Wachstumshormone

Resources May 2010

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

African Dust, Coral Reefs, and Human Health

The USGS offers this website with an overview video of Coral Mortality and African Dust.  The documentary identifies how recent changes in the composition and quantities of African dust transported to the Caribbean and the Americas might provide clues to why Caribbean coral reef ecosystems are deteriorating, and how human health may be impacted.  The documentary also offers the transcribed narrative.

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/

http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/223

Climate Change Curriculum

Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change, from Purdue University and partners, offers a digitally-based instructional program that contains data-rich case studies and visualization activities as well as a visual library, as a resource for grade 7-12 teachers and students.  A central goal of this program is to explore the complex interface between science and society that forms the basis of management decisions related to climate change issues.  Modules include Ecological Impacts, Current Climate Maps, Extreme Weather, and Natural Processes.  Individual activities include Climate Change Debate, Mid-Latitude Cyclones, Volcanoes and Climate Change, and more.

http://www.iclimate.org/ccc/

Coral Reefs: Moorea, French Polynesia – Online

COSEE-West invites formal and informal educators who are interested in learning more about coral reef formation and ecology to participate in a free workshop, Coral Reefs: Moorea, French Polynesia, to be held this April-May, 2010.  Follow an undergraduate class from the University of California, Los Angeles as the students conduct research on Moorea, French Polynesia.  Course lectures, student blogs, and a final course symposium will be available live and archived on the web.

http://www.coexploration.org/cosee_west/moorea2010/

CREEC on Facebook

The California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) Network is now on Facebook, and will post links to, and summaries of, EE research, capacity building, conferences, model school descriptions, and more.

http://www.facebook.com/creecnetwork

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Contact Information

The Gulf of Mexico Alliance Environmental Education Network offers Gulf States contact information for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as a downloadable Word document.  Click on the oil rig drawing on the main page.  There is also a Deepwater Horizon Response website which offers news, volunteer links, and additional information.

http://gulfallianceeducation.org/

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/#

Digital Library for Earth System Education

The Digital Library for Earth System Education is an online library of web-based resources at all educational levels for teaching and learning about the Earth as a system.  It can be searched by keyword, grade level, resource type, collection, and by national standards.  The updated website offers an improved K-12 Educator’s page, Newest Resources in DLESE, and much more.  Turn to this website for great resources.

http://www.dlese.org

EarthKAM

EarthKAM is a NASA-sponsored project that provides photographs of Earth taken from the space shuttle and the international space station.  Check out the photo galleries and upcoming missions.

https://earthkam.ucsd.edu/

Earth Science Curricula

The American Geological Institute, with support from the National Science Foundation, offers a comprehensive portfolio of geoscience education products and services for students and teachers, from kindergarten to high school and beyond. EarthComm: Earth System Science in the Community is for high school students.  This curriculum is based on the problem-solving, community-based model of instruction.  For middle school students, IES: Investigating Earth Systems emphasizes inquiry – testing ideas, observing phenomena, collecting data, using scientific reasoning – and the interrelation of Earth systems.  Elementary students have K-5 GeoSource, with online professional development for K-5 teachers.  The website features content instruction, lesson plans, classroom activities, teaching resource links, downloadable images, cross-curriculum tips, assessment tools, career vignettes, literacy strategies, and more.  In addition, the Environmental Awareness Series addresses major societal concerns and illuminates the complexity and interconnection of the natural systems, with a balanced review of key issues and topics, such as water, petroleum, metal mining, geologic mapping, and more.

http://www.earthsciweek.org/forteachers/bestineducation.html

EcoHealth 101: Environmental Change and Our Health

EcoHealth helps sort the science from the sound bites on five major topics including global warming.  This website is aimed at grades 5-8 with lesson plans, video clips, links to more information, and more.

http://ecohealth101.org/

Energy Choices and Climate Change

From the NCAR Online Education, Energy Choices and Climate Change looks at issues related to energy and climate change.  In the scenarios within this online module, participants make decisions about the types and amount of energy used and see what effect the decisions have on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere.  The goal is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere from fossil fuel emissions while keeping costs within reason.  There are two scenarios – from a family’s energy use or global energy use.  The website also offers links to greenhouse gas background information.  And if you haven’t explored the Windows to the Universe website in a while, be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the page.

http://www.windows2universe.org/modules/energy/

Environment Yale

The Journal of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies has a new website for the Fall 2009 issue, with links to past Issues on the previous website.  The journal is published twice per year.  Past issues have a search feature.

http://environment.yale.edu/magazine/

Expeditionary Learning

King Middle School in Portland, Maine has been refining its expeditionary learning projects for nearly two decades, and has developed Fading Footprints, a six-step rubric for designing a project.   The Fading Footsteps project is a twelve-week interdisciplinary ecology unit centered around the guiding question: How does diversity strengthen an ecosystem? Using this project as an example, see how King Middle School creates an action plan around each step.

http://king.portlandschools.org/files/onexpedition/expeditionproducts/footprints/frameset/frame.htm

