Engineering Design Challenges
This site presents challenges faced by NASA engineers who are developing the next generation of aerospace vehicles. The challenges: thermal protection systems, spacecraft structures, electrodynamic propulsion systems, propellers, and personal satellite assistants. Students design, build, test, re-design, and re-build models that meet specified design criteria, using the same analytical skills as engineers.
FoilSim and CurveBall
FoilSim II computes the theoretical lift of a variety of airfoil shapes. The user can control the shape, size, and inclination of the airfoil and the atmospheric conditions in which the airfoil is flying. The program includes a stall model for the airfoil, a model of the Martian atmosphere, and the ability to specify a variety of fluids for lift comparisons. The program has graphical and numerical output, including an interactive probe which you can use to investigate the details of flow around
Video Gallery: Why Conserve Sharks?
This video gallery is from the Museum's Seminars on Science, a series of distance-learning courses designed to help educators meet the new national science standards. Part of the Sharks and Rays: Myth and Reality seminar, Video Gallery: Why Conserve Sharks? features two brief videos, each with a printable PDF transcript:Resistance to Cancer discusses why sharks make an interesting model to look at when investigating resistance to cancer. Immune System looks at the Mote Marine Laboratory's projec
Applied Calculus
This is an on-line resource on topics of Applied Calculus, including on-line tutorial sessions.
The Tell-Tale Heart
A narrative performance of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," with subtle sound effects to enhance mood.
Start Smart: Money Management for Teens
This site tells how teenagers can save and earn money, decide where to keep it, spend it wisely, protect against identity theft, be charitable, and get help about money matters. Take an online quiz -- find out what you know about managing your money.
Forsyth Tech CC Demand Driven Biotech Program
A video diary of how Forsyth Tech Community College developed a demand driven biotech curriculum to respond to the needs of local industry. Forsyth Tech is one of 5 centers of expertise that make up the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce. The video was produced by SLAM, Inc.
X-Ray Vision, Crystallography
This site features a tutorial designed to allow students to gain an appreciation of how X-ray crystallography works. Using X-ray diffraction patterns to determine the arrangement of atoms in a molecule requires sophisticated mathematics. This activity depends only on light from an overhead projector passing through a ball-and-stick molecular model placed on the stage of the projector, making it an ideal introduction to x-ray diffraction.
Historical Geology Animations
This site features Flash and Windows Media animations that illustrate various aspects of geologic history. They depict fossil cast formation, the Big Bang and earth through geologic time, the significance of isotopic dating techniques, and views of dinosaurs. These resources are suitable for use in lectures, labs, or other teaching activities.
Martin Van Buren's "Return to the Soil"
is a curriculum-oriented site using the home, named Lindenwald, the eighth President moved to after his term in office to introduce a discussion of Van Buren and his times. The site contains photos and drawings of Lindenwald as well as discussions how Van Buren interacted with other political leaders of the day, like Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. The site offers many questions and suggestions for student assignments.
The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon
helps students analyze -- through maps, readings, and images -- the historical and cultural influences that shaped the symbolic meaning of the Liberty Bell.
Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg
describes how President Eisenhower's personal diplomacy at his Gettysburg farm helped ease the tensions of the Cold War. The site offers photos and maps of the home as well as readings and suggestions for student assignments.
Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms
features 100 aircraft, airfields, research labs, military installations, battle sites, launch facilities, and other places that tell about people and events that made the U.S. a world leader in aviation. Highlights of this travel itinerary include stories of Lt. Edward Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and the Wright Brothers.
Weir Farm: Home of an American Impressionist
This site examines the farm acquired by painter Alden Weir (1852-1919), where he summered for nearly 40 years (northeast of New City). At a time railroads were expanding, populations were increasing, and America's agrarian system was being replaced by industry, Weir was an artist who found inspiration in the quiet everyday settings of New England, and, in many ways, defined our vision of the American landscape.
The Influences of Art on Yellowstone
This site features paintings, photos, and drawings, many of which contributed to the creation of the nation's first national park. The waterfalls, geysers, rock formations, and vistas in these works helped spread an appreciation of the wonders of Yellowstone. When President Grant signed into law the bill establishing Yellowstone as our first national park in 1872, he set in motion the tradition of preserving other tracts of great beauty for future generations.
American Visionaries: Thomas Moran
features paintings and sketches of the noted American landscape painter. Moran's pencil and watercolor field sketches and paintings captured the grandeur and documented the extraordinary terrain and natural features of the Yellowstone region. His artwork was presented to members of Congress by park proponents and helped inspire Congress to establish the National Park System in 1916.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
This resource presents a brief overview the glaciation that created the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Links are provided to maps of the region, information about coastal geology, glaciers, volcanoes, mountains, and recommended reading.
Hot Colors- Windows into Hidden Worlds
The extreme environments of the thermal areas of Yellowstone are rich in microorganisms. These tiny life forms, existing in complex ecosystems, offer scientists clues to the origin of life on our planet. This electronic field trip allows students to explore the dangers and wonders of the hidden worlds of Yellowstone's hot colors.
Windows Into Wonderland - Yellowstone Electronic Field Trips
The geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone are surface manifestations of larger geological processes—the study of which has attracted scientists for more than 100 years. This 55 minute interactive program discusses how early studies were conducted in the park and illustrates that scientific research is an ongoing process. Students will learn how research methods change with technological advances and examine current investigations into the geologic forces of the vast living laboratory of Yello
You Decide: Should U. S. airport security use profiles that include ethnic profiling characteristics
This educational guide focuses on ethnic profiling and related issues. Students are invited to examine the arguments on both sides of the debate, developing critical thinking skills as they work through the activities. Students will learn how to support their arguments with evidence and reason. It is expected that at the end of this guide students will determine where they stand on this controversial issue.
