Netsurfer Education 04.02

A seemingly endless cavalcade of animals, plants, ecologies, and expeditions, BBC's Nature Web site is a vast and deep series of resources for students, educators, and just plain folks for whom the study of the wild Earth and the threats to it is a passion. And what a pleasure it is! One can go behind the scenes of the BBC's outstanding nature documentaries, view helpful databases and annotated directories of ecological organizations and their Web sites, enjoy the "Fun Stuff" and "Weird Nature" sections, and use the activities and games for classroom and home; all in an extremely professional and attractive format - no six-slider pages here! The site is fun to use: there are drop-downs and pop-ups, timelines and references, quizzes and message boards, wallpapers, screensavers and e-cards; it just goes on and on. We'd have to say that Nature has more to offer to UK-based viewers, such as the bird watching and tree-identification sections, but as the site really casts its net world-wide, there's plenty here for students everywhere, of every age. First rate stuff.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/

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

Children's Map Competition

In 1993 the International Cartographic Association created the Barbara Petchenik Award to foster children's map making. All of the winning entries from each year are presented here, and all are colorful and creative. Each map has a theme, such as culture or the environment. This is a contest for children, but young artists as old as 17 are included. Each entry is original, and some are downright beautiful. There are also some ideas given for teachers to use in the classroom. If you or someone you know is a budding Vespucci, there's still plenty of time to enter the 2003 competition.
Exhibit: http://collections.ic.gc.ca/children/
2003 competition: http://www.icaci.org/en/competition.html

The Secret History of World War II

Do you want to teach World War II from a different perspective, one largely unavailable to both scholars and students? If so, this excellent series from the Boston Globe is a site you must view. The Secret History of World War II site draws upon recently declassified CIA files to tell several fascinating stories, including one on Fritz Kolbe, a German bureaucrat who provided the Allies with information so valuable that the Allies chose not to believe it. Other reports provide new perspectives on the Holocaust and the origins of the Cold War as World War II began to end. The stories are rich with illustrations and insight and will make this important historical era more accessible to student from junior high to college.
http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/secret_history/index1.shtml

Lesson Plan: Colombia's Drug Traffic

The title belies the subject: it's not only "Columbia's drug traffic", it's America's as well. A topic in CNN's FYI current events-teaching program, these pages focus on the story dated February 28 that US President Bush has admitted to Colombian President Pastrana that America's market for cocaine is, at least, part of the problem - confronting us with the irony of the US both causing and trying to eradicate the Colombian cocaine-based economy. The lesson plans deal with the political, economic, and health aspects of the issue, applying nationally established standards. In addition to gaining familiarity with the events, the pupils are asked to analyze what they read in terms of the issues and methods used in reducing or ending the violence in Colombia and helping both countries rid themselves of this plague. For further research, The Geography of Drugs links to Web pages from the media, government bodies, and academic publications on the nature and scope of the drug trade and its effects on America.
Lesson Plan: http://fyi.cnn.com/2001/fyi/lesson.plans/02/28/us.colombia/
Geography of Drugs: http://www.d230.org/cs/martin/geography_of_drugs.htm

Propaganda Media

We've repeatedly championed critical thinking on these pages, probably beginning first with teaching children about advertising, then moving on through things like marketing, creating societal consensus, propaganda and agitprop. For older students, here's a chance to discover the methods and techniques of media-based psychological warfare - "Psyops" in current military jargon - "winning hearts and minds" as they used to say in the US Army. Based upon "Psychological Operations Field Manual No. 31-1", this single all-text page covers the criteria for media selection, from loudspeakers to video players, each with their advantages and drawbacks, and principles for their use, with an emphasis on radio, including the monitoring of enemy broadcasts. Historically this has not been a strong point of US military operations, which generally feature a less subtle and more direct approach: "Grab them by the balls and their hearts and minds will follow" was the watchword in Vietnam. Recent events in Afghanistan have shown that the American soldier is now willing to employ a lighter touch in these matters. A useful adjunct to the study of propaganda and perhaps even educational media.
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm33-1/fm33-1m.htm

