Group items tagged

​One of the first steps toward developing an internationalization strategy is to analyze the current state of internationalization and global engagement on your campus. This web tool will assist you in mapping internationalization at your institution and, to help you put this into perspective, will allow you to compare your efforts to those of your peer institutions using national averages.

The Food Access Research Atlas: Presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility; Provides food access data for populations within census tracts; and Offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes. What can you do with the Atlas? Create maps showing food access indicators by census tract using different measures and indicators of supermarket accessibility; View indicators of food access for selected subpopulations; and Download census-tract-level data on food access measures.

Shows percentages of populations that are undernourished.

The Lesson for All is a set of two units focused on the right of education and the barriers that youth around the world experience when trying to access that right. Written by teacher Donna Roman, each unit (K-3 and 4-6) has four lessons with multimedia, discussion and modes of assessment. Each lesson is mapped to the Common Core State Standards and the Global Competence Matrix.

de Rothschild, David. Plastiki Across the Pacific on Plastic: An Adventure to Save Our Oceans. New York, NY: Melcher Media, 2011. Age Range: 9 and up Publisher's Description: Explorer, global green leader, and eco-TV host David de Rothschild recounts the extraordinary journey of the Plastiki, an innovative and mostly untested sixty-foot catamaran that floats on 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles. It was a voyage that took de Rothschild and a five-person crew 10,000 miles from the U.S. to Australia, sailing through rarely traveled, dangerous waters, risking their lives to call attention to our fragile oceans. Their exploration included urgent study of ocean pollution, island nations threatened by rising seas, damaged coral reefs, and the acidifying ocean itself and their discoveries are a call to action. Packed with exciting narrative, images, maps, journal entries, plans, and sketches, this is the only firsthand account of what may be the most important adventure of our time.

Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. San Diego, CA: Voyager Books, 2002. Age Range: 6 - 9 years Publisher's Description: In the 15th century, when native people first settled on the banks of the river now called the Nashua, it was a fertile and beautiful place. By the 1960s, the river valley had been ravaged by many years of serious pollution , and fish, birds, and other animals were no longer seen in the area. Through the efforts of Marion Stoddart and the Nashua River Watershed Association, laws were passed that resulted in the restoration of this river and the protection of all rivers. The author gets high marks for documenting the negative impact of industry on the environment and for highlighting the difference one determined person can make. However, young readers lacking historical background need more facts and dates than are included here. Cherry uses borders on pages that detail, for example, some of the inventions conceived in the 19th century; inexplicably, most are labeled but only some are dated. Her note and the maps on the endpapers, which include a timeline, also help to place the events in context. The watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations are sweeping in their subject matter and adequately convey the physical deterioration of the watershed. However, one picture is misleading; although all the animals depicted live in this habitat, they would not all be seen together. The current concern over the environment will make this a sought-after title, since it is brief enough to read aloud to groups of children. With assistance from informed adult readers, it makes an important contribution to literature on water pollution.

Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree. San Diego, CA: Voyager Books, 2000. Age Range: 4 - 8 years Publisher's Description: If a tree falls in the forest... someone or something will always be there to hear it. Many, many creatures will feel the effects when their source of sustenance and shelter falls to the earth. So when a man is sent into the Amazon rain forest one day, under instructions to chop down a great kapok tree, many eyes watch him nervously. It's not long before he grows tired, though, and the "heat and hum" of the rain forest lulls him to sleep. One by one, snakes, bees, monkeys, birds, frogs, and even a jaguar emerge from the jungle canopy to plead with the sleeping ax-man to spare their home. When the man awakens, startled at all the rare and marvelous animals surrounding him, he picks up his ax as if to begin chopping again, then drops it and walks away, presumably never to return. Unfortunately, there's always someone else who is willing to take his place, but the message of this environmental book is plain: Save the rain forest! The story itself is not overly compelling, but each personalized entreaty from the animals provides an accurate and persuasive scientific argument for preserving nature's gifts. Lynne Cherry's fertile watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations, including a map of the tropical rain forests of the world, are vivid and colorful. A fine starting point for a discussion about conservation.

Tomecek, Stephen M. What A Great Idea! Inventions That Changed The World. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2003. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: Rather than presenting a "how it works" compendium or a series of mini-biographies, Tomecek puts significant inventions and discoveries in a historical context. Dividing the text into five broad time periods, he offers a series of essays on important advances that occurred in each "age." For example, the Metal Age (3500 B.C.-A.D. 1) includes discussions of measurement, money, irrigation, waterwheels, and maps. Each two-page explanation provides some background and a brief description of how the invention works as well as information about its impact on society and on later discoveries. What emerges is a sense of interconnectedness that other books often lack. Especially in the early essays, the influence of Chinese, Egyptian, and other civilizations is clear. However, even the explanations of recent discoveries acknowledge that inventions seldom occur in isolation. Full-color diagrams and illustrations are well integrated into each spread, providing additional insights into the topic without cluttering the pages. Although Tomecek mentions only a fraction of the inventors and inventions covered in Roger Bridgman's 1000 Inventions and Discoveries (DK, 2002), his work not only highlights past accomplishments but also encourages further explorations.