The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 13

Stanford University offers this unique online course designed to help students of all ages and levels (and their instructors) develop "strategies to learn and to relate to math well." Taught by Dr. Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford, this course is intended to help students who have had negative experiences with math classes gain both the confidence and the metacognitive skills to approach mathematics. The self-paced course, which includes six twenty minute lessons, includes information about brain science as well as strategies for approaching mathematical reasoning. To enroll in this course, students (or their parents) or instructors need to complete a free registration. This resource may especially appeal to high school and college mathematics instructors, mathematics tutors, adult education instructors, and students interested in reassessing their approach to math. [MMB]

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The University of Minnesota, in collaboration with Saint Paul's Penumbra Theatre Company, has created Umbra Search African American History, a search tool that brings together an extensive collection of digital materials related to African American history and art. The name is a nod to the Umbra Society, a 1960s literary collective that played a central role in the Black Arts Movement. With Umbra Search, visitors can explore over 500,000 digitized items. New users may want to start with the Get Started section on the landing page to see highlighted example searches (including Video from the Civil Rights Movement, Underground Railroad, and the Repertoire of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre). Users may also want to venture over to the #UmbraSearch, a companion site that showcases digital projects created by archivists, students, and artists using items found via Umbra Search. These projects include The Life and Times of Hallie Q. Brown, an interactive timeline highlighting the life of the influential activist and educator; The Politics of Bibliophilia, a series of posts from Cecily Marcus and Davu Seru of the Givens Collection of African American Literature; and two poems by Andrea Jenkins, accompanied by a collection of photographs selected by Jenkins herself. [MMB]

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Originally featured in the August 6, 2004 issue of The Scout Report, Visionlearning continues to produce a variety of engaging multimedia resources to facilitate teaching science to high school and college-level learners. Created with support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education, Visionlearning offers a series of learning modules, available in both English and Spanish, related to Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Mathematics, and Physics. There are also modules about the scientific method and the Process of Science. Each module includes a quiz and links to related resources. A Glossary of science terms provides learners with helpful definitions and also lists modules where the term may be found. Visionlearning notes that included materials align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Instructors and learners can access all modules by creating a free account. [MMB]

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The Minnesota Humanities Center, Indian Affairs Council of Minnesota, and Smithsonian National Museum of the Native American, with support from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, have teamed up to create Why Treaties Matter. This online exhibit explores "how Dakota and Ojibwe treaties with the U.S. government affected the lands and lifeways of the Indigenous peoples of the place now called Minnesota and why these binding agreements between nations still matter today." Visitors will find a series of primary documents, video interviews, maps, and interactive timelines that detail a variety of topics, including treaties between the Dakota and the Ojibwe nations, treaties between the United States government and the Dakota and Ojibwe during the nineteenth century (often broken by the U.S. government); the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act; and the meaning of tribal self-governance in contemporary law and society. This exhibition illustrates, at once, the violent displacement and injustice experienced by the Ojibwe and Dakota nations as well as the history, culture, and traditions of the Ojibwe and Dakota nations and the significance of tribal sovereignty today. Why Treaties Matter is accompanied by a series of resources for educators, including a series of educators guide and a terminology primer.[MMB]

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For K-12 science teachers, National Geographic, in collaboration with wildlife filmmakers Jim and Jamie Dutcher, offers this downloadable guide to teaching about the Gray Wolf in North America. This guide is designed to be used by science instructors in traditional classroom settings as well as those who teach in out-of-school learning environments, such as after school programs, museums, zoos, and libraries. Within this guide, instructors will find a number of interactive learning activities organized by grade levels( K-3; 3-5; 6-8; and 9-12). These activities cover topics including human perceptions of gray wolves, the role of the wolf pack and social organization to the wolf species, and information about the change in gray wolf population in the United States over time. The guide is presented as a downloadable PDF; related materials, including a video highlighting the Dutcher's work, are available on this site. [MMB]

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Since 1995, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy has been a source of peer-reviewed information about the field of philosophy. The encyclopedia is continuously updated by a variety of philosophy scholars, offering the public with an increasingly useful one-stop shop for major philosophy concepts. One highlight of the Internet Encyclopedia is this thorough page dedicated to Ethics, a field commonly divided into three subfields: metaethics (an examination of the origins of ethical ideas); normative ethics (identifying and naming ethical codes and behaviors); and applied ethics (considering ethics of a variety of real-world issues). Here, visitors can learn more about these three subfields and the history of their development. As an online encyclopedia, these detailed explanations are accompanied by embedded links to related topics pages. Interested readers will want to note the extensive reference list for further reading. [MMB]

