Research and Education
Persons looking for a host of educational materials on Asia for students from grades kindergarten through 12th will find the AskAsia.org site quite helpful, and a good place to start with online research for a number of relevant topics. The site is a resource of the Asia Society, which was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III. The mission of the Society is "to strengthen mutual understanding between the United States and Asia in support of positive engagement between their societies and peoples." The site is divided into a number of areas such as a database of Asian experts, an online newsletter, and a very useful Profiles section which contains a host of basic statistics about countries from Iran to Korea. The Special Reports section is quite strong, as is the Interviews area, which contains conversations with Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Sin Chan Hong, a contemporary performing artist from Korea. The site is rounded out by a list of Asian holidays, embassy location information, and a glossary of terms. [KMG]
http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/130685/special/climate-change/?
One of the primary goals of the Millennium Development plan articulated by the United Nations is climate change "to ensure environmental sustainability as a poverty reduction measure." To that end the Development Gateway website has set up this special set of webpages dedicated to exploring this pressing issue. The site contains material on global efforts to forge international cooperation in governance, donor aid, and policy implementation aimed at reducing the impact of climate change in the developing world. Topically, the site is divided into a number of specific content areas, such as urban development, water resource management, and business environment. Visitors can also peruse materials created in preparation for World Environment Day 2004, which was held in June 2004 in Barcelona. Finally, visitors with an interest in this topic will want to take a look at the expert perspective provided by Motoharu Yamazaki, who serves as head of the Climate Change Programme in Hungary's Regional Environmental Center. [KMG]
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/index.htm
Considering the long-term costs to individuals and the general public, it is not surprising that the Center for Disease Control continues to remain vigilant in its attempts to inform the public about the very serious health risks posed by smoking. Released in May 2004, this thorough report documents the various effects of smoking. The report notes that smoking kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year, and that the economic toll includes $75 billion in direct medical costs and $82 billion in lost productivity. The Surgeon General Dr. Richard H. Carmona noted in the report that, "The science is clear: the only way to avoid the health hazards of smoking is to quit completely or to never start smoking." Along with the full-text of this report, the site also includes a rather compelling interactive animated feature on the health consequences of smoking on the human body and eleven fact sheets on smoking for general distribution. [KMG]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mtblanc/
This NOVA website presents engaging materials on glaciers and the exploration of France's Mt. Blanc. Students can find a compelling account of why melting glaciers are as significant as other threatened natural resources such as old growth forests and coral reefs. The site features a slide show depicting how satellite imagery assists in glacier hazard assessments. Users can take a virtual tour of the gear ice climbers need in order to explore isolated ice shafts at some of the highest elevations on Earth. The tutorial, Life Cycle of a Glacier, takes visitors through the life of a snowflake -- from the time it forms in the sky and falls on the glacier until it finally becomes incorporated with an iceberg, melts, and again evaporates into the atmosphere. Teachers will find a fun activity for students to learn about water changing into ice. [RME] This site is also reviewed in the July 23, 2004 NSDL Physical Sciences Report.
http://www.nga.gov/feature/wilmerding/
John Wilmerding has had a long career as a professor and museum professional, and during his tenure in these vocations, he has also managed to acquire many works by various artists who worked primarily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century American landscape style. His personal collection --which he recently donated to the National Gallery of Art -- includes important works by Frederic Edwin Church, George Caleb Bingham, and John F. Kensett. On the site, visitors can read a profile of Wilmerding, and view highlights from the ongoing exhibit, such as George Caleb Bingham's Mississippi Boatman and Frederic Edwin Church's Fog off Mount Desert. The site is rounded out by information about visiting the exhibit and a complete checklist -- complete with thumbnail images -- of all the pieces in the exhibit. [KMG]
While the phrase "never say never" may make some think of a certain suave British spy of the silver screen, to wordsmiths this is a thoroughly noxious example of an oxymoron. Strictly speaking, an oxymoron is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, terms, phrases or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means. For those with a budding love of oxymorons, this website will be of great interest. Here visitors can read growing lists of oxymorons, organized by subject (such as religion, relationships, and household), or breeze through the listings by first letter. The site also has a number of oxymoronic quotes and sayings for perusal, including the oft-quoted phrase from Mark Twain: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." The site is rounded out by a series of discussion boards where visitors may harangue with other visitors over the merits of such terms as "jumbo shrimp" and "anarchy rules." [KMG]
http://www.sd5.k12.mt.us/glaciereft/
Hosted by the a collaboration of organizations including Kalispell Public Schools and Glacier National Park, this website offers students several electronic field trips of Glacier National Park in Montana. The field trips provide photos and the recorded voices of guides introducing topics like Grizzlies in Glacier, Fish and Amphibians, Glacier’s Botanical Diversity, and Surviving Winter in Glacier -- to name a few. The site also contains basic lesson plans for multiple grade levels in the areas of Botany, Aquatics, Wildlife, Ecosystems, and more. In addition, the site links to ideas about wilderness and wilderness preservation, park information, and an historic timeline for management of U.S. public lands. [NL] This site is also reviewed in the July 23, 2004 NSDL Life Sciences Report.
