Media Specialists
December 4 - December 10, 2013

Find the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television.

Taking the Earth's Temperature
Grades: 9-12

This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" follows groups of climate researchers collecting temperature data from a wide range of locations in an effort to determine the current rate of global climate change relative to climate shifts of the distant past.

Joy Learno: Snowman

Grades: PreK-1

This video segment from Between the Lions is an animated non-fiction segment starring talk show host, Joy Learno. Joy interviews a snowman who likes to crack jokes about snow and ice. Then the snowman starts to melt. This video segment provides a resource for Vocabulary, and Language and Vocabulary Development.

Life on the Ice

Grades: 9-13+

In this video from the NSF and DRI, learn about WAIS Divide, an ice core project on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), and hear from the people involved about the hard work and light-hearted fun that typifies day-to-day life in the WAIS Divide camp. Research scientist Brian Bencivengo, science coordinator Heidi Roop, and doctoral candidate Gifford Wong describe their experiences living on the frozen continent and the importance of the work they do. They are part of a team of 30 to 40 women and men collecting an ice core that they hope will help improve our understanding of past, present, and future climate conditions.

Why Do Snowflakes Come in So Many Shapes and Sizes?
Grade Range: 6-8

Are all snowflakes truly unique? What are the physical forces that drive snowflakes to come in so many shapes and sizes? In this lesson, students build an apparatus that creates conditions similar to a winter cloud and produce their own snow crystals indoors. By watching the snow crystals grow, they learn about the molecular forces that shape ice crystals, and gain a deeper understanding of the states of matter. By exploring media resources, including microphotographs of real snowflakes, students also learn about molecular forces, the particulate nature of matter, and condensation.

Inspiration From Hibernation
Grade Range: 6-12

In this video excerpt from NOVA scienceNOW: "Can We Live Forever?" learn how research on animal hibernation may lead to the successful development of drug therapies for humans. Scientist Matt Andrews studies hibernating ground squirrels-who can survive frigid temperatures for months-in an effort to better understand how hibernation impacts genes. Andrews discovers that several genes get turned on in some cells only during hibernation and reduce the squirrels' need for oxygen. It is possible that the development of drug therapies mimicking the hibernation experience may be able to help humans survive traumatic injuries like a heart attack or stroke.

Dealing with Stage Fright

Grade Range: 6-12

Although there are varied approaches to managing stage fright, a common theme in the comments from coaches and students is that confidence as a performer comes from practice and from thoroughly knowing the material you are going to perform. In this video from the Broadway or Bust website, students and coaches, including Broadway actor and coach Michael McElroy, discuss what causes stage fright and ways to approach it.

Ida B. Wells: A Lifetime of Activism

Grade Range: 9-12

As a young woman growing up during Reconstruction, Ida B. Wells experienced Jim Crow segregation when she was barred from travel on a train in the whites-only section. It was not until she observed the growing practice of violence toward African Americans that she began her crusade to stop lynching. This video shows Wells grow from school teacher to journalist to founding member of the NAACP.

Not Milk?
Grade Range: K-2

Learn and practice Spanish, including vocabulary for food and farm animals, with the Oh Noah! "Not Milk?" webisode, related games, and lesson plan. In the webisode, Noah heads off to a farm and ends up getting chased by a bull he thought was a cow. Students can learn, build upon, and apply the Spanish vocabulary by playing the interactive games. In the "Now We're Cooking" lesson plan, students will practice their new knowledge as they make a delicious snack.

Gullah Music: Secret Code
Grade Range: 3-5

Students will understand that music and material culture became a mode of covert communication between slaves. Aunt Pearlie Sue is our guide as students uncover hidden messages in the work songs enslaved Africans sang in the fields. And, some believe that the patterns sewn into quilts were designed as directions for navigating the Underground Railroad.

Theater: Sound Studio
Grade Range: 3-8

In this interactive, students will explore the effects of sound on a theatrical production.

Wish You Were Here: Postcards from 1962
Grade Range: 4-12

This interactive map from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair curriculum challenges students to use postcards as primary sources for piecing together the story of the World's Fair and who visited it. Who came to the fair? Where did they come from? What impressed them the most? By examining the map and the texts of the postcards, student will assemble their own understanding of this historic event.

1962 World's Fair Curriculum
Grade Range: 4-12

This comprehensive curriculum uses the 1962 World's Fair to invite students to explore life in the early 1960s, from pop culture, music and gender issues to the focus on science and technology brought on by the Cold War and the Space Race. Students also examine the culture of the Northwest in the mid 20th century and examine the wins and losses that come with large civic projects. Ten units feature numerous lessons and activities, primary sources, maps and more. The entire project is aligned to various standards in social studies and geography.

Looking for Lincoln Throughout His Life

Grade Range: 1-3

In this interdisciplinary lesson, students gather different facts about Lincoln through a variety of hands-on activities. In the Introductory Activity, students match vocabulary words with pictures to piece together a timeline of Abraham Lincoln's life. In the Learning Activities, students gather various facts about the life of Lincoln. Students learn about Abraham Lincoln's work as a lawyer on the prairie and also gain insight into Lincoln through objects and artifacts of his life. Students then select classroom objects that best tell a story about them and/or their class. In the Culminating Activity, students reflect upon the life of Lincoln, revisit the timeline of Lincoln's life and create their own personal timelines.

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