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The Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign promotes graduate study in the areas of written composition, language, literacy, and rhetoric. Comprised of faculty and graduate students from several departments within the university, the Center is a helpful resource for UIUC students and staff as well as the anyone interested in perfecting and honing their writing skills. As an informational resource, the site offers a platform to discuss teaching, share research, and build networks. One substantial section, The Writers Workshop, may be especially useful for budding writers. For instance, within the Writer Resources area, there are several Writer Tips on topics ranging from General Tips (such as Audience, Quotations, Transitions, etc.) to Genre-specific Tips (including Abstracts, Cover Letters, and Personal Statements). There are even tips and strategies for overcoming writer's block. Spoiler: take notes, practice freewriting, and remember - it's OK to work on a middle section first. [CDR]

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Seeing Theory is a beautiful interactive website that aims to make statistics accessible to a wide range of students. The method? Interactive visualizations. The project was designed and created by Daniel Kunin, a student at Brown University, and brings to life fundamental concepts (Basic Probability, Compound Probability, Distributions, Statistical Inference, and Regression) covered in most introductory college or Advanced Placement (AP) statistics classes. Visualizations are broken down by categories and are accompanied by additional information about the method and data that they demonstrate. While some modules note that they are still Under Construction, there is plenty here to inform and entertain users. [CDR]

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The state of California was profoundly impacted by World War II in a variety of ways: the war played a key role in industrializing and urbanizing the state and affected the daily lives of Californians. On this Google Arts and Culture page from the California State Archives, visitors can explore these changes via primary documents. These documents are organized into topical sections that explore American entry into World War II, the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, the role of home front efforts (including Victory Gardens and rationing), the tragic death of California residents in battle, and post-war California. These topics are illustrated by photographs, government documents, posters, telegrams, pamphlets, and more. A few especially powerful or interesting pieces in this collection include a newspaper published at a Japanese internment camp, a bag of "Ration Mix Coffee Substitute" (made from "roasted blended finest quality chickpea, barley, and figs"), and a letter to Governor Earl Warren from the general manager of the California Chamber of Commerce, noting the need for day care centers at war manufacturing plants, as "50% of the remaining [female] applicants have small children who must be cared for before mothers can accept employment." [MMB]

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LatinAmericanScience.org is "a resource for journalists, scientists, policymakers and the general public meant to shed light on the scientific research carried out in Latin America." Founded in 2011 by science journalist Aleszu Bajak (whose work experience includes NPR's Science Friday), LatinAmericanScience.org is authored by a team of scientists and graduate scholars. Recent articles include an investigation of la roya, a fungus that has caused coffee leaf rot in Colombia and an exploration of species available in the Sonoran caves, which are home to no fewer than 144 species of bats. Visitors can also explore all previously published articles in full, and may search for previous articles by country. The link above is for the English-language version of LatinAmericanScience.org; those who read Spanish may wish to browse the Spanish language edition (which features unique content) via a link in the site's menu. [MMB]

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Bad at Sports is a podcast and blog created by artists across the United States that highlights art news, showcases new artwork, and engages in conversation about art and the art community. On the site's blog, visitors can check out features such as Sunday Comics (a weekly feature about contemporary comic artists) and Thinks (a series of illustrated essays and interviews, also published weekly). Meanwhile, Bad at Sports currently features almost 600 podcast episodes, which visitors can listen to in full on this website. Each hour long episode explores the work of a contemporary artist via long form interview. Recently featured artists include Kerry James Marshall, Carris Adams, and Yesomi Umolu. Both the blog and podcast series provide an engaging way for art fans to learn about established and emerging artists across all genres. [MMB]

