Portable media devices such as iPods are changing the way people learn. Educational podcasts allow educators an easy way to keep current on research and materials for teaching. NSDL on iTunesU has new podcasts on climate change and other episodes in the Beyond Penguins and Polar Podcasts. Also new on NSDL on […]

In last year’s Speak Up 2007 Report, Project Tomorrow’s annual survey of teachers, parents, and students focusing on technology in schools, teachers expressed a growing need for online professional development programs. The survey showed a 29% increase in teacher interest in online programs from the previous year. The National Science Teachers Association’s […]

The NSDL Web Seminar Fall 2008 Series begins September 25th with another year of online professional development programs in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association. These 90-minute seminars allow educators to interact online with NSDL community experts and other educators across the nation. In conjunction with next year’s International Year of Astronomy, […]

Classic Articles in Context (CAC) is a new feature on the NSDL Wiki that integrates seminal works of scientific inquiry into a dynamic learning space for teachers and learners. In the first CAC feature, science historian James Fleming introduces 21 papers on climate change and anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse warming, from an 1824 essay by Fourier […]

NSDL now provides access to audio, video, and other multimedia resources for science and math education through Apple’s iTunes Store. The Beyond Campus section of iTunes U provides free access to material from museums, public radio and television stations, and other non-profit educational providers. NSDL’s first offerings include content from several Pathways partners as well […]

Thomas Midgley, Jr.’s greatest gift to the world might be his own life story. Midgley is the chemist responsible for the widespread use of tetraethyl lead and chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) in the 20th century. Teaching his life story is a great way to frame discussions about the benefits of these chemicals, the pollution caused by their […]

The website for Sesame Street now offers hundreds of video clips from the show’s early years. Grownups all over the world are getting back in touch with their inner six-year-olds by watching Bert rave about his bottle cap collection or Cookie Monster go on a rampage. But the main goal of the project is […]

Two exciting new projects seek students and other volunteers to help build science’s understanding of climate change and light pollution. The projects’ web sites teach participants about these subjects while they collect vital data. Project BudBurst, which began on February 15, asks volunteers in the U.S. to track climate change by observing the time at […]

Student engineers in high schools are preparing for annual mileage competitions where passenger vehicles approach 1,700 miles per gallon. The Indiana Mathematics, Science, Technology and Education Alliance (IMSTEA) will host the annual Super Mileage Challenge on April 28 at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Last year, five of the 22 Indiana high school teams […]

A total lunar eclipse will be visible in North America on February 20th beginning at 8:43 pm Eastern and 5:43 pm Pacific time. This prime-time celestial show should be an excellent teaching opportunity for young astronomers, and several good web resources are available. NASA’s Eclipse Home Page is the most extensive, with downloads that include […]