Explore the Ocean

This website by the author of the Agnes Pflumm books offers links to a variety of ocean literacy resources students and teachers.  Check out the links to science and art, the Science Rap, and much more.

http://www.agnespflumm.com/secret_seven_explore.htm

Extreme Eukaryotes

This article from the Natural History Museum in London is an early summary of information about free-living eukaryotes in extreme environments.  The article includes list of peer-reviewed references up to 1997.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/euk-extreme/

Extremophilic Bacteria and Microbial Diversity

This online enhancement chapter of a textbook for undergraduate majors examines the many prokaryotic organisms that inhabit extreme.  Topics include using new molecular techniques to discover more about bacteria; life at high temperatures, low temperatures,

extreme pH levels and in a brine; and extremophiles in the evolution of life.

http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/raven6b/graphics/raven06b/enhancementchapters/raven30_enhancement.html

Faultline

This website from the Exploratorium provides an introduction to earthquakes and their effects.  The site contains an introduction, real time data on earthquakes, activities, and much more.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/index.html

FedFlix

As part of a joint venture between the National Technical Information Service and Public.Resource.Org, the Internet Archive has created this archive of government training films from the past six decades.  Users can browse the collection by title or subject, or by word search.  The films come from a wide variety of government agencies, including the U.S. Army, NASA, and more.  (A simple search on “ocean,” and “moving images” produced an interesting array of items).

http://www.archive.org/details/FedFlix

Flow of Energy

The University of Michigan’s Global Change Curriculum offers The Flow of Energy: Primary Production to Higher Trophic Levels, an on-line lecture about energy transfer.

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/energyflow/energyflow.html

Getting WILD About Environmental Literature

The University of Texas at San Antonio, in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, has put together this compilation of literature readings with annotations for all levels that align to the Project WILD activities.  Check out this useful resource.

http://www.naaee.org/photos/news-images/gettingwildaboutenvliterature.doc

Great Whales Curriculum

The Great Whales Curriculum, developed by the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, is now available for downloading in pdf format.  The curriculum is geared for grades 6-9.

http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/outreach

Hō‘Ailona’s Journal

The University of California, Santa Cruz offers this online Hawaiian monk seal education resource.  The website provides information about a young monk seal, Hō‘Ailona, the ongoing research with her, and conservation observations.  Follow along on monthly updates, and keep your eyes out for contests and other projects in which kids can participate.

http://www.monkseal.ucsc.edu/KP2/Home.html

International Society for Reef Studies

International Society for Reef Studies offers this new website with links to organizations, publications, and more.  The principal objective of the organization is to promote the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge and understanding of coral reefs, both living and fossil.

http://www.coralreefs.org/

International Year of Biodiversity

The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity has set up a website to celebrate 2010 as the year of biodiversity.  The website offers links to worldwide celebrations, multimedia resources, and more.

http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/

Introduction to Planning and Facilitating Effective Meetings

NOAA’s Coastal Services Center offers this facilitations skills primer.  The guide explains the role of a facilitator and describes how to plan and execute meetings that deliver results. Topics include planning a productive meeting or workshop, conducting an effective meeting, using proper tools and techniques for meeting facilitation, and facilitating teleconferences, videoconferences, and webinars.

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/publications/effective_meetings.html

Marine Debris

Each year, Ocean Conservancy provides a global snapshot of marine debris collected and recorded at more than 6,000 sites all over the world on a single day during the International Coastal Cleanup.  The world’s largest volunteer effort for the ocean and waterways works towards global solutions through the cumulative efforts of volunteers around the world.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=program_marinedebris

Mountains in the Sea

The March 2010 issue of Oceanography magazine is a special issue on deep-sea seamounts.  The open-access articles are posted online.

http://tos.org/oceanography/issues/current.html

MPA Mapping Tool

NOAA’s National Marine Protected Areas Center has created a new interactive online mapping tool that allows users to view boundaries and access data for more than a thousand marine protected areas in the United States.  Data for the mapping tool comes from the newly updated MPA Inventory, a comprehensive database of existing U.S. MPAs, containing a range of information on each of the 1,637 protected areas established or managed by federal, state, or territorial agencies or programs.

http://mpa.gov/

NEwswave

NEwswave is the e-journal of the New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative, bringing news and events from member organizations and associates, a collaboration of forty institutions from across the region including aquaria, museums, universities, and science and research centers.  The NEwswave Blog is updated daily with information about ocean science education in New England and includes Member News, Ocean Science Education e-Resources, Professional Development, and much more.

http://neosec.wordpress.com/

NYSMEA Website

The New York State Marine Education Association offers a newly redesigned website with lesson plans, job postings, research opportunities, field trip destinations, and marine-related links.

http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/nysmea/

Ocean Acidification FAQs

The U.S. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry program has compiled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about ocean acidification.  The website also offers additional links to presentations, educational tools, and resources.

http://www.whoi.edu/OCB-OA/FAQs/

Ocean FEST

Ocean FEST (Families Exploring Science Together), developed by educators at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, puts science in the hands of Hawai‘i’s students, teachers, and their families.  The overarching goal of the program is to interest Hawai‘i’s kids in careers in ocean science and related Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields through fun, hands-on activities.  The website offers links to information on marine science careers, program information for Hawaii schools, and additional links, resources, and activities for teachers.

