Welcome to the Spring issue of EduNews. Spring has sprung and we are enjoying blossoming trees, longer days, and the wind off San Francisco Bay.

Contents

1 - COME SEE US AT NSTA
2 - SCIENCE OF MUSIC
3 - TRAVELING EXPLORATORIUM EXHIBIT OPENS IN HARRISBURG, PA
4 - BATTER UP! THE SCIENCE OF BASEBALL
5 - FEATURED PATHWAY: LOOKING WITHOUT SEEING
6 - TREASURES FROM K-12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER: FAMILY LEARNING COMMUNITIES

1 - COME SEE US AT NSTA
http://www.exploratorium.edu/outdoor
See inquiry in action at our booth (#2555) at NSTA, April 1-4, 2004,in Atlanta. New and classic Exploratorium Web online resources will be demonstrated. In addition, you can attend the following presentation given by Modesto Tamez of the Exploratorium's Teacher Institute: Multicultural Share-a-Thon: An NSTA Multicultural Committee and Association of Multicultural Science Education (AMSE) Workshop, April 2, 12:30 pm-2:30 pm

2 - SCIENCE OF MUSIC
http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/index.html
What is music? Is birdsong music? How about the tap-tap-tap of a hammer, or the wail of a creaking door? Is playing a garbage can different than playing a drum? Explore the science of music through online exhibits, movies, and questions. Along the way, you can compose, mix, dance, drum, experiment, and, above all, listen.

3 - TRAVELING EXPLORATORIUM EXHIBIT OPENS IN HARRISBURG, PA
http://www.whitakercenter.org/science/traits.asp
Traits of Life features twenty-four exhibits showcasing a variety of organisms--living, virtual, and dead--that invite visitors to explore different aspects of life and discover some of the fundamental characteristics common to all living things.

Through a program called the Exploratorium Network for Exhibit-Based Teaching (ExNET)
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibit_services/ebtp/, we are offering our exhibitry and educational expertise to a growing number of science centers nationwide. Current ExNET partners include the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; the California Science Center in Los Angeles; the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale; the Rochester Museum and Science Center; the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego; GWIZ (Gulfcoast Wonder and Imagination Zone) in Sarasota, Florida; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; the Explor@dome in Paris; the Museo Sol Del Nio in Mexicali, Mexico; and COSI-Toledo (Center of Science and Industry) in Toledo, Ohio.

You can also check out the Exploratorium's Traits of Life Web site at http://www.exploratorium.edu/traits/ or see the exhibition at the Exploratorium.

4 - BATTER UP! THE SCIENCE OF BASEBALL
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/
Spring training is in full swing. Join in the action at our Science of Baseball site. Can you hit a 90-mph fastball? Want to learn about baseball in Japan? Or take a look at the Time Machine, where you move a player through time and see how his stats change. Check out the Girls of Summer, women who played baseball in skirts and high-button shoes. Then learn how to throw a curveball, slider, screwball, and fastball.

5 - FEATURED PATHWAY: LOOKING WITHOUT SEEING
http://www.exploratorium.edu/pathways/guided/looking_teacher.html
This Pathway uses exhibits to investigate how we see things. Some exhibits, such as Seeing Details and Peripheral Vision, investigate how we sense the world. Other exhibits, such as Count the Bounces, explore how we interpret the world. However, there are still many things we don't understand about what we see or don't see, as demonstrated in the exhibit Disappearer.

For further understanding of how we see, visit our Seeing Web site http://www.exploratorium.edu/seeing/, a companion to our revitalized and expanded Seeing collection.

Pathways are collections of support and assessment materials for teachers who bring their students to the Exploratorium. However, the principles in the Pathways can also be used with our online Snacks, scaled-down versions of our museum exhibits, which you can find at http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/

Each Pathway has two versions: one for teachers and one for students. The teacher's version includes links to state science standards and provides additional support materials, as well as sample answers to the worksheet questions.

6 - TREASURES FROM K-12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER: FAMILY LEARNING COMMUNITIES
http://www.k12imc.org/pg59.cfm
Strong families contribute to strong schools. Here you will find links about parental support, tips for parental involvement, projects and interactive sites for parents and kids, and local cable television services. This special section includes challenging experiments, science backgrounders, and other resources that can be enjoyed by the whole family.