·http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-29j-cellular-neurobiology-spring-2012/

Offered as part of MIT's Open CourseWare initiative, this course serves as an introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system. The course was developed by Professors Troy Littleton and William Quinn with an emphasis on "the cellular properties of neurons and other excitable cells." The materials are divided into six areas, including Lecture Notes, Readings, Syllabus, Assignments, and Exams. The Lecture Notes include concise notes on topics that include the biochemistry of synaptic transmission and neurons as conductors. Additionally, interested parties can look over the assignments and exams from past versions of the course. Overall, it's a great overview of this fascinating subject and one that visitors can dip into at their leisure. [KMG]

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·http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/resources/subj_05_03.html

The NOVA Teachers site brings high-quality educational resources to teachers around the world. It's a great way for educators to find supplemental activities based on various NOVA programs. This section of the site focuses on activities related to the health sciences, which are divided into six areas, including Public Health and Disease. Each area contains six to 24 resources and a brief description of each resource. The Medicine area is a real gem, as it includes resources that deal with bioterrorism, cancer, personal DNA testing, and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Additionally, the Public Health area is quite good, comprising resources like "Life's Greatest Miracles," which deals with the effects of maternal consumption of alcohol at various stages of pregnancy. [KMG]

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·http://digitalis.nwp.org/

Teachers and others will enjoy this website from the National Writing Project, as it is replete with strategies for getting young people excited about writing. The materials are divided largely into the sections Art/Craft, Teach/Learn, Provocations, and Community. The Teach/Learn area contains meditations on "What are we learning about how people develop as digital writers?" and "What does that mean for us as teachers?" This particular section contains collection "clusters" on themes such as participatory media, popular culture and addressing copyright and fair use in the classroom. Additionally, visitors can look through the Project's excellent blogs, which address dozens of topics related to teaching in an increasingly digital environment. [KMG]

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·http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/rodriguez_judicial_reform.pdf

What is civic engagement? It is the cumulative effects of processes by which private and public organizations interact with members of society. The staff of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is intimately familiar with such processes, and this working paper from Octavio Rodriguez Ferreira looks into the role of civil society in reforming criminal justice in Mexico. This 43-page paper, released in August 2013, offers a brief introduction to the current situation in Mexico and goes on to explain what long-term reform might look like in the country. It's a compelling work that persons with an interest in international relations, comparative legal systems, and the general governmental milieu of Mexico will find most intriguing. [KMG]

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·http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/

The mission of the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation Policy Studies center is to conduct research to foster innovative transportation policy and legislative initiatives. This work invokes policy analysis, strategic planning, and the creation of sophisticated analytical tools. On the site, visitors can look over program areas, which include General Policy Analysis, Strategic Management, and Future Policy Directions. Within each of these areas, visitors can learn about the subject's team of researchers and find links to recent white papers. Transportation folks and policy makers will appreciate links to the long-term strategic plan, along with a rather engaging literature review related to the "next generation of travel." [KMG]

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·http://www.teachwithmovies.org/

Once upon a time, it might have seemed a bit curious to screen feature films in the classroom. With today's technology, it is quite common, and the Teach With Movies site is a great resource for those looking to integrate moving pictures into their classroom environments. On this website, visitors will find Snippets & Shorts, Sciences, Movie Worksheets, and a substantial variety of other areas. The Snippets & Shorts area is a particular gem, as it offers suggestions for using a range of popular films to teach concepts in science, history, English, and other subjects. Visitors will also want to look at the Age area to review appropriate films for different ages. The Movie Worksheets area includes film study worksheets addressing several different themes, including Hero's Journey, Cinematic and Theatrical Elements, and Historical Fiction. While the site does not provide direct access to copyrighted film material, it is an excellent source of support materials for teachers who will have access to the suggested films through their local or school libraries. [KMG]

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·http://www.oaa.on.ca/

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is designed to support the work and activities of its members and also provide information about their profession to the general public. On the home page, visitors can learn about upcoming events, case studies on sustainable design, and information about members and their respective firms. Most visitors should shuttle on over to the Public Resources area. Here they will find great briefs on What is Architecture? and What is an Architect? Under the Public Resources tab, the For Teachers area contains resource guides on architecture, an overview of a design charrette, and walking tours available in Ontario and other places. Finally, the site also contains a Publications area where visitors can read the Association's quarterly journal, OAA Perspectives. [KMG]

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·http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/lesson_plans.html

The Smithsonian Institution is sometimes referred to as "America's attic." In true form, it offers a treasure trove of fine educational resources and lesson plans based on its vast collections. Fortunately for educators, these materials are now available online via this well-designed and useful site. Visitors to the site can browse the lesson plans by subject area, grade level, or keyword. To get started, visitors can scan the This Month's Top 10 list of plans to see what other users are enjoying. Some of the plans featured recently include "The Music in Poetry," "Abraham Lincoln, the Face of War," and "Prehistoric Climate Change And Why It Matters Today." The IdeaLabs bring history, science and art to life for young people. These stand-alone units are meant to be used by younger students to learn about the history of sculpture, geology, the Apollo 11 mission, and much more. [KMG]

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·http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/postcards/

It's nice to go traveling, but if you're light on cash, you can do so virtually via this nice trove of images from the University of Idaho's Digital Initiatives program. The homepage features a dozen or so rotating images from the collection, which includes idyllic images of harvests in Washington, a narrow gauge railway in British Columbia, and the Pierce County Court House in Tacoma. Visitors will find several browsing options, including Map, Locations, and Subjects. The Map option is a nice way to explore the collection, which is displayed according to the place where each image was captured. The Locations word map is another fun method for exploring, as visitors can click on place names that include Ketchum, Butte, Redmond, and Snoqualmie. Those with a particular destination in mind can also search the collection. [KMG]

