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Canku
Ota
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(Many
Paths)
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An
Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
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August 2018 -
Volume 16 Number 8
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Favorite
Web Sites
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collected
by Paul and Vicki
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Cherokee
Nation Foundation
The Cherokee Nation Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving
the Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized tribe of more than
300,000 citizens. Its mission is to provide educational opportunities
to Cherokee students so they can reach their full potential.
https://cherokeenationfoundation.org |
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Everyday
Native
This resource is meant to help heal racism by building bridges
of understanding between non-Native and Native American youth.
It began in 2014, when a radio host asked if my Native Celebrations
photographs might be contributing to popular stereotypes. I
suddenly saw that wasn’t the whole picture. To learn more
about what everyday life is like for Native people on reservations,
I listened as Native families in South Dakota and Montana shared
difficult stories.
https://everydaynative.com |
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Alaska
Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP)
ANSEP’s objective is to effect systemic change in the hiring
patterns of Alaska Natives in science and engineering by placing
our students on a career path to leadership.
http://www.ansep.net |
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Lakota
Dream Museum & Monument
Providing an accurate interpretation of The Great Plains tribes
through documented resources, artifacts and local historians
with the intention to instill knowledge, strong sense of identity,
and hope into the Lakota and all Native people.
https://lakotadream.org |
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Archaeology
Southwest
For three decades, Archaeology Southwest has practiced a holistic,
conservation-based approach to exploring the places of the past.
We call this Preservation Archaeology. By exploring what makes
a place special, sharing this knowledge in innovative ways,
and enacting flexible site protection strategies, we foster
meaningful connections to the past and respectfully safeguard
its irreplaceable resources.
https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org |
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Friends
of Cedar Mesa
Friends of Cedar Mesa works to ensure that the public lands
in San Juan County, with all their cultural and natural values,
are respected and protected.
https://www.friendsofcedarmesa.org |
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Reveal
from The Center for Investigative Reporting
We engage and empower the public through investigative journalism
and groundbreaking storytelling that sparks action, improves
lives and protects our democracy.
https://www.revealnews.org
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N7
Fund
N7 is our commitment to bring sport and all of its benefits
to Native American and Aboriginal communities in the United
States and Canada. Through activity, competition and play you
can unleash the power of your generation. You can grow up active
and healthy. Sport gives you self-confidence, enabling you to
be a force for positive change in your community. Nike N7 and
the N7 Fund are aligned with Nike’s Community Impact commitment
to get kids moving through sport and play so that they can lead
healthier, happier and more successful lives.
http://n7fund.com |
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Kindergarten
Readiness
August is "Get Ready for Kindergarten" month for almost two
million American kids who will be entering kindergarten in
the fall. Today’s collection of websites include a mix
of online and offline activities for parents to do with their
preschoolers. But remember, although worksheets and online
games are fun, reading out loud to your child is the single
best way to prepare your kids for school and learning.
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ABCYa!:
PreK
Created by an elementary school teacher, ABCYa! provides free,
online Flash games for use in a web browser, and paid apps for
your phone or tablet. The Pre-K collection includes games such
as Alphabet Bingo, Birthday Candle Counting, Connect the Dots,
and Letter Tracing.
http://www.abcya.com/preschool_games.htm |
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Count
Us In
This collection of fifteen number games from the Australian
Broadcasting Company is terrific; I only wish they had more
descriptive titles, and some sound or music. For counting beginners,
games one, five and eight are my favorites. All the games are
available for free download, so they can be played offline on
either a Mac or Windows computer. For a description of each
game, click on the yellow "games" menu item.
http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/search/_SRC:ABC%20Count%20Us%20In
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Kids
Learning Station
Kids Learning Station offers hundreds of free printable worksheets
for preschool and kindergarten, including Basic Concepts, Reading,
Shapes, Colors, Numbers, Writing, Alphabet, and Math. The worksheet
thumbnails take a few seconds to load when you visit a category
page, so just take a deep breath and have a bit of patience.
https://www.allkidsnetwork.com |
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Nick
Jr: Beyond the Backpack
Beyond the Backpack is an educational initiative from Nickelodeon
to help parents prepare their preschoolers for kindergarten
with interactive Dora the Explorer games. Start by taking the
quiz rating your child's readiness in four areas: language,
social/emotional, math, and physical/wellness. Based on your
answers, you'll then get a customized learning plan for your
child which includes multimedia video and interactive Dora games.
