The Scout Report -- Volume 27, Number 27

What are the essential tools every gardener needs? How do you build a bee hotel? What's the deal with mulch? These are just a few of the many questions answered by Let's Grow Stuff, a show focused on guiding beginners in the garden. Hosted by horticulturist Ben Futa, the show has more than 20 installments (as of this write-up), each averaging between 3-6 minutes in length. In each episode, Futa, who has experience working in public gardens such as Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park, homes in on a key aspect of gardening. In some videos, Futa is joined by special guests who share their expertise. For example, the August 31, 2020 episode "Saving Your Seeds," features tips from University of Wisconsin-Madison Greenhouse Learning Community Program Coordinator Tom Bryan on saving today's seeds for tomorrow's crops. Readers hungry for more content can check out the show's accompanying blog, linked near the bottom of the show page under From Our Blog. Let's Grow Stuff is produced by PBS Wisconsin. Readers can view episodes at the link above or on PBS Wisconsin's YouTube channel (linked in the blurb on the right-hand side of the site). [EL]

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"Better data leads to better models" is the motto of Facets, a toolkit for "understanding and analyzing machine learning datasets." Facets offers two powerful data visualization tools. The first, Overview, gives users a quick visual analysis of the distribution of values across the features of one or more datasets. Overview provides users with summary statistics that give the general shape of each feature of their dataset and may help identify issues like unexpected values, missing values for a large number of observations, training/serving skew, and train/test/validation skew. The second tool, Dive, is an interactive interface for exploring large numbers of data points at once. Dive visualizes the relationships between data points across all different features of a dataset and allows a data point to be bucketed in multiple dimensions. The tool can help users identify classifier failure, systematic errors, and potential new signals for ranking. Facets is an open-source software toolkit developed by the People + AI Research (PAIR) team at Google Research. [HCL]

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The language of technology can unite Africa and the African diaspora to work toward sustainable development, according to the team behind Built in Africa (BIA). BIA is a platform to spotlight technology made in Africa, for Africa, as well as to connect developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and other tech disruptors in Africa and the diaspora. At the top of the page linked above, readers can click on "Video" to see content highlighting projects ranging from financial and security tech, to energy and consumer electronics. Readers can click on "Blog" for information on tech projects, tips for getting involved with the African tech industry, and stories from the people shaping this emerging sector. Readers can sort the Blog contents by categories such as "Developers," "Designers," and "Talent Accelerators." There is also the BIA Podcast, which can be found by scrolling the homepage for links to various listening platforms. Each podcast episode features a 10-15 minute conversation with a tech trailblazer. The team behind BIA comes from a range of backgrounds and includes Asafu Thomas, Nathan Hastings-Spaine, Brillian Achieng, and Daniel Nutakor. BIA is active on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram (@builtinafrica.io on all three), or on Twitter (@builtinafrica_). [HCL]

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Readers who have ever found themselves wondering how to communicate with aliens or why our alphabet goes from A to Z will enjoy the Subtitle podcast. Hosted by journalists and language lovers Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay, Subtitle explores stories about and by people who are passionate for language and linguistics. For instance, Episode 28 discusses the past and future of Braille in the context of audiobooks and screen readers. Episode 10 explores the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the dialects and accents of New Orleans residents. There are over 30 past episodes to enjoy, with new episodes released every two weeks. Subtitle is produced by Quiet Juice and the Linguistic Society of America, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and support from the Hub & Spoke audio collective. Listeners can subscribe to the podcast, now in its second season, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, or other podcatchers, or follow the podcast on Twitter (@lingopod) to hear about new episodes. [MJZ]

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The Education section of the National Ocean Service (NOS) website offers informative materials from lesson plans to interactive activities "for educators, students, and anyone who wants to learn more about our ocean and coasts!" The resources are organized by audience, with buttons directing readers to materials "For Educators," "For Students," or "For Kids." K-12 instructors may wish to check out the variety of online learning modules on topics such as "Oysters in the Chesapeake," and "Sea Level Rise." Students can also "dive in" with the six tutorials that cover a range of marine science topics, from ocean currents to nonpoint source pollution. Each tutorial includes a lesson, broken into individual units that users can progress through in their own time, as well as a "Roadmap to Resources" related to the subject of that particular tutorial and a set of "Subject Review" questions. Those looking for a more interactive experience will delight in the many games and activities offered for kids, including a set of "Regional Activity Books" (Grades 3-5) geared toward particular coastal areas of the U.S., all downloadable in PDF format. The NOS is an office of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (last featured in the 06-07-2019 Scout Report). The mission of the NOS is to "provide science-based solutions through collaborative partnerships to address evolving economic, environmental, and social pressures on our ocean and coasts." [EL]

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The Carle Museum celebrates picture books as an art form in honor of the late Eric Carle, the author and illustrator of the beloved children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Art enthusiasts, bookworms, and early childhood educators will want to explore the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of picture books through two online exhibitions the museum hosts (as of this writing). The first exhibition, ART in PLACE: Social Distancing in the Studio, shares the work of 21 picture-book artists created during pandemic isolation and discusses how creativity can provide sustenance and comfort during troubling times. The second exhibition, Now & Then: Contemporary Illustrators and their Childhood Art, pairs professional pieces by 19 published illustrators with the same artists' childhood drawings, inviting viewers to consider the ideas of talent, potential, and creative evolution. Educators and parents of little ones may enjoy other online resources from the museum, including book recommendations and reading activities on the Bookshop Blog, read-aloud stories and art activities on the museum's YouTube channel (linked in the Online Videos section), and the Art Studio Blog, featuring a collaboration with Holyoke Community College Early Childhood Education students to explore the civil rights movement through children's books (see the May 17, 2021 post). [HCL]

