An understanding of mathematics may be considered essential for an educated person today, but many Americans seem almost allergic to math. While there is much discussion about the importance of mathematics to scientific research, engineering, and technological innovation, the performance of American math students on international assessments is below that of math students in many other countries. In a new special report –“Math: What’s the Problem?”– the National Science Foundation (NSF) uses video interviews and online resources to examine the state of math education and discuss the roles of culture, technology, and research on improving math learning and proficiency.

Among the experts interviewed are:

Cora Marrett, NSF assistant director for the Education and Human

Resources (EHR) directorate;

Tony Chan, NSF assistant director for the Mathematical and

Physical Sciences directorate;

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, division director for EHR’s Division of

Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings;

David Bressoud, president of the Mathematical Association of

America;

Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean of the School of Education,

University of Michigan;

William Schmidt, university distinguished professor of education

and statistics at Michigan State University;

Ken Koedinger, professor of human-computer interaction and

psychology at Carnegie Mellon University; and

Jeremy Roschelle, director of the Center for Technology in

Learning at SRI International.

The report is available at

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/math/.

The NSDL Classic Articles in Context (CAC) project seeks to integrate landmark works of scientific inquiry into dynamic learning spaces for teachers and learners. To achieve the goal of illustrating science as a process that builds, and often turns, on discovery and replication expressed in the archival literature of empirical findings, NSDL works with publishers to make the full texts of select “classic” articles available to patrons. In An Idiosyncratic History of Giant Magnetoresistance, the second issue of NSDL Classic Articles in Context, Prof. Peter M. Levy of New York University presents a journey through pure and applied scientific investigation as reported in 25 formative research papers.

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) was discovered independently in 1988 by Albert Fert, of France, and Peter Grünberg, of Germany,who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007 for their work.  Over time researchers recognized the potential of GMR and increased exponentially the capacity of hard drive storage devices by incorporating multilayer composite materials into hard drive read heads. This modification made the read heads considerably more sensitive, allowing much more information to be encoded onto disk drives’ platters.

It begins with a problem examined in various forms by physicists from the early and mid-twentieth century, including Nobel Laureates Sir Neville Mott and Louis Néel. The collection then gives attention to studies made within the past 15-20 years–after the discovery of GMR–which led to significant technologic advance and continue to open up entire new fields of investigation.

As always NSDL Classic Articles in Context is most grateful to the Publishers and their critical journals–including The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science; The American Physical Society, Physical Review Letters & Physical Review B; Elsevier, The Journal Magnetism and Magnetic Materials; The Institute of Physics, Proceeding of the Physical Society; Nature Publishing Group, Nature; and The Royal Society, Proceedings of the Royal Society–who collaborated with NSDL in compiling this issue.

Imagery has the power to communicate volumes, sometimes in a surprisingly economical way. Edward Tufte, author of Visual Explanations points out in the introduction, “Those who discover an explanation are often those who construct its representation.” The 2009 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the journal Science, and published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) aims to boost public understanding of research developments by challenging creators of photographs, illustrations, informational graphics, interactive media and non-interactive media to make new visual meaning in communicating science, engineering and technology for education and journalistic purposes.

Awards categories include: Photographs/Pictures, Illustrations/Drawings, Informational/Explanatory Graphics, Interactive Media, and Non-Interactive Media.

Winning entries will be published in a special section of the February 19, 2010 issue of the journal Science and Science Online and on NSF’s website. One winning entry will appear on the front cover of Science.

For more information, see: http://www.nsf.gov/news/scivis

Public health and safety, security, sanitation, logistics, and operations are just a few of the buzz words around Washington D.C. this week as the 44th President of the United States is sworn in on January 20, 2009 in front of crowds that have been estimated to grow to three to five million people. Among the many skills that Barack Obama brings to his new job is a unique and impressive ability to coordinate people, technology and ideas to enable collaborative achievement. His historic inauguration as the nation’s first African American President will highlight that ability as people from all over the United States gather in the nation’s capital. Many of the complex physical infrastructures that make sweeping national celebrations like this one possible are based on principles of science and engineering. The following NSDL resources highlight related topics and issues.