As your child progresses through the games, they'll earn virtual
stickers to keep them motivated.
http://beyondthebackpack.nickjr.com |
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Scholastic:
Countdown to Kindergarten
This two-page checklist for preschool parents starts twelve
months before kindergarten, with the suggestion to visit kindergarten
programs in your community to find out what's available. It
continues through the first couple of weeks of kindergarten
with this advice. "Take your time making the transition.
Every child will respond differently. Work with the teachers
to help yours adjust."
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/parentguides/kindergarten/pdf/countdown.pdf
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Fruit
And Vegetables
In honor of National Fresh
Fruit and Vegetable Month (June), today’s tour extols
the health benefits of including more produce in our diets.
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Food
Champs
Created by the Produce for Better Health Foundation (the same
non-profit that publishes Fruits & Veggies: More Matters)
this educational game site is targeted at kids from two- to
eight-years old. Choose a comic-book character to be your
champion (a skateboarding banana or orange, for example) and
jump into the games. Activities include coloring pages, games
such as Fruit & Vegetable Math, printable worksheets,
recipes, and a gallery of kid-submitted artwork.
https://foodchamps.org
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Fruits
& Veggies More Matters: Healthy Kids
"Fill half your plate with fruits and veggies."
For high-school students and grownups, Fruits & Veggies
More Matters explains why produce is so good for you, and
how to get the most from them. From current research on why
fresh fruits and vegetables have more health benefits than
phytochemical supplements, to recipes and kitchen tips on
storing produce. Best clicks include a coloring and activity
pages, games that teach nutrition, and coping with kids and
teens that decide to become vegetarians.
https://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/get-kids-to-eat-fruits-and-vegetables
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Great
Grub Club: A-Z of Fruit and Veg
The Great Grub Club is an educational site for kids, teachers
and parents published by the British World Cancer Research
Fund. This A to Z encyclopedia of fruits and veggies (from
apple to zucchini) includes both the American and British
produce names. Did you know that in England, zucchinis are
called courgettes, and eggplants are aubergines? "Most
aubergines are teardrop-shaped and have a glossy purple skin.
On the inside, they are spongy and creamy white."
http://www.greatgrubclub.com/a-z-fruit-veg#.WyEX7I6n-Pd
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Producepedia
Brought to you by Western Growers trade association, Producepedia
reminds us that "California and Arizona farmers grow
almost half the produce found in grocery stores across America."
In addition to stories about the farmers, Producepedia lives
up to its name in providing an encyclopedia of fruits, vegetables
and nuts. Each entry includes a history ("Apricots originally
came from China."), nutrition facts, season info, and
ripeness and storage tips. "If you want to ripen immature
apricots, keep them in a brown paper bag. Keep them at room
temperature until they are slightly soft."
http://www.producepedia.com
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Sustainable
Table: Seasonal Food Guide
Explore what's growing fresh in your area right now. Select
your state, and the month (which is further divided into early
or late) and scroll through the results. Each item is labeled
as a fruit, vegetable, or herb. And most include links to
recipes, and informational articles. Sustainable Table is
a project of the Grace Communications Foundation, that advocates
for sustainable alternatives to "our current industrial
food system."
https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org
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Zoo
Animals
June is National Zoo and Aquarium month, and today we are
going on a virtual zoo hop. I hope you enjoy the lions, and
tigers, and bears, oh my!