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What are the ethnic representations of heroes compared to villains on children's animated shows? How do portrayals of male and female characters compare on a scale of smart to stupid? Who is the best dressed: heroes or villains? An interactive data visualization tool from the Children's Television Project at Tufts University illustrates these comparisons and more. The team behind the project, including professors Calvin Gidney and Julie Dubrow, sought to explore the presentation of various characteristics in children's animated television shows. To interact with the visualization, users must choose to compare villains and heroes or males and females, then select a characteristic like age, social class, kind/cruel, active/passive, and others from a drop-down menu. Clicking anywhere on the graph toggles between two ways of viewing the data. Each point in the visualization represents one character and their TV show, which can be revealed by hovering the cursor over the point. Visitors can also filter the data points by TV show to see how their (or their kids') favorite programs stack up. (By the way, curious readers may be interested to know that villains dress better than heroes.) [HCL]

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It's a beautiful day to explore The Neighborhood Archive, an online collection of "episode commentary, books for kids, books for adults, LP releases, CD releases, fan stories, news articles, toys," and more, all related to the long-running children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Created in 2008 by guidance counselor Tim Lybarger, the site aims to honor the legacy of Fred Rogers and provide a wealth of resources perfect for elementary school teachers, caregivers, and those interested in children's media more generally. Readers may begin by exploring the list of "Classic Episodes" (linked at the page above). Each episode listing offers a description, images from the show, links to biographic information about the characters who appear, and a list of songs. A full compilation of installments organized by year, topic (e.g., dance, make-believe, conflict), or special events (such as the 1977 Christmas episode) can be accessed by clicking "Episodes" on the left-hand side of the page. Caretakers and educators in search of reading material will find a list of "Books and Publications" by Fred Rogers (among other authors) that center on the TV program. Nostalgic adults may enjoy exploring the Mister Rogers references "In Pop Culture" or the "Fan Art & Stories" submitted by readers of the site. Finally, the site also maintains episode pages for two spin-off shows, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (which first aired in 2012) and Donkey Hodie (which premiered in May 2021). [EL]

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Since its publication in 1865, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has become a cultural icon that continually influences and inspires literature, film, music, theater, fashion, and even theme park rides. Fans of the story and scholars of children's literature will enjoy this online exhibit that journeys through 150 years of Alice, including various editions, adaptations, illustrations, and derivatives. Readers can go down the rabbit hole by clicking the links in the left sidebar at the page linked above. The adventure begins with considerations of fairy tales and other genres that preceded Carroll's book. The section The Mouse's Tail/Tale shows examples of Carroll's use of "patterned poetry" (a typographical effect) in his work. Visual art enthusiasts will appreciate the early-edition illustrations featured in the Interpretive Illustrations section. For educators, the About the Exhibit page includes an Educational/Curricular Materials section with classroom activities, materials, and a slide presentation (downloadable through Google Drive). This virtual exhibit presents a selection of materials from the 2015 physical exhibit at the Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan. Most of the items featured in the exhibit come from its Special Collections Library Children's Literature Collection. [HCL]

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Aspiring children's book authors and artists will not want to miss this digital resource presented by the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota Archives and Special Collections. The Kerlan Collection is "one of the leading repositories of rare books, process art, and manuscripts of children's literature." Curators designed this resource on the art and craft of making children's books for teachers, librarians, creative writing and art students, and curious readers. Each page showcases a particular technique or medium, such as collage or scratchboard, along with examples from artists who use it and a discussion of their creative process. The pages can be navigated using the links on the right sidebar or the right and left arrows at the bottom of each page. Most topical pages also include a plethora of external links to further learning resources, such as interviews with artists and videos demonstrating each technique. The Biographies section includes brief bios for dozens of featured artists and links to more of their work. Readers may find the Glossary to be a useful reference for unfamiliar terms and techniques like "impasto" and "intaglio." [HCL]

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Last featured in the 09-27-2019 issue of the Scout Report, The Yarn podcast continues to offer insightful interviews with authors and illustrators, giving listeners a glimpse into the world of creating and publishing books for kids. Listeners can easily get caught up on the best children's books of the past year by jumping to the December 30, 2020 episode "Our Third Annual Year-in-Review Episode."

Librarians, teachers, and those interested in hearing behind-the-scenes stories about creating and publishing kids' books may enjoy The Yarn, a podcast from School Library Journal that focuses on children's literature. First launched in August 2015, The Yarn is hosted and produced by elementary school librarian Travis Jonker and teacher Colby Sharp. Here, listeners will find a collection of fascinating interviews with authors and illustrators of children's books, some recorded in front of a live audience. Examples of The Yarn's interviewees include Kazu Kibuishi, creator of the popular Amulet graphic novel series; Abby Hanlon, author and illustrator of the Dory Fhantasmagory series; and Jess Keating, author of the World of Weird Animals series. Listeners may enjoy the episode from January 23, 2021, "Our 2021 Preview," in which the hosts discuss highly anticipated book releases for the year. Those interested can listen online or subscribe through Stitcher, Spotify, and other platforms. [JDC] [HCL]

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