Education
The Chèche Konnen Center conducts research on teaching and learning in K-8 urban classrooms where many students speak a first language other than English. A key aspect of their work is to document "the sense-making resources that children from ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds bring to the study of science (e.g., the oral and literate traditions they command in their daily lives outside of school) and the ways these intersect with those characteristic of scientific disciplines." The website describes the classroom research project, their approach to teacher professional development, and lists related research articles. The History section describes one of their first investigations, The Water Taste Test. [VF]
http://www.stevens.edu/research/spectrum.htm
This website describes the various research projects of faculty, students, professional staff, and visiting scientists at Stevens Institute of Technology. An array of interdisciplinary research initiatives and centers are described, such as the Center for Improved Engineering Science Education, the initiative on Cyber Security, the Center for Environmental Engineering (CEE), and the Nanoscale Device Laboratory. From the homepage, visitors can also learn about the WebCampus where students can complete courses towards a Graduate Certificate or Masters Degree online. [VF]
http://www.projectmathematics.com/
Project Mathematics, funded mostly by grants from the National Science Foundation, "produces videotape-and-workbook modules that explore basic topics in high school mathematics in ways that cannot be done at the chalkboard or in a textbook." Using live action, music, special effects, and computer animation, the project aims to raise student interest in mathematics and encourage interaction between students and teachers. The modules are distributed free of charge through a national network. The website describes the modules and provides links to the distributors. Some descriptions include short video segments. Modules currently available are: The Theorem of Pythagoras, The Story of Pi, Similarity (and scaling), Polynomials, and Sines and Cosines, and a video which reviews the early history of mathematics to the development of calculus in the seventeenth century. Videos that showcase teachers implementing the modules are also available. [VF]
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~personalrover/PER/
Students and arm-chair scientists can learn more about how the Mars Rover works with the Personal Exploration Rovers (PER). Roboticist Illah Nourbakhsh from Carnegie Mellon University has taken the lead on developing these smaller, cheaper robots. The website describes how these little robots work, lists locations where they will be exhibited beginning in January 2004, and provides a zipped file of the open source code used for PER, "including the firmware running on the Cerebellum motor controller, the on-board single-board computer (Intel Stayton or Stargate board) and the off-board kiosk computer (running Java)." The Gallery provides videos of the PER in action. [VF]
http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/index.html
The collaborative Telescopes in Education (TIE) program, sponsored by NASA, lets students around the world operate a remotely controlled telescope and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. Using a science-grade 24-inch reflecting telescope located at the Mount Wilson Observatory in of Southern California, a modem, and special software, students in the U.S., Australia, Canada, England, and Japan have learned about astronomy, astrophysics, and mathematics. With the purchase of The Sky: Remote Astronomy Software which controls the telescope, educators and students can reserve observation time on the telescope for any evening of the week lasting from one hour to an entire night. The website provides more information on how to obtain the software, system requirements, an online users guide, and current weather conditions on Mount Wilson. Unfortunately, the webcam didn't work at the time the site was reviewed, yet the online photo Gallery provides some lovely images taken using the CCD camera. The project also provides a large listing of other educational links, including one to another educational telescope in Australia, called Nanango. [VF]
http://mathforum.org/yeargame/2004/
The well known Math Forum (formerly from Swarthmore College, discussed in the October 20, 1995 issue of The Scout Report), offers a new game where students find out how many expressions they can write for all the numbers from 1 to 100 using only the digits in the current year. Complete rules, worksheets and printable manipulatives are available from this website. Student solutions may be submitted starting January 1, 2004, using the webform, and solutions will be posted starting February 1, 2004. [VF]
