Glenn Learning Technologies Project [.zip]
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/
The NASA Glenn Research Center hosts this giant site about aerospace technologies, aeronautics, and related math and science. A selection of educational guides, which are essentially online textbooks, explains how airplanes and jet engines work. Problem sets and lesson plans are given at the end of the guides. Countless projects and activities demonstrate the concepts introduced in the background material. Teacher resources are available that help grade school instructors integrate these topics in the classroom. There is also a library of software titles that can be downloaded, including simulators of jet engine design and testing. [CL]
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Presentations: Transportation Infrastructure [.pdf, RealPlayer]
http://www.ceworld.org/ceworld/Presentations/TransportationInfrastructure//FHWA-Bike-Ped.cfm
The American Society of Civil Engineers CE World Web site hosts this "course on bicycle and pedestrian transportation," provided by the Federal Highway Administration. Two of the three course components are given here, namely the student guide and the scripted slide show; the instructor's guide is not provided. Examples of good design practices that accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists are illustrated in the slide show. The student guide consists of 24 lessons that teach transportation planning techniques and methods of efficient land use. This course does an excellent job of explaining many issues involved in these forms of transportation. [CL]
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Destination Tomorrow: Bringing the Future into Focus [Flash]
http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/index_net.html
"Destination Tomorrow: Bringing the Future into Focus is a 30-minute educational program, designed for educators, parents, and lifelong learners by NASA Langley's Office of Education." The material presented on this Web site can be used in conjunction with the show, or as a standalone resource for those that do not receive the broadcast stations. Currently, there are six episodes listed online, and each has five segments that look at various technological innovations. The latest show, for example, discusses Mars exploration, flight simulators, unmanned aerial vehicles, and more. Following brief introductions to each topic are links to other NASA Web sites that explore the subject in more detail. [CL]
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Clockworks: From Sundials to the Atomic Second [Shockwave, QuickTime]
http://www.britannica.com/clockworks/main.html
Being able to look at a clock and check the time is something we all take for granted, but life would be a lot more complicated without accurate timing devices. This site, from Britannica.com, looks at ten manmade instruments that various civilizations have used to measure time. These clocks span many centuries, from the sundial in 1500 BC to the state of the art Cesium atomic clock. Some of the items come readily to mind, like the quartz watch, but others are much more obscure. For instance, not many people know how a clepsydra works. Both the physical operation of the devices and their historical significance are described in individual articles. [CL]
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AMS Books Online [.pdf]
http://www.ams.org/online_bks/conm22/
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) offers this textbook on factorization free on its Web site. This is the third and most recent edition of the book, published in 2002. Mainly suited for graduate level math students or other university researchers, it gives the prime factors of hundreds of numbers that fall into a characteristic form. The material is presented in massive tables, and detailed instructions with examples are given that describe how to use the tables. Individual chapters are bookmarked to make it easy to navigate. The main page of AMS Books Online lists many other references free for download. [CL]
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webTeacher
http://www.webteacher.org/
Sponsored by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and Cable in the Classroom, this site provides an Internet and Web tutorial "useful for anyone, but designed specifically for teachers." The site's content is separated into six main sections, and each builds on the information presented in the previous one. It starts with a basic introduction to Web navigation, then proceeds into email and other electronic communications, multimedia, homepage construction, and peripherals. The final section gives some tips and lesson plans to integrate all of this knowledge into the classroom. All of the material is very well organized, and users will find plenty of useful information to help them get started in the online world. [CL]
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The Chaos Hypertextbook: Mathematics in the Age of the Computer [QuickTime]
http://hypertextbook.com/chaos/
Written by Glenn Elert, this online textbook is aimed at "anyone with an interest in chaos, fractals, non-linear dynamics, or mathematics in general." Although it is not extremely technical, the author recommends having a decent mathematical background. Many people will recognize, at least by name, some of the topics covered. Mandelbrot and Julia sets are two well known fractals, and the book explains how they are constructed and gives some images. The fourth and final chapter discusses ways of measuring chaos. Some remarkable images of fractals are given in the Eye Candy appendix. [CL]
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Mathematica: A World of Numbers And Beyond [RealPlayer, QuickTime]
http://www.exploratorium.edu/mathematica/index.html
Mathematica is an exhibition presented by San Francisco's Exploratorium museum. Although the physical exhibition concluded on May 5, 2002, some online material about the makers of Mathematica is still available for browsing. Well known modernist designers Charles and Ray Eames created the exhibit 40 years ago to make math fun. The most interesting resources on the Web site are the three Real Video Web casts. These 75-minute presentations focus on architectural design and offer different perspectives of the Eames's work. The first Web cast starts with poor sound quality, but it improves after the first couple minutes. [CL]
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