Subject:  New Learning Resources at FREE (May 2, 2003)

     ELEVEN NEW LEARNING RESOURCES in arts, health & safety,
     science, & social studies have been added to the FREE website.
     FREE makes it easy for teachers, parents, & students to find
     learning resources from more than 40 federal organizations.

          http://www.ed.gov/free

     The 11 new resources are described below.

====
Arts
====

"The Influences of Art on Yellowstone"
     features more than 50 paintings, photos, & drawings, many of
     which contributed to the creation of the nation's first
     national park.  The spectacular waterfalls, geysers, rock
     formations, & vistas in these works helped spread an
     appreciation of the wonders of Yellowstone.  When President
     Grant signed into law the bill establishing Yellowstone as our
     first national park in 1872, he set in motion the tradition of
     preserving other tracts of great beauty for future
     generations. (NPS)
     http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/art/index.htm

"NGA Classroom"
     offers a "resource finder" for searching the National Gallery
     of Art's resources & lessons by topic, curriculum area, or
     artist.  Calder, Cassatt, Degas, Kandinsky, Manet, Matisse,
     Miro, Moore, Picasso, van Gogh, & Vermeer are among the more
     than 50 artists included.  Four new online lessons help teach
     students about heroism, Greco-Roman myths, ecology, & 19th
     century America.  Each lesson examines paintings & provides
     student activities, worksheets, & related resources.
     Interactive features include a myth-master game of gods &
     "make your own medal." (NGA)
     http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/

===============
Health & safety
===============

"Tips for Parents on Keeping Children Drug Free"
     tells what your children should know about drugs by the time
     they reach the third grade, ways to help your child stay drug
     free in the middle & junior high school years, & how to ensure
     that your child's school is keeping students drug free. (ED)
          http://www.ed.gov/offices/OIIA/pfie/drugfree/index.html

=======
Science
=======

"The Astrobiology Curriculum"
     presents an outline & curriculum overview for a course on
     astrobiology.  It offers several sample learning activities,
     including:  Is the moon habitable?  What types of stars are in
     our universe? (NSF)
     http://astrobio.terc.edu/overview/overview.html

"Earth to Orbit & Beyond"
     presents students with engineering design challenges that are
     organized around challenges NASA engineers face in developing
     the next generation of aerospace vehicles.  Each challenge
     engages students in a classroom activity that leads them
     through the design, testing, & evaluation process used by
     engineers in developing new technology.  Among the challenges:
     1) designing a strong but lightweight thrust structure that
     can withstand the launch of a bottle rocket by means of a
     wooden lever & 2) designing a propeller that generates the
     maximum possible thrust using a small motor. (NASA)
     http://eto.nasa.gov/

"Fire Management, Everglades National Park"
     describes how fire is used to maintain the biological
     diversity & natural processes of the pineland, prairie, &
     other ecosystems of the Everglades that are shaped by the
     interaction of fire & water. (NPS)
     http://www.nps.gov/ever/fire/index.htm

"Bears of Yellowstone"
     presents 40 photos of grizzlies & black bears fishing,
     traveling with their cubs, & in various other activities &
     habitats. (NPS)
     http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/bears/index.htm

==============
Social studies
==============

"A Walk Through Time"
     looks at the evolution of timekeeping -- how humans have
     measured the passage of time throughout history.  The site
     describes & shows depictions of ancient calendars, sun & water
     clocks, mechanical & quartz clocks, & world time scales & time
     zones. (NIST)
     http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html

"Manassas Battlefield History"
     recounts two battles fought in the Virginia countryside north
     of Manassas during the Civil War.  The first battle, on a warm
     July day in 1861, marked the first clash of the Northern &
     Southern armies.  As the battle approached, the young soldiers
     on both sides were confident the other side would run at the
     first shot.  They were thankful not to miss the only battle of
     what would surely be a short war.  At day's end, after 10
     hours of fighting, nearly 900 young men lay lifeless on the
     fields, shattering the notion that the war's outcome would be
     decided quickly.  The second battle at Manassas took place a
     year later, in August 1862.  The three-day battle left 3,300
     dead & brought the Confederacy to the height of its power.
     This website offers glimpses of soldiers who fought here &
     virtual tours of the battlefield. (NPS)
     http://www.nps.gov/mana/battlefield_history/bhistory.htm

"Partners of the Heart"
     is the website for a film about two men who, in 1944,
     pioneered a procedure that would save the lives of thousands
     of "blue babies." One of the men, Alfred Blalock, was a
     prominent white surgeon.  The other, Vivien Thomas, was an
     African American with a high school education.  Blalock
     recognized Thomas' talents when the younger man inquired about
     a janitor's job at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.  Thomas
     went on to train two generations of the country's premier
     heart surgeons. (NEH)
     http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/

"Traveling the National Road"
     tells the story of the first road built with federal funds.
     Construction of the 632-mile road from Cumberland, Maryland,
     to Vandalia, Illinois, began in 1811.  The aim was to improve
     trade between the east & the emerging western frontier & to
     avoid losing western trade to England in Canada or Spain in
     the Louisiana Territory.  The website tells how the road was
     built, how people traveled on it, accommodations they found
     along the way, & more.  Today travelers on U.S. Route 40 can
     see some of the sights seen by people traveling the National
     Road in the 1800s. (NPS)
     http://www.nps.gov/fone/classroom/nrintro.htm

  Acronyms
  ~~~~~~~~
ED -- Department of Education
FREE -- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
NEH -- National Endowment for the Humanities
NASA -- National Aeronautics & Space Administration
NGA -- National Gallery of Art
NIST -- National Science Foundation
NPS -- National Park Service
NSF -- National Science Foundation

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