The goal of the “Middleware for Accessible Information Spaces on NSDL (MAISON)” is to improve participation in NSDL by teachers, librarians, and learners who are blind. The Beta version of MAISON (http://maison.asu.edu/) enhances access to NSDL, its internal and external resources and existing services (such as strand maps of educational benchmarks). MAISON is implemented as a middleware service to help minimize the extraneous load on users who are blind, while they search and access to materials from the large and diverse collection of resources available on NSDL. Relying on cutting-edge, context-aware segmentation, filtering and summarization, and concept propagation techniques, the middleware provides information space adaptation, reduction, and preview services through open web-based service APIs to enable implementation of informative navigation interfaces that are able to reduce the complexity of the information space and provide previews to prevent user disorientation.

The MAISON CSIP-Accessible (CSIP-A) web interface, underlying the MAISON Accessible StrandMap Search Interface (Beta version) takes (in addition to a set of search keywords) various adaptation options that are used for adapting the CSIP strand map results based on the user’s preferences. These adaptation options include

• Grade/topic focus: This tells the MAISON middleware whether the adaptation should be grade- (or row-) centric or topic- (or column-) centric.

• Clustering: If this option is yes, related benchmark nodes of the strand map maybe clustered together to reduce the number of nodes to be presented and the links that has to be followed by the user who is blind.

• Link preview: This link previews are annotations for helping the user who is blind to decide whether to follow a forward or backward link.

• Context keywords: Different from the search keywords, these keywords do not decide which benchmarks will be included in the result. Instead, they affect benchmark clustering, concept extraction and propagation, and textual summary generation schemes.

• Grade Level: This option helps the user who is blind focus the adaptation to a particular grade level.

The ongoing extensions to the MAISON middleware include document, web page, and web site adaptation and preview APIs for improved access to external digital resources link to the underlying information space.

The MAISON Accessible StrandMap Search Interface (Beta version) is currently available at http://maison.asu.edu/.

More students in school districts from Texas to Vermont are getting lessons in green technology every time they board a school bus powered with vegetable oil. Not only does biodiesel fuel made from recycled restaurant cooking oil save money, it also cuts down on carbon emissions, and is a healthier alternative for students who breath exhaust on their way to and from school each day. Students in some districts are even contributing to experimentation about how to convert biofuels and test them effectively because cooking up school bus fuel alternatives is not without challenges. Just as salad dressing stored in a refrigerator congeals, for example, so does the biodiesel fuel used in cold climate school buses.

NSDL biofuels resources:

From the Environmental and Energy Resources Library (ERL)

Biofuel Utilization

http://bit.ly/18IQfg

These three activities introduce students to biofuel utilization and will help students understand that using biomass for energy production is much more than just burning wood.

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From Middle School Portal 2

Biomass : energy from wood, garbage, and agricultural waste

http://bit.ly/Kex91 

This resource explores the non-renewable resource of Biomass. As a organic material, biomass stores sunlight in the form of chemical energy.

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From Teach the Earth collection

Tribal Energies Program: Biodiesel Pilot Project

http://bit.ly/kKD9L

This site provides a project summary of Nez Perce Tribal involvements with biodiesel energy productions.

Those who did not sit huddled in front of a blurry black and white television on July 20, 1969 watching bulky spacemen stir up dust on the lunar surface while mysterious beeps and static played in the background can now witness a a real-time multimedia computer simulation of that historic mission to the moon. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Apollo 11 mission and moon landing “We Choose the Moon” http://www.wechoosethemoon.org has been released courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.

“Lunar orbit begins” at the We Choose the Moon Web site.

Learn more about the Apollo missions and the space program at:

NASA Apollo Anniversary Features: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/Space+Program.htm

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: http://www.jfklibrary.org/exit.htm?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nasm.si.edu&name=Smithsonian+National+Air+and+Space+Museum

NSDL Annual Meeting committee chair Susan Jesuroga reports in the NSDL Community Corner that this year’s meeting will be held November 17-19 at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington DC. Please mark those dates on your calendar and stay tuned for details as they are available.

View of the NSDL Annual Meeting 2007.

From the annual NSDL haiku collection to lively panel discussions participants will examine NSDL “writ large” to learn more about how to make it add up to more than the sum of its parts in creating innovative access to cyberlearning opportunities nationwide. The schedule will include presentations and posters from across the NSDL network– Pathways and partners–who are implementing NSDL resources and tools for K12 and undergraduate classrooms.

The NSDL Community blog will continue to feature up-t0-date Annual Meeting information: http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/community/.

Bob Panoff, executive director of Shodor and NSDL’s CSERD: Computational Science Education Resources Pathway is passionate about using computational science teaching methods to stimulate student engagement in learning math and science. In a recent article for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) entitled “Simulations Deepen Scientific Learning,” he explains the role of simulations in making scientific theory understandable for students. Read the article here: http://bit.ly/Hn7Hv

See how a disease spreads in a virtual population with the Disease Epidemic Model simulation: http://www.shodor.org/featured/DiseaseModel/.

In a review of tools and simulations offered by Shodor Panoff compares computational methods and models to microscopes or telescopes–instruments that help us see and understand objects that are either up close or far away. Making math and science crystal clear through the lens of computation is what Bob Panoff and Shodor do best. Find out for yourself by visiting Shodor’s computational simulations: http://shodor.org/activities/.

