Training Educators to Design and Develop ODL Materials
Welcome to this facilitator’s guide. It contains exciting materials for conducting a workshop to train educators to develop Open and Distance Learning (ODL) resources. As you navigate through this document you will find materials needed for planning and conducting sessions for training educators in the development of ODL learning resources. These materials have been designed so that they can be used for professional development as well as for personal knowledge.
This facilitator’s guide is
The Earth and Beyond: Distinguishing the most important groups of materials
Learners respond confidently to their desire to learn about natural phenomena; they investigate relationships and solve problems within the context of science, technology and the environment. In this activity, learners will show an understanding of the interrelationships between science and technology, society and the environment.
Expanding Universe
This activity is designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of cosmology. Students develop authentic models and gather evidence supporting the Big Bang theory. This lesson uses observation, interactive media, and scientific models.
Who Can Live Here? Life in Extreme Environments
Astrobiology in the Classroom leads students in the exploration of the limits of life on Earth to extend their beliefs about life to include its possibility on other worlds. In this four-part activity, students first explore the environments of several mammals and birds to better understand how living things and their environments interact and depend on each other. In the second part, students match bacterial types with their more extreme environments. Students discover that an environment's tem
EO Global Warming
Earth Expeditions: Global Warming has been designed to provide students with an interactive multimedia environment where they can learn about the causes and possible effects of the rise in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for more than a century. How will Earth’s environment be affected if this rise continues over the next century? The multimedia package provides background information about radiation from the Sun and Earth, the Earth’s energy balance, and the greenhouse ef
Earth Explorers Series
Who Are NASA's Earth Explorers? The elementary school student questioning if El Nino occurs anywhere besides the Pacific Ocean... The researcher investigating connections between Arctic ozone depletion and global climate change... The consumer comparing hydrocarbon versus hydrogen-powered cars... And the business person projecting future needs for harvest, delivery, and storage of crops... All of these people are Earth Explorers -- they are all connected by their curiosity about Earth system pro
Amazing Space
Amazing Space consists of web-based educational presentations for young children about space, which were developed at the Space Telescope Science and Technology Institute. Teachers teamed up with scientists and engineers from the institute and staff members from the Office of Public Outreach to develop interactive lessons. All lessons include spectacular photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and many high quality graphics, videos, and animation designed to enhance student understanding
The HPLC Doctor
This site provides HPLC troubleshooting tips. It covers common separation problems such as peak fronting or tailing and split peaks and suggests solutions. This site will be most useful for students and practitioners who already have some background knowledge of separation theory. It will be especially helpful for laboratory or research students who are developing a new separation method or are encountering problems with their chromatographic experiments.
Common Cold
This Web site provides comprehensive information, selected by medical doctors, about the common cold. The goal is to provide a framework for critical thinking which will allow informed decisions about medical care for the common cold. The section entitled Understanding Colds gives a detailed overview of how the cold virus invades the human body and how cold symptoms are caused. Information about preventing colds, and some of the complications that can occur are also included. The Special Feature
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
Now an annual event, National Engineers Week was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951. In 1988, the National Engineers Week consortium expanded and now includes more than 100 engineering, scientific, and education societies and major corporations dedicated to enhancing the public understanding of the engineering profession and to promoting pre-college interest in math, science, and engineering as a career option. From this website, visitors can read suggestions for w
Introductory Tutorial to Mass Spectrometry
An introduction to GC-MS for beginning students in analytical or organic chemistry lab. The site includes discussion of quadrupole mass analyzers, ionization, detection, and interpretation of mass spectra. One of the best features of this site is a series of on-line quizzes on the interpretation of EI mass spectra that includes hints as well as explanations of why the answers are right or wrong.
Infinite secrets
This NOVA web site describes the recent discovery of the Archimedes palimpsest, a tenth-century copy of an ancient Greek manuscript, and examines the meaning of infinity. It offers students the opportunity to learn about mathematics history and to see how the understanding of infinity has developed through the centuries. The site contains articles, an interview, a brief video, and two online interactive activities. One activity allows the student to see how modern technology is used to read anci
Analytical Instruments and Spectroscopic Concepts
Primers for different analytical techniques (HTML, PDF). Also links to animations and audio descriptions of analytically related concepts. Techniques include atomic absorption, spectrophotometry, chemiluminescence, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and atomic emission.
Designing Assessment to Improve Physical Sciences Learning
A variety of approaches for assessing students in science classes and discusses associated advantages and disadvantages of each approach to promote student learning.
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity opens with a scenario in which a rack of clothing, originally on sale for thirty percent off the original price, has been discounted by an additional fifty percent. Students are challenged to determine if the new price is actually eighty percent of the original price. The activity, part of the Figure This! collection of 80 real world math challenges, demonstrates that understanding percentages is important for making decisions based upon survey results, interest rates, and medical
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
In this activity, students explore what percentage means when looking at election results. The activity is part of the Figure This! collection of 80 online mathematical challenges emphasizing real world uses of mathematics. The activity features questions designed to help students think carefully about how percentages are used mathematically to determine outcomes. The answer to the first question provides a detailed examination of election results. The importance of understanding the meaning of
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity asks students to determine if the Statue of Liberty's nose is out of proportion to her body size. The activity, from the Figure This! list of 80 math challenges, illustrates how to use similarity and scaling to design HO gauge model train layouts and analyze the size of characters in Gulliver's Travels. It describes the mathematics involved in determining proportion and shows students how to use scaling to enlarge a picture. There are also questions about shrinking a T-shirt and th
The windmill (VM1)
This project requires designing blades for a windmill to be used in lifting weights. The activity involves assembly of the basic windmill as well as construction of, and adjustments to, the blades for optimum performance. Provides knowledge of static and dynamic friction, aerodynamics, and power calculations. Requires an understanding of horsepower and the difference between power and energy. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Nutrition, Inequality and Agriculture: Contested Models of Degenerative Disease in Chiapas, Mexico
The industrial agro-food system has had two significant impacts on world public health: deteriorating human and animal nutrition due to poor food quality and the emergence of new infectious diseases arising from industrial animal production facilities and centralized food processing facilities. This situation is widely misrepresented in media coverage of public health issues. The corporate food system promotes the consumption of high levels of animal protein and processed foods
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. With active relationships with some 70 other countries, NGOs and civil society, it has a global reach. Best known for its publications  and its statistics , its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics, to trade, education, development  and science and innovation. The site provies a myriad of resources on international econonmic development.