http://oceanfest.soest.hawaii.edu/

Ocean Garbage Patches and Predicting Oil-Spill Trajectories

The Ocean Motion website offers a review of the surface circulation of Earth’s ocean and classroom investigations appropriate for various disciplines at the high school level.  Follow the path of plastic to the ocean gyres and read about what happens to plastic after it circles the ocean gyres for decades.  Check out the Casco Bay and Exxon Valdez oil spills.

http://www.oceanmotion.org/html/impact/marine-resources.htm

PIMRIS Portal

The Pacific Islands Marine Portal project is a collaborative project between the Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System (PIMRIS) and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange Programme (IODE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO to improve access to Pacific marine information for the Pacific Islands community.  The portal offers news, articles, and directories of websites relevant to Pacific fisheries and to the coastal and marine environment of the Pacific.

http://www.pimrisportal.org/pop/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

QuikSCience Lesson Plans

The University of Southern California, Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, and Quiksilver Foundation offer downloadable lesson plans from the QuikSCience Challenge.  Topics include global warming, marine pollution, and more.

http://www.usc.edu/org/cosee-west/quikscience/lesson_plans.html

Resources for Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction

Central Michigan University hosts this clearinghouse for science educators and students interested in the fields of earth science and geography.  The website is organized alphabetically around the sequence of topics that one might encounter in an introductory earth science or physical geography class, including Atmospheric Circulation, Earth Science Animations, Rivers, Water Resources, and much more.   Each topical area includes links to online resources, complete with a short description.

http://webs.cmich.edu/resgi/

Sea & Ships

The goal of the National Maritime Museum in England is to illustrate the importance of the sea, ships, time, and the stars and their relationship with people.  The Sea and Ships Directory divides the material up by Subjects, People, Collections, Online Galleries, and Games and Interactives.  Check out the Your Ocean link from the Games and Interactives.  The Your Waste lesson gives visitors the opportunity to test their skills at managing an oil spill clean-up operation; other interactives include Your Climate and more.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/

Sea Turtle Resources

SEE Turtles is a non-profit ecotourism project.  In addition to study trips, they offer lesson plans, in-class presentations, and other education resources.  The curriculum was teacher-developed to engage students from grades 6-12 on various subjects related to sea turtles.

http://www.seeturtles.org/1352/classroom-resources.html

SocMon

The Global Socioeconomic Monitoring Initiative for Coastal Management (SocMon) has launched a redesigned website.  One of the site’s major improvements is the new SocMon database, which has access to completed SocMon site reports searchable by location, author, monitoring purpose, and other fields.  The website also includes interactive maps depicting work done at specific sites around the world and improved access to data, publications, and images.

http://www.socmon.org/

Spatial Trends in Coastal Socioeconomics

The Spatial Trends in Coastal Socioeconomics website provides coastal and ocean managers with one-stop shopping for associated demographic and economic information.  The website offers dynamic access to national-scale datasets in those geographic units that coastal and ocean managers must work with daily.

http://marineeconomics.noaa.gov/socioeconomics/

STEMresources.com

The Tennessee Department of Education and Middle Tennessee State University offer STEMresources.com, where teachers can access standards-based instructional tools, curriculum materials, and Internet materials.  Among the many resources available from this website are standards users guides, curriculum frameworks, links to other STEM websites, teacher work samples, and much more.

http://www.stemresources.com/

Tagging Whales in the Antarctic Seas

From May 4-June 13, 2010, scientists and students will journey to the Antarctic Seas to apply suction cup tags to humpback and minke whales to measure their underwater movements and behaviors, in addition to taking measurements of the distribution, abundance, and behavior of prey and physical features of the water column.  Follow along with their web log and photos, and check out the 2009 expedition.

http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/antarctica/2010/

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Education Resources

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils.  Their Education Corner offers student activities, video episodes from Fishing in Old Hawaii, and much more.  Use the search feature to find many useful resources, and check out the Media Center for downloadable posters, and the Library for additional items.

http://www.wpcouncil.org/education.html

Where Words Touch the Earth

In this new digital media collection for grades 3-12, students from American Indian Tribal Colleges interview Elders, students, and community members to provide a Native American perspective on climate change and its effects on their communities.  Downloadable videos touch on key environmental science issues and indigenous knowledge of the depleted salmon population in Washington State, the ecological function and spiritual role of wetlands, and the relationship between humans and nature.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/special/nasawords/

Windows to the Universe Website Update

Windows to the Universe has moved to a new home with the National Earth Science Teachers Association, offering new capabilities and opportunities for partnership.  The shift is designed to help make the site an open educational resource and to allow scientists, university faculty, K-12 educators, and others to contribute content more readily in support of the geoscience education community.  The website offers Earth and space science content, professional development, and much more.  Each page is geared to three different reading levels, from beginner (upper elementary) to advanced (high school).

http://windows2universe.org/