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 […]

Columbus, Ohio-March 3, 2008 Blockbuster movies and even soft drink commercials have made our planet’s polar regions and their inhabitants popular culture superstars. At the same time many people have either been confronted with what they believe to be climate change weather events, or find themselves wondering about how melting polar ice sheets and rising […]

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 […]

Many colleges and universities have responded to their students’ passionate concerns over environmental challenges such as global warming by pledging to become carbon neutral and taking other environmentally responsible steps. Sierra magazine recently looked at the nation’s colleges and picked Ten Schools That Do It Right, based on everything from clean-energy purchases and green-building policies […]

This replica of the PS-1 (Sputnik-1) hangs in the Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow.
Fifty years ago on October 4, the Soviet Union launched its prosteishy sputnik, or simplest satellite. It stayed in Earth’s orbit for 22 days, sending back a signal to announce that the space age had begun. Sputnik only weighed about 80 […]

The 2007-2008 NSDL/NSTA Web Seminar Series begins on Sept. 20 with a presentation aimed at motivating your students to consider careers in math and science. The FunWorks is a digital resource library designed to encourage middle school students to explore math and science careers by showing that while some subjects are perceived as “geeky,” they […]

“I made it from scratch” is a phrase that conjures up images of homemade baked goods and cozy kitchens. The idea of “Coding a computer program from scratch,” on the other hand, entered the technology lexicon to describe a job usually cooked up on-the-fly. While the MIT Media Lab is not exactly a warm kitchen, […]

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW reviews the debate over the definition of a planet. Take a test drive of the open access Teachers’ Domain resource What is a Planet here.

On June 1, 2007 Teachers’ Domain http://www.teachersdomain.org/ announced the launch of Open Educational Resources–video segments, interactive activities, and lesson plans in earth science, engineering, […]