Please create and add sections as you wish.  Add the most recent item to the top of each section. Include the citation,  a brief annotation of the item's value, your name as contributior, and the date you added it. Draw a line between each subtopic and  bullet each individual entry within the section.

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Science Hack: Science Videos Search Engine http://sciencehack.com

 

This web site is a search engine for science videos that have been screened for accuracy by educators. You can enter search terms or browse by topic. Along with standard science categories, such as biology and chemistry, it includes unique categories, such as "How It Is Made" and "Green Energy."

 

Heather Neidenbach, November 2008

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 Environmentalism for Young Adults

Environmental is a good cause for young adults, because it’s not too hard to grasp and because it affects their future. Also, it can bring them together to work for good. Many celebrities that young adults follow have jumped on the environmentalist bandwagon, such as Zack Braff from Scrubs (http://ww2.earthday.net/braff.mp3). Focus the Nation (http://www.focusthenation.org) is a national college campus organization that helps young people learn how to become activists for the environment. There are also Students for Sustainability groups in some campuses across the country.

 

Although “Going Green” is a very big topic nowadays, the idea of conserving the environment has been around for a century (remember President Teddy Roosevelt was a conservationist), but in my opinion the current trend began in the 1960s, with Rachel Carson’s eye-opening Silent Spring. Although this book is a little dated now, it still remains an important introduction to the importance of protecting our environment. Rachel Carson was a brave scientist who faced ridicule for her ideas (and got the corporate world upset).

During the same decade, Frances Moore Lappé turned a whole generation onto vegetarian eating with her Diet for a Small Planet. The theme of this book is that we should not be eating animals, because the amount of food and energy it takes to raise an animal for slaughter is far greater than that required to eat close to the earth. This idea is old hat by now, but she is the one who introduced it – who started the idea of ethical vegetarianism.

The current wave of interest in environmentalism began with the publication of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, which was then made into an Oscar-winning documentary. According to the website http://www.climatecrisis.net, this film “offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it.” Global warming is a controversial topic, with fervent believers and detractors on both sides of the issue.

Within environmentalism there are many sub-topics, such as climate control and environmental ethics. Many see the cause of environmentalism as a moral or even a religious one. Whereas in the olden days, man believed that he was master of all that he surveyed (see the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament) and could do whatever he wanted to the earth, nowadays the belief is growing among faith-based groups that we are stewards of the earth and it is our moral imperative to preserve the environment. Earth Day’s website has a section on faith-based groups (http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/node/73). Some groups (not necessarily faith-based) take it a few steps further and talk about plants having the same “rights” as humans.

Of course, no one should blindly follow a cause just because celebrities say it’s good. It’s essential to read both sides of the issue and come to one’s own conclusions. That’s why I have

I have put together a list of books (fiction and non-fiction) and websites that I believe are accessible to teens and adults alike, on both sides of the issue. I also included books that will help teenagers to make changes in their lives (or in their parents’ lives) to leave a smaller footprint on the earth.

 

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Crest, 1964.

Gore, Albert. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming. London: Bloomsbury, 2007.

Henderson, Hazel, and Daisaku Ikeda. Planetary Citizenship: Your Values, Beliefs, and Actions Can Shape a Sustainable World. Santa Monica, CA: Middleway Press, 2004.

Klass, David. Firestorm. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2006.

Lappé, Frances Moore. Diet for a Small Planet. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.

Lynas, Mark. High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate Crisis. New York: Picador, 2004.

Lytle, Mark H. The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement. New narratives in American history. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

McNaughton, Janet Elizabeth. The Secret Under My Skin. New York: Eos, 2005.

Nelson, Blake. They Came from Below. New York: Tor, 2007.

Newkirk, Ingrid. Making Kind Choices: Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth-and Animal-Friendly Living. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2005. 

Rogers, Elizabeth, and Thomas Kostigen. The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. 

Steffen, Alex. Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2006. 

Tashjian, Janet. The Gospel According to Larry. New York: H. Holt, 2001.

 

Environmental Protection Agency	http://www.epa.gov/
Earth Day	http://ww2.earthday.net/
Focus the Nation	http://www.focusthenation.org/
An Inconvenient Truth	http://www.climatecrisis.net
Alliance for Climate Protection	http://www.wecansolveit.org/
Competitive Enterprise Institute (against Al Gore’s ideas)	http://www.globalwarming.org/

 

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Windows on the Universe

 

 

 

 

Margie Llinas, 8/6/2007

 

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•  This site invites visitors to explore the world of science all around us through online activities, exhibitions, webcasts and news.  http://www.exploratorium.edu  (science)
• Offering science and so much more, Discovery.com welcomes adventurous exploration into the amazing world we live in.  http://www.discovery.com/

Ly Tran, December 2006

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Great Science Web Sites

Paula Miller, August 9, 2006

 

 

Fun, weird & silly stuff

This book is a mixture of fun, games, jokes, and information aimed at intriguing and teaching teenage boys. While it may not seem very scientific at first, in the hands of a boy, it is an invitation to explore the world we live in.  I was amazed to see my son question physics, set up kitchen experiments with common household items, practice logic and problem solving, and much more. It is just gross and funny enough that no male will be able to put it down. Finally, it ends with a section of recommended further reading that has some great scientific books for boys, as well as other fiction and non-fiction titles.

Michelle Bone 7/24/2006

 

 

 

 

 

Science: Literature for Teens

• Nasar, Sylvia (1998) A Beautiful mind. New York: Touchstone.  A book about a genius is inspiring to the teen who does not feel he fits in and is able to identify with this mathematical genius who eventualy was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.  Although the game theory that John Nash was able to show did not gain recognition for many years, he did influence those around him and his peculiar characteristics are ones some teens can certainly identify and understand whether it is his intellegence or just not fitting in or even his depression.  The book is a difficult read for most teens, but one that not only has great fascination as the reader watches John Nash descend into mental illness and the remarkable ablitlity to return to wellness.
•  Girard, Ilann, Darondeau,Yves &  Lioud,Christophe Producers? & Jacquet, LucDirector?. (2005) March of the Penguins motion picture?. France:Geographic Feature Films.  This documentary of devotion, unfaltering dedication gives the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica the human qualities of parents who care for their young despite the overwhelming forces that can prevent success.  Fathers take care of the young as mothers replenish their starved bodies, marches are made across the frozen landscape amidst weather condidtions that are nearly fatal.  The fascinating behavior is documented and replayed.  Young people cherish devotion and dedication of friendship and love.  Seeing this animal behave in this respected fashion attracts an audience that might have ignored this topic if only offered in a clinical and educational version.

Laura Erickson, June 27,2006

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• The Library of Congress Science Reference Links. http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/selected-internet/biography.html Here is a hand picked list by the Library of Congress on Scientists and Mathematicians. Also contained in this reference lists are timelines of discoveries and inventions.

Ryan Gan - June 16, 2006

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Older materials

• Timeline of Scientists (w7a.html) a list of scientists young people might be interested in researching.

• Other resourses (w7 science.html)

 

 

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