New Ways to Catch Rays from NOVA

If you were up later than usual when many schools were recently closed down due to power outages and snow, you may have seen Tavis Smiley’s PBS interview of distinguished Harvard physicist Lisa Randall.  Part of their discussion focused on the concern that “our students are not being drawn like a magnet to math and science.”

Perhaps like Prof. Randall, you’ve noticed “that people are almost embarrassed to talk about scientific measurements or scientific facts.”   NOVA’s Educator Site, a free digital library tied to teaching standards. can be one antidote, drawing students to science,  math and more by bringing such subjects to life in educational settings.

Clicking on Science and Society, you’ll find News Ways to Catch Rays, an interactive activity where students learn about eight of the latest solar technologies and how, in the face of global climate change, scientists and engineers are actively developing new ways to harness the Sun as an alternative to fossil fuels.  (Included are photos, an illustration, and text to investigate how these technologies can provide environmentally friendly solutions.)

On the Technology link, the video segment Brain Tumor teaches students about concussions — a common type of traumatic brain injury — where both a young athlete describes his personal experience and a neurosurgeon/ international expert explains why concussions are difficult to diagnose and how a new tool can help assess brain injury.