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Marginalia Review of Books, a channel of the Los Angeles Review of Books is an "international, open-access review of literature and culture at the nexus of history, theology, religion, and the arts." Published online every two weeks, Marginalia is largely written and edited by humanities and social science scholars and features art, film, and book reviews, essays, interviews, and fiction. Visitors can browse all current and previously published material by these categories. In addition, this online magazine features an extensive series of essays relating to religious texts, which can be found under the Sections tab. One recently published piece is a lyrical essay by Carla Baricz that weaves together her childhood in Romania, her fear of earthquakes, and the role of books in her family history. In another recently published essay, religious studies graduate scholar Ed Simon writes about the moralist, Pelagius. In addition, visitors can listen to a number of recorded interviews with the magazine's First Impression series, available (along with written interviews) under the Interview tab. The most recent First Impression features an interview with Religious Studies scholar Birgit Meyer about the relationship between Christianity and filmmaking in Ghana. [MMB]

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Gemstones are used to create jewelry and decorate objects. The chemistry of gemstones also reveals clues about the formation of our planet. On this recent episode of PBS's NOVA, available for free streaming on this website, visitors can learn more about the science behind gemstones. The documentary, part of a three-part series on "treasures of the earth," features interviews with a diverse group of experts, including geologists, chemists, jewelers, and mining professionals. In addition, the documentary features gorgeous footage of a number of gemstones. The film is accompanied by a number of related links, including an extensive glossary of gems and articles about the history and science behind diamonds and pearls. Fans of this documentary can also check out the remaining videos in the Treasures of the Earth series, includes documentaries on metals and natural sources of power. [MMB]

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From Mould Press, a publishing house in Milan, Italy, comes MOULD, a periodical publication about contemporary culture. Identifying as neither a magazine nor a book, the publication "aims to interpret the complexity of contemporary culture by stimulating a dialogue between its multiple forms and contaminations." With this project, readers will find a selection of eight drawings in black and white that appeared in MOULD, along with artist interviews. The project is curated by Francesca di Nardo; each drawing/interview pair is intended to draw out "the dichotomy between reality and fiction and between original and reproduction." Drawings may be explored in detail on the website or downloaded for future use. [CDR]

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The Iris is the blog of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, and has been online since 2010. The blog is written by Getty curators, educators, scientists, scholars, digital specialists, guest speakers, interns, and many others, in the hope of offering an "engaging, behind-the-scenes look at art in all its aspects - history, conservation, research, publishing, education, and digital interpretation." Posts are tagged into several broad categories, reflecting the breadth of the Getty: Art & Archives, Conservation, People & Places, Scholarship, Technology, Audio & Video, and Series. For example, a post from March 23, 2017 titled, What Is Concrete Poetry?, can be found under either Art & Archives or Audio & Video. However, what's more interesting about it is that it details a current exhibition on concrete poetry, featuring such works as Augusto de Campos's "Lygia Fingers," a poem from 1953 written for his wife-to-be, Lygia Azeredo, or Ian Hamilton Finlay's 1968 piece, "Cork/Net," a wordplay with a spiraling ring of words and letters. There is also audio, another poem by Augusto de Campos, "O Pulsar." Other recent posts in Art & Archives discuss feminist performance art; Alchemy, with audio by David Brafman, associate curator of rare books; and a symposium on the Medieval Bestiary. Visitors are invited to comment, and can subscribe to receive daily or weekly updates. [DS]

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Many writers are on the hunt for a writing tool that will help spur creativity. Luckily, Jotterpad, a text editor for Android devices, was designed with the creative writer in mind. Like other options out there, this writing tool aims to reduce distraction and promote writing through a crisp, clean typing interface. What sets it apart, are the details. Typeface options have been selected with ease of use in mind; fonts are easy on the eye and readable on multiple devices. Tech-savvy users may even import custom typeface, should the desire arise. Additionally, Jotterpad includes a Night mode to facilitate working in the evenings. Other highlights include a built-in dictionary, thesaurus, and rhyming dictionary for those poets among us. Finished products may be exported in PDF, RTF, HTML, DOCX, or plain text file formats. [CDR]

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Do you have trouble getting up each morning? Are you guilty of hitting snooze multiple times before starting your day? If so, this application may be for you. I Can't wake up, an app for Android and iOS devices, functions as an alarm clock specifically for those who struggle to get out of bed. This particular alarm clock requires users to perform a basic task, such as a math problem, before they are able to hit snooze or turn off their alarm. In fact, the alarm actually gets louder the longer users procrastinate on doing the task. The basic version of this application is free. [MMB]

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