The Official Mahatma Gandhi e-Archive

With much of the world focused on war, the Official Mahatma Gandhi eArchive offers an alternative approach. Produced by the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation of India, this site describes all aspects of the life of Gandhi, "the apostle of non-violence" and father of the movement for Indian independence. Those interested in Gandhi's own words can read his book, "An Autobiography, or the Story of My Experiments with Truth", or a series of his other writings collected as "Gandhi for the 21st Century. There's also a collection of works about Gandhi (including political cartoons), reproductions of stamps honoring him, and a large photo gallery. While there's a lot of information here, the site lacks a basic introduction to Gandhi's life and importance. But students with some background knowledge will find here the details to bring to life Gandhi, his philosophy, and the Indian movement for independence.
http://www.mahatma.org.in/index.jsp

Cyber Newseum

Don't drop by the Cyber Newseum until you have a lot of time. This site - the online presence of Newseum, the Interactive Museum of News - contains exhibits that illustrate the history and importance of news coverage. Today' s Front Pages features .pdf versions of 79 front pages from 18 countries. Other exhibits include a history of the Black press in America, children of Kosovo, the holocaust, war stories (the history of war reporting), and the events of September 11th. Two sections, photojournalists of the month and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs, feature photographers speaking about their work. Many of the exhibits use Flash or QuickTime movies that will work best on broadband Internet connections (such as DSL or cable), but the site offers alternate pages for dial-up connections. The bricks-and-mortar Newseum will be closed until its new home in Washington, DC, is ready some time in 2006. But there's plenty at the Cyber Newseum to keep us occupied until then.
http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/cybermain.htm

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

Tilting at Windmills

Don Quixote is among the great texts of the west. If you are teaching it you should know that your students might try to take a shortcut and read one of the many summaries now online. The first two sites are simply summaries with analysis that students can parrot back in their essays. You may want to look at these sites, especially if you fear that your students are relying on summaries rather than actually reading. The third site is quite different; it is an on-line exhibit about the novel and its author from the Johns Hopkins University. Use this site to enhance your appreciation and knowledge of the novel; and recommend it to your students. The site also has an extensive collection of interesting links and a Spanish language mirror for those teaching the language as well as the literature. If you teach Don Quixote this is a site you must visit.
SparkNotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/donquixote/
Novelguide: http://www.novelguide.com/donquixote/index.html
Johns Hopkins: http://quixote.mse.jhu.edu/

Allyn & Bacon Public Speaking

Educational publisher Allyn & Bacon has created this Web site to supplement its textbooks about public speaking. The site divides the process of preparing a speech into five sections - assess, analyze, research, organize, and deliver - and provides links to Internet resources to help with every step along the way. Particularly noteworthy are the interactive exercises offered throughout. For example, the exercise illustrating persuasive speaking on legislative topics introduces students to Thomas, a Web site created by the Library of Congress to highlight legislative action in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The site is set up for teachers and students to use together, but older students could probably use it on their own. There is one drawback, though: the site hasn't been updated since 1998, so some of the links are outdated. But there's still plenty of helpful information here.
http://www.abacon.com/pubspeak/

The Poe Decoder

The same shroud of mystery that hangs over most of Edgar Allan Poe's work also hangs over the writer himself. Christoffer Nilsson, a computer scientist from Sweden, says that he started this Web site to dispel "all the lies and rumors" that surround the author, but so far the content focuses more on scholarly critical analysis of Poe's literary works than on the man himself. Martha Womack, a high school English teacher and Poe devotee, offers extensive analysis of several of Poe's most famous tales, including "The Black Cat", "The Masque of the Red Death", and "The Fall of the House of Usher". And David Grantz, also a teacher, has contributed a series of essays that are revisions of the chapters from his master's thesis on Poe. The content is advanced literary criticism suitable mainly for college students, although advanced high school students may also find it useful. Nilsson has keyed in the full text of several of Poe's tales, poems, and critical essays, and there's an extensive collection of links to other Web resources about Poe. The Poe Decoder provides a good starting point for anyone interested in learning more about this famous American writer.
http://www.poedecoder.com/

