The Scout Report -- Volume 26, Number 49

The Scout Report -- Volume 26, Number 49
December 18, 2020
Volume 26, Number 49

The Scout Report will be on vacation December 25th and January 1st. We will return with the January 8, 2021 Scout Report. We would like to wish you, our dear readers, a happy holiday season and will see you next year!

General Interest

Theme: Aerospace and Aviation

Tech Tools

Revisited

In the News

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General Interest

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PsychSessions
Social studies

Offering unique perspectives on education and educators, the PsychSessions podcast is a must-listen for those in the teaching and learning community. The podcast is co-hosted by Garth Neufeld and Eric Landrum, who invite guests on the show from across educational and vocational sectors. Together, they explore "what it means to be an educator," and share perspectives on other relevant topics. In addition to these more traditional episodes, the podcast has several ASKPsychSessions features. Hosted by Marianne Lloyd, these installments tackle listeners' questions and share insights from field experts. Episodes span themes including "information about making the sudden pivot to online instruction or various aspects of improving equity, diversity, and inclusion instruction in your course." A November 18, 2020 episode discussed "supporting students with disabilities." The podcast also has a series called SoTLPsychSessions that introduces listeners to Anna Ropp, who interviews scholars studying the educational sector. The Episodes tab in the top-right corner allows listeners to sort all of these episodes by year and month, and the podcast is also available on most popular listening platforms (all of which are linked at the top of the site). [EMB]

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What Jane Saw
Social studies

What Jane Saw provides 21st century visitors an opportunity to virtually attend two 18th and 19th century museum blockbusters that Jane Austen visited: the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in 1796 and the Sir Joshua Reynolds retrospective in 1813. Both exhibitions were held in the same London showroom at 52 Pall Mall. The Shakespeare Gallery is full of illustrations from Shakespeare's plays that can be viewed alongside text of the associated scene, such as Act 4, Scene 1 of The Tempest, painted by Joseph Wright. There is also a catalogue of all 40 of the works in the show and a floor plan. The Joshua Reynolds exhibition is arranged similarly in three rooms, with a floor plan and catalog, offering visitors the ability to view extensive information about each painting. For example, No. 1 is Reynolds' portrait of King George III, painted when the King was about 40, before he succumbed to mental illness. The image is accompanied by a contextualizing description and links for further reading. What Jane Saw was developed by Janine Barchas, a professor of English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. [DS]

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Mathologer
Mathematics

The holidays may be a popular time for pie, but every day could use a little pi (the mathematical constant, of course). Mathologer, a YouTube channel operated by Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) math professor Burkard Polster, brings viewers all that and more. Polster's friend and fellow math professor Marty Ross collaborates on videos behind the scenes. Together, the duo created an informative and well-received platform that has garnered a significant following since launching in 2015. Most videos have more than 100,000 views, and some have more than one million. These videos tackle fascinating formulas and theorems and walk users through examples to test knowledge along the way. Though the content is often complex, plenty of humor is mixed in to keep viewers engaged. Plus, videos range in length, and some of the shorter snippets may be a welcomed tool for math educators. Readers in the holiday spirit may enjoy the December 24, 2019 video on "Fermat's Christmas theorem." New videos are released semi-regularly, so check back often for additional content. [EMB]

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My America
Social studies

"What does it mean to be an American?" It is a deep question, and one of many posed by My America. Launched in November of 2019, the virtual exhibition "explores the influence of modern immigrant and refugee writing in America on our culture, history, and daily lives." Under The Exhibit, readers will find various themed pages, such as Language and Community, explored through embedded video interviews. Creatives may particularly enjoy the Why Writing? page, which explores perspectives on what makes the work meaningful. Readers can preview contributors under the Our Writers tab, or add their own contribution under the Your Story tab. Looking to use these resources in a classroom setting? Educators can submit a request for materials on the Education page. My America is a project of the American Writers Museum (Chicago, IL) and was created by Marie Arana, Ilan Stavans, Vu Hoang Tran, Chris Abani, Laila Halaby, Dipika Mukherjee, and special advisor Viet Thanh Nguyen. It is supported by numerous donors, including the National Endowment for the Humanities. [EMB]

