Digital Collection: Bass Field Notes

Bass Field Notes Collection
University of Tennessee Knoxville Special Collection

Contents: This collection focuses on forensic anthropology and how it’s used to resolve medical and criminal cases. It specifically contains field notes and other artifacts from investigations involving body decomposition.

Classroom Connections: Students love “real world” applications of science such as CSI (Crime Scene Investigation). Although some students might find the topic “gross”, others will love diving into the primary sources materials related to science. Use the information at this website to create your own library CSI project.

Featured Digital Objects:
Arrows Used in a Study https://goo.gl/SWxXf4
Sketch of Cliff https://goo.gl/cTPr7a

To visit the collection, go to https://www.lib.utk.edu/…/featured-colle…/drbass-collection/.

Website Review: Mawah

MAWAH: WHEN EBOLA CAME TO OUR VILLAGE is an amazing, interactive storytelling experience.

This true story is told in ten engaging chapters. The experience begins in the summer of 2014 with a prologue explaining the beginnings of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Then, readers work their way through ten, interactive chapters featuring a narrative along with background information, videos, photographs, infographics, and links to additional information.

The subdued watercolor illustrations weave the narrative together in this ground-breaking approach to nonfiction storytelling.

Librarians will find this online experience to be an excellent way to introduce high school students to both the science and social issues associated with Ebola. The mixture of the compelling narrative with the informational segments will attract many students to this important and timely topic.

To visit the website, go to http://www.mawahtale.com.

Website Review: Cancer

CANCER: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES is a three-part PBS series and website with lots of online content.

The About the Film section explores the information about the film and it’s producers.

The Our Story Wall section shares stories from people’s whose lives have been impacted by cancer.

The Media Gallery section provides access to digital shorts, full episodes, and film clips.

The History of Cancer Timeline section visualizes key events before 1940, 1940-1970, 1970-today, and tomorrow.

The Producers’ Blog shares information about updates related to the program and the second screen option provides supplemental information to go with the film.

The Classroom section features video, trivia, infographics, discussions, and other resources to supplement the films.

Librarians will find that this amazing three-part series provides high-quality information useful for health, science, and social studies classrooms.

To visit the website, go to http://cancerfilms.org/.

Website Review: The Cancer Atlas

THE CANCER ATLAS is a website providing fascinating information about the global cancer landscape.

Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, World Health Organization, and the Union for International Cancer Control, the attractive and content-rich website contains sections focusing on different aspects of the problem.

The Data section provides access to an interactive map. Users view data based on metrics such as smoking prevalence, air pollution, or most commonly diagnosed cancer. This data can be presented on a world map or by specific country. Users can also display information on a list. A button is available to learn more about a particular metric. A comparison option is provided so users can compare data by country.

The Risk Factors section provides an overview to known risk factors along with specific factors such as tobacco, infections, diet and body composition, and UV radiation.

The Burden area discusses the global issues related to cancer noting issues in specific regions of the world.

The Taking Action area explores opportunities for cancer control.

Other areas include the History of Cancer and Glossary.

Librarians will find this highly-visual approach to cancer engaging for students. Use the website to promote your library’s many resources related to healthcare and cancer.

To visit the website, go to http://canceratlas.cancer.org/.

Website Review: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

The AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION (AFSP) website provides resources to help youth and educators deal with suicide prevention and loss.

It’s National Suicide Prevention Week. The AFSP website provides a wealth of resources for educators working with youth. The resource is divided into sections.

The Understanding Suicide area provides quality information about suicide as a serious public health problem. The easy-to-read informational pages would be excellent resources for student projects as well as background information for educators. Topics include facts and figures, suicide warning signs, suicide risk factors, key research findings, engaging people with lived experience, and FAQs. Librarians will find these materials useful in displays along with books on the topic.

The Preventing Suicide section discusses suicide warning signs, finding help, treatment, and an interactive screening program. Specific educational materials and programs are aimed at teens and young adults.

The Coping with Suicide Loss area is specifically designed to help those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

The Research area is useful for those seeking more depth into the causes, treatments, and interventions associated with suicide and prevention.

The Advocacy and Public Policy section discusses ways that individuals and schools can get involved with becoming suicide prevention advocates.

For more information about National Suicide Prevention Week, go to http://www.afsp.org/…/in-t…/national-suicide-prevention-week. Consider using their sharable graphics at your school website or social media presence.

To visit the general website, go to http://www.afsp.org.

Book Review: Fuzzy Mud

FUZZY MUD by Louis Sachar is a fast-paced middle-grade ecological mystery exploring friendship, bullies, and a life-threatening biohazard.

A work of speculative fiction, the story revolves around three children who stumble upon a mutated microorganism with the potential to cause a global pandemic.

Sachar weaves together short, focused chapters with excerpts from Senate hearings to create a quick read for a broad audience. For such a short book, the author is able to create multi-dimensional characters and a believable plot.

Youth who enjoy the environmental mysteries of Carl Hiassen and Jean Craighead George will be drawn to this ecological thriller. While reluctant readers will enjoy this fast-paced, “skinny book”, it will also be popular with those who read school and friendship titles. The variety of themes make it a good choice for group discussions.

Librarians and teachers will find the timely environment issues to be good connections with STEM connections. Consider a display that includes medical and ecological mysteries along with works of nonfiction about the CDC and strange diseases.

Published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House on August 4, 2015.

Website Review: American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month. The AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION (AHA) website at http://www.heart.org  contains lots of resources to increase awareness of heart health. Children and young adults can save lives if they know the warning signs of heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest.

The AHA website is full of authoritative information useful to both students and educators.

The Getting Healthy section explores the topics of nutrition, stress management, physical activity, healthy kids, weight management, smoke-free lives, and workplace wellness.

The Conditions section encourages an awareness of heart and health conditions such as cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.

The Educator section contains great resources librarians can use when collaborating with physical education and classroom teachers on school-wide programs.

The News section contains new articles, infographics, video, and photos that youth can use in their research projects.

The Interactive Cardiovascular Library features engaging, educational science content related to the anatomy and function of the heart as well as information about heart health.

Much of the website’s content would be excellent for STEM informational reading activities.

For more information, go to http://www.heart.org.

Book Review: Patient Zero and Red Madness

PATIENT ZERO by Marilee Peