Crossing Boundaries

"On the evening of the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the twin columns of light projected as a memorial over the World Trade Center site became a source of mystery. Illuminated in the beams were thousands of small white objects, sparkling and spiraling, unlike anything seen on other nights... Those unidentified objects have now been identified as birds, pulled from their migratory path and bedazzled by the light in a perfect, poignant storm of avian disorientation."

NPR Earth & Sky interviews with scientists about topics related to biodiversity

"Google has a new desktop tool called Google Refine to help with cleaning up messy datasets, transforming them, and augmenting them with web-based data services. I could see this tool being used throughout the Lab in many areas: on field data, preparing science datasets for analysis, even run-of-the-mill business data manipulation. If you ever find yourself using a text editor or Excel to manipulate data, you might find this tool useful. Note that it comes in somewhat unusual packaging, because after downloading and installing the tool on your machine, you interact with it via a web browser. The link above has several videos that demonstrate its utility." (Paul Allen)

"[Noreen] Thomas [a farmer] enjoys this view from hundreds of miles above Earth's surface -- not just for the beauty, but the utility. She is among a growing group of Midwest farmers who rely on satellite imagery from Landsat to maximize their harvest and minimize damage to their fields. It's become another crucial tool like their tractors and sprinklers."

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Improvements to Federal Water Use Data Would Increase Understanding of Trends in Power Plant Water Use

"Use the A to Z to find out about different areas of biodiversity importance. These include internationally recognised protected areas such as World Heritage Sites and Ramsar Sites, as well as the many approaches used to prioritise areas for conservation effort and protection including Biodiversity hotspots and Key Biodiversity Areas. "

"Every morning when he walks the dog, retired professor of natural history Peter Slater can identify as many as thirty birds by their song along. On a walk in a Scottish town with Ari Daniel Shapiro, Slater explains what two common songsters, the chaffinch and winter wren, are singing about, and how even city dwellers can learn to "bird by ear" in their own neighborhoods, with rewarding results."

Below the surface, thousands of marine creatures are still in danger from Gulf oil disaster

RegentsPrep.org is a regents review website with content on all 4 core science courses. Review questions are instantly scored and solutions provided based on the New York State Regents Exams. Content for other NY state regents exams is also available in the other core courses such as English, Math and Global History.

"Some species, such as warblers, which can weigh less than an ounce but fly 2,500 miles without resting, double their body weights in preparation for the voyage.To put it in a human perspective, if you were going to put on a lot of fat and try to live off it while doing a cross-country run, you would die," said Russell Greenberg, head of the National Zoo's Migratory Bird Center. "There's no human equivalent.""

"OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth. "

"JASON's science curriculum units are designed to: Light the spark of inspiration in students Fit within school districts' core 5th-8th grade curricula Adapt to higher and lower levels Align to state and national standards Cover at least five to nine weeks of material Include numerous research articles, hands-on lab activities, videos, games, and multimedia resources Include suggested lesson plans, extensions, interdisciplinary connections, and teacher resources for alignment, assessment, and classroom management."

Great tree information for everyday use with students.

This site has free curriculum to download based on in sustainability and global issues.

National Geographic Channel's groundbreaking series Great Migrations explores the massive movement of animal populations around the planet. The project chronicles these inspirational, often harrowing journeys that are marked by unforgiving odds, and what it means to move like your life depends on it. Wildebeests, zebras, red crabs, Mali elephants, walruses, monarch butterflies, jellyfish, and whale sharks will all be on display, and the production crew traveled some 420,000 miles, filming hundreds of stories in more than 20 countries. Using new science and technology, the series reveals how animals make death-defying journeys to survive. Great Migrations is the largest undertaking of its kind in the National Geographic Society's 120-year history. The seven-hour miniseries premieres globally in fall 2010. National Geographic's net proceeds support vital exploration, conservation, research, and education.

An engaging and informative interactive tool that allows students to explore many connected factors in air, land, and oceans systems. There are links to videos, visulas, other web resources, and descriptive information. Concept maps are included for each factor. This is rich and engaging.

Great connection to "Bird's Eye View of Changing Landscapes." "China's Pearl River Delta has experienced massive urbanization since the early 1970s. Derived from Landsat imagery, this animation shows urban expansion between 1973 and 1999."

Google Earth's blog