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With an old computer and 30 dollars worth of off-the-shelf components, you can gear up with cutting edge avian monitoring technology and help save the birds. For years, birdwatchers counted by sight during the daytime. The night - when most migratory birds travel - was literally hidden to them. But that's changing. Anyone can attach a microphone to a computer running birdcall-identifying software and track birds passing overhead in the darkness.

A downloadable US forest map assembled from space-based radar, satellite sensors, computer models, and a massive amount of ground-based data. It is possibly the highest resolution and most detailed view of forest structure and carbon storage ever assembled for any country. "Trees are one of Earth's largest banks for storing the carbon that gets emitted by natural processes and human activities. Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet's surface, and as much as 45 percent of the carbon stored on land is tied up in forests."

"Have you ever wondered what the tree population and density of the United States looks like? This amazing map shows just that. Created by Josef Kellndorfer and Wayne Walker of Woods Hole Research Center in conjunction with the U. S. Geological Survey Science Center's Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the US Forest Service, the map was generated based on a series of data sources including readings collected from space-based radars, satellite sensors, computer models, and simply counting trees the old-fashioned way. The map was created for NASA to help determine how the world's forests have the potential to store more carbon in the future."

"The power of geographic and spatial information design is often an untapped resource. Much work done by advocacy organisations has some "spatial" element to it and includes data that can, when approached creatively, be easier to explore and understand when mapped or displayed visually. However, until recently, using computer mapping technologies proved to be incredibly challenging, expensive and time consuming and therefore often inappropriate for small and medium-sized organisations."

If you can't install the Diigo toolbar, you can access the Diigolet app here and should be able to use it from any computer.

"What is the Earth Exploration Toolbook? The Earth Exploration Toolbook is a collection of computer-based Earth science activities. Each activity, or chapter, introduces one or more data sets and an analysis tool that enables users to explore some aspect of the Earth system. Step-by-step instructions in each chapter walk users through an example - a case study in which they access data and use analysis tools to explore issues or concepts in Earth system science. In the course of completing a chapter, users produce and analyze maps, graphs, images, or other data products. The ultimate goal of each activity is to build user's skills and confidence so they can use data to conduct their own investigations of the Earth system."

Google Chrome recently introduced Land Lines, a delightful new way to explore the gorgeous satellite images from Google Earth. Landlines invites users to discover new satellite images in two ways: Draw and Drag. With the Draw feature, visitors simply create a small doodle on their monitor or personal device. Next, Landlines, with the aid of machine learning, presents visitors with a satellite picture that contains this line or shape in some form: perhaps as a gridded street, the shape of a mountain range, or the curve of a lake. A caption in the bottom left hand side of the browser alerts readers as to what they are looking at and allows visitors to explore each area in more detail via Google Maps. With Drag, users can "create an infinite line of connective rivers, highways, and coastlines." Both modes of exploration offer innovative and highly enjoyable ways to see the world from one's own computer.

One stop page for links to fun tools you or your students can use

I've used Animoto, Quizlet, Xtranormal and Dropbox. Love Quizlet and Dropbox....don't use Animoto or Xtranormal all that much although they are fun and your students might enjoy "playing".

Drop box is awesome - external storage site! Allows you to access files from any computer and up to 2G free storage. More with pay upgrade. I think I will link the Web Tools Index in my wiki for students to use at their convenience.

BioKIDS: Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species addresses both inquiry and life science content standards through exploration of local biodiversity, collection of animal species, and the investigation of individual animals and how animals interact with one another. Through these activities students will gain a clearer understanding of how organisms meet their basic needs and the role the environment plays in supporting a variety of organisms. In this curriculum, students use CyberTracker, an animal-tracking program that runs on hand-held computers (PDAs), to log animal sightings in their schoolyard. Students then analyze the data for class and team experiments. Another salient feature of the curriculum is the Critter Catalog, an on-line animal species database developed by the BioKIDS team. Students use this as the main resource when they write species accounts (conduct research on individual animals).

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