TED Talks

TED Talks are a great way for older students to expose themselves to current events, learn about recent advancements in science and technology, and gain new perspectives about the world around them, the people who live in it, and how ongoing change will effect both the Earth and its citizens.

82nd and Fifth

82nd and Fifth is an award-winning series of art videos featuring one curator talking about a single work of art for two to three minutes. There are nearly one hundred of these videos. I personally recommend that anyone with an interest or appreciation for art check out this marvelous series of videos, as it will change the way you look in art in ways that might surprise even you.

Science Blogs to Explore this Weekend

The Da Vinci Science Center offers a variety of blog topics from exploring nanotechnology to taking a closer look at the connection between art and science.

The New York Hall of Science's Explaining Science Blog presents science as a series of humorous, easy to understand comics perfect for a bit of weekend learning.

You can also check out the United Kingdom's Science Museum Blog where you can read about a wide range of science topics, experiments, and discoveries.

Regents Physics Resources

Here are some great resources to help students study for their Physics Regents.

Video Tutorials

Worksheets

Physics Regents Prep 

Youtube walkthroughs of practice exams

Physics at Khan Academy (great video resources sorted by topic)

Mother Nature Network

If you're interested in helping the planet in whatever tiny ways you can, or if you love stepping outside and getting a breath of fresh air, or if you've ever marveled at the complex beauty of nature, you might want to check out the Mother Nature Network. They describe themselves as a simple to understand news site where they "cover the broadest scope of environmental news and social responsibility issues on the Internet."

They have some really beautiful and unique content. Check out this gem I found yesterday, which has a link to a live webcam of a newborn baby bear.

Studying for the Regents

All New York High School students are required to take several Regents to graduate. They're typically given in January, June, and August, and are among the most feared and most difficult tests high schoolers take, second only to the SAT, ACT, and AP Tests. They don't have to be that way, though. Here are some tips for studying for the Regents.

• Start studying now. That's right, you heard me. It's the middle of February, but it's never too early to start studying for Regents. 
• Review your class notes. Your teacher isn't standing in front of the room giving you notes because she likes the sound of her own voice. She's teaching you everything you need to know for that Big Test, and you should be a) paying close attention, b) taking great notes, and c) studying from those notes. 
• Go through old class tests. If you got a 75 on the Unit 3 test, ask yourself why you got a 75. Look at the types of questions you got wrong, and make extra sure to review those topics. 
• If you are practicing for a language regents, there are some special steps you should take. 
• Watch a Spanish (let's just assume the foreign language you're studying is Spanish, for ease of reading and writing) TV show for kids. The kind of Spanish you're going to be tested on is relatively simple. It's not the Spanish translation of Paradise Lost, it's not going to move you to tears, and it may not even be particularly interesting. But it is meant for intermediate readers, which is good for you. 
• Read a Spanish book intended for teens. The writing won't be as complex as in an adult book, and you might find it interesting. Teens are teens no matter where they're from. 
• Practice writing. Write your journal entry in Spanish one day. Write a love note in Spanish to that cute girl in isle one. (Just make sure you give it to her at an appropriate time, i.e. not during Spanish class) 
• Practice your speaking. Even if it's just to the mirror, it's a good idea to become a better Spanish speaker before the test. When I took my Spanish Regents, I was at the top of my class, and to this day I can still read Spanish articles, poems, or teen books, but I still stumbled over the speaking part because I'd neglected to practice. Learn from my mistakes: Have daily conversations with that handsome face in the mirror!
• Go to http://regentsprep.org/. They have some great resources to help you study, including quizzes, practice tests, videos, lessons, and review sheets. 
• Get familiar with your Reference Table, if you are allowed one. If I recall correctly, the Earth Science one is something like 12 pages long. You don't want to spend half of the test searching through your reference table. Learn where everything is before the test. 
• Study from old Regents Exams. Test yourself to get a good idea of the grade you might get in the real Regents, then aim to improve that score by a set number of points. Go through the archives and take every Regents exam you can find. More often than not, questions are recycled, and after a while you start to get a feel for the rhythm of the test. By the time the real test comes around, you'll be super prepared. 

Explore Science this Mid-Winter Break

If you're looking for something awesome to explore this break, I suggest that you check the Exploratorium. There, you can find cool science activities, links to amazing websites, awesome blogs, and interesting videos. And, you guessed it, there's an app for that too.