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Cloud Zoo
Science

New from The Pudding (a digital publication referenced in many past Scout Report issues) comes Cloud Zoo, bringing the joy of zoos all over the world right to the user's computer screen. Readers have "digital zookeepers" RJ Andrews and Amber Thomas to thank for curating this content. Each day, they collect live streams from multiple zoos and aquariums and conveniently embed them in one central "digital zoo." As users scroll down the page to virtually walk through exhibitions, they will encounter many friends along the way, including river otters at the Tennessee Aquarium, a two-toed sloth from the Hattiesburg Zoo, and Fiordland penguins in Melbourne. Some animals are so popular that users can view their species' exhibition at different zoos (for example, four koala live streams are available). To expand a livestream, simply click on the label. This impressive visualization was created using footage from across the internet, with a large quantity pulled from the site Zoo Cameras Around the World. For more information on how these data are compiled, check out the Methods section at the end of the piece. [EMB]

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Theme: Aerospace and Aviation

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Aerospace History Timeline
Social studies

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright lifted an airplane into the sky. Though the flight only lasted 12 seconds, history was made. The Wright brothers pulled off "the first powered, manned, heavier-than-air, controlled flight." This is one of many monumental events in aviation history, and readers can dive into more of the rich history at the link above. This Aerospace History Timeline begins in 1000 B.C.E., when Chinese citizens invented human-carrying kites. From there, it transports users on a journey through time and space, with famous stops (for example, 1969's Apollo mission culminating in "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,") and hidden gems (check out 1783's unmanned balloon flight powered by old shoes and wool) along the way. The journey concludes with recent history, highlighting events such as Delta Air Lines' farewell to the McDonnell Douglas aircraft (June 2020) and Boeing's mission to transport COVID-19 personal protective equipment (April 2020). Events are described in bullet point form for digestible browsing. [EMB]

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RAF100: Aiming for Awesome
Science

Celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Royal Air Force, Aiming for Awesome's curriculum connects STEM principles to aviation innovations. Ten resources are provided, with a student and teacher guide linked for each. These resource themes span decades of history and cover numerous topics, including aircrafts, satellites, and stealth vehicles. Additionally, they are highly interactive, with experiments scattered throughout. For example, the "Speed Record" lesson discusses the evolution of aviation from Wilbur Wright's slow cruise at 7 miles per hour to 20th century aircrafts that traveled at more than 600 miles per hour. Then, the lesson shows students how to calculate speeds and invites them to make their own vortex. The lessons are most suitable for late primary and early secondary education levels, and the teacher's guides summarize the UK curriculum standards that are satisfied for each lesson plan (though the subjects are applicable to classrooms worldwide). The Royal Academy of Engineering created these resources in 2018. They are available in English and Welsh. [EMB]

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EAA Aviation Museum: Virtual Cockpit Tours
Social studies

Each year, aviation enthusiasts from around the world gather in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s AirVenture air show and exhibition. While EAA is most famous for this event, the organization's aviation museum provides year-round flight-based fun. Readers may enjoy this virtual extension of the museum, which invites users to "climb into the airplanes in our museum virtually to see what it is like to be in the pilot's seat." Accessible on computers and phones (after downloading a free app from the Apple Store or Google Play), the tool takes users on a tour of the Eagle Hangar, with the opportunity to "hop into" several aircrafts along the way. Clicking on the "i" icon on the tour screen reveals additional information about these aircrafts, including their make, model, and maximum speed. Users can freely wander the virtual tour, or select a specific aircraft from the list on the main page. More than 50 aircrafts are included, such as a 1943 Boeing/Hughes Super Stearman and a 1960 EAA Biplane. Lyle Jansma of AeroCapture Images supplied the photographs for this project. [EMB]