“Picturing the Inauguration: The Readers’ Album” is an interactive feature from the New York Times that encourages readers to contribute photos that reflect their inauguration experiences.

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From BEN (Biological Sciences Pathway)

Sanitation and Human Health

The purpose of this Science NetLinks lesson is to develop an understanding of the impact of improved sanitation on human health. In this lesson, students learn something about the ways that sanitation technology has helped people by examining the history of sanitation in the context of disease outbreaks and comparing the quality of life in those times to that of today. More information here.

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From the Internet Scout Project

Information and Communication Technology

Communication is a central aspect of all our lives. Today, our modes of communication are highly dependent on technologies such as the internet, wireless networks, phones, and computers. This issue of Internet Scout Topic in Depth explores the ways these forms of communication are part of our lives and highlights some new directions in communication technology. More information here.

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From the Engineering Pathway

 Bullet Proof Composite Laboratory

This college level class project from the University of Florida encourages students to become materials science engineers. This exercise leads a student team through the design and construction of a cement composite to protect a fragile object from the destructive energy in a falling golf ball. More information here.

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From the Engineering Pathway

Landfills: Building Them Better

In this lesson, students will learn about the three methods of waste disposal in use by modern communities. They will also investigate how engineers design sanitary landfills to prevent leachate from polluting the underlining groundwater. More information here.

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From the Virgina Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertations Collection

New Models for Crowd Control and Dynamics

This dissertation by Sadeq J. Al-nasur, Virginia Tech, investigates increased interest in modeling crowd and evacuation dynamics. Pedestrian models are based on macroscopic or microscopic behavior. In this work models that can be used for evacuation control strategies have been developed using a macroscopic modeling approach, where pedestrians are treated in an aggregate way and detailed interactions are overlooked. More information here.

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From AMSER: Applied Math and Science Pathway

Institute for Security Technology Studies

The Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) at Dartmouth College “is dedicated to pursuing research that addresses critical national needs for security technology and policy in cyber and emergency response environments.” Its interdisciplinary research draws from science, engineering, social science and policy perspectives to investigate critical security problems using existing technology and ideas, as well as by developing new technologies. More information here.

The Engineering Pathway (EP) has launched an Engineering and Computing Education news service–a continuous feed of user-submitted items, featured on the EP homepage, parsed by discipline and displayed on EP disciplinary community pages. The entire feed is available on the News in Engineering Education page. All registered users of Engineering Pathway are invited to submit current news related to Engineering, Computing and Technology Education. The EP news feed can be included on your site, too! Learn more about personalized news and other services offered by the Engineering Pathway.

Every Friday NPR radio talk show host Ira Flatow brings listeners interesting and sometimes surprising science tidbits on Science Friday. The show airs at 2:00 p.m. EDT, but can also be heard online anytime. This week’s offerings include  Mystified, Solve it With Science, a look at a new book, 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science. Billy Moses, fifth grader, Washington, D.C. offered this review, “Amazing, mind-bending tales so interesting you don’t even realize you are learning. I couldn’t stop reading this book.” Teachers can find resources mentioned in Science Friday broadcasts related to McREL content standards and benchmarks on the Science Friday Science Connection web site.

Science Naturally is a publisher of books committed to increasing science literacy that focuses on grades 4-8, families and educators. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Science is recommended for grades 4-8, but is also intended for anyone who is interested in the ways that science affects daily life. The Science Naturally web site features free hands-on learning activities such as the “If My Mom Were a Platypus” learning guide.

