Sandra Stark's List: Environment

By combining advances in educational technology with improved understanding of young children's cognitive development, the Evolution Readiness project is producing an empirically validated curriculum for introducing evolution in the elementary grades. We are using computer-based, manipulable models of interacting organisms and their environments to help fourth grade students learn Darwin's model of natural selection as the process primarily responsible for evolution.

With e-readers like Apple’s new iPad and Amazon’s Kindle touting their vast libraries of digital titles, some bookworms are bound to wonder if tomes-on-paper will one day become quaint relics. But the question also arises, which is more environmentally friendly: an e-reader or an old-fashioned book?

Urgent action is needed to tackle the "mountains" of e-waste building up in developing nations, says a UN report.
Good short summary of the problem. Global perspective.

Lots of resources on Green ICT, mostly pdfs. Useful for background.

Video: Greening ICT case study QuickTime (Duration: 8.05) Greening ICT case study from Queen Margaret University. Good overview of the problems and solutions.

Presentation by British Computer Society. Useful information.

Too complex for students but useful background for the teacher. Smart sensor networks - technologies and applications for green growth
12-Jan-2010
Sensor networks play an important role in tackling environmental challenges. Sensor applications in smart power grids, smart buildings and smart industrial processes make significant contributions to more efficient resource use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. This report gives an overview of sensor technologies and applications, and quantifies their environmental impacts.

Two downloadable reports on this page
Towards Green ICT Strategies
Measuring the Relationship Between ICT and the Environment

If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on in the world of green ICT, take a look at The Green IT Review. This blog covers significant industry-related news, and highlights issues and trends, with a focus not so much on what happened today, but what it means for tomorrow.

The Green IT Review is read by people in more than 75 countries across the globe, with a significant number of registered readers receiving news by email every day. News and comment from the site is reproduced in a number of web sites and publications in North America, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Interactive Global Geostationary Weather Satellite Images

Geographic Information System (GIS) software uses the power of geography, spatial location to gather, analyze, and visualize vast amounts of information. See how this innovative technology can be used to investigate the fascinating lands of Asia.

Long list of short PDFs describing a wide variety of data logging systems in a variety of areas.

Good description of basics of satellite communication.

This NASA produced short film (3:30) describes the Global Positioning System. It is a great summary and can be used to augment the Galaxy Explorers Mission Plan on GPS.  

Animated movie about how GPS + Glonass Technolgy works. Basic overview for how GPS technology is utilized in the field

September 2007
Every year, 35 million tonnes of electronic waste is exported to China to be scrapped. There the rubbish is broken down by hand, poisoning workers and polluting the environment. "Smoke from the computers is too strong to breathe", complains one disposal worker. "I feel dizzy and can't see any more". Many employees at the electronic disposal plant suffer from respiratory illness or skin diseases. They work for ten hours a day, with no protection from the hazardous chemicals.

Very classy video done by Basel Action Network. Lots of specifics and good visuals.

Good overview. about 4 minutes Recycling old electronics keeps toxic components from contaminating the environment. Recycled improperly, however, they could end up polluting not only your area but also other countries.

Exporting waste illegally to poor countries has become a vast and growing international business, as companies try to minimize the costs of new environmental laws, like those here, that tax waste or require that it be recycled or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.

My World GIS™ is a Geographic Information System (GIS) designed specifically for use in educational settings.  My World allows learners to explore and analyze geographic data about our world.

My World's intended audience is middle school through college geosciences and geography courses involving investigations of geographic data.

My World is designed to meet the needs of students and teachers while keeping the constraints of educational settings in mind.  It combines the power of a full-featured GIS environment with the support and structure required by novice users in an educational environment.