Contents

1 - SATURN: JEWEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
2 - MATH EXPLORER
3 - INTERNET2 AT THE EXPLORATORIUM
4 - BETTER HAIR THROUGH CHEMISTRY
5 - EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
6 - SPACE EXPLORATION AND ASTROBIOLOGY: CLASSROOM TREASURES FROM THE K-12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER

1 - SATURN: JEWEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
http://www.exploratorium.edu/saturn/
After its long journey to Saturn's largest moon, Titan, the Huygens probe was released from the Cassini spacecraft. Learn about Saturn and Titan and view archived Webcasts from January 2005. Listen in as Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty talks to mission scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory about Titan, what the new pictures of Saturn's largest moon tell us, and what it means for our understanding of earth.

2 - MATH EXPLORER
http://www.exploratorium.edu/math_explorer/index.html
Looking for a way to get middle-schoolers interested in math? The Exploratorium created The Math Explorer because:

• more middle school kids would like math if they learned it the Exploratorium way
• getting kids excited about math opens up career paths
• we want kids to see how math can be useful, interesting, and fun.

The Math Explorer has games for kids who like playing, crafts for kids who like making things, and science experiments for kids who like experimenting. For educators, The Math Explorer has clear, simple explanations of math that you never learned (or you've forgotten). Best of all, you don't have to be a math whiz yourself.

Check out the book in more detail and sample some of the activities.

3 - INTERNET2 AT THE EXPLORATORIUM
http://www.exploratorium.edu/i2/
Internet2 is a university-led effort to develop advanced network applications for research and education utilizing a high-performance computer network that provides bandwidth, responsiveness, and reliability that's far superior to the widely used commercial Internet. The Exploratorium is currently working on a variety of Internet2 applications, including DVD-quality Webcasting, distance education, and networked exhibits.

The K-12 community is also included in Internet2. For example, the Corporation for Education Networking Initiatives in California (CENIC) provides high-speed network services to both the higher-education and the K-12 communities through the CalREN high-speed, high-bandwidth Internet network. There are similar agencies in other states, such as IHETS (Indiana), MichNet (Michigan), NCGigaNet (North Carolina), and many more.

Do you have access to Internet2? Many K-12 schools (over 20,000) and most large universities are connected to the Internet2 Abilene network. To find out if you're connected, ask your computer network administrator.

4 - BETTER HAIR THROUGH CHEMISTRY
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/hair/hair_activity.html
Ever notice that when it's humid you have a bad hair day? Hair increases its length when humidity increases. So curly hair frizzes and straight hair goes limp. From dry to humid, hair length can change by 3 percent. Experiment with the Hair Hygrometer, the Healthy Hair Test, and Creating Curls.

5 - EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/physics/modernphysics.htm
Senior Scientist Paul Doherty presented a workshop in November 2004 in honor of the 2005 International Year of Physics and the 100th anniversary of Einstein's marvelous year of 1905, in which he published three papers:

• the first explained the photoelectric effect by postulating the quantization of light
• the second proposed the special theory of relativity
• the third used a mathematical description of Brownian motion to prove the existence of atoms.

Paul has written up his lecture outline with links to diagrams and activities.

6 - SPACE EXPLORATION AND ASTROBIOLOGY: CLASSROOM TREASURES FROM THE K-12 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER
http://www.k12imc.org/pg3124.cfm
Learn about the race to space and astrobiology from NASA, Rice University, the Exploratorium, and other organizations. Check out cool links at the National Space Society and learn about the Genesis project.