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Houston
Zoo
Best clicks for virtual visitors are found under Meet the Animals
and Exhibits. Click around and you'll find articles about Animal
Art, Animal Care, and a whole section on animal conservation.
"In recent years, conservation biologists have drawn our
attention to a worldwide decline in wild populations of frogs,
toads, and salamanders – a phenomenon that has come to
be called the Global Amphibian Crisis."
https://www.houstonzoo.org |
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Lincoln
Park Zoo: Animals
In addition to browsing the annotated animal photo gallery (which
is appropriate for all ages), older students can explore the
Conservation & Science section about international effects
by Lincoln’s scientists to "identify threats to zoo
and wild populations and develop strategies to ensure their
continued existence." For example, the Goualougo Triangle
Ape Project is studying gorillas and chimpanzees in a remote
part of the Republic of Congo.
http://www.lpzoo.org/animals |
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Los
Angeles Zoo: Animals & Plants
Amphibians, birds, invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles are
all on display at the LA Zoo, along with a botanical garden.
Other sections on my do-not-miss list are Rainforest of the
Americas and Elephants of Asia. "Elephants of Asia is designed
to increase appreciation, amazement, and wonder for these great
animals and to familiarize guests with the challenges Asian
elephants face in the wild, including their shrinking natural
habitat."
https://www.lazoo.org/animals/ |
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National
Zoo
Highlights of The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. are the Meet
the Animals photo gallery, arranged alphabetically from Abyssinian
ground hornbill to Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle, and the
live webcams (lion, elephant, and giant panda.) "Welcome
to the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Panda Cams, where you can
watch giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and Bei Bei. While
you're watching pandas chomp on bamboo, play in trees and tumble
in the grass, specially trained volunteers with Friends of the
National Zoo are hard at work using these cameras to collect
behavioral data on the giant pandas."
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals |
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San
Diego Zoo: Kids
First stop on our virtual tour of the world-famous San Diego
Zoo is their kid section for their zoo games, animal crafts,
science experiments, and profiles of "Wildly Famous Featured
Creatures." The zoo does a lot of work in animal conservation,
and their site has an excellent section on research efforts
in China, the Pacific Islands, the southwestern United States,
the Caribbean Islands, and South America. For specific animal
backgrounders (for reports and such) return to the main zoo
homepage, and click on Animals.
http://kids.sandiegozoo.org
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Pi
Approximation Day
Pi is the ratio of the circumference
of a circle to its diameter. Regardless of the size of the
circle, pi is always the same irrational number: approximately
3.14 or 22 divided by 7. Because July 22 is 22/7 in the date
format used by most of the world, it is celebrated as Pi Approximation
Day. March 14 (3.14 in a US month-first date format) is celebrated
as Pi Day primarily in the US.
Because July 22 is 22/7 in the European
date format, it is celebrated as Pi Approximation Day. #piday
#pi #k12 #math
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Math
Forum: Ask Dr. Math: About Pi
"For the sake of usefulness people often need to approximate
Pi. For many purposes you can use 3.14159, which is really pretty
good, but if you want a better approximation you can use a computer
to get it." Dr. Math answers basic questions about Pi and
includes an extensive list of links to other Pi-related questions
and answers from the Math Forum archive. The little red star
icons indicate "particularly interesting answers or good
places to begin browsing."
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pi.html |
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PBS:
Nova: Approximating Pi
"Around 250 B.C., the Greek mathematician Archimedes calculated
the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. A precise
determination of Pi, as we know this ratio today, had long been
of interest to the ancient Greeks, who strove for precise mathematical
proportions in their architecture, music, and other art forms."
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/approximating-pi.html
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Pi
Land
Eve Andersson is a Google engineer with a soft spot for Pi.
