Using Popcorn to Simulate Radioactive Decay
In this activity popping popcorn is used to illustrate the spontaneity, unpredictability, and irreversible change associated with radioactive decay. This site provides notes and tips, a list of teaching materials and methods, and links to related online resources.
The Other Side of the Table
Andrei Gromyko served as Soviet foreign minister from 1957 to 1985. Beginning in 1943, when Soviet premier Joseph Stalin appointed the 34-year-old ambassador to Washington, Gromyko was an indispensable formulator of Kremlin policy toward the United States. Ultimately, he dealt with nine U.S. presidents. In this video segment, Gromyko chronicles the arms race, beginning in the 1950s under General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. At the time, each superpower had the ability to inflict "unacceptable da
Germans to the Front
General Gerd Schmuckle served in the Federal Republic of Germany's Ministry of Defense from 1956 to 1962 under defense minister Franz Josef Strauss. Strauss was charged with building up the Bundeswehr, the newly formed federal armed forces. In this video segment, Schmuckle describes Germany's reaction to the U.S. doctrine of massive retaliation, which de-emphasized a conventional buildup-one that Germans advocated-and depended on thousands of nuclear warheads deployed on German soil. When French
Plate Tectonic Movement Visualizations
This collection provides a wide array of visual resources and supporting material about plate tectonic movements. Visualizations include simple animations, GIS-based animated maps, paleogeographic maps and globes, and numerous illustrations and photos. This collection is not exhaustive but does represent some of the best sources for teaching. Resources can be incorporated into lectures, labs, or other activities.
Teaching About the Ocean System Using New Research Techniques: Data, Models and Visualization
This web collection from the "On the Cutting Edge" workshop series will help undergraduate faculty and students use a new approach to teaching and learning oceanography. The site features the use of models, datasets and visualizations in teaching. The site features a collection of data-rich resources, example teaching activities and visualizations that illustrate oceanography topics. Materials from the 2005 workshop on teaching oceanography are also included.
The Great Chief Justice at Home
offers photos of John Marshall's residence in Richmond, Virginia. This website also describes how Marshall, who wrote 519 opinions in his 34 years as chief justice (1801-1835), transformed the Supreme Court from obscurity into a prominent, powerful institution.
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collisions of Cultures
looks at the decisive battle of the Creek War (1813-1814), where Andrew Jackson fought 1,000 American Indian warriors who were trying to regain autonomy. It examines the history of the battle and provides maps, images, and readings.
Paterson, New Jersey: America's Silk City
examines conditions that led to the famous 1913 strike in a city that produced nearly half the U.S.'s manufactured silk. Conflicts between labor and management increased in the U.S. during the early 20th century. In Paterson, on January 27, 1913, when Henry Doherty tried to extend a new four-loom system throughout his plant, 800 silk weavers walked out. More than 20,000 Paterson silk workers took part in the strike, which lasted over five months.
Santa Clara County, California's Historic Silicon Valley
features 28 historic places that illustrate how this fertile valley blossomed from small agricultural towns linked by railroad into a center of technological innovation. Located south of San Francisco, the history of Santa Clara County is rich with stories of Spanish and Mexican settlement, the romance of the Gold-Rush era, the pastoral beauty of abundant orchards, of post-war suburbanization, the race to the moon, and the invention of the silicon chip.
The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
Students are provided with a framework from which to begin challenging and understanding the news media industry.
What in the World Is That?
This site examines 16 inventions: the submarine, battery radio, cotton gin, reaper, electron microscope, telephone, gramophone, telecommunication cable, snow gauge, ornithopter, airphibian, and others.
Rethinking reports
Breathing new life into tired assignments: A little creativity can make research a rewarding learning experience for students and teachers alike. The introduction to a collection of articles that provide alternative assignments to traditional reports.
Special message from Queens President Pamela Davies
A message to Queens alumni from President Davies about the positive momentum at Queens, ways to stay in touch, and the importance of alumni support - at any level - to Queens' future.
Darwin's mother and the miniature: with Randal Keynes
Charles Darwin's mother Susannah Wedgwood died when he was just eight, and he could never remember her face - until he discovered a long-hidden portrait of her as a young woman. Hear Darwin's great-great-grandson Randal Keynes explain why finally seeing this miniature of his mother (on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum) was so significant for the great naturalist, and why portraits of loved ones were so important to both the Wedgwood and Darwin families.
JFK50 A Career Born Out of the Inaugural — Robert Stavins
Robert Stavins, business and government professor at Harvard Kennedy School, says he owes his entire career path — from student to Peace Corps volunteer to environmental protector — to JFK's inaugural speech.
The Arctic Circle Polar Bears
This video has no words or facts but is instead a wonderful look into animals of the Arctic Circle in their natural habitats. The most viewed animal is the polar bear including a mother and her 2 cubs. Some other animals briefly seen include the Arctic Fox, two different types of birds, and reindeer. This video would be fun for pre-learners to see these animals outside of a zoo setting, but older learners could follow the lesson underneath the video to answer the following questions:
The Last Moments of the Columbia Astronauts
This ten minute video is the only video recovered after Columbia disintegrated during re-entry. It depicts the crew during their final preparations, before landing. The tape ends four minutes before the first failure. The rest of the video was destroyed. The use of this video may be limited in use for most classrooms due to its quality and subject matter. However, it does portray what happens on this flight and the risks that humans face when seeking new frontiers.
Antibody-protein interactions: benchmark datasets and prediction tools evaluation
Background
The ability to predict antibody binding sites (aka antigenic determinants or B-cell epitopes) for a given protein is a precursor to new vaccine design and diagnostics. Among the various methods of B-cell epitope identification X-ray crystallography is one of the most reliable methods. Using these experimental data computational methods exist for B-cell epitope prediction. As the number of structures of antibody-protein complexes grows, further interest in prediction methods using 3D s
Acoustic Droplet Ejection
This animation explains how sound is used to move small volumes of liquid with high precision and accuracy.
AP Biology
Relevant material from MIT's introductory courses to support students as they study and educators as they teach the AP Biology curriculum.
