Phys .org: Professor creates climate data visualization tool that can reveal changes in atmosphere in real time. “PolarGlobe is a large-scale, web-based four-dimensional visualization tool allowing climate data access to anyone with an internet connection. It’s capable of illustrating changes in the atmosphere vividly in real time. Designed specifically for polar scientists seeking to understand the ice caps, the tool is also useful for high school science teachers and weather fanatics.”
teaching resources
San Francisco State University: New grant aims to flip stereotypes about scientists, one story at a time
San Francisco State University: New grant aims to flip stereotypes about scientists, one story at a time. “Reading through her middle schooler’s science homework one day, Kimberly Tanner noticed a glaring absence: examples of women and people of color doing science. Two years later, Tanner is part of a collaborative project to diversify the scientists featured in middle and high school science lessons, funded by a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health….Over the next two years, students at San Francisco State and Foothill College will create hundreds of ‘Scientist Spotlights’ — short science assignments that highlight currently practicing scientists from a variety of backgrounds. Since the spotlights also teach important course concepts, teachers can use them in their own curricula as homework assignments or replacements for textbook readings.”
Science Blog: Researchers Develop Algorithm To Automatically Generate Multiple-Choice Exam Responses
Science Blog: Researchers Develop Algorithm To Automatically Generate Multiple-Choice Exam Responses. “Teachers, rejoice. A team of Penn State researchers has developed a way to make multiple-choice exam questions easier for instructors to create, yet more intellectually challenging for test-takers. Utilizing machine-learning ranking models, the researchers have proposed a method that automatically generates ‘distractors,’ which are the alternative options used to distract students from the correct answer in a multiple-choice question.”
MakeUseOf: Science Made Simple! 5 Sites and Apps That Explain Complex Topics
MakeUseOf: Science Made Simple! 5 Sites and Apps That Explain Complex Topics. “Science is fascinating, but also often confusing. It can also get a bit embarrassing to ask someone about basic scientific facts or ideas that we assume every other adult knows. So here are a few sites and apps that explain science in simple terms that anyone can understand.” Nice little roundup.
Library of Congress: Library of Congress Launches New Set of Educational Apps for Back to School
Library of Congress: Library of Congress Launches New Set of Educational Apps for Back to School. “The Library of Congress, in collaboration with educational organizations, today announced the launch of two new web- and mobile-based applications related to Congress and civics for use in K-12 classrooms. These new applications transport students through primary sources to some of the most dramatic turning points in U.S. history and immerse them in the related debates.”
Radio Praha: New Website Documents Communist-Era Anti-Semitism
Radio Praha: New Website Documents Communist-Era Anti-Semitism. “Israel as the headquarters for Rothschild political power, kibbutzs as indoctrination centres and Jewish schools as centres of racist, militaristic teaching. These are just a few of the themes contained within videos and posters from the communist era now accessible via a website just launched by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which oversees communist-era files and other materials.” The site is in Czech, but the automatic translation was easy to read.
Glitch: Free and Open Learning Resources for All
Glitch: Free and Open Learning Resources for All. “We’ve seen all kinds of people use Glitch to build the apps of their dreams. One of the most popular reasons that folks use Glitch is for learning…. Teaching someone to code can be quite an endeavor, but with Glitch’s tools for collaboration, customization, and our take on version control, you’ve got everything you need to succeed. Let’s take a closer look at some more resources available for educators on Glitch as you get ready to go back to school.”