Her homage to Pi includes a Pi Trivia Game consisting of twenty-five
randomly chosen questions ("Finally this is your chance
to pay tribute to the magnificent transcendental number that
we have all grown to love!) and a Pi Trainer to test your memory
of the digits of Pi. Under Aesthetics, she publishes a few Pi
poems and a small photo gallery. Nerd Stuff includes the digits
themselves and graphs of digit frequency.
http://www.eveandersson.com/pi/ |
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The
World of Pi: Approximations and Strange things about Pi
"This page is devoted to the rational and irrational approximations
which are nearest to Pi. And there are some great ones! Not
to mention some approximate curiosities concerning Pi. Indeed,
since people realized that there was a constant that defined
the ratio of the perimeter of a circle over its diameter, a
discovery dating from the Egyptians and the Babylonians, mathematicians
have tried to give the exact value of Pi or, after the XVIIIth
century, tried to give simple approximations of Pi."
http://www.pi314.net/eng/approx.php |
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Wired:
What is the Best Fractional Representation of Pi?
"Technically, 22/7 is better than 3.14 (which [is] the
USA Pi Day). This leads to the question: What other fractions
could represent Pi?" Join Associate Physics Professor
Rhett Allain for a fun romp through various ways to represent
Pi, using the Chrome plugin Chromey Calculator to do the calculations.
"This plugin is so awesome, I don't know what to say.
Essentially it is a calculator that uses Google and Wolfram
Alpha."
https://www.wired.com/2011/03/what-is-the-best-fractional-representation-of-pi/
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The
Ocean
Although it covers nearly three-quarters of the Earth, scientists
call the ocean our planet’s last frontier, and say that
we know more about the moon then we do the seafloor. While
oceanographers are racing to learn more about the deep secrets
of the ocean floor, you can start your ocean journey at the
following sites.
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AMNH:
OLogy: Marine Biology
"OLogy means 'the study of.' And here on the American
Museum of Natural History's OLogy website, you can study and
explore many cool OLogies." This particular section is
all about Marine Biology at an elementary and middle-school
level. For an introduction to oceans, start at "What's
the Big Idea." To explore related concepts, follow the
little red asterisks that pop open multimedia lessons. Free
registration allows you to collect cards from each station,
and to submit projects for possible publication.
https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/marine-biology
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Monterey
Aquarium: Animals & Exhibits
This page is a fabulous collection of the best Monterey Aquarium
pages for both kids and grown-ups. My favorites are the live
web cams (keep in mind that these operate on Pacific Standard
Time), and the animal guides (sea otters, penguins, jellies
and more.) Another great find is the 168-page printable Sea
Searcher's Handbook chock full of articles and hands-on activities.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-exhibits
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National
Geographic Kids: Ocean Facts!
Ten fun ocean facts, a small photo gallery, and a video await
elementary-age students wanting to learn more about the ocean.
"The deepest known area of the Earth's oceans is known
as the Mariana Trench. It's deepest point measures 11km. That's
a long dive down!"
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/geography/general-geography/ocean-facts/ |
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NOAA:
Ocean Facts
What is the longest-lived marine mammal? What is an artificial
reef? Are mermaids real? Find answers to these questions (and
more) with FAQs from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Scientists agree that the bowhead whale has the longest
lifespan of all marine mammals. Whales are the largest animals
on Earth and live longer than all other mammals in the contemporary
animal kingdom. While many ocean lovers can easily identify
the iconic sperm whale, the charismatic humpback and the wily
orca, not all are familiar with the bowhead."
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ |
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Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution: Dive and Discover
Dive and Discover is an interactive web site for high-school
students and adult learners that "immerses you in the
excitement of discovery and exploration of the deep seafloor."
Join any one of sixteen missions, and/or take a look at the
science lessons listed on the menu under Deeper Discovery.
"The global ocean circulation system transports heat
worldwide and affects climate in many areas. For example,
Europe would have much colder winters if it were not for the
Gulf Stream. Winds blow surface waters and cause ocean currents.
But the waters below the depths of the wind's influence flow
because of differences in temperature and saltiness (called
salinity)."
https://divediscover.whoi.edu
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