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Scout Report: Amboyna Conspiracy Trial, Eclipse, Using Social Media, Pangaea, Portrait Gallery Activities, Haiku, Community-College Employer Connection, Jewish Warsaw and More
This illustrated manuscript (right) of Farid al-Din ‘Attar’s mystical poem Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds) is one of the most important illustrated manuscripts from Timurid Persia (1370–1507) and a highlight of the Islamic collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see source below)
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
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THE AMBOYNA CONSPIRACY TRIAL
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SOCIAL STUDIES |
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In February 1623, a group of Dutch officials accused a team of English merchants and Japanese mercenaries of conspiring to capture a castle on Amboyna, a small island in what is now part of Indonesia. The island was central to the booming spice trade, which had fueled an increasingly acrimonious rivalry between the British and the Dutch. In a subsequent trial, Dutch officials extracted confessions from a number of Japanese soldiers (who had been employed by the Dutch East India Company to protect Dutch interests) and employees of the British East India Company, usually under the duress of torture, and sentenced them to death. What really happened at the trial and what can this incident tell us about imperial relations during the seventeenth century? This resource created by historian Adam Clulow of Monash University and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University allows scholars and students to explore these questions and more via online exhibits, primary documents (e.g. paintings, legal documents, and letters), and a detailed timeline of events. There is also a teacher's guide for high school and university instructors interested in incorporating the Amboyna Conspiracy Trial into their classroom. [MMB]
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SCIENCE AMBASSADOR FELLOWSHIP LESSON PLANS
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HEALTH |
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Science Ambassador Fellowship connects science educators with CDC subject matter experts to create relevant, timely lesson plans on a range of public health issues. Educators can browse these lesson plans, which align with Next Generation Science Standards, by theme: Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemiology, Outbreak Investigations, Preparedness and Response, and Surveillance. Within each section, lesson plans are organized by grade level (middle school or high school) and specific issue. In one lesson, high school students learn about the role of surveillance during an E. coli outbreak. In another lesson, middle school learners learn about the role of vaccination in preventing a disease outbreak via an interactive exercise that models the concept of herd immunity. All lesson plans include related materials and graphic organizers so that instructors can implement them into their classrooms with ease. [MMB]
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PBS NEWSHOUR SPECIAL: HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL GOOD
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EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY |
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On social media channels, users are increasingly likely to encounter bots, or accounts that mimic human behavior. These bots create the illusion of public opinion, and many social media users are unable to distinguish between an actual Twitter user, for instance, and a bot. In fact, a team of computer scientists have created a "Botometer" to help users ascertain whether or not an account they follow on Twitter is likely to be a bot. This lesson plan from PBS NewsHour Extra is designed to teach students to how to recognize bots online and critically reflect on how bots are shaping political discourse around the world. The lesson centers on a short but informative NewsHour video about the recent history of Twitter Bots and what computer scientists are doing to uncover them. While this lesson is aimed at middle and high school students, it may also be of interest to those who teach computer literacy in settings such as public libraries or adult education classrooms. [MMB]
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PANGAEA
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SCIENCE |
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Previously featured in The Scout Report in 2002, PANGAEA continues to be an extensive resource for earth and environmental scientists. This open access library aims to archive, publish, and distribute georeferenced data from earth system research. The vast majority of these datasets, collected from all around the world, are freely available for researchers and instructors to download and use. As of this write up, PANGAEA features 259 projects and well over 350,000 datasets. Visitors are invited to search this extensive collection by Topic (e.g. Oceans, Lithosphere, Chemistry, and Paleontology) or via Map. With this last feature, after selecting a continent, users may further narrow results by specific location, author, publication year, etc. Visitors can also conduct a keyword search. PANGAEA is currently maintained by a team of data managers, project managers, and IT specialists and is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data System and the World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) Information System. [MMB]
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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: INTERACTIVE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
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ARTS |
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The National Portrait Gallery of London offers this collection of six interactive activities designed to engage elementary level learners with art, history, mathematics, and literature. This amusing and educational collection includes activities created by the Gallery as well as some created by other organizations. In one such activity, Primary: Great Fire, created by the Museum of London, young students learn about the Great Fire of London and its impact through a computer game. In another activity, Canvas and Stretcher, students explore mathematical patterns by examining shapes and colors that appear in famous British paintings. Visitors interested in Tudor and Georgian beauty standards will want to check out History of Hair and Beauty, which offers a step-by-step make-up and hair tutorial. [MMB]
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HAIKU: POETRY OF THE SAMURAI WARRIOR
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LANGUAGE ARTS |
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Scholastic offers this unit plan designed to engage middle school learners with the art and history of haiku. Three multi-day lesson plans comprise the unit, which should take about eight class periods to complete. In the first lesson, students start a KWL chart and collaborate to conduct internet research on the history of haiku and its connection to samurai culture. In the second set of lessons, students read and analyze a variety of haikus, learning about the diversity of the genre and reflecting on the moods and emotions that this form of poetry can invoke in readers. Finally, students write and present their own haikus. On this page, middle school language arts instructors will find complete lesson plans along with graphic organizers and suggestions for further reading. [MMB]
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KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE RESOURCES
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FOREIGN LANGUAGES |
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Portuguese is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, with over 260 million speakers not only in Portugal and Brazil, but also in Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and other countries. King's College of London offers this collection of websites, podcasts, grammar guides, online dictionaries, and more for readers interested in learning Portuguese. While some of these resources are available only to King's College students, many are freely available to the general public. Visitors may browse these resources by competency level (e.g. Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced) or by type of resource (e.g. Dictionary, Podcast and Videos, or Games). Each resource is accompanied by a short description. The Media section provides links to Portuguese-language media organized by country so that advanced learners can practice their reading skills by exploring news publications from Angola, Brazil, Mozambique, or Portugal. [MMB]
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THE COMMUNITY-COLLEGE EMPLOYER CONNECTION
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VOCATIONAL EDUCATION |
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Hosted by public historian Fred Dews, The Brookings Cafeteria is a podcast "about ideas and the experts who have them." This recent episode of the Brookings Cafeteria, released on August 4, 2017, may especially be of interest to those who work in community colleges or are involved in educational policy. Dews talks to Elizabeth Mann, a fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy, about her work connecting community colleges with employers. This thirty-minute conversation is accompanied by a number of related resources from the Brookings Institute, including a toolkit Mann developed to help build successful community college-employer relations. In addition, visitors will find a number of resources from other educational research groups, including the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University's Teacher's College and the National Center for Education and Statistics. [MMB]
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