Lunch Poems: Robert Hass
After hosting Lunch Poems for eight years, Robert Hass has finally been prevailed upon to read his own poems in the series. Former Poet Laureate of the U.S., Hass is a UC Berkeley professor who has made important contributions in poetry, criticism, and translation. His books of poetry are Sun Under Wood, Human Wishes, Praise, and Field Guide, the latter winner of the Yale Younger Poets Award. His critical essays are assembled in Twentieth Century Pleasures, and the poets he has translated includ
Marine Microbial Ecology
This image-rich website from the Australian Antarctic Division's Biology program describes its research in marine microbial ecology. It includes an introduction of microbial ecology and microbial processes, followed by information about the research project. Field sampling, microscopy, flow cytometry, pigment analysis, flourometry, HPLC, culturing, feeding experiments, and the research staff are each discussed using vivid imagery. Links are provided to related websites.
Water Quality For Freshwater Organisms
This website features a field activity that demonstrates the effect of water temperature on the solubility of dissolved oxygen and how it relates to the gill beat rate of fish. The activity uses the Winkler method to measure dissolved oxygen.
Mentoring matters
How mentors can serve as role models, helpers, and colleagues.
Water-Resources Reconnaissance of the Southeastern Part of St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska
This 12-page PDF was prepared by the USGS to investigate sources of water and groundwater quality on St. Paul Island in order to design a well field without inducing saline water. Tables, diagrams and maps accompany the text.
Magnets and Electromagnets
Explore the interactions between a compass and bar magnet. Discover how you can use a battery and wire to make a magnet! Can you make it a stronger magnet? Can you make the magnetic field reverse?
Radio Waves & Electromagnetic Fields
Broadcast radio waves from KPhET. Wiggle the transmitter electron manually or have it oscillate automatically. Display the field as a curve or vectors. The strip chart shows the electron positions at the transmitter and at the receiver.
The Photoelectric Effect
See how light knocks electrons off a metal target, and recreate the experiment that spawned the field of quantum mechanics.
Sampling
Sampling is a computer tool designed to help biology students obtain a qualitative understanding of basic concepts related to estimation and statistics.
Sampling presents the user with a group of hypothetical populations distributed throughout an area, and with tools for sampling these populations to estimate characteristics such as population size and density, the nature of each population's spatial patterning, and spatial correlations in abundance between populations. By manipulating the numb
3D FractaL-Tree
This interactive L-system simulation produces visualizations of tree forms based on data from specimens in the field or laboratory.
Viewing the Periodic Table of the Elements with X-rays
X-rays and x-ray fluorescence are not new subjects to the field of physics. Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays in 1895, and in 1901 he was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery. Soon after, Charles Glover Barkla discovered that each element has its own characteristic x-ray spectrum. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery in 1917. Sir William Henry Bragg and his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg, were then able to experimentally prove that the discrete
Peer 2 Peer University
The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses. Students and tutors get recognition for their work, and we are building pathways to formal credit as well.
Currently P2PU is in a pilot
Hands on the Land Teaching Materials
Hands on the Land (HOL) is a network of field classrooms stretching across America from Alaska to Florida. HOL is sponsored by Partners in Resource Education, a collaboration of five Federal agencies, a non-profit foundation, schools, and other private sector partners. Public lands comprise approximately one-third of the acreage of the U.S., and you'll soon see they are rich in historical, archaeological and environmental learning opportunities. Through the HOL network of field classrooms, Feder
Tocqueville's America
Tocqueville's America is another project of the American Studies Programs at The University of Virginia. In this project we take up the task of re-contextualizing Alexis de Tocqueville's famous political and cultural analysis of American democracy. Our objective is, over time, to return that book -- arguably still one of the most influential works in political thought -- to its origins, to the America of 1831-32 . For it was on that very specific ground and at that very specific historical momen
Alien Earths
This site explores the formation of stars and planets and the quest for a habitable planet. Create a virtual a community of microorganisms. Try to build the perfect solar system. See how planets react with one another, and how some planets help keep our solar system stable. Look at images: see if you can recognize life.
Captured Wisdom in Middle School
This site presents stories about successful teaching in middle school. Learn how an e-mail list helped students write better historical fiction, or how fifth-grade students planned a virtual vacation using cd-roms, travel books, and the Internet.
Quantum Field Theory
The first free comprehensive textbook on quantum (and classical) field theory. The approach is pragmatic, rather than traditional or artistic: It includes practical techniques, such as the 1/N expansion (color ordering) and spacecone (spinor helicity), and diverse topics, such as supersymmetry and general relativity, as well as introductions to supergravity and strings. The PDF version can be more convenient than paper books, with Web links and a clickable outline (contents) window.
Where Am I: Navigation and Satellites
How do we know where we are? What happens if you are completely lost in the middle of nowhere? Does technology provide tools for people lost in their travels? A person cannot usually determine an accurate position just by looking out a window in the middle of the ocean or vast area of land, particularly if it has not been charted before. In this lesson, students explore the concept of triangulation that is used in navigation satellites and global positioning systems designed by engineers. Also,
U.S. may tap oil reserves
U.S. officials worried skyrocketing gas prices may dent the nascent economy recovery, say the White House is considering a release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.