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Bessie Coleman, Barnstorming Pioneer
Social studies

Bessie Coleman, often referred to by her nickname "Brave Bessie," was brave indeed, and equally brilliant. Coleman overcame intersectional barriers as a Black and Native American woman in aviation. This short documentary (less than 15 minutes long) details her life and career, from her education and training to her time as a pilot and stuntwoman. Coleman made history as the first African American woman and the first Native American woman to earn a pilot's license; in her words, "the air is the only place free from prejudices." She fought against this discrimination in and beyond her field (notably, she refused to perform at airshows that did not allow African American attendees). Coleman died in a tragic airplane accident in 1926, but her legacy lives on. While Coleman "never saw her dream of an African American flight school come to fruition," she paved the way for Black, Native American, and women pilots who followed in her impressive footsteps. This homage was produced by The History Guy, a YouTube channel uplifting influential, but underreported, historical narratives. [EMB]

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International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace
Science

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's College of Aeronautics brings aviation education excellence to the mainstream with the International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace (IJAAA), a peer-review, open-access publication available under a Creative Commons License. The journal publishes research of interest to various stakeholders, including aerospace academics and industry employees. The content is expansive, from education, to regulation, to design research, and "any other topics related to aviation, aeronautics, and aerospace will be considered." The IJAAA has published quarterly issues since 2014 and is currently on Volume 7. Readers can browse all published content by issue or keyword search using the filter tools on the left-hand panel. Both articles and concept papers are available, though readers should note that only the articles are peer-reviewed. Though new submissions will not be accepted until January, readers can find information on the submission process in the Policies section (found on the left-hand panel). Editor-in-chief Dave Cross and Associate Editor Ghazal Barari, both from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, lead the journal. [EMB]

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Tech Tools

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Asciidoctor
Science

Asciidoctor is a publishing system that processes source files written in the AsciiDoc minimal markup format to produce output in HTML5, DocBook, PDF, and a number of other formats. According to the pull-quote on the Asciidoctor front page from Linux creator Linus Torvalds, AsciiDoc is a good format to use because "it's actually readable by humans, easier to parse and way more flexible than XML." The "Get Writing" link at the top right of the Asciidoctor home page will lead users to a guide documenting the AsciiDoc format along with a brief tutorial on how to produce HTML 5 and DocBook output. In the Docs section of the site, users can find more detailed reference manuals both on the AsciiDoc syntax and on advanced uses of the Asciidoctor toolchain. Under the Installation heading on the front page, users can locate instructions for installing Asciidoctor on Windows, macOS, and several flavors of Linux. [CRH]

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ZeroTier
Science

ZeroTier is a network virtualization system that combines the capabilities of traditional VPN systems and software defined wide area network solutions. Some example uses of ZeroTier include: accessing devices on a home network (for example, network attached storage, home automation, and printers) from anywhere; creating a virtual LAN across several households to play network games; routing traffic destined for the internet through a VM running on a cloud provider; routing traffic received at a VM on a cloud provider to an internal machine on a private network; or connecting systems running on a variety of cloud providers as if they were in a single data center. The ZeroTier manual located in the Support section of the site contains a detailed technical description of how the software works along with a number of example configurations. The ZeroTier Knowledge Base contains additional tutorials and "Getting Started" guides. The ZeroTier site offers installers for Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD desktops along with installers for Android and iOS devices. On the free "Basic" service plan, users can create networks with up to 50 members. [CRH]

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American Aviatrixes: Women with Wings
Social studies

Last featured in the 03-04-2016 Scout Report, this online exhibition from the Digital Public Library of America reminds women that the sky is no longer the limit.

