The Scout Report -- Volume 25, Number 47

The Native American Passamaquoddy Tribe hails from eastern Maine and parts of New Brunswick, making it "the easternmost tribe in the United States." The Passamaquoddy Peoples' Knowledge Portal is the tribe's digital archive that shares parts of their history and culture with the general public and also functions as a repository for their ongoing language preservation project with the Library of Congress. This project focuses on digitizing and transcribing wax cylinder sound recordings that were made in 1890 when the anthropologist Walter Jesse Fewkes visited the tribe with a phonograph. Since the number of fluent speakers of the Passamaquoddy's ancestral language has declined sharply in recent decades, this project is of tremendous cultural and historical value. Here, visitors can listen to audio clips from some of those 19th-century recordings and also explore other sound recordings, images, videos, and documents depicting Passamaquoddy culture and heritage that have been curated and annotated by tribal members. The portal's main page highlights categories from its Digital Heritage archives such as Cultural Life, Historic Events, and Museum Collection Items. Via the menu at the top, visitors can peruse the portal's Collections, read about Passamaquoddy History, and view the Traditional Knowledge Labels specifying culturally appropriate ways to use the materials in this archive. [JDC]

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History and social studies teachers may be interested in this standards-aligned lesson plan from the team at EDSITEment, a library of free teaching resources created by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Written with middle and high school students in mind, this inquiry-based lesson plan is organized into three activities focused on the Underground Railroad and "one of its most famous conductors, Harriet Tubman." As preparation, the lesson suggests that students craft a timeline of the era using primary sources linked from the Library of Congress' Chronicling America project and from the Digital Public Library of America. The first activity concentrates on the life of Harriet Tubman, with students using provided resources to consider what made Tubman an effective leader and how her legacy should be remembered. In the second activity, students work in small groups to analyze primary sources and answer questions about Tubman's involvement in the Underground Railroad. This information can then feed into the third activity, in which students map one route of the Underground Railroad. The lesson also describes a synthesis writing assignment to assess students' learning, as well as suggestions for extension activities and links to numerous additional resources on this topic. [JDC]

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Literature enthusiasts will appreciate this lighthearted podcast discussing the etymology of words, appropriately named Lexitecture. Hosts Ryan (a Canadian former journalist) and Amy (a Scottish former English teacher) each choose a word to bring to the table every episode, and together they trace the roots of the word back to its origin. The words featured on the podcast are often uncommon (e.g. "busker" or "trepanning"), but occasionally Lexitecture covers words English speakers use on a daily basis (e.g. "no" or "water"). The hosts' diverse backgrounds and distinct personalities make it an enjoyable exploration of etymology. Writers and readers alike should find many helpful takeaways from the work these two hosts do, if not for the specific words they choose, but in aiding you with your own etymological studies. Lexitecture is released every two weeks. Episodes range in length from 10 minutes up to an hour and a half. Those interested in listening from the beginning will find more than 50 episodes (as of this write-up) in an archive accessible via a link on the site's Home page. Listeners can stream Lexitecture on the podcast website, or on platforms such as Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play Music. [AL]

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While free public domain books can be readily downloaded from resources like Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive, those wishing to read these finds on an e-reader or mobile device may be somewhat frustrated by their formatting or mistakes in transcription. This sentiment is the inspiration behind Standard Ebooks, "a volunteer driven, not-for-profit effort to produce a collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks that meet or exceed the quality of commercially produced ebooks." Some of the ways Standard Ebooks strives to improve their source material include proofreading and correcting typos and ephemera, editing the typography and design for consistency, and updating the formatting to meet current e-book best practices such as tables of contents and popup footnotes. As of this write-up, more than 300 titles are available, including L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, Booker T. Washington's Up from Slavery, and P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves Stories. Visitors can browse Standard Ebooks' full library in order of newest additions, author name, reading ease, or length, and each e-book is available in four different file formats. Those interested in participating in this project should visit the Get Involved section to learn how. [JDC]