Harry Potter Lexicon

The Lexicon claims to be the ultimate reference about the books. It certainly spills the beans nicely in the Encyclopedia of Spells, and the matching Encyclopedia of Potions, although the paltry instructions and few ingredients listed might present some challenges. Still, let's face it, if you're a muggle, like us, there's just no point going to all the effort even if you could collect all the wild and wonderful ingredients. The Lexicon also caters to all you blaggers, blatchers and bumphers out there with a Quidditch Handbook that reveals all the intricacies of this notoriously challenging sport. Frankly, it's nice to see the Ministry of Magic slipping up occasionally despite its best efforts and letting invaluable things like this leak through the veil of ignorance it casts around things. As sites go this one's pretty wizard.
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/index.html

FINE ARTS
Visual arts, music, theater, and dance

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Even if you never have the opportunity to visit London, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Web site may interest you. The theatre, located on the banks of the Thames, is a reproduction of the playhouse designed in 1599 where Shakespeare worked. This open-air theater allows you either to sit in the gallery or to stand on the lower level, just as the groundlings did in Shakespeare's day. Anyone in London between May and September can read about the season's offering, get directions, and find out how to order tickets on the Web site. But if you can't attend, you can still learn about the Globe Theatre both the original and the reproduction from the Web site's reference section. The Shakespeare's Globe Online Reference Library includes information about the design and construction of the current theatre and about performance in Shakespeare's time. The reference section also links to Shakespeare's Globe Research Database, sponsored by the University of Reading, which provides background information on Shakespearean performance in original conditions. With its reproductions of contemporary drawings of the original Globe Theatre and its extensive bibliography, this section will delight anyone interested in the history of theatrical performance.
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/

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

In the News: Responsible Conduct in Research

2002, not yet over, has brought a great many breakdowns in trust, ranging from Wall Street to Main Street. The recent scandal in chimerical research into molecular computing at Bell Labs has shaken the scientific community. Careers, degrees, grants, wasted time and money are all on the line thanks to the fraudulent research and publications attributed to Jan Hendrick Schon. If you're teaching science and want to build some ethics into your course take a look at this report sponsored by the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. Prepared in 1995, the report, "On being a scientist: On responsible conduct in research," is quite readable and makes it clear why the credibility of researchers and their results is crucial to scientists. If any student ever asks what would happen if one made up experimental results this is a great site to visit. Salon offers a short think piece on the practical effects of Schon's fraud.
Report: http://books.nap.edu/html/obas/
Salon: http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/16/physics/index.html

Sweet Nothing

Zero really is the loneliest number. Just check out this site about the non-quantity and you'll know quite a bit about nothing. For mathematics teachers there's a wonderful discussion of division by zero and the history of zero in the history of mathematics. It all makes for good reading and you don't have to be a mathematician to enjoy it. It's a great site about nothing!
http://ubmail.ubalt.edu/~harsham/zero/ZERO.HTM

Airplane Design Demo

Here at Netsurfer HQ you just never know what you'll be called on to do. Write a review of a great Web site for NSE readers? Coming up! Recommend a book or computer game? Right away! Design a 200-passenger jet? We're on it! Judging by past episodes with paper airplanes, we've always fancied ourselves as aeronautical engineers, so it was time to put that thwarted ambition to the test. To do that, we tried our hand at Desktop Aeronautics' Java-based demo of their airplane design workshop. The challenge was to select an appropriate wing type, area, engine type and thrust, tail design, cabin layout, fuel load, speed and altitude for a 200-passenger airliner. Eventually, we made it from Washington DC to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but we just aren't going to tell anyone ever how many times we saw the dreaded notice, "There are some problems." before we finally succeeded. If you're really serious about this stuff you can purchase the complete software package for $295 (Mac OS only at the moment). Otherwise, why not try your hand at this amusing free demo.
http://www.desktopaero.com/demos.html

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Sports and Health

CoolSpot.org

It's okay not to drink alcohol. In fact, most teenagers don't drink. This is the message CoolSpot drives home to youngsters (it looks tailored to middle schoolers and above) - in a cool way, of course. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism/NIH, and the Department of Health and Human Services, CoolSpot lets kids move through interactive scenarios that help them learn how to speak up for themselves and deflect peer pressure to drink. The section Stuff to Know offers an interactive quiz for kids and their parents to take together. Kids will probably enjoy watching their parents bomb out on questions involving pop culture and adolescent lingo, but, hey, anything that gets students and adults talking can't be all bad. Finally, the Links section offers Internet sites where students can find fun things to do or get more information about the effects of underage drinking.
http://www.thecoolspot.gov/

