StarDome: Astronomy.com's Interactive Star Map--Personalized for You!

Fantastic for use on an Interactive Whiteboard, or simply for use as a projection in the classroom.

"StarDome simulates a naked-eye view of the sky from any location on Earth, at any time and on any date. StarDome gives you a graphical overview of the sky and detailed information about stars, deep-sky objects, planets, and selected asteroids and comets. 

You can quickly jump to the next eclipse, transit of Venus, Mars opposition, or Full Moon. View the constellations and explore data on more than 2,500 stars, or zoom in for a closer look at planetary configurations.

The first thing you'll notice when StarDome displays is the large circular, all-sky map. This is an interactive version of the map you'll find every month inAstronomy's pull-out section. The zenith (the point directly above an observer's head) is in the center of the map, and the horizon, complete with compass directions, forms the outer boundary. 

The second thing you'll notice is that the only active tab is the one labeled Explore the Sky. All of the other functions are available in StarDome Plus, an observing tool available only to magazine subscribers."


"Tech talkStarDome is a small program — called an applet — written in the Java language from Sun Microsystems. When you visit Astronomy.com, your web browser downloads the applet and executes it. For StarDome to function, you'll need the Java Runtime Environment version 1.3 or higher, and you'll need to set your web browser to enable Java content."


Click here to go to the Astronomy.com webpage for full instructions on how to use StarDome

StarDome: Astronomy.com's Interactive Star Map--Personalized for You!

Repost: Amazing Cell Biology Animations: From Mitosis and Meiosis to Photosynthesis

The last time I posted this link was FOREVER AGO!  However, it demands reposting, because John Kyrk is a genius. He has created so many beautiful animations--every animation you'd need to teach any biology class from Middle School Right up through High School (perhaps even AP) Biology.


Click here for his home page and a list of all of the animations he offers on his site.
 
This site has excellent animations that are especially well-suited for use on an interactive whiteboard. My personal favorites on this site are the mitosis/meiosis animations, which happen to be the first ones that he published. They are beautifully designed, uncluttered, elegant animations that can be translated into 6 languages (just click the "lips" icon on the upper right-hand side of the page).

Repost: Amazing Cell Biology Animations: From Mitosis and Meiosis to Photosynthesis

Cell Function Interactive Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!

JohnKyrk.com
Those letters together are all you need to know to find AMAZING interactives that demonstrate all aspects of Cell Structure and Function.  From a general overview of Cell Anatomy, to the specifics of the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis, including molecular structure.


If you go to the website and click "Cell Function Overview", you will end up with an image like this one:

It is a beautiful illustration, but wait until you click on the little tiny orange "play" button (not labeled as such) in the lower left corner of the page.  It makes you microscopic, and brings you down into the cell to view the process of DNA to RNA.
These animations work beautifully on an interactive whiteboard (SMART, Promethean, etc.)

This is where it gets pretty cool. The animation shows the process of DNA transcription.  When the animation pauses, you can read the related text and then press the little orange "play" button again, or rewind to watch the process again.

The animation to  finishes up by showing how ribosomal RNA is transported outside the nuclear membrane and then translated into proteins, shown in the image to the left.


Keep in mind, this is NOT the only animated sequence on the site, there are HUNDREDS of them.  Just keep clicking!  

Cell Function Interactive Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!