Richard Louv discusses "nature deficit disorder" in this 12 minute video

Richard Louv is a well renowned author, best known for his book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder" In this page, Louv presents a field guide based on his more recent work, "The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age". The guide is meant for citizens to help apply his principle to their daily lives in areas such as "Resources and Ideas for Creating a Restorative Home & Garden", "Creat(ing) a Natural Health Care System for Your Family and Community" and "Know(ing) Who You Are by Knowing Where You Are".

Link to the Massachusetts Curriculum frameworks by subject. Download-able pdfs and word documents.

I have no idea if this is true, but it is an interesting representation either way. (Graph of the percentage of adults per country who believe in evolution compared against GDP/capita)

This is a website for children that contains an animated "show" and a blog. The characters, "The Greens" are a family living somewhere in America, who care about the environment. They teach children about how to conserve resources, and value the outdoors. The site also includes activity guides for teachers and games for children to play. One game has children turn lights on and off as characters leave room, another has children upcycle the characters' clothes by adding new decorations to what they already have. There is also a carbon calculator for kids.

This is a compilation of resources for teaching kids about the environment. It contains links aimed a kids of all different ages, organized by the following topics... * Global Warming * Energy * Air * Oceans * Water * Wildlands * Wildlife * Health * Environmental Justice * U.S. Law & Policy * Nuclear * Smart Growth * Recycling * International Issues * Green Living

Also see http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/helping_teachers_integrate_math_science_and_the_performing_arts-38984 Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a nationally recognized leader in arts education for young children (I attended a Wolf Trap workshop years ago) has recently launched a new initiative to bring STEM to young children using art and performance as a platform.

In this editorial from the October 2010 volume of "Science," Bruce Alberts suggests a system of STEM (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) merit badges for children ages 5-18 to earn awards in schools. He compares this system both to the system used by the Boy and Girl Scouts, and to the system of AP (Advanced Placement) courses currently used in high schools today. It is suggested that this will help students maintain the curiosity they feel towards science in the early years into their high school careers, by when children have often lost interest.

The mission of the Lejeune foundation. Contains the following sentence... "The Lejeune Foundation is committed to the inherent human dignity of all persons and the protection of life from conception to natural death."

A group is petitioning France not to make it mandatory for women to be offered prenatal genetic testing. They argue that this amounts to eugenics, and cite the high rate of selective abortions of fetus in which trisomy 21 has been detected.

Provides a tool to compare health care between countries.

A good comparison of the transition to motherhood in France and the U.S. Talks more about health insurance, not about prenatal testing.

2 excerpts from the book presenting two different mothers' perspectives on selective abortion, one from a woman who chose to continue her pregnancy, another from a woman who chose to end hers.

Presents a critique of prenatal testing for disability from a disability-rights perspective.

Links to an NPR podcast telling the story of how homosexuality was removed from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). The story is told by Alix Spiegel, the granddaughter of one of the psychiatrists involved in the movement, Dr. John Patrick Spiegel. While his point of view is given, mostly by recounting stories passed down in the family, the podcast strives to be more objective than those stories, drawing on multiple sources, not only on family lore. In this historical example, a grassroots movement succeeds in changing accepted scientific "fact".

This is the lovely refworks page made by the awesome and helpful 24/7 online librarians. Let me know if you cannot see it. These relate to the topic of political affiliations and disaster relief. Sadly I did not get it in time to read most of them. It seems none is really directly applicable to my topic anyway.

Questions whether, even in the face of natural disaster, liberals will be more likely than conservatives to state that those in need should receive governmental assistance.

Are facts enough? Humans tend to ignore facts they don't like. Sometimes facts that disprove the legitimacy of one's beliefs only cause one to believe more strongly in their original (and demonstrably false) opinion.

This article examines the input we really have into our own choices. It suggests that we may be more hardwired toward certain outcomes than we realize, and it examines the implications for what we call "free will."

List of all prior FEMA directors from 1979 to present.