Created by Pratt University Library and Information Science (LIS) students Megan DeArmond, Diana Moronta, and Laurin Paradise in March of 2015, this online exhibition mines the resources of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) to present the history of some of the American women who flew. The Development of Aviation, the opening section of the site, makes clear that although women were not terribly involved with the "trial-and-error filled beginnings of aviation" in the early 1900s, increasing numbers of women entered the field during World War I and between the Wars, with a big uptick during WWII. The First Aviatrixes section includes short illustrated biographies of Harriet Quimby, Matilde Moisant, Blanche Stuart Scott, Ruth Bancroft Law, and Katherine Stinson, all of whom broke barriers and were accomplished in the aviation field. The parallel Daredevils section includes women stunt flyers and wing walkers: Marie Meyer, Bessie Coleman, The Powder Puff Derby, and Amelia Earhart. The remaining sections of the site are Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) and Legacy. As the latter notes, women make up about 19 percent of the Air Force today, and there are estimated to be about 4,000 women commercial airline pilots (a small fraction of the total worldwide). [DS] [EMB]

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In the News

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Home (Literally) For the Holidays? Virtual Celebration Ideas Keep Festivities Holly, Jolly, and Healthy

Think 'Virtual' for Family Gatherings During the Holidays
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-11-08/think-virtual-for-family-gatherings-during-the-holidays

Preparing for the holidays: Virtual ideas to help keep you and your family connected
https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/morning-show/preparing-for-the-holidays-virtual-ideas-to-help-keep-you-and-your-family-connected/521-b21d95e0-7c38-4ce6-a885-d52792d13d48

How to plan a virtual holiday office party that doesn't suck
https://www.fastcompany.com/90570558/how-to-plan-a-virtual-holiday-office-party-that-doesnt-suck

Stay Cozy with these Winter Crafts for Kids
https://kids.discoveryplace.org/huntersville/blog/winter-craft-for-kids

30 Best Holiday Cookies From Around the World Recipes
https://www.thedailymeal.com/best-recipes/30-best-holiday-cookies-around-world-recipes

Russian State Ballet and Opera House: The Nutcracker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_Z1LUDQuQ

Experts are advising that people shift their winter holiday celebrations to virtual formats, but, with the right blend of technology and creativity, loved ones can still be festive from afar. Renee Patrone Rhinehart, a professional party planner, suggests enjoying dinner together over a preferred video conferencing platform, mailing supplies for arts and crafts, and then virtually convening to put a project together, or synchronously tuning into a movie or other form of entertainment (perhaps using a teleparty extension such as Netflix Party). A virtual cooking or baking party can also be fun, especially with the many culinary delicacies that accompany winter celebrations. Plus, many apps make virtual trivia and game nights a breeze. While "no place like home for the holidays" may be more literal than many had hoped this year, these are just a few ways readers can keep celebrations merry and bright. So, deck the Zoom background, sing "fa-la-la-la-la," over FaceTime, and remember Dr. Buchberger's advice: temporarily, "being apart is a loving, caring decision we make." [EMB]

Robert Preidt's article in U.S. News, found at the first link above, offers helpful health guidance as readers make plans for winter holiday celebrations. Following the second link, readers will find that Sarah Brojack's reporting for Fox43 (Pennsylvania) provides plenty of ideas and safety tips, proving that virtual celebrations do not have to leave family traditions behind and may even provide opportunities for new ones. Of course, gatherings of family and friends are not the only celebrations getting a virtual makeover; readers responsible for organizing office holiday parties can add some zest to their Zoom event with Gwen Moran's suggestions at the third link (as reported for Fast Company). Virtual crafting and cooking activities were among the suggestions in the articles above, and readers will find tools for both at the fourth and fifth links. The fourth link leads to a crafting blog post from the Discovery Place Kids museum, while the fifth link leads to a plethora of holiday cookie recipes from nearly every continent. Finally, the sixth link provides a festive entertainment option: a recording of the Russian State Ballet and Opera House's The Nutcracker ballet.

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