************************************************************** Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround ************************************************************** From: "Winters, Kirk" <Kirk.Winters@xxxxxx> To: "Information from & about the U.S. Department of Education publications & more ." <edinfo@xxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: New Learning Resources at FREE (May 2, 2003) Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 12:10:19 -0400 ELEVEN NEW LEARNING RESOURCES in arts, health & safety, science, & social studies have been added to the FREE website. FREE makes it easy for teachers, parents, & students to find learning resources from more than 40 federal organizations. http://www.ed.gov/free The 11 new resources are described below. ==== Arts ==== "The Influences of Art on Yellowstone" features more than 50 paintings, photos, & drawings, many of which contributed to the creation of the nation's first national park. The spectacular waterfalls, geysers, rock formations, & vistas in these works helped spread an appreciation of the wonders of Yellowstone. When President Grant signed into law the bill establishing Yellowstone as our first national park in 1872, he set in motion the tradition of preserving other tracts of great beauty for future generations. (NPS) http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/art/index.htm "NGA Classroom" offers a "resource finder" for searching the National Gallery of Art's resources & lessons by topic, curriculum area, or artist. Calder, Cassatt, Degas, Kandinsky, Manet, Matisse, Miro, Moore, Picasso, van Gogh, & Vermeer are among the more than 50 artists included. Four new online lessons help teach students about heroism, Greco-Roman myths, ecology, & 19th century America. Each lesson examines paintings & provides student activities, worksheets, & related resources. Interactive features include a myth-master game of gods & "make your own medal." (NGA) http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/ =============== Health & safety =============== "Tips for Parents on Keeping Children Drug Free" tells what your children should know about drugs by the time they reach the third grade, ways to help your child stay drug free in the middle & junior high school years, & how to ensure that your child's school is keeping students drug free. (ED) http://www.ed.gov/offices/OIIA/pfie/drugfree/index.html ======= Science ======= "The Astrobiology Curriculum" presents an outline & curriculum overview for a course on astrobiology. It offers several sample learning activities, including: Is the moon habitable? What types of stars are in our universe? (NSF) http://astrobio.terc.edu/overview/overview.html "Earth to Orbit & Beyond" presents students with engineering design challenges that are organized around challenges NASA engineers face in developing the next generation of aerospace vehicles. Each challenge engages students in a classroom activity that leads them through the design, testing, & evaluation process used by engineers in developing new technology. Among the challenges: 1) designing a strong but lightweight thrust structure that can withstand the launch of a bottle rocket by means of a wooden lever & 2) designing a propeller that generates the maximum possible thrust using a small motor. (NASA) http://eto.nasa.gov/ "Fire Management, Everglades National Park" describes how fire is used to maintain the biological diversity & natural processes of the pineland, prairie, & other ecosystems of the Everglades that are shaped by the interaction of fire & water. (NPS) http://www.nps.gov/ever/fire/index.htm "Bears of Yellowstone" presents 40 photos of grizzlies & black bears fishing, traveling with their cubs, & in various other activities & habitats. (NPS) http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/bears/index.htm ============== Social studies ============== "A Walk Through Time" looks at the evolution of timekeeping -- how humans have measured the passage of time throughout history. The site describes & shows depictions of ancient calendars, sun & water clocks, mechanical & quartz clocks, & world time scales & time zones. (NIST) http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html "Manassas Battlefield History" recounts two battles fought in the Virginia countryside north of Manassas during the Civil War. The first battle, on a warm July day in 1861, marked the first clash of the Northern & Southern armies. As the battle approached, the young soldiers on both sides were confident the other side would run at the first shot. They were thankful not to miss the only battle of what would surely be a short war. At day's end, after 10 hours of fighting, nearly 900 young men lay lifeless on the fields, shattering the notion that the war's outcome would be decided quickly. The second battle at Manassas took place a year later, in August 1862. The three-day battle left 3,300 dead & brought the Confederacy to the height of its power. This website offers glimpses of soldiers who fought here & virtual tours of the battlefield. (NPS) http://www.nps.gov/mana/battlefield_history/bhistory.htm "Partners of the Heart" is the website for a film about two men who, in 1944, pioneered a procedure that would save the lives of thousands of "blue babies." One of the men, Alfred Blalock, was a prominent white surgeon. The other, Vivien Thomas, was an African American with a high school education. Blalock recognized Thomas' talents when the younger man inquired about a janitor's job at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Thomas went on to train two generations of the country's premier heart surgeons. (NEH) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/ "Traveling the National Road" tells the story of the first road built with federal funds. Construction of the 632-mile road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois, began in 1811. The aim was to improve trade between the east & the emerging western frontier & to avoid losing western trade to England in Canada or Spain in the Louisiana Territory. The website tells how the road was built, how people traveled on it, accommodations they found along the way, & more. Today travelers on U.S. Route 40 can see some of the sights seen by people traveling the National Road in the 1800s. (NPS) http://www.nps.gov/fone/classroom/nrintro.htm Acronyms ~~~~~~~~ ED -- Department of Education FREE -- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence NEH -- National Endowment for the Humanities NASA -- National Aeronautics & Space Administration NGA -- National Gallery of Art NIST -- National Science Foundation NPS -- National Park Service NSF -- National Science Foundation =========================================================== To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) EDInfo, address an email message to: listproc@xxxxxxxxxxx Then write either SUBSCRIBE EDINFO YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the message, or write UNSUBSCRIBE EDINFO (if you have a signature block, please turn it off) Then send it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Past EDInfo messages: http://www.ed.gov/MailingLists/EDInfo/ Search: http://www.ed.gov/MailingLists/EDInfo/search.html =========================================================== Contributors: Terry Childs, Phyllis Hecht, Jennifer Serventi & others Editors: Peter Kickbush & Kirk Winters ----------------------------------------------- Please send any comments to kirk.winters@xxxxxx <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> EDUCATIONAL CYBERPLAYGROUND http://www.edu-cyberpg.com <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> ADVERTISE REACH THE EDUCATION MARKET GET FREE EDUCATION VENDOR DIRECTORY LISTING http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Directory/default.asp Net Happenings,K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters, New-list http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html HOT LIST OF SCHOOLS ONLINE http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Schools/default.asp SERVICES http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/PS/Home_Products.html <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>