Explorations in Science: Doctor Michio Kaku

One of the best ways to learn science is from actual scientists! Doctor Michio Kaku is one of my personal heroes/role models. He makes science fun, engaging, and relatable. I suggest checking out his website and browsing through some of the free articles, radio programs, and videos.

Things to Consider as You Read

There are several things you should keep in mind as you read. Ask yourselves the following questions as you go along in order to enhance your understanding of any fictional literary piece.

• What is the setting? Remember that the setting includes time, place, and atmosphere. A smoky street in Victorian London at midnight is going to evoke a far different feeling than modern-day Buckingham Palace at High Tea. 
• Who are the characters? What are their motivations? Who do they love? What are they flaws and weaknesses? What are their strengths and best attributes? What role do they play in the story, and how do they play it? Label the protagonist, antagonist, supporting characters, and minor characters. 
• What is the mood? How do the setting and the tone combine to make you feel? 
• What is the over-arching theme? 

When doing character analysis, please consider the following things: 

• Class. A lower class character is going to have different sorts of conflict, different friends, and perhaps a different caliber of education than an upper class character. 
• Gender. Women are still largely second-class citizens in most of the world. If the story you're reading is set in the past, a woman may be considered property and have little to no worth. Female characters often struggle against chauvinism, sexism, and the patriarchy. 
• Age. Is your character young and foolish, or old and wise? Is s/he somewhere in between? Is s/he wise beyond their years? Did s/he never really grow up? 
• Race. African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and many other racial and ethic groups are commonly discriminated against, both in fiction and in reality. 
• Religion. Religion might influence a character's beliefs and principles, and might also contribute to their struggles throughout the story. Sadly, an American Catholic is probably going to have an easier time than an American Muslim. 
• Geographical context. In general, characters in more developed parts of the worlds face different conflicts than characters in third world nations. For example, a first-world character might be struggling with his/her identity, while a character in a third world nation might be struggling to find enough food to keep her family fed. 
• Historical context. Place all of the above in their proper historical context. An African American is going to have a very different life in Carolina in 1803 than an African American in New York in 2015, just a woman is going to have a different life pre- and post- suffrage and the Woman's Rights Movement. 

SETI

Given the sheer vastness of the universe, the growing number of Earth-like planets that have been discovered, and the logical conclusion of the Drake Equation, it's extremely unlikely that humans are the only sentient, sapient, intelligent, technologically developed form of life in the universe. That's why organizations such as SETI (short for the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) have radio telescopes pointed to the sky whose sole purpose is to listen out for any messages those intelligent life forms might have sent out our way.

(If you're wondering how this all works, consider this: We currently have the technology to find extraterrestrial planets orbiting other stars, and are perfecting the technology to analyze their atmospheres for water, which is considered the universal requirement for life. Any alien races with the same technology might have sussed out that Earth is a life-sustaining planet and sent a concentrated message our way. The problem with these messages are many. There are so many different frequencies that we're not sure which to listen in on (think of it like this: your friend is going to send you a radio message today, but you're not sure when, and you only have ten radios. However, there are one thousand possible radio stations your friend could be sending this message on.) and some scientists believe that an alien civilization might scatter their message across every frequency to increase the probability of it arriving here at least mostly intact. There's also the problem that there are so many planets, and so much universe out there, and until fairly recently, we weren't sure where to point our telescopes. (Your friend could send you a sky-written message, but if your back is turned, you're still not going to see it.) There's also the problem that messages decay over long distances, such as those between planets, and that the extraterrestrial races might have already given up contacting us and/or are simply not interested in making contact because they have enough friends/problems of their own.

If we ever did get a message, there would also be the problem of interpreting it (it would be a lot simpler if those dang aliens would just speak English, right?) and replying. If we got a message for 80 lightyears away, that would mean that it was sent 80 years ago, and our reply would take an additional 80 years to reach them. Unless these ET's were extraordinarily long-lived, it's likely that we'd be sending a message back to their children or grandchildren. Also, we'd never get to hear how that particular conversation ended, and that'd just be maddening.

You can learn more about the work SETI is doing and read about new developments in their search here. And if you think that this is super-cool/awesome/a worthy cause/kinda a good idea, check out SETI@home to see how you can help for free.