The Scout Report -- Volume 25, Number 20

The Smithsonian Institution notes that if all of their "diverse music-related collections ... [were] assembled in one place, the Smithsonian would be the largest music museum in the world," leading them to celebrate 2019 as their Year of Music. Readers can explore some of these music collections through this website, which gathers numerous highlights from the Smithsonian's music resources into one place. Here, visitors can listen to thematic music playlists from Smithsonian Folkways as well as podcasts about music history and cultures around the world. Educators and interested readers may also want to check out the learn section, where they will find links to dozens of free lesson plans on world music topics and interactive learning tools, along with other educational resources. Smithsonian Music also includes a selection of videos featuring a diverse range of styles such as progressive hip-hop, Cajun, and mariachi. Readers may also enjoy the Smithsonian Music Blog, which offers a roundup of music-related stories and articles from across the entire Smithsonian Institution. [JDC]

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The practice of making sure that websites and digital tools are accessible for all users including those with disabilities is important, but developers new to thinking about accessibility may need a helping hand to get started. This free online course provided by Google on the Udacity platform offers just that. This course begins its six self-paced lessons by explaining "when and why users need accessibility" before digging into the three pillars of accessibility (focus, semantics, and style) and the how-tos of their implementation. For example, students will learn how to make it possible for site visitors to navigate a page using a keyboard rather than a mouse, how to add semantic HTML and ARIA markup to enable accessibility with a variety of assistive devices, and "styling techniques that help users with partial vision navigate your pages easily and reliably." An estimated two weeks in length, the course includes videos, exercises, interactive quizzes, and is instructed by professional developers Alice Boxhall, Rob Dodson, and Michael Wales. This is an advanced course, so learners should be familiar with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and registration for a free Udacity account is required. [JDC]

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Readers curious about the science behind science fiction may want to give the Flash Forward podcast a listen. This podcast's tagline is "possible & not so possible futures," and that's exactly what listeners will find. Each episode offers an in-depth exploration of a different future scenario. Some of these are extremely speculative, such as what would happen if space pirates suddenly dragged a second moon into Earth's orbit, while others engage with issues facing the world today, such as genetic editing and CRISPR technology. Currently in its fifth season, Flash Forward is hosted and produced by Rose Eveleth, a journalist with a background in ecology. Episodes are generally about an hour long and frequently include fascinating guests such as space archaeologist Alice Gorman, The Atlantic's science writer Sarah Zhang, and planetary volcanologist Tracy Gregg. Listeners can stream episodes of Flash Forward online (where they can also view the show notes), and those interested can also subscribe via platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed. [JDC]

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Located in Richmond, Virginia, the American Civil War Museum (ACWM) was formed when its predecessors, the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy, merged into a single institution that opened in early May 2019. The mission of this new museum is "to be the preeminent center for the exploration of the American Civil War and its legacies from multiple perspectives: Union and Confederate, enslaved and free African Americans, soldiers and civilians." In support of this mission, the ACWM provides this digital collection of educational resources that offers a diverse range of perspectives for learners to consider. Here, visitors will find a number of historical documents, images of artifacts, images, and more, all assembled with an eye towards classroom use. These resources are organized into more than 20 themes, which include emancipation, the business of slavery, and women in the Civil War. These resources are accompanied by descriptions of the items, brief explanations of their historical contexts, suggested questions for students designed to encourage critical thinking, and ideas for classroom activities. All resources explain the educational standards with which they align. [JDC]

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The Body Language digital exhibit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art features commentary from assorted experts, curators, dancers, and choreographers, all of whom provide insight into understanding how sculpture communicates. The exhibit uses 20 works from three museum departments: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Medieval Art, and the American Wing. For example, a video commentary on Rodin's The Burghers of Calais includes Sam Pinkleton, a theater director and choreographer, who says, "If you actually get into that shape, you feel anxiety build in your body." The video also shows actors taking on the poses of the figures in the sculpture. Augustus Saint-Gaudens' bronze Diana, 1893-94, is accompanied by commentary from Bill T. Jones and curator Thayer Tolles. Body Language is also available as an audio tour at the Met, and the website provides a PDF map showing where all of the sculptures are located. [DS]

