The Exploratorium EduNews is sent out in an email text format four times a year to teachers, school librarians, school administrators, professional developers, and others involved in K-12 education. Each issue includes announcements about Exploratorium-produced Webcasts, print publications, new online resources, and updates about our initiatives in teaching and learning.

Please feel free to forward EduNews to your colleagues and, if they like it,
they can sign up for their own free copy at:
<http://www.exploratorium.edu/edunews>.

Contents

1 - PATHWAYS
2 - ACCIDENTAL SCIENTIST LIVE@ WEBCAST DELVES INTO THE MYSTERIES OF BREAD, SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 11AM PST
3 - ORIGINS: TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCOVERY
4 - BIOSCIENCE TREASURES FROM K12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER
5 - MAC OS X FREE TO K-12 TEACHERS

1 - PATHWAYS
http://www.exploratorium.edu/pathways
Pathways are collections of support and assessment materials for teachers who bring their students to the Exploratorium. Pathways are designed to:
--Help provide direction and structure for the field trip.
--Focus the attention of field trip students on a particular set of exhibits or topic.
--Provide a method of assessment.
--Suggest links to related materials and additional experiments for pre- and post-trip learning.

There are two types of Pathways: Guided and Open. Guided Pathways are intended to be a set course of exploration in the museum. Each Pathway includes a student worksheet and a matching teacher's edition. The teacher's edition links the Pathway's content to state science standards and provides additional support materials as well as sample answers to the worksheet questions.

Teachers who visit the Exploratorium have developed Open Pathways, their own methods for making the most of their field trip. Some of these methods have been gathered and described in Open Pathways. Open Pathways suggest ways to assess your students that go beyond the question-and-answer format and suggest creative ways to use your Exploratorium field trip to motivate students.

2 - ACCIDENTAL SCIENTIST LIVE@ WEBCAST DELVES INTO THE MYSTERIES OF BREAD, SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 11AM PST
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/webcasts/bread_cast.html
Find out how yeast performs its biochemical transformation of a bit of flour and water into crusty, delicious bread. Explore the history of breadmaking around the world, and learn how bread has come to occupy such a central place in the cuisines of many nations. We'll bake some bread in our studio kitchen, play with yeast and glutens in our lab, and share recipes.

3 - ORIGINS: TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCOVERY
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/Belize-London/tools/index.html
The tools of biological investigation can be as simple as Tupperware and hand lenses or as sophisticated as scanning electron microscopes and chromatographs. They can be a single grain of pollen or a vast collection of over 70 million specimens. The Exploratorium takes you behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum, London, to discover state-of-the-art instrumentation for looking at life.

The Origins Project examines what we know about our roots: the beginnings of the universe, of matter, of the earth, and of life itself. It explores the results and progress of leading-edge research in physics, geosciences, and life sciences.

4 - BIOSCIENCE TREASURES FROM K12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER
http://www.k12imc.org/
The study of marine life <http://www.k12imc.org/pg1142.cfm> and oceans <http://www.k12imc.org/pg1149.cfm> on the Web has been enriched not only by museums for animal life but also by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Students can accompany amazing explorers. They can create their own virtual treks, too <http://www.k12imc.org/pg1277.cfm>. Thousands of tours can be integrated into every subject, inspiring students to pursue adventures. Invite your administrator along for a ride!
--submitted by Bonnie Tennenbaum, Media Specialist

5 - MAC OS X FREE TO K-12 TEACHERS
http://www.apple.com/education/macosxforteachers/
From now through March 31, 2003, qualifying K-12 teachers can order their free X for Teachers Kit, which provides everything a teacher needs to learn and become comfortable with Mac OS X.seeing. We hope you'll share your comments and questions in the site's feedback section.

To qualify for the X for Teachers program, you must be a K-12 teacher at a recognized school (public, private, Catholic, Bureau of Indian Affairs, charter schools) and you must agree to have software delivered to your school address. A separate X for Teachers program is available for Canadian K-12 teachers.