Winter officially begins during the third week of each December in North America. This calendar event known as the solstice is marked as the sun briefly “stands still” as its position in the sky reaches the greatest distance from the earth. This celestial alignment is experienced as the shortest day of the year by people in the northern hemisphere as they rush about making holiday preparations. Many cultures celebrate the winter solstice with community gatherings that ritually create more light and warmth during the longest night.

This photograph of the “Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky” by Danilo Pivato was featured in Astronomy Picture of the Day: “This stiking composite image follows the Sun’s path through the December Solstice day of 2005 in a beautiful blue sky, looking down the Tyrrhenian Sea coast from Santa Severa toward Fiumicino, Italy. The view covers about 115 degrees in 43 separate, well-planned exposures from sunrise to sunset.” Used with permission © Danilo Pivato, 2005, All rights reserved.

The following NSDL resources are designed to shed light on solstice math and science:

From PRISMS: Phenomena & Representations for Instruction of Science in Middle Schools

Earth-Sun Geometry: Winter Solstice Animation

This representation depicts the position of the Earth relative to the Sun during the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice and includes line of latitude and the angle of the Sun’s rays at the Tropic of Capricorn.  More information here.

From NSDL Engineering Pathway partner TeachEngineering: Resources for K12

Portable Sundial

Students will investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between “real time” and “clock time”. They will track the position of the sun over the course of a relatively short period of time as they make a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial. More information here.

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From the NSDL Middle School Portal: A direct path to selective online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library

The Reason for the Seasons

Understanding why the earth has seasons is one of the most difficult concepts for middle school students to understand. This publication provides resources to help teachers uncover their students misconceptions about the seasons. More information here. 

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From the GLOBE Program:Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, and DLESE: Digital Library for Earth System Education 

Modeling the Reasons for Seasonal Change

The purpose of this resource is to understand what causes the Earth’s seasons with a focus on the Earth’s tilt and spherical shape. Students learn how sunlight spreads over the Earth at different times of the year, emphasizing the solstices and the equinoxes. More information here.

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From ComPADRE: NSDL Physics and Astronomy Pathway

The Calendar

These web pages provide a short overview of the common (Gregorian) calendar and some less-common ones–Julian, Jewish (leap months), Moslem, Persian (New Year on the spring equinox), Ethiopian and Maya. More information here.

NSTA’s Science Scope is a peer-reviewed journal for middle level and junior high school science teachers. In the November 2008 issue authors Kerri Richardson, Catherine Matthews and Catherine Thompson offered on-the-ground insights into why proportional reasoning is particularly important for middle school teachers to understand in order to instruct their students in developing inquiry skills. Their article, “Linking Proportionality Across the Science and Mathematics Curricula Through Science Literacy Maps” takes a look at the powerful combination of high quality National Science Digital Library (NSDL) resources delivered through information and concepts represented in Science Literacy Maps as a way “to help students construct their own meaning.”

The strand maps developed by Project 2061 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and published in the Atlas of Science Literacy, Volumes 1 and 2 (2001 and 2007, AAAS Project 2061 and the National Science Teachers Association) are also available as large format books.

The knowledge system that underlies NSDL’s Science Literacy Map Tool is the Atlas of Science Literacy maps that have been published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Project 2061. The article describes the Atlas and the NSDL-developed Science Literacy Map Tool as a way for teachers to understand science literacy and to align instruction with state and national standards.

The authors asked 50 middle school teachers to complete tasks and present their findings. After completing a set of 8 tasks related to thematic mathematical concepts represented on maps the group concluded that the content and process were a good match in finding appropriate resources for use in instruction. One teacher group reported, “[the science literacy maps] put it together in a big picture for us and gave us new meaning.”

The full article is available through the NSTA web site. NSTA members may access it for free. Cost to nonmembers is .99: http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/4/ss08_032_03_64.

“Youth Voices” is an open call from WGBH Teachers’ Domain for ideas from 13-18 year olds who would like to produce video segments about climate change. “Youth Voices” will kick off in January, with a series of three informative webinars for student filmmakers. To find out more check out WGBH Lab for details. Teachers’ Domain is also working to create science curriculum units that are accessible to blind and low-vision students.

