The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 41

Launched in 2016, the Science Friday Educator Collaborative invites experienced science educators around the country to collaborate with Science Friday staff in order to create innovative and interactive educational resources for science classrooms. Each week, the collaborative releases a new lesson plan designed for students in K-12 classroom. On this website, visitors can explore all lesson plans created by the 2017 Educator Collaborative cohort, which began releasing weekly resources on September 1, 2017. So far, the series includes a lesson plan for middle school students about friction, in which students are tasked with designing a better winter boot; a lesson for upper-elementary school students about honeycombs, in which students explore shapes and patterns to discover why honeycombs are hexagonal; and middle and high school lesson plans that engage students with forensic entomology. New lesson plans will be released throughout the year, so stay tuned. [MMB]

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In December 1901, Australia passed the Immigration Restriction Act, drastically restricting immigration of individuals who were of non-European descent. The Act was the beginning of a series of laws informally known as the White Australia policy, which collectively functioned to exclude individuals from Asia and the Pacific Islands from Australia during the first half of the twentieth century. Historian Tim Sherratt of the University of Canberra, in collaboration with a number of University of Canberra students, have launched the Real Face of White Australia - a citizen history project that seeks to uncover how these policies functioned to police the lives of Australian individuals. This project invites individuals to examine, mark, and transcribe identification documents from the National Archives of Australia, including Certificates of Domicile and Certificates Exempting from the Dictation Test. As these documents reveal, a number of individuals of Asian descent lived in Australia under the White Australia Policy, including members of the large Chinese-Australian community. These individuals were required to carry these identification documents at all times, even if they were born in Australia. To learn more about these "invisible Australians" and their histories, visitors can check out a number of essays, courtesy of the National Archives of Australia, about the history of Chinese Australians and the significance of these identification documents. [MMB]

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From the University of Alabama's Department of Religious Studies comes Studying Religion in Culture, a collection of blogs designed to foster conversation about "the manner in which those behaviors and institutions named as religion are elements of ordinary cultural practices." This collection includes six blogs: one authored by faculty; one "by or about" undergraduate students; one "by or about" graduate students"; one guest blog (authored by scholars from other departments or institutions); a collection of blogs created for specific classes; and a serialized blog that contains 24 separate essay posts. All of these blogs contain images, essays, tidbits, video clips, and more that may appeal to scholars and students of religious studies. Recent posts include a lengthy essay about a movie adaptation of Ghost in the Shell by religious studies scholar Ting Guo and a conversation between a faculty member and a student about the newly launched Database of Religious History. [MMB]

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Founded in 2014 by music scholar and composer Elam Rotem and musician and musicologist Jorg-Andreas Botticher, Early Music Sources is designed to "simplify the access to the vast amount of online early music sources." As of this write up, this resource contains two databases and a YouTube channel. The database allows visitors to explore over 1,500 articles, books, and manuscripts published between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries. Visitors can conduct a text search of these items or browse by category, such as Basso Continuo-English; keyboard instruments; or tuning and temperament. Many of these materials have been digitized and can be accessed for free. Meanwhile, the Iconography Database, which "focuses on depictions of music-making that may record aspects of contemporaneous performance practice," features 152 fascinating works of art, which visitors are invited to browse by Century, Instrument, or Category. Finally, visitors won't want to miss the site's delightful YouTube channel, which offers accessible and engaging educational videos about a variety of topics related to the early music movement. [MMB]

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Cult of Pedagogy is a blog, podcast, and video series designed for teachers of all subjects and grade levels. Created by former middle school language arts teacher Jennifer Gonzalez, Cult of Pedagogy addresses a wide variety of issues related to classroom instruction, curriculum development, educational technology, and more. In the Blog section, visitors can browse for posts by categories including Classroom Management, Learning Theory and Hot Topics. Alternatively, visitors can explore posts by more specific subject tags, including first-year teachers, cultural competence, and teacher-student relationships. Posts are also tagged by grade level, ranging from K-12 to college. Many posts incorporate interviews with a wide variety of educational researchers and specialists, offering visitors a range of viewpoints and perspectives. Podcast fans can check out Gonzalez's weekly podcast on this website or via iTunes. In addition, Gonzalez offers a series of short "how to" videos addressing topics ranging from classroom discussion strategies to behavior management issues. [MMB]

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The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) hosts this impressive collection of primary source sets designed to facilitate student engagement in a variety of historical and literary topics. These sets were designed by the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee, a team of K-12 and college level educators. One of the most recently added Primary Source Sets is a variety of materials related to Ralph Waldo Ellison's Invisible Man, which includes an FBI file on Ellison for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and an audio recording of Ellison's 1966 Congressional testimony about social conditions in Harlem. Another primary source set addresses the Columbian Exchange in an excerpt from James Carrick Moore's 1815 book The History of the Small Pox and a photograph of a sweet potato plant taken in 1900. This impressive collection includes dozens of other primary source sets, including Pop Art in the US; Stonewall and its Impact on the Gay Liberation Movement; and Latin American Revolutionaries, to name just a few. [MMB]

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This recent PLOS Collection features a variety of research papers on the topic of biomaterials, or the study of how natural and synthetic materials interact with biological systems. Such research has implications for many areas of medicine, including the development of drug delivery systems and artificial organs. For example, one recent article in this collection authored by a team of researchers at UCLA's Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biology, examines how titanium-based biomaterials impact the circadian rhythms of bone marrow cells. Another featured article from a team of scientists at the Max Planck Center for Intelligent Systems, examines copper nanowhiskers in order to access their potential in preventing biofilm formation on biomedical implants. The PLOS collection is currently accepting additional papers related to this growing field, so readers can expect this collection to grow. [MMB]

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Students and scholars of women's history and the history of international relations may be interested in this extensive digital repository of women's travel diaries, courtesy of Duke University Libraries. This collection, culled from the university's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library features diaries authored by British and American women during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many of these diaries were penned by missionaries, providing insight into the the daily experiences and perspectives of women who participated in missionary work places around the world - including the continent of Africa and the countries of India and China. Visitors are invited to browse these diaries in a number of ways, including by date, location, subject, or source collection. In total, this collection includes 162 entirely digitized diaries, most dating from the first half of the twentieth century. [MMB]

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The United Kingdom's National Trust "looks after places of historic interest and natural beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland." The Trust also hosts this blog, which allows individuals around the globe to explore some of these beautiful places. As of this write-up, the most recent post features the ornate wallpaper inside Penrhyn Castle in North Wales. This wallpaper was created by Chinese artists and depicts scenes from a Chinese garden. Another recent post highlights a porcelain jar from Japan that is housed at Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire England. These jars, as blog author Emile de Bruijn notes, "are not just visually striking, but also provide intriguing evidence of the global trade networks of the mid-eighteenth century." Visitors are invited to browse past entries by numerous subject tags including Arts and Crafts, Conservation, History of Ideas, and much more. [MMB]

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From the Biodiversity Heritage Library comes this online exhibition dedicated to prominent Latino/a natural scientists and their work. On this exhibit's homepage, visitors are invited to explore exhibition materials by People of Note, which highlights nine individuals. These individuals include Ynes Mexia, a Mexican-American plant collector who worked with Stanford University botanist Roxana Stinchfield Harris and helped collect over 500 plant species. Another is Jose Zeledon, a Costa Rican ornithologist who identified numerous birds in the country. For each featured individual, visitors can check out a timeline of their lives, featured images, and digitized books from the Biodiversity Heritage Collection (available via the Find Me in Books Link). In addition to exploring this collection by individuals, visitors are invited to browse by Country or Language of featured material or explore material via an interactive timeline. This exhibition is available in both English and Spanish. [MMB]

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Today, 60% of the world and 99% of the United States experiences a devoid of total darkness due to light pollution. How does the ubiquitous presence of artificial light impact human beings and other creatures? In this essay for Aeon, journalist Rebecca Boyle investigates the wealth of scientific research behind this question. For example, a team at the Max Planck Institute found that even small amounts of streetlights suppressed melatonin release in blackbirds. Another study, headed by circadian biologist Randy Nelson, found that exposing Nile grass rats to light at night seemed to increase their rates of depression and obesity. Other researchers have been focused on solutions: NASA, for example, has found that red hued lights seem to disrupt sleep less that blue hued light. To learn more, check out the full essay. [MMB]

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Folks who hail from England or have a connection to the country will enjoy this new map from the company Emu Analytics that documents building heights in 25 British cities. Each map is color coded to indicate each building's height in meters, and visitors can learn more about each building's height and area by selecting an individual building. In addition, each map is accompanied by a series of statistics including the total number of buildings and density index. Featured cities include London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool and much more. Visitors may also search these maps by postcode. [MMB]

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Hosted by Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain and astronomer Dr. Pamela L. Gay, Astronomy Cast is a weekly podcast that offers listeners "a fact-based journey through the cosmos." Each thirty minute episode features a different astronomy-themed topic via a lively conversation between Cain and Gay. Recent episode topics have included the Cassini mission and what scientists learned from it; an exploration of the dwarf planet Pluto; and the recent solar eclipse. Another more sobering episode describes the history of the Arecibo Observatory, which was damaged by Hurricane Maria. On this website, visitors can check out the final version of each podcast along with a longer, unedited version. Listeners can also subscribe to Astronomy Cast on iTunes, Android, Google Play, or RSS. [MMB]

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From the McMaster University Queen's University Archives and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library of the University of Toronto comes Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing, a collection of almost 100 essays that highlight different aspects of the history of Canadian publishing. These essays, which are referred to as case studies, are authored by English scholars and accompanied by related archival material. One such case study documents the history of Aboriginal authorship in twentieth century Canada. Another case study, "Publishing for Children: McClelland and Stewart's Long Legacy" pays homage to the publisher of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh series and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series. In addition to browsing case study essays, visitors may also browse essays and archival material by date, publisher, creator, and more. In addition, visitors can browse archival material directly by categories including letters, dust jackets, and images. [MMB]

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As fans of classic comic books know, images from comic books are often accompanied by exclamations such as "Wham!" "Ka-pow!" or "Zap!" The Comic Book Sound Effect Database is a collection of over 2,000 onomatopoeias from over 200 comic books. As of this write up, most included comic books are classic Marvel titles, including the Fantastic Four, Amazing Spiderman and Incredible Hulk. Visitors are invited to search this collection by sound effect, from "!" (52 entries) to "Owww!" (7 entries) to "Zzzz Zzzz" (4 entries). Each entry features an image of a panel with the sound effect, accompanied by information about the comic. Alternatively, visitors can search by a number of subject tags introduced by the creator. As the author of this page notes, "There is one special tag -- COOL -- for notable, interesting and original sound effects, chosen at my discretion." [MMB]

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Warning - this site is seriously fun! The Cooper Hewitt has placed digital representations of its "diverse collection spanning thirty centuries of historic and contemporary design" on its website and there are some interesting ways to search. For starters, it's possible to search by color. This is because digital images showing collection objects have been cataloged by color, assigned by automated scanning that "averages" an object's colors. The resulting averaged colors are in turn mapped to the system of specifying color by alphanumeric codes that's used in web design, thus creating searchable colors for the collection. For example, clicking the swatch labeled Firebrick, hexcode #b22222, retrieves 318 objects such as a playing card, the 7 of hearts; a Fiestaware teacup dating from 1936; a 1973 political poster, "Down with the Chilean Dictatorship"; or a mid-twentieth century Italian glass bowl with deep red stripes. Other ways to search include by country, department, people, or within publications. There's also a search by highlights of the collection: Architect's eye, Designs for automobiles, Designs for interiors, Psychedelic posters, and more. Keyword searches are also possible - try Eames. [DS]

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Milkr is a collaborative mind mapping tool that can be used to share thoughts and organize information. Users can create spider diagrams containing as many interconnected notes as they wish. Notes can be re-arranged in a drag-and-drop interface. The content of each note is edited with Markdown. Notes may also have attached files and images, inline images, embedded YouTube videos, and more. Other users can also attach comments to individual notes within a diagram. A number of sample diagrams are presented at the bottom of the Milkr home page. Milkr works in any modern browser. [CRH]

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Sortd for Gmail provides a "smart skin" on top of Gmail to transform a user's inbox into a powerful organizational tool. Users can create prioritized lists of tasks and associate them with email messages. Once a message is associated with a list, it can be removed from the inbox to reduce clutter. Sortd also allows users to edit the subject line of messages to actually reflect what the message is about. By default, Sortd also provides a 'follow-up' list for messages that need a later response. But users may add as many lists as necessary to support their workflow and can customize how those lists are displayed. Sortd for Gmail is available for Android and iOS devices and also as a Google Chrome extension. [CRH]

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