2Learn.ca has put out a Special Edition that contains information about viruses and Ebola. Click through the menu in the middle of the page to learn more about what viruses are and how they affect humans; then to learn more about Ebola itself. There are also some interactive maps and other resources listed that may be of interest.
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The URL: http://www.2learn.ca/specialedition/ebola/
My brother, Brian, shared this Dynamic Periodic Table site with me last week. There’s an arm’s length long list of reasons why this interactive periodic table is different from other ones but basically, it’s a true web application that requires no images, Flash or other gimmicks. Click around and explore the different settings. Be sure to check the “About” page for a better explanation of this tool that I’ve been able to provide here.
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The URL: http://www.ptable.com
My grandfather used to collect kaleidoscopes so I enjoy seeing them discussed and shared online. Here’s a Victoria and Albert Museum / Museum of Childhood project that allows students to create their own kaleidoscope patterns based on this 1817 invention.
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The URL: http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/moc_kaleidoscope/
I had a recommendation all ready to go until I realized this morning that the ISS has a live HD feed both in and out of the station. You can view the goings-on of daily life and sometimes, when the external cameras are on, there are stunning views of the Earth’s cities and storms.
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The URL: http://m.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream
My brother, Brian, showed me this galactic perspective from Google’s Chrome Experiments. 100,000 stars is a tour of the closest stars to our own Sun. It’s completely interactive and I would suggest taking the short tour to begin. You can spend a lot of time on this one!
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The URL: http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/
Surrey, B.C. teacher, Nicole Painchaud, sent me a note about a Zooniverse project: Condor Watch. From the site: “There are only around 200 California Condors living in the wild and they are in serious danger from lead poisoning, which they get by eating carcasses shot with lead bullets. Getting a better idea of how they interact and socialise is crucial to ongoing conservation efforts. Using camera traps, ecologists in the US have been observing them in the wild. However the sheer volume of images is now overwhelming. Starting today with people’s help they want people to look through the first set of data: 264,000 images of condors eating, socialising, and nesting. Ecologists need everyone’s help to identify the individual birds from their numbered tags. Your efforts on this project will help preserve an endangered species – and we think that’s really special.” There are several educational resources on the site and students are encouraged to participate in analyzing the photographs.
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The URL: http://www.condorwatch.org/