The WGBH Lab web site. Follow the WGBH Lab Twitter feed for up-to-date news and information.

How do you teach a blind child about the wonders of the solar system? Or the anatomy of a frog? Thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation’s Research in Disabilities Program and additional funding from The Grousbeck Family Foundation, WGBH’s National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) worked with the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts to create science curriculum units that are accessible to blind and low-vision students.

Teachers’ Domain asked Veteran Perkins instructor Becky Hoffman who wanted science to come alive for her students: How will Teachers’ Domain resources help your students? And how do you plan on using them in your classroom?

Hoffman responded: “One of my most time-consuming jobs is reformatting materials, so being able to turn to the Teachers’ Domain website for accessible lesson plans will leave more time for teaching-a definite plus. I am also hopeful that other teachers of the visually impaired will find the modifications and suggestions helpful for their students.”

“We feel that science should provide our students with concrete, functional lessons that they can relate to on a personal level, Hoffman adds. “Subjects such as growth and development, the weather, life cycles of plants and animals, nutrition, our bodies, basically things that affects their lives, are good topics to explore with our students. Teachers Domain covers these topics and with modifications and suggestions, we can use the website to enrich our science program.”

Teachers’ Domain hopes that these developments will enable teachers of the visually impaired across the world to make science come alive for their students.

Expressing gratitude for home, family and tradition is a yearly ritual in many communities nationwide. These timely STEM resources from the NSDL community present health issues related to the amount, type and even the aromas of the foods we eat as well as one significant computational aspect of this all-American holiday celebration.

A traditional roast turkey leg. © 2004 Carol Minton Morris

From the Directory of Open Access Journal, BioMed Central, and PubMed Central

The effect of the Thanksgiving Holiday on weight gain

More people than ever are considered obese and the resulting health problems are evident. These facts highlight the need for identification of critical time periods for weight gain. Therefore the purpose was to assess potential changes that occur in body weight during the Thanksgiving holiday break in college students.

More information here.

From the Internet Scout Project

Thanksgiving Biology Topic in Depth

These eight resources focused on the biology of our favorite Thanksgiving foods include (1) a short, readable introduction to the biology and natural history of wild turkeys in the US. Wild, or domesticated, turkey meat known for its soporific power. Visitors to the Web site from International Anti-aging Systems (2) can learn all about tryptophan, the amino acid responsible for the post-Thanksgiving dinner nap. The third Web site from Centers for Disease Control Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (3), offers a reliable source of information about salmonellosis. Environmental Health and Safety Online (4) offers some facts and figures about contaminated turkeys, citing studies from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The fifth Web site (5) from the University of New South Wales introduces the Australian Brush Turkey.The Cranberry Institute offers a brief introduction to the history, botany, and harvest of cranberries (6). The University of Illinois Extension provides an in-depth Web site devoted to nothing but pumpkins, including a recipe for Traditional Pumpkin Pie (7). The final Web site, from iVillage, clears up in a brief explanation the confusion about yams and sweet potatoes (8).

More information here.

From the Math Forum@Drexel Problems of the Week

Happy Thanksgiving

“Grandmother Brown is going to host a huge family gathering on Thanksgiving Day. She has eight grandchildren, and this year she has decided that they will all help with serving or cleaning up. The kitchen is small, so she must select four of the children to wash dishes after the meal. The others will help with serving during the meal.” Find out how Grandma Brown solves the age-old clean-up problem. Free trial registration required.

More information here.

From the Engineering Pathway

Can You Taste It?

Few people are aware of how crucial the sense of smell is to identifying foods, or the adaptive value of being able to identify a food as being familiar and therefore safe to eat. In this lesson and activity, students conduct an experiment to determine whether or not the sense of smell is important to being able to recognize foods by taste.

More information here.