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[ECP] Educational CyberPlayGround K-12 Newsletter

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Greetings,

Happy Reading for Today.

<Karen>



GLOBE at Night Event Taking Place Feb. 25 - March 8, 2008

Join thousands of teachers, students and families around the globe Feb. 25-March 8, 2008, in a hunt for stars. Take part in this international event to observe the nighttime sky and learn more about light pollution around the world. GLOBE at Night is an easy observation and reporting activity that takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete.
Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment, also known as GLOBE, is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program for primary and secondary schools.
For more information about the event. Please e-mail questions about this event to globeatnight@globe.gov .

Register Today for Upcoming NASA/NSTA Web Seminars If you have questions about the Web seminars, please e-mail your inquiries to symposia@nsta.org
Join NASA and NSTA for three free Web seminars developed in collaboration with Arizona State University. The seminars will focus on NASA’s Mars Exploration program and will target educators of grades 5-12. All Web seminars will include information and resources for educators available at NASA websites. With diverse backgrounds and experience, the presenters are space scientists, engineers and education specialists from NASA and ASU. During the live Web seminar, presenters will share their expertise and answer questions live from the participants.

The Mars Student Imaging Project
Join Paige Graff from Arizona State University's Mars Education Program as she presents a free Web seminar about the Mars Student Imaging Project. MSIP gives teams of students in grades 5-12 through college sophomore level the opportunity to work with scientists, mission planners, and educators on the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) team at ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility. Designed for educators of grades 5-12, the 90-minute seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2008.

Exploring Mars with CRISM and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Join Dr. Scott Murchie as he presents a free Web seminar about the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars instrument that is currently aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in orbit around planet Mars. The CRISM is one of NASA's high-tech “detectives” seeking traces of past and present water on the Martian surface. Designed for educators of grades 5-12, the 90-minute seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. on March 6, 2008.

Using Earth to Explore Mars
Join Dr. Josh Bandfield and Brian Grigsby from Arizona State University as they present a free Web seminar that will compare and contrast Earth and Mars. Topics will include comparing features common to both planets and how to help students become familiar with planetary processes and landforms by integrating non-Earth examples. A Mars mission update will also be included. Designed for educators of grades 5-12, the 90-minute seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. on April 3, 2008.

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PLEASE ADD YOUR K12 SCHOOL OR SCHOOL DISTRICT
TO THE  MASTER DIRECTORY OF SCHOOLS ONLINE
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/schools/

The registry is organized by state and by grade level.
The registry also includes sites for charter Schools, virtual schools,
school districts, state and regional education organizations, state
departments of education, state standards and state administrators.
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NOVA: "Ape Genius"
http://www.pbs.org/nova/apegenius

Tuesday, February 19 at 8 p.m.
Broadcast in High Definition where available. Check your local
listings as dates and times may vary.

At a research site in Fongoli, Senegal, a female chimpanzee breaks
off a branch, chews the end to make it sharp, then uses this
rudimentary spear to skewer a tasty bushbaby hiding inside a hollow
tree. The footage represents an astonishing breakthrough for primate
researchers: It's the first time anyone has documented a chimpanzee
wielding a carefully prepared, preplanned weapon.

But it's only the latest in a slew of extraordinary new findings
about ape behavior. The more researchers learn about the great
apes -- chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans -- the more
evidence they find of creative intelligence. What, then, is the
essential difference between us and them? "Ape Genius," a
NOVA-National Geographic special, explores that provocative question
and examines research that is illuminating the ape mind.

Here's what you'll find online:

Watch the Program
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/program.html
"Ape Genius" will be available to view online starting
February 20.

What Makes Us Human?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/human.html
Recent brain imaging research is offering new insights.

The Ape That Teaches
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/saxe.html
Why is our ability to teach so critical and so complicated?
MIT's Rebecca Saxe explains.

Kanzi the Bonobo
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/kanzi.html
In this audio slide show, researcher Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
describes one extraordinarily linguistic ape.

Our Family Tree
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/apegenius/primate.html
See (and hear) where you stand among the great apes in this
audiovisual interactive.

Also, a video preview, Links & Books, the Teacher's Guide, video
extras, and more: http://www.pbs.org/nova/apegenius

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Admins, Parents & Teachers Learn How to Keep Your Child
Safe on the Interent -- Trouble Areas for Kids
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/morestuff4.html

Find out what your kids have put up online, their names,
address, pictures, what they think. This needs to be
supervised and you won't be able to keep up with
what is going on here. Chat Rooms, Blogs, Instant
Messaging, IRC, Newsgroups - they don't understand
that they have gone public and have lost their privacy.

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Space Weather News for Feb. 19, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

LUNAR ECLIPSE:  On Wednesday night, February 20th, the full Moon will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010.  Sky watchers in Europe, the Americas, parts of the Middle East and Africa are favored for good views of the two-hour event.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for full coverage including maps and timetables, live webcasts and discussion. 

SPY SATELLITE UPDATE:  The US Navy's first attempt to hit malfunctioning spy satellite USA 193 with a missile could come on Wednesday night during the lunar eclipse.  This is based on an air traffic advisory warning pilots to steer clear of a patch of Pacific Ocean near Hawaii just when USA 193 is due to pass overhead. Until the satellite is shot down, it remains visible to casual sky watchers during evening passes over US and Canadian towns and cities; experienced observers say the decaying satellite is sometimes as bright as the stars of Orion, making it an easy target for unaided eyes and off-the-shelf digital cameras.  Details, photos and more information are available at http://spaceweather.com. Subscribers to Spaceweather PHONE (http://spaceweatherphone.com) will receive email and telephone alerts when the spy-sat is about to appear over their backyards.

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Black History Month All Year Long
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/culdesac/

Classroom resources - slave songs, including stories of the people,
often passed from elders to the next generation, learn through the oral tradition.
Find 2 original Anansi Folktale E-books. Download, read, and hear each
story narrated in both American Virgin Island Creole and Standard English,
plus find out how these stories survived in tact from the original
storyteller. The Virgin Islands Dutch Creole folktale below was collected
by a Dutch anthropologist, J. P. B. de Josselin de Jong, who visited the
Virgin Islands in 1923. De Josselin de Jong does not say who told him this
story. However, we do know that all of the people who told him stories
lived on St. Thomas and St. John and that they spoke both Dutch Creole and Virgin Islands English.

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NASA Science News for February 20, 2008

Do you know who's orbiting the moon? The answer might surprise you. Find out in today's story from Science@NASA.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/20feb_orbitingthemoon.htm?list111411

Important reminder: Don't forget to watch tonight's lunar eclipse.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_lunareclipse.htm