"provides curriculum support materials for teachers of introductory statistics." For instance, you can learn about scatterplots by using them to find a friend, boxplots by examining the 1970 draft lottery, assessment measures by exploring the age of female Oscar winners or the pricing of diamond rings. Also check out the nice collection of datasets.
Why limit your searching to Google when the best engine for your purpose might be a clustering engine that maps results, a recommendation search tool, a spoken word engine, a social bookmark tool, a podcast search engine, etc.
These advocates for reforming regulations and policies that stand in the way of effective teaching, this organization compiles and analyzes data. Among the reports available here: ratings of all reading texts, teachers' collective bargaining agreements and school board policies from all 50 states. Coming shortly: the 2007 State Teacher Policy Yearbook
If you're craving the return of spring and birds, now's a good time to start making your yard a welcoming place for birds. Here's advice on building or buying birdhouses, attracting birds, and protecting your avian visitors, as well as info on bird watching equipment, books, etc.
"created by the Lemelson-MIT Program to address the independent inventor's and aspiring entrepreneur's most frequently asked questions regarding United States patents," including What Can Be Patented, How Do I Conduct a Patent Search, How Do I Prove the Idea Is Mine, etc. Also includes resources for investors.
This site, which explores "the meaning of cemetery symbols and other graveyard mysteries," might be an interesting addition to your genealogy tools. Entries are illustrated with photos of gravestone artwork. Browsable by categories like Christian, Jewish, Knights Templar, Angels, Flowers, etc.
Besides offering live weather conditions and webcams for the location of your choice, this offers a travel mapping service that incorporates weather data along the route. If they'd add road condition info from every state as well, it would be a perfect travel planning site.
Free podcasts from Nolo, "the go-to source for do-it-yourself legal solutions for work, life and finances," on topics like preparing your own will, how to advocate for special education for a child, the law for dog owners, can a nonprofit make a profit, etc. Searchable and browsable by categories. RSS feed available.
Yet another reminder that it's not enough to digitize something; if you don't commit to migrating it to changing formats over the years, your digital content may be lost forever.
This unique search engine retrieves intriguing results that won't ever be among the top results of a Google search. For example, a search of "nuclear waste," paired randomly with "God," "chicken," "real," "Houston," and "881," retrieves a fascinating mix of news, research, regulations, and more. It's a good way to see odd connections between data that might not otherwise occur to you. Play around with it.
An exploding map of musical relationships. Input the name of an artist to see what other artists people who like that one also listen to (closeness of relationship signified by closeness on the screen); then click on any of those names to follow the web of sometimes surprising musical relationships - from Dar Williams to Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, and Richard Shindell makes sense, but getting from Dar Williams to Meatloaf is a bit of a puzzle.
Aims to "support the teaching of American political history by providing quick access to uncopyrighted images for inclusion in teaching materials." The search function doesn't seem to be working right now, but this is well worth browsing by era or by special topical collections.
Students are surely thinking these days about where to go on spring break. For those who'd like to do good while they're traveling, here's a company that "develops short-term volunteer programs in international environments that encourage people to immerse themselves in a unique way of giving back," including opportunities to assemble wheelchairs in Cambodia, mark trails through the forests of Costa Rica, help construct a community center in Brazil, etc. Previous volunteers recount some of their experiences in the site's weblog.
Browsable and searchable explanations and bulletin board entries on the origins and meaning of phrases from literature, folk usage, popular culture, etc.
Billed as "The photography magazine made by you," each bi-monthly themed issue includes photos, features and interviews. Contribute your own photos on suggested themes, and vote on the photos to be included in the next issue. View the magazines in pdf, or subscribe to the physical copy.
This mashup development tool for Google and Yahoo! maps "lets you tag locations on a map and publish it on your own site. Mapping is now easier than ever. It's free." Click on "booming maps" to see some of the things people have mapped - a walking tour, churches within a diocese, street art (combined with photos), fall fashion shows in New York, etc. A similar service is offered by Quikmaps and Wayfaring . This is a great way to provide local information to library users in a highly usable format.
Among the entries in this fascinating blog are a map of Oz, the classic New Yorker map of the world as viewed by New York City residents, the world of Orwell's 1984, Stephen King's Maine, "the 10 Regions of American Politics," etc.
If you care passionately about the use and abuse of the English language, you'll have fun with this blog. Recent entries have dealt with topics like language in cartoons, superbowl ad language, taboo words, the dangers of analogies, etc. Searchable but not browsable.
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