Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Migratory Bird Center
It is fall migration time again. Check out some teaching resources or research on the migration. And don’t forget to break out the binoculars!

State of the Birds

State of the Birds
Here is another site that is a good compliment to BirdLife International and also includes information from the 2009 report on the state of birds in the United States. Very nicely done site; easy to navigate with lots of information, images and figures.

New Science Fun for Friday

Another eclectic bunch of resources for this Friday. In the mix, online textbooks, an ocean science journal, and more…

Ocean Sciences
Ocean Sciences is an open access journal, freely accessible on the web and covers the fields of: ocean physics, ocean chemistry, biological oceanography, air-sea interactions, ocean models, coastal/shelf-edge processes and paleooceanography.

Microbial Diversity from Blackwell Publishing
This site offers full-text access to sections of the Microbial Diversity textbook. It also includes a student resources section with many links and exercises to help students with the material.

Basic and Clinical Neurosciences
This site has a serious of lectures on different aspects of neuroscience. Also included on the site is an extensive list of links to neuroscience departments, institutes, programs and organizations.

BirdLife International
This site contains a report on the “state of the world’s birds.” Concerned about the loss of biodiversity, this site outlines what is happening, what pressures birds face and what can be done to prevent more loss of bird species. BirdLife International’s homepage can be accessed at www.birdlife.org.

Genetically Engineered Animals
And last, but not least, this site from the FDA on new regulations regarding genetically engineered animals. An interesting read with FAQ’s sections and it is a timely resource to use when talking about genetic engineering in biology courses.

Have a great weekend!

Migration and New Media

Three new resources: two on migration and one on everyone’s favorite topic (or bane) Google!

Help Track Bird Migration
So this is not an advertisement for this charity site, only a guide to the many organizations that you and your students can volunteer with to track bird migration. I think tracking bird migration is a pretty cool task and considering we live in/near a major migration path for birds, it is definitely worth a look. Go fall migration! Can’t wait for the birding opportunities in the Central Valley, but that’s just me!

Monarch Butterfly Migration
Another timely resource from the Library of Congress. Great list of online resources to learn more about Monarchs and their long migration. This is the perfect time to learn more about the monarchs as they will be at Natural Bridges State Park soon and that sight is worth a trip to Santa Cruz to see. And, if you decide to go, this links to the Homepage of Natural Bridges State Park.

New Media World: Google, Links, and Popularity versus Authority by Seth Finkelstein
This is a chapter from the book The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age. New Media World’s books are available for free online and are available for purchase in paper version. This is a very relevant chapter to read, and perhaps have students read, as it dispels commonly held beliefs about Google, search engines in general and the democracy of the web. A very interesting look at the social and political ramifications of search engine results. Also underscores the need for everyone to be able to evaluate web content effectively and efficiently! Information literacy instruction, anyone?

Have a fabulous rest of your week. Again, comments welcome–especially sharing new resources!