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The National Geographic Photo Ark offers readers a stunning collection of animal portrait photography featuring thousands of species from around the world. The Photo Ark is a project founded in 2005 by veteran National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore. It aims to "document every species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries," many of which are threatened or endangered in the wild, with the ultimate goal of inspiring people to help protect these species and their habitats. Visitors can explore this ongoing project's more than 30,000 photographs of more than 9,000 species (as of this write-up), with each species including multiple beautiful photos with simple black or white backgrounds, its common and scientific name, its population status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List, and other information. Readers can search this vast trove of photos by species name and filter by class (e.g. birds, reptiles, cephalopods, etc.), IUCN Red List status, and where the photo was taken. Teachers may want to check out the Photo Ark's education section, where they will find several classroom activities and other teaching resources. [JDC]

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Healthy coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, leading some to call reefs the rainforests of the sea. Coral reefs are also threatened by ocean acidification caused by climate change, pollution, overfishing, and more. To aid conservation work, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (LOF; see the 3-13-2018 Scout Report) has created this wonderful interactive atlas of coral reefs in remote locations around the world. Visitors can explore the map by selecting a pin or using the menu to choose a location, then zoom into a specific island area within that location to view a colorful detailed map of its reefs different habitat areas, many of which are accompanied by underwater videos. This online map, which accompanies an April 2019 research article published in the journal Coral Reefs, was created using remote sensing and field observations as part of LOF's Global Reef Expedition, a ten-year project surveying the world's remotest reefs. In addition to its visual appeal, the map also includes GIS tools enabling users to measure and analyze specific reef habitats. These and other features are explained in the map's useful help section. [JDC]

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Established in 2012, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent body with more than 130 member and observer states from around the world. This organization was formed "to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development." Here, visitors can find a number of informational resources about the IPBES' work regarding global biodiversity, including policy support tools, assessment reports, and a helpful glossary of important terms. The organization's most recent reports and other updates are highlighted on their site's main page. As of this write-up, this includes their 40-page Global Assessment Summary for Policymakers (released on May 6, 2019), which reports that "around 25 percent of species in assessed animal and plant groups are threatened ... suggesting that around one million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of drivers of biodiversity loss." [JDC]

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In recent years, DNA barcoding has emerged as a new way for scientists to identify unique species and protect the Earth's biodiversity. Readers interested in this field of research may want to check out the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD). Launched in 2005 and currently in its fourth iteration, BOLD describes itself as "an online workbench and database that supports the assembly and use of DNA barcode data [..., as well as] a collaborative hub for the scientific community and a public resource for citizens at large." Visitors can search its public data portal by scientific name, geography, name of the depository holding the specimen, and other fields. For example, a search for "Wisconsin" reveals that over 2,500 specimens representing 800 species have been collected in the state and sequenced. As of this write-up, BOLD contains more than 7.1 million barcodes from roughly 300,000 species. Instructors interested in using BOLD in the classroom should visit the Education Portal, available from the main page. BOLD is led by Paul Hebert, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph and the director of the Center for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG); and by Sujeevan Ratnasingham, CBG's associate director of informatics. [JDC]

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Wetlands support an incredibly rich variety of biodiversity and serve as vital habitat for migratory birds, and they also provide beneficial ecosystem services for humans, including groundwater recharge, water filtration, and flood reduction. Despite these important functions, wetlands were summarily drained and used for agriculture and real estate development in the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, but today their value is better understood by scientists and resource managers. With the National Wetlands Inventory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides extensive geospatial data on the current extent and location of the country's wetlands. Here, readers may enjoy exploring the Wetlands Mapper, a robust and regularly updated interactive web tool designed to work on both desktop and mobile devices, and they can also download a KML file to view wetlands using Google Earth. Visitors interested in conducting geospatial analysis can also download wetlands data by watershed or state, and reports on wetlands status and trends are available at the national and state level. Other topics covered here include data on riparian habitats (i.e. those at the land-water interface), historic wetlands data, and links to wetlands-related information at other federal agencies. [JDC]

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We originally featured the Catalogue of Life in the 3-30-2018 Scout Report, and since then this resource has added approximately 200,000 species to its vast index.

For researchers and students interested in global biodiversity, the Catalogue of Life is an index consisting of over 1.8 million species from around the globe. The catalogue collects this information from over 200 taxonomic databases, which are peer-reviewed by a team of experts. Visitors will find a link to the most recent edition of the catalogue, (updated monthly) from the site's homepage. Users can search the catalogue by keyword or browse by taxonomic tree (e.g. Animalia, bacteria, viruses) or by taxonomic classification (e.g. phylum, genus, species). The catalogue is available in twelve languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. Those interested in using the Catalogue of Life may want to start by taking a look at the resources page, which includes a user's guide and frequently asked questions about the index.

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