of learning opportunities outside of the control of schools." They contend that computers will become the essential vehicle for education. If that's the case, then current arguments between technophiles and technophobes are irrelevant; the issues are more substantive, touching on access, censorship, privacy, commerce - or, more accurately, commercialization - and the appropriate use of information. Still, computers are more than mere tools for education. Just as they've transformed our lives, they must transform the education that prepares children for life. How will education cope?

TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
Computing as the medium

Digital Divide Project

Eighty percent of the world's people have not even heard a dial tone, much less surfed the Web. The Digital Divide Project, developed at the University of Washington and the Seattle School District, opens our eyes to who has access to digital technologies, who does not, and what that can mean economically, socially, and politically. The site has fabulous links to nonprofit and commercial organizations drawing isolated groups all over the world into the international digital marketplace. High school and middle school curricula let students do primary and secondary research to find out for themselves what lies inside the deep dark divide. >ED>Judith David
http://www.washington.edu/wto/digital/

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CREDITS

Publisher: Arthur Bebak Editor: 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.