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·http://www.brookings.edu/research/topics/education

The Brookings Institution conducts research into a dozen different thematic policy areas, including technology, metropolitan affairs, and education. This corner of its website provides journalists, scholars, and others with quick access to research into the world of education. Visitors can explore topics of interest via thematic headings, including school choice, K-12 education, global education, and community colleges. Within each area, visitors will find updates from a range of media outlets and a Recent Activity area. Here users can look through commentary, research, and events sponsored and facilitated by Brookings experts and affiliates. Users can use the See More Research From area to look at work done on these subjects by other Brookings staff and research centers affiliated with Brookings. Finally, visitors can also sign up for email alerts or the site's RSS feed. [KMG]

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·http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html

Created by Dustin Cable at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, the Racial Dot Map provides "an accessible visualization of geographic distribution, population density, and racial diversity of the American people in every neighborhood in the entire country." As such, it displays over 308 million dots, color-coded by race, for each person residing in the United States at the time of the 2010 Census. Visitors can zoom in and out around the map to glean more specific details on various patterns. The What am I looking at? section provides a great way to learn more about the basic functions of the map and how it can be used in a range of settings. [KMG]

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·http://latinousa.org/

Created in 1992, Latino USA remains the longest running Latino-focused program on radio. Its team is dedicated to reporting stories about "diversity, culture, civic dialogue and how people live (and struggle) with difference." The show is hosted by Maria Hinojosa, and visitors to the site can listen to the latest installment of the program or download podcasts. The Special Reports area includes features on Latinos and politics, health care, and immigration policy. Visitors can also scroll through recent features, which include essays and reports on people such as Selena Quintanilla Perez ("The Queen of Tejano Music") and Cesar Chavez. Also, users can interact with the folks at Latino USA via a range of social media or sign up to receive notices about new reports and podcasts. [KMG]

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·http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/behindtheveil/

This remarkable oral history project was undertaken by Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies from 1993 to 1995. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and its primary purpose was to record and preserve the living memory of African American life during the age of legal segregation in the American South from the 1890s to the 1950s. It is the largest single collection of Jim Crow-era oral histories in the world: visitors to the site can listen to over 175 hours of recordings. Additionally, there are over 10,000 pages of transcripts from the interviews, which "capture the vivid personalities, poignant personal stories, and behind-the-scenes decision-making" that made up the African American experience in the South during this period. [KMG]

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·http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll79

The first Festival de Flor y Canto (Festival of Flower and Song), a literary celebration that took place in 1973, brought together Chicano novelists, poets, and short story writers in Los Angeles. After this initial success, subsequent festivals were held in Austin, San Antonio, and other cities. Fortunately many of these early events were captured on video and this website from the USC Digital Library offers up a few wonderful highlights. Visitors to the site can watch and listen to the writers and artists Jorge Alvarez, Olivia Castellano, Juan A. Contreras, and many others. Also, visitors can look through photographs captured at the events. As a whole, this is a great introduction to some of these writers and this fascinating series of gatherings in American literary and cultural history. [KMG]

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·http://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/

If you're a blogger, you probably make plans both grand and modest about publishing new posts and content. One can be easily overwhelmed by such plans, and it's nice to have a way to keep up to date with such important matters. For those using WordPress, the Editorial Calendar plugin allows users to view all of their posts, their status, and information about how many posts are planned for a given day or week. It's quite easy to use and it is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]

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·http://www.storyboardthat.com/

Are you interested in creating storyboards for the classroom, the boardroom, or just the rec room? Storyboard That is a fine application for doing just that, with an elegant user interface that is most welcoming. Visitors can view recently created examples on the homepage, and the free version allows visitors to make three storyboards each week. Also, visitors can search over 25,000 royalty-free images and a variety of default templates. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]

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Poverty saps mental capacity to deal with complex tasks, say scientists
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/29/poverty-mental-capacity-complex-tasks

Poverty significantly saps our mental abilities say researchers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23881780

Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/976.full

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
http://www.aspenideas.org/session/scarcity-why-having-too-little-means-so-much

Poverty & Equity Data
http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/home/

TeachUNICEF: Poverty
http://teachunicef.org/explore/topic/poverty

Humans have known for some time that poverty is related to poor health outcomes, educational achievement and attainment gaps, lack of access to basic needs like food and clean water, and more. However, a recent study published in Science finds that poverty not only causes negative long-term effects, but also "directly impedes cognitive function." The results suggest that the poor "are less capable not because of inherent traits, but because the very context of poverty imposes load and impedes cognitive capacity." Anandi Mani, one of the study's authors, told the Guardian, "the results are not suggesting that the poor as people have less cognitive capacity but that anyone experiencing poverty would have less capacity." She equated the mental capacity drain to losing a full night of sleep. The study's authors argue that policy makers could support people in poverty by streamlining cognitive taxes such as complex forms and labyrinthine bureaucracy. [CM]

The first link is from this week's Guardian, which covers the findings of the research in more detail along with commentary from one of the authors. The second link, to an article from the BBC, summarizes the findings in a quick and easy-to-read article. Visitors who wish to read the study in its entirety should follow the third link to its full text in Science. The fourth link leads to a talk about the psychology of scarcity given at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The talk, by two of the Science article's authors, previews their upcoming book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much. Those who are concerned about the geography of poverty will be interested in the fifth link, which provides a visualization of poverty around the world over time. Finally, the last link leads to a handful of UNICEF-designed lessons on poverty, appropriate for students in grades 6-12.