Global Warming Kids draws millions of young people from across the U.S. and around the world who enjoy exploring this lively and engaging Web site. The project is part of Climate Change Education.Org (CCE) where volunteers from science museums as well as students, staff and scientists at the University of California, Berkeley provide the people power behind the Web site. They are always on the look out for NSDL resources where kids are the intended audience, and where global warming and what can be done about it is the subject. They found that combination in the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears eZine “Stories for Students” column that presents compelling content about polar subjects such as Blue whales and a Southern Ocean food chain in three formats: text only, an illustrated book, or an on-screen electronic version designed for grades K-1, 2-3 or 4-5.

Global Warming Kids (http://globalwarmingkids.net/index.html) plans to offer more Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears content on their site by:

• Selecting Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears “Stories for Students” that are most closely tied to global warming/climate change for their site.

• Further developing more Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears content on the CCK site in various formats.

• Featuring Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears as a permanent part of  the CCK kids/children’s book page.

Just when humans venture outside to enjoy good weather in many parts of the U.S., small creatures also begin to spread their wings or stretch their multiple legs and get out into the world–often to the same places humans like to visit. One of the more invasive pests that is causing health concerns nationwide is the very small, but dangerous deer tick. Undetected deer ticks cause Lyme disease in humans which has increased dramatically since 1991. “The tiny Ixodes tick which carries it is tough to see and avoid. It looks sort of like a spec of pepper. You can find it coast to coast in all fifty states in wooded, grassy or bush-covered areas, so anyone can get it.” Henry J. Fishman, “Lyme Disease Causes Misery Nationwide.” Consumer Affairs.com, Sept. 24, 2007

These NSDL resources will help you understand more about identifying and avoiding deer ticks.

From the collections of AMSER and BEN

Tick Biology for the Homeowner

This Cornell University-Cooperative Extension article includes close-up images and short sections on Taxonomy and Description, Biology and Behavior, Guidelines on Safe Tick Removal, and Identification of several species including: the american dog tick, brown dog tick, lone star tick, Ixodes cookei, and the blacklegged (deer) tick.

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From the Internet Scout Project collection

Ticks and Lyme Disease

These websites provide information about both tick biology and Lyme disease — a disease transmitted through deer ticks.

NSF’s new Science Nation is a weekly, media rich “online magazine that’s all about science for the people.” Developed by CNN science producers, Science Nation topics take an entertaining look at the research and people that impact our day-to-day lives. The first two shows are about phenomena and events that most of us have wondered about. “Extremophile Hunter” (about the work of astrobiologist Richard Hoover) looks into the search for bacteria that have mutated to survive under adverse conditions. NASA and others believe that these extreme microorganisms may hold clues to what off-world life is like in harsh solar system environments. Hoover’s studies of possible fossilized remains of bacteria found in meteors that are older than earth may ultimately lead to an answer to the age old question: “Where did life originate?” “Unraveling the Mysteries of Tornadoes” is about people and technologies that work together to stay one step ahead of severe storms and public safety issues particularly in some western states.

These related NSDL resources may also be of interest:

The Astrobiology Web

This site offers up to date information on many topics related to astrobiology. There are many articles, vidoes clips, and press releases to look through to find the information you are looking for. Newa and reference web sites are designed to allow both the novice and specialist alike to explore outer space and Earth observation. 

From the collections of AMSER, comPADRE, DLESE, and Microbial Life Educational Resources

NASA Astrobiology Portal

NASA’s Astrobiology web site presents information about NASA’s astrobiology program, NASA’s astrobiology missions, and astrobiology. “Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe. It provides a biological perspective to many areas of NASA research, linking such endeavors as the search for habitable planets, exploration missions to Mars and Europa, efforts to understand the origin of life, and planning for the future of life beyond Earth.”

From the collections of Infomine and Microbial Life Educational Resources

 National Geographic Features: Inside Tornadoes

Users can view images of the storm chasers Tim Samaras and two colleagues’ at work. Everyone will enjoy the videos of the storm chasers setting up, the tornado moving over the camera, and Tim Samaras’s descriptions of storm chasers’ lives and tools.

From the collections of AMSER and Internet Scout

What do scientists do? The National Academies recently launched the African American History Web site to help answer that question for students and teachers. Important contributions made by African American scientists, engineers, and physicians are featured along with information about NAE programs and events. One of the scientists highlighted on the NAE Web site is Warren Washington, senior scientist and section head at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, who was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2002 “for pioneering the development of coupled climate models, their use on parallel supercomputing architectures, and their interpretation.”

Washington has spent his distinguished career looking into how we might more accurately understand climate change patterns and how human behavior might affect them. Visit the NCAR Library Warren M. Washington Collection to learn more (http://www.ucar.edu/library/collections/washington/).These archival materials from 1963-2007, document Washington’s scientific, professional, and advisory activities, as well as his significant contributions to diversity issues, particularly the enhancement of opportunities for people of color in science.

Looking for a particular STEM subject resource? NSDL.org features streamlined collection browsing to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Browse collections alphabetically or through subject gateways that include: Biological and Health Sciences; Engineering, Computing, and Technology; General Science and STEM; Geosciences; Mathematics; Physical Sciences; and Social Sciences. Within each of these broad categories, users may browse by audience: collections whose items have classroom utility are found in the For Educators and Learners category; collections without classroom application are found in the For Researchers and Professionals audience grouping. New Collections also displays collections according to date of accessioning, so newest collections are listed first.

NSDL’s flagship Pathways collections are affiliated with specific disciplines and appear in bold. Selecting a collection name brings up search results for that entire collection. Pathways-related resources are also featured on the right hand side of NSDL.org search results as “Relevant Results form NSDL Pathway Partners”.