Netsurfer Recommendations

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

Paper Dolls and Paper Airplanes: Therapeutic Exercises for Sexually Traumatized Children
Geraldine Crisci, Marilynn Lay, Liana Lowenstein
Kidsrights, 1998; ISBN: 1558640487

Some educators work in clinical settings or with clinical staff in the classroom, trying desperately to make treatment plans work to the benefit of children who spend each and every minute of their days battling the discomfort of living inside their own skins. We stress here that teachers can be partners in implementing those treatment plans, but that it's most often - and most appropriately - clinical staff who can and should offer real therapies. One of the most well regarded of resources for therapeutic sessions is this fine idea book from the estimable Kidsrights, a respected publisher specializing in materiel for professionals working with children and families in crisis. The title is perhaps a little deceptive in that the 80 or so therapeutic exercises, designed for group or individual sessions, for children from three-years-old and up, range through music, art, puppetry, and more. In addition to the therapeutic activities, the book offers guidance in helping children with transitions and graduation.

For more selections, check out the Netsurfer Library at http://www.netsurf.com/nsl/

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

Using Live Insects in Elementary Classrooms

We like this site a whole lot. Sure, it's about insects, but it's also about what insects can teach kids - and the lessons are some big ones, about nutrition, hygiene, self-esteem, decision making, body functions, diversity, cooperation, and more. The authors encourage teachers to raise insects in the classroom and provide rearing sheets for the purpose. It's from this close relationship that the other lessons spring more or less naturally. Grasshoppers are the gateway to lessons in self-protection. Crickets are the exemplars for learning about our own senses. Ants address life-management skills. The site belongs to the Center for Insect Science Outreach at the University of Arizona. Until we saw these pages, we'd never thought about insect science needing outreach, but now we're all for it.
http://insected.arizona.edu/uli.htm

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

Managing Oral Tests for the Disabled

Oral exams are about as much fun as enduring a root canal but for the disabled they can be especially challenging. The Australian Post Secondary Education Disability Network has tried to do something about that with this handy booklet for students and test administrators. Although the needs of some disabled students can be accommodated by modifying how written tests are administered, for other students written examinations are impossible and oral exams are the only practical alternative. The booklet covers many practical factors that staff should consider, not the least of which is reaching agreement with the students about how the test is to be given and marked. It also provides a good overview and commonsense reassurance for staff who may have had little experience with managing such tests. This is important because an ill-prepared examiner can make a hash of it just as much as an ill-prepared student. Equally, the University of Western Australia offers other resources for students with disabilities, including advice about scribing. tml
Oral exams: http://www.studentservices.uwa.edu.au/disability/oralexams.html
Disablity resources: http://www.studentservices.uwa.edu.au/disability/disability_resources_main.h

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

Knowledge Network Explorer: Online Learning in the Classroom and Library

The folks at PacBell have enlisted former teachers and librarians to create Internet applications for K-12 schools, community colleges, and public libraries. There's so much good stuff here that it's hard to choose where to begin, and the site's division of its material into categories isn't much help. One offering that stands out is Blue Web'n, a listing of more than 1200 Web sites searchable by broad subject area or by specific subject area. Another offering is Filamentality, an interactive fill-in-the-blank tool that allows users to create educational Web sites without knowing HTML. Filamentality guides users through picking a topic, finding related Web resources, and turning the information into learning activities. An exploration of the presentation entitled Six Paths to China demonstrates the full capabilities of Filamentality for producing educational projects that will inspire the yearning for learning. The site also offers several other educational collections such as Eyes on Art and Black History Past and Present.
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/wired.html

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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 Michael Luke Bruce Rappaport Dov Schwartz
NETSURFER EDUCATION © 2002 Netsurfer Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. NETSURFER EDUCATION is a trademark of Netsurfer Communications, Inc.