What's new at FREE? Fifteen new learning resources in the arts, science, & social studies -- plus special resources for kids -- have been added to the FREE website. Teachers, parents, students, & others may use FREE to find teaching & learning resources from more than 40 federal organizations. http://www.ed.gov/free/ Among these 15 resources (described below) is the "National Moment of Remembrance" website, which invites Americans to honor those who died in service to our Nation by observing one minute of silence & reflection at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28. (WHC/NMR) http://www.remember.gov ********************************************** New Resources at the FREE Website (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence) April 24 - May 24, 2001 ********************************************** ==== Arts ==== "Stand Up & Sing: Music & Our Reform History" is a lesson in which students (Grades 7-12) analyze lyrics & images of popular sheet music as part of their studies of the political, social, & economic conditions existing during industrialization & reform in the U.S. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/99/sing/intro.html ==== Kids ==== "Fact Sheets for Kids at White Sands National Monument" answers questions about the sand dunes in a mountain ringed valley (near Alamogordo, NM) called the Tularosa Basin: Where does all the sand come from? How do the sand dunes move? What plants & animals live in the dunes & the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert? (NPS, White Sands National Monument) http://www.nps.gov/whsa/factsheets.htm "For Kids at Aleutian World War II National Historic Area" provides a story, coloring pages, & a quiz to help students learn about Fort Schwatka, one of four coastal defense posts built during World War II to protect Dutch Harbor (the back door to the U.S.). The fort is located on Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Island Chain of Alaska. (NPS, Aleutian World War II National Historic Area) http://www.nps.gov/aleu/ForKids.htm "Kid's Corner at Cape Lookout National Seashore" offers photos & descriptions of birds, plants, sea turtles, & shells of animals that inhabit a 56-mile stretch of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (NPS, Cape Lookout National Seashore) http://www.nps.gov/calo/kids.htm "NCES's Fun Facts" highlights selected statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the main federal organization responsible for collecting & analyzing data on education in the U.S. & other nations. Fun facts appear in six areas: early childhood, elementary & secondary, postsecondary, international education, libraries, & assessment. (NCES/ED) http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/topics.html ======= Science ======= "Bridging the Watershed" presents online activities to assist teachers in helping students develop skills needed for field trips to Potomac Area National Parks. Activities include plant identification, macroinvertebrate identification, & Go Fish, a game that simulates the journey of fish to their spawning ground. (NPS) http://www.bridgingthewatershed.org/ "Classroom: Educational Resources & Programs for the Field & Classroom" offers activities for elementary students & families visiting Lake Mead National Recreation Area to learn about desert plants, animals, food chains, & "communities" in the Mojave Desert (AZ & NV). (NPS, Lake Mead National Recreation Area) http://www.nps.gov/lame/classroom "Multiwavelength Astronomy" shows images of our own galaxy & sun, other galaxies & stars, & other heavenly bodies as viewed from different portions (or frequencies) of the electromagnetic spectrum. (NASA) http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Multiwave/ "NASAexplores" features new lessons each week on topics related to space. Articles, learning activities, & background information are offered with each lesson. Airport efficiency, motion sickness, housekeeping in space, the international space station, prevention of human error, seeing what can't be seen, asteroids, & use of light to speed recovery from illnesses are among the more than 30 topics. Lessons & materials support national education standards. (NASA) http://www.nasaexplores.com "Park Geology: Teacher Feature" provides teacher guides & students activities for learning about topics in geology, paleontology, & more. (NPS) http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/edu/index.htm ============== Social Studies ============== "Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938" contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery & 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) & assembled & microfilmed in 1941 as the 17-volume "Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves." (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html "The Capital & the Bay" consists of 139 books -- first-person narratives, early histories, historical biographies, promotional brochures, & photograph collections that capture this distinctive region as it developed between the onset of European settlement & the first quarter of the 20th Century. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lhcbhtml/lhcbhome.html "Emergence of Advertising in America" presents over 9,000 images related to the early history of advertising in the U.S. Materials include cookbooks, photographs of billboards, print advertisements, trade cards, calendars, almanacs, & leaflets for various products. Together, these images illuminate the early evolution of this ubiquitous feature of modern American business & culture. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ncdhtml/eaahome.html "Women, Their Rights & Nothing Less" is a lesson that uses primary documents to help students (Grades 9-12) learn about the women's suffrage movement that began in the 1840s & led to women's right to vote nationwide in 1920 (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/99/suffrage/intro.html Acronyms ~~~~~~~~ LOC -- Library of Congress NASA -- National Aeronautics & Space Administration NPS -- National Park Service NCES/ED -- National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Education WHC/NMR -- White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance =========================================================== To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) EDInfo, address an email message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Then write either SUBSCRIBE EDINFO YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the message, or write UNSUBSCRIBE EDINFO (if you have a signature block, please turn it off) Then send it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Past EDInfo messages: http://www.ed.gov/MailingLists/EDInfo/ Search: http://www.ed.gov/MailingLists/EDInfo/search.html Past ED Initiatives: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EDInitiatives/ =========================================================== Editors: Peter Kickbush & Kirk Winters Contributors: Karen Billett, Beth Boland, Terry Childs, Julie Ferriss, & others ----------------------------------------------- Please send any comments to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This is the ISTA-talk mailing list. 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