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The UK National Gallery presents the Art Detective website, with a mission to increase the visibility of public art collections in the United Kingdom by connecting "public art collections with specialists and members of the public." Before exploring the site's rich offerings, users should check out the Art Detective Collections Guide, accessible under the For Collections tab. This downloadable PDF guide acts as an overview of the website and acquaints readers with relevant terminology. Visitors may wish to begin by browsing thematic Groups, which offer background information and aggregate discussions on areas such as Dress and Textiles, Northern Ireland: Artists and Subjects, and Sculpture. Clicking the Discussions tab reveals a more than 470 user-generated questions (as of this write-up) and replies, which can be filtered by status (active or complete), artwork type, and thematic group. Topics under discussion include (for example) "Who is the sitter in 'Portrait of an African' attributed to Allan Ramsay?" The Discoveries tab shows the fruits of users' work, featuring solved mysteries. One example is the identity of the sitter in a portrait by John Munnoch (1879-1915), thought to be another artist named Jessie MacGregor (1847-1919), but revealed by Art Detective users' sleuthing to be a different, younger woman also named Jessie MacGregor, who was the artist's fiancee at the time the portrait was painted. [DS]

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Educators, students, and anyone interested in brushing up their earth science knowledge may want to check out this resource on the rock cycle created by the Geological Society of London. The main page features a colorful diagram showing an overview of the rock cycle with clickable labels leading to explanations of the cycle's various processes (e.g. weathering, sediment deposition, uplift), with each accompanied by several illustrative photos. Also included here are links to definitions of the three fundamental rock types (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) with more specific examples for each type, as well as some instances of how they are used in everyday life. In addition to navigating via the diagram, the rock processes and rock types can both be accessed using a menu on the upper left. Here readers will also find links to several other notable site features, such as Rocks Around Britain, which contains numerous photos showing evidence of the rock cycle and geologic processes from around the UK. Other linked elements include a Test Your Knowledge section with multiple-choice questions and a helpful Glossary of Terms. Educators should be sure to visit the Teachers' Zone, where they will find background notes, downloadable classroom experiments, and more. [JDC]

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Based at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Interactive Geology Project offers visitors dozens of fascinating 3D animated videos that "illustrate basic principles of geology in entertaining and accessible ways." Several videos are highlighted on the main page, and the Video Library provides access to all of the project's content. This includes A Brief History of Colorado Through Time, a 25-minute movie showing Colorado's geologic evolution over the past 540 million years, as well as short clips showing (for example) cross-sections of various igneous intrusions and the geologic history of erosion along Colorado's Front Range. The most recent addition (as of this write-up) is a seven-minute video demonstrating their first foray into virtual reality, depicting what is now the city of Boulder at three different times near the end of the Cretaceous period. While the project's videos focus on locations in Colorado, they will be of interest to anyone curious about geologic history, and many are well-suited for classroom use. The Interactive Geology Project was founded in 2002 by Paul Weimer, a professor of geological sciences and the director of CU Boulder's Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center, and it has had an ongoing collaboration with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science since 2013. [JDC]

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The National Park Service offers hundreds of free, standards-aligned lesson plans, many of which can easily be used in classrooms anywhere. A great example is this geology lesson plan provided by Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve. Written for elementary students in grades three to five, this lesson uses two interactive activities to teach students about the different layers that make up the Earth's structure and aims to convey the idea that the Earth is dynamic rather than static. In the first activity, the class (with direction from their teacher) creates a human model of the Earth in which students role-play the Earth's layers with movements appropriate to each part. For example, depending on the size of the class, one or two students would play the inner core, three or four would play the outer core, and so on through the deep mantle, the aesthenosphere, and the lithosphere. In the second activity, students work in small groups to build a cross-sectional model of Earth's layers using inexpensive household supplies. Together, these engaging activities are estimated to take about 90 minutes of class time. A vocabulary list, background information, and links to additional resources are also included. [JDC]

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Don't Panic Geocast is a weekly podcast that explores the links between geoscience and technology and frequently includes other fields along the way. Launched in January 2015, this podcast is produced and hosted by Shannon Dulin, an assistant professor and field geologist, and John Leeman, a PhD student with a background in geophysics and software engineering. Both Dulin and Leeman also have backgrounds in meteorology, and they bring this breadth of earth science knowledge into their podcast. Each episode is typically 45 minutes to an hour long and focuses on a particular topic. The hosts' conversational banter (which sometimes includes a guest expert) covers the science of that topic, as well as the technology used to study it. Examples of recent topics include: wildfire weather, how plate tectonics can affect the climate, and a geological perspective on how rivers work. Another notable feature of this podcast is "Fun Paper Friday," in which the hosts chat about "a fun, funny, or fascinating paper," from a diverse range of scientific disciplines. Interested readers can access all episodes and show notes of Don't Panic Geocast at the link above, and it is also available via RSS or various podcast apps. [JDC]

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Founded in 2007, OneGeology is a multinational initiative that aims to "make web-accessible the best available geological and other geoscience data worldwide at the best possible scales." It boasts participation from geological surveys and organizations in 118 countries (as of this write-up). One of OneGeology's main attractions is its Portal, which offers visitors an interactive geological map of the world that provides access to an immense catalog containing more than 750 datasets, maps, and web services. In addition to providing geological information, OneGeology strives to "improv[e] the understandability and interest in geology as well as just the availability of map data." Toward that end, the OneGeology eXtra section "is devoted to illustrating the many ways in which geology and geological maps play a fundamental part in all our lives." Here, readers will find resources intended primarily for general audiences on the intersections between geology and culture, examples of global geodiversity, and a collection of links from around the world that showcase how geological data can be used online. The OneGeology Kids section, intended for young rock collectors ages 10 and under, introduces readers to the basic geological ideas behind fossils, volcanoes, and more. [JDC]

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Magic Wormhole is a command-line tool for moving arbitrarily sized files or folders from one computer to another securely, without storing them on an intermediate server (e.g. Dropbox). It is designed primarily for situations where two users are already talking and need to exchange a file. To use Magic Wormhole, a sender issues a command such as wormhole send FILE and is given a "wormhole code" derived from a short, pronounceable, phonetically-distinct word list. The sender must then relay this code to the recipient. When the recipient runs wormhole receive and enters the provided code, the two computers then locate each other via a public "Rendezvous Server," establish a secure connection via Password-Authenticated Key Exchange, and transfer the specified data. Detailed API and protocol documentation describing exactly how this works is provided on the Magic Wormhole site. In the Installation portion of the site, users can locate installation instructions for macOS, Linux, and Windows computers. Magic Wormhole is distributed under the MIT license, with source code available on GitHub. [CRH]

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The Transkribus Wiki describes the project as "a comprehensive platform for the automated recognition, transcription, and searching of historical documents." Funded as part of the European Union's Recognition and Enrichment of Archival Documents (READ) project, Transkribus includes modules to perform a number of tasks, including: handwritten text recognition, OCR for typewritten texts, and document layout analysis. The project front page gives examples of how Transkribus can be useful for Archivists, Scientists, Scholars, and Volunteers. The How-To Guide linked on the project front page gives a detailed, step-by-step introduction to a basic Transkribus workflow. On the Wiki, users can locate additional guides that document more complex workflows. The Transkribus desktop client is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. [CRH]

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We originally featured this project in the 1-19-2018 Scout Report, and it continues to be an excellent resource for those curious about the history of geologic mapping.

William Smith (1769-1839) was a land surveyor, mineral prospector, and geologist best known for creating the geological map of England and Wales in 1815. In addition, Smith completed a number of geological maps of individual English counties between 1819 and 1824. On this website, visitors can explore Smith's maps, which have been digitized courtesy of the National Museum of Wales, Stanford University, the University of Nottingham, and the Oxford University Museum of National Geography. Visitors can explore Smith's maps via the maps tab, alongside other historical and geological maps. These are organized on an interactive map of the United Kingdom. In addition, this website contains a biographical essay about Smith, along with an explanation of stratigraphy: "a part of geology concerned primarily with layering in sedimentary rocks." As the team behind this site notes, Smith used his knowledge of stratigraphy (although he never used the word) to create his impressive maps.

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