May 17, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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May 22nd has been named The International Day for Biological Diversity by the United Nations. In the United States, May 21st was designated Endangered Species Day by Congress.
You might find The Best Resources For World Biodiversity Day (& Endangered Species Day) useful.
May 16, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Science magazine is inviting young people to contribute responses to a GREAT question. Unfortunately, the deadline to submit a 250 word response is May 17th, the day after I publish this post.
Here’s their question:
You can travel back in time to share one piece of scientific knowledge from today. Where do you go? Describe the date and place you choose, the information you share, and how it might change the course of history. (Assume that the people you visit will understand and believe you!)
Regular readers are familiar with the “What If?” projects I have my ESL and IB Theory of Knowledge classes create (see The Best Resources For Teaching “What If?” History Lessons).
Science’s question would be a great take on that topic. In fact, I’m considering having my Theory Of Knowledge students do it as part of their final instead of what I had originally planned.
Thanks to Dan Willingham for sending a tweet about the Science contest.
April 30, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Here Is Today is a cool interactive infographic.
I learned about it from Information Aesthetics, who described it like this:
Ranging from one day to one eon, and framing the time periods different kinds of species emerged on Earth, the timeline ribbon acts like a dynamic stacked bar chart that enables easy comparison.
April 23, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Dynamic Sun: Stunning Three-Year Time-Lapse View is a video from NASA. Here’s how they describe it:
In the three years since it first provided images of the sun in the spring of 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has had virtually unbroken coverage of the sun’s rise toward solar maximum, the peak of solar activity in its regular 11-year cycle. This video shows those three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day.
I’m adding it to The Best Images Taken In Space.
April 4, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Ideas for English-Language Learners | Earth Day and the Environment is my new post over at The New York Times.
I think teachers might find it interesting, and it includes a lesson building on the work of Paulo Freire.
March 30, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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March 23, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The media has been awash with images from the Planck satellite this week. Here’s a short explanation from The New York Times:
Astronomers released the latest and most exquisite baby picture yet of the universe on Thursday, one that showed it to be 80 million to 100 million years older and a little fatter than previously thought, with more matter in it and perhaps ever so slightly lopsided.
Recorded by the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, the image is a heat map of the cosmos as it appeared only 370,000 years after the Big Bang, showing space speckled with faint spots from which galaxies would grow over billions of years.
Here are some interactives using the images:
Planck spacecraft looks back to the first moments after the Big Bang – interactive is from The Guardian.
Mapping the Early Universe is from The New York Times.
Cosmic ripples come into focus is an interactive from New Scientist.
Planck satellite: Maps detail Universe’s ancient light is from The BBC.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.
March 6, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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It’s Okay To Be Smart is a new PBS Science Show On YouTube that looks like it may have some potential. It’s hosted by biologist Joe Hanson. He also has a supporting blog for the show.
Here’s the first episode:
February 26, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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February 22, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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February 16, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Here are a couple of new additions to The Best Multimedia On The Russian Meteor:
Asteroid approaches earth, meteorite strikes Russia; what’s the difference?
The Incredible Russian Meteor, Explained is from The Atlantic.
February 15, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
As I’m sure everybody knows by now, a meteor hit Russia earlier today causing damage and injuring hundreds.
Here are some resources on the event:
The New York Times has a fascinating collage of videos.
Meteor falls over Russia is from the CBBC Newsround.
Every meteorite fall on earth mapped is an interactive from The Guardian.
12 Crazy Videos of the Russian Meteor Strike is from PC Magazine.
Ten amazing scenes captured on dashboard cameras is from The BBC.
Asteroid approaches earth, meteorite strikes Russia; what’s the difference?
The Incredible Russian Meteor, Explained is from The Atlantic.
Meteorite explodes over Russia: key questions answered is from The Guardian.
February 11, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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“Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason held on or around Feb. 12, the birthday anniversary of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin.”
You might be interested in The Best Online Resources To Learn About Charles Darwin.
February 11, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
I’ve been meaning to prepare this post for quite awhile, and it’s dedicated to Alice Mercer‘s son, Leroy, who’s a fan of flight and paper airplanes.
You might also be interested in:
The Best Sites Where Students Can Learn About Inventions
A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Space
Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Learning About Flight:
The History of Human-Powered Flight is an impressive interactive timeline from NPR.
How Do Things Fly? is a great interactive site from the Smithsonian. It is THE site to learn about anything related to flight. You can design and virtually fly your own plane, and you can even design and print-out your own paper airplane.
Marvellous early flying machines is a slideshow from The BBC.
Hot air balloon festivals in France and U.S. is a photo gallery from The Sacramento Bee.
Sky’s the limit: World’s first flying car on the market at £800,000 (and it’s been in the air since 1946) is from The Mail Online. After Two Test Flights, The Race Toward A Flying Car Is On is from NPR.
Flying cars: Grounded reality or ready for take off? is from the BBC.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
A Visual History of the Jet Pack is a slideshow from TIME.
Amateur space enthusiasts launch paper plane into space is from The BBC.
The Plane That Drives is a slideshow from TIME.
The new vehicle set to revolutionise the skies is from The BBC.
A Celebration of Flight is a cool interactive from GE.
Drones on the home front is an interactive from The Washington Post.
History of Flight is a slideshow from NBC.
Flying Day in Moscow is a great slideshow from TIME.
Solar plane completes historic 24-hour flight is from NBC.
Around The Globe In A Solar Airplane is an Associated Press interactive.
Forces Of Flight is from The Smithsonian.
10 Most Bizarre Experimental Airplanes of the Cold War
‘World’s first’ ornithopter takes flight is from The BBC.
How Superheroes Fly is from TIME.
Try out these Wright Brothers interactives:
Interactive Experiments
The 18 strangest airports in the world
Here are animated paper airplane instructions.
More paper airplane instructions.
In Flight is a slideshow from The Boston Globe.
A History of Helicopters is an interactive from The Wall Street Journal.
Feel free to share additional suggestions.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.
January 29, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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From Storycorps at NPR:
On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina:
January 25, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Energy Realities is a collection of video, multimedia and infographic resources about energy related issues that’s sponsored by National Geographic, along with a number of other partners like New Scientist, Slate, and — here’s what has me concerned — an oil company.
Here’s how it describes itself:
A visual guide to global energy needs, which shows how technology and intelligence are ensuring humanity continues to progress. The site combines maps, multimedia, and writing from four premier publishers and tells the story of energy use, production, and sustainability on our planet. We invite you to explore and share this content to help increase understanding and dialogue about our world’s energy needs.
I did a quick once-over of the site, and I didn’t see anything that seemed obviously influenced by the oil company’s participation, but who knows? It did seem pretty engaging, but proceed with caution….
January 19, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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NASA just released this video showing temperature changes in the world since 1880 and including 2012 — it’s an updated version of one they’ve released in previous years.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change.
January 15, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Guardian has just published an interactive infographic that lets you see the temperature change over the past one hundred years in most locations in the world. Just type in your city and country and, voila, you see it graphed for your location.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change.
January 15, 2013
by Larry Ferlazzo
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In our IB Theory of Knowledge class, we’re examining “pseudo-science.” Here’s a short video I regularly use as part of the discussion:
December 27, 2012
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Here’s a new video from Melody Sheep. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Higgs Boson, The “God Particle”:
