The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 6

Social studies instructors will find a wealth of powerful resources relating to nineteenth and twentieth century U.S. History on HERB, a database created by the American Social History Project (ASHP)/Center for Media and Learning (CML) at the City University of New York. Named after labor historian Herbert Gutman (co-founder of ASHP/CML), HERB offers provocative primary sources, accessible secondary source material, and a variety of interactive classroom activities, including role plays, debates, group projects, and reading and writing activities. The Collections are perhaps the best way to browse the HERB resources. These include Slave Communities & Resistance, Building the Railroads, and Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl. Resources are also organized into ten Historical Eras, beginning with Three Worlds Meet (to 1620) and ending with Contemporary U.S. (1976 to the present). In keeping with the mission of ASHP/CML, these resources are designed to help students understand how "everyday" individuals shaped U.S. history. [MMB]

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Researchers and students interested in the connections between health, sociology, psychology, and epidemiology will want to explore Yale University's Human Nature Lab. Directed by social scientist and physician Nicholas Christakis, the lab takes an "interdisciplinary - or transdisciplinary approach to understanding human behavior." The Human Nature Lab is currently committed to exploring the relationships between social networks and health. On this website, visitors can learn more about the Lab's research and read publications. Research is organized into six major categories, which visitors can explore via the Research tab. These areas include the Biology of Social Interactions (an examination of the factors - including genetic and evolutionary factors - that inform why and how people form social networks); Experiments with Face-to-Face Networks (investigations of how personal interactions can influence health behaviors); and Network Methodology (which focuses on improving the interdisciplinary process of researching social networks). In addition, visitors to this webpage can read about previous research initiatives at the lab. [MMB]

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For elementary school art educators, the Akron Art Museum offers this unique and engaging lesson plan about food-themed art. In this lesson, young artists explore examples of works of art with culinary connections, including Charles Bell's 1985 illustration Pleasant Tasting, Gumball #16 and Jackie Windsor's 1976 sculpture #2 Cooper, a work that some children have dubbed "spaghetti and meatballs." Students are invited to investigate these works with creative questions, such as "Can food be art? Why or why not?" and "If you could eat it, what would this artwork taste like?" Next, students may create their own sculptures of their personal ideal meal. In the process, young artists hone their skills in using line, shape, and color to create artwork. This lesson is designed for students in kindergarten through fourth grade. [MMB]

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More than a simple online dictionary, the Oxford Dictionaries website includes a number of features that will appeal to writers, writing instructors, and word-lovers of all sorts. For one, this is a "living dictionary," providing helpful information about the origins of words and noting how the colloquial uses of certain words have shifted over time. For example, the entry for nonplussed notes that although the word means confused, it has developed an informal North American definition as "not disconcerted; unperturbed." The Dictionary feature also provides numerous example sentences and possible synonyms. Collectively, these features enable one to not only look up words, but to also evaluate the most appropriate words to use for a variety of writing tasks. In addition to the extensive Dictionary feature, the Oxford Dictionaries include an extensive grammar guide that provides detailed and accessible explanations of verb tenses, punctuation, and a helpful list of commonly misused words and writing mistakes. Finally, Oxford Dictionaries also features a delightful Explore section, where readers will find answers to common queries about words and language. [MMB]

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From the Public Library of Science (PLOS) comes this extensive collection of articles and papers related to meta-research in the field of biology. To put it simply, meta-research is research about research. More specifically, meta-research investigates ways to improve research practices in order to "improve the quality and reliability of scientific research." In this collection, biological meta-research is sorted into seven categories, including Methods, Reporting, Sources of Bias, and Reproducibility. Within these collections, visitors will find a number of papers relating a variety of topics, including the importance of blind data (July 2015), gender representation on the boards of mathematical journals (August 2016), and a study candidly titled "How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-data of Survey Data." [MMB]

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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) - "the only association that addresses all aspects of music education" - offers a number of resources for K-12 music teachers. Founded in 1907, NAfME has historically played a key role in the establishment of music education programs in the United States. More recently, the association has been instrumental in developing the National Standards for Arts Education. On this website, visitors can learn more about the association's history and current role in public advocacy for music education. In addition, instructors can assess a number of resources, including lesson plans and journal articles, in the My Classroom portion of this website. While visitors will need a paid membership to explore the My Music Class library of lesson plans, a handful of lesson plans are offered free of charge to the general public. As of this Feburary write-up, the site offers four complete lesson plans (including lessons for grade levels K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) related to the intersections of Langston Hughes's poetry and blues music. These lessons can be found in the Black History Month Section. In addition, instructors will find a wealth of free resources about Jazz Music in the Jazz Appreciation Month section. [MMB]

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In May of 1939, passengers boarded the S.S. St. Louis in Hamburg, Germany. Almost all of the 937 passengers aboard the St. Louis were Jewish refugees who were in the process of applying for visas to enter the United States from Cuba. When the Cuban government refused to admit all but 28 of these passengers, some of the passengers personally appealed to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt for entry into the United States. When Roosevelt did not respond, the St. Louis was forced to sail back to Europe. Some passengers found refuge in Great Britain but most were forced to return to continental Europe where 254 St. Louis passengers were murdered in the Holocaust. This page from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Holocaust Encyclopedia tells the story of the St. Louis and its passengers. Readers will find a number of artifacts, including photographs of passengers and a radiogram sent by a St. Louis passenger to his children in Europe. In addition, visitors can listen to an oral history recording of passenger Gerda Blachmann Wilchfort. Finally, this site features an animated map of the ship's journey, which provides a powerful classroom resource for social studies teachers. [MMB]

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Recently, organic chemists have worked to identify ways to make chemical syntheses and processes more environmentally friendly. In this webinar, courtesy of the Royal Society of Chemistry, visitors can learn about the science behind these green chemistry efforts and how these efforts are shaping medical and process chemistry. This webinar features three presenters who are leaders in this emerging field: University of California, Santa Barbara professor Bruce Lipshutz; Wilfried Braje, principal scientist at the pharmaceutical research company AbbVie; and Fabrice Gallou, principal fellow at the global healthcare company Novartis Pharma. This webinar is moderated by Chemistry World editor Benjamin Valsler. Visitors can view this one hour webinar in full by completing a free online registration. [MMB]

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From Google Arts & Culture comes this interactive exhibition about John Millington Synge's controversial 1907 play, The Playboy of the Western World. Set in Western Ireland in the early 1900s, The Playboy tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man who becomes a local hero after he reports to have murdered his father. Despite the play's use of poetic and evocative language, the opening performance provoked riots from Irish nationalists who believed the story portrayed Ireland in a derogatory light. This online exhibition, curated by Nicholas Grene and James Little of Trinity College Dublin's School of English, was created in commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the The Playboy's first performance. Visitors to this site may scroll through the exhibit to learn more about the historical context and explore select artifacts, including diary pages, corrected manuscripts, and a letter written by Synge to Molly Allgood, his fiance, the day after riots broke out in response to the play. In addition, visitors can listen to audio recordings of dramatic dialogue and view photographs from various productions of the play. [MMB]

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My Mother Before Me is a unique crowdsourced project that invites participants to submit photographs of their mothers with one caveat: these photographs must have been taken before project participants were born. The project was created for the new film 20th Century Women that centers on mothers and mother-figures. On this website, visitors can browse an interactive gallery of photographs organized by decade. When adding images, participants may select how much information to include about their mothers. While some include only their mother's first name, others provide thoughtful narrative about who their mothers were and who they became. So far, participants have submitted photographs from school dances, weddings, vacations, college graduations, and the more candid everyday moments. Interested readers are encouraged to share their own stories and photographs. [MMB]

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Anyone fascinated by the fields of paleontology and archeology will love Western Digs, a science news site devoted to research and developments in these fields from the western United States. Created by Blake de Pastino, a science journalist who has worked for National Geographic and YouTube's Scishow, Western Digs is regularly updated and addresses a variety of topics, including Rock Art, recently discovered fossils, and new clues into the lives of people who lived in the American West over the past several centuries. For example, one recent article highlights the research of Dr. Sherry Towers of Arizona State University, who investigated the geometrical construction of Mesa Verde's Sun Temple. Another recent article reports on the recent discovery of human bones in the Yukon, which provides new insights into the migration of early humans. Each article is written in an engaging, accessible style and includes embedded links to research articles and other related resources for those interested in further reading. [MMB]

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From Minnesota Public Radio's Marketplace comes Make Me Smart, a new podcast about the connections between "the economy, technology, and culture." The podcast is hosted by Kai Ryssdal, a veteran business reporter who has been with Marketplace since 2001, and technology reporter Molly Wood, who currently serves as Marketplace's tech correspondent and who has previously served as a tech columnist for the New York Times. Together, Ryssdal and Wood use their expertise to investigate a number of issues relating to politics, business, personal finance, and more. In a recent episode, The Business of Moral Capitalism, the duo explore the concept of "moral capitalism," or the practice of businesses using their leverage to intervene in governmental issues. In another recent episode, they explore the history of financial conflicts of interests among U.S. presidents, dating back to George Washington. [MMB]

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The MIT Technology Review is a magazine that seeks to "provide an intelligent, lucid, and authoritarian filter for the overwhelming flood of information about technology." Published since 1899, the MIT Technology Review has gone through a number of changes over the years and currently provides accessible reporting about a wide variety of technology related issues. The magazine's Computing section contains a number of articles that will be of interest to a wide range of readers. One recent article investigates the neuroscience behind what makes us susceptible to hacking. Another explores the politics of Ajit Pai, who has been selected by President Donald Trump to head the United States Federal Communications Commission. Visitors can browse for Computing articles by categories such as Big Data, Security and Privacy, and 3-D Printing. [MMB]

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The Arab American National Museum of Dearborn, Michigan is "the first and only museum in the United States devoted to Arab American history and culture." On this website, visitors can learn more about the museum and explore a number of interactive exhibits. These online materials are available via the Exhibits and Collections sections. In Exhibits, visitors can explore four interactive exhibits that highlight the museum's permanent collections. One of these, Coming to America, traces the history of Arab immigration to North America back to Zammouri, a Moroccan man who arrived in modern day Florida in the early sixteenth century. Zommouri, who had been sold into slavery in Europe, played a key role in the early exploration of the southwestern region of North America. In another online exhibit, Making an Impact, visitors can learn more about important Arab-American individuals and their contributions to education, science, culture, and more. [MMB]

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Anyone who has planted a vegetable garden knows that the ideal time to plant can vary widely by geographic location. The National Gardening Association has created this tool, the Garden Planting Calendar, to help. Simply type in a select zipcode, landmark, or city to access a handy chart of when and how to plant all varieties of vegetables. Selecting a specific crop pulls of detailed information and images. Readers will also find information about when to start sowing vegetables and when to (if necessary) transplant vegetables from indoor to outdoor gardens. In addition to this chart, visitors can check out quick planting strategies for both the fall and the spring. This website will appeal to new gardeners as well as experienced gardeners in new cities. [MMB]

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In 1942, Jacob Lawrence, who was then in his twenties, completed his series of 60 small tempera paintings that along with textual captions depict the "Great Migration," the movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North in the early twentieth century. The Phillips Collection acquired 30 of these panels, and another 30 panels are owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. All 60 paintings are currently on loan to the Seattle Art Museum in celebration of Lawrence's 100th birthday, but the Phillips has created this web feature that can be viewed at anytime. Visitors can browse all 60 panels with Lawrence's own video commentary (recorded prior to his death in 2000). Textual transcripts are also available. Other sections include migrant's letters, resources for educators, and curated responses to the panels by artists and poets such as Kerry James Marshall and Lou Stovall. There is additional video of curator commentaries, and the Jacob Lawrence's Harlem section features photographs by Lawrence's contemporary Gordon Parks along with a playlist of music from the 1920s and 30s, including Lead Belly, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. [DS]

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From the Musical Technology Group of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain comes Freesound, a collection of "audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps" that have all been released under Creative Commons licenses to allow their reuse. Intended for sound artists to use as they create songs and other works, this collection may also appeal to anyone looking to integrate sounds into a professional presentation or educational video. New users may want to start by checking out licensing information, available in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Help page. Visitors can learn about how to properly attribute sounds to ensure that they use this service legally and fairly. Visitors can also browse a large collection of sounds, accompanied by descriptions, via the Sound section. Available sounds range from short instrumentals to the sound of heavy rain to a "windy farmland" recorded in the Netherlands. [MMB]

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Whether you are trying to create a new habit or break an old one, Way of Life is a free mobile application (available for both iPhone and Android devices) that promises to help. This app allows users to track positive habits (such as exercising and drinking water) and view their progress via a series of graphs and charts. Similarly, users can also track habits they are trying to break and view corresponding weekly data. Way of Life suggests a number of lifestyle choices that users can select to tract (ranging from Reading to Flossing). However, not all of these suggestions may be for everyone, so the app also allows users to create their own categories. The Basic version of Way of Life is free; users have the option to purchase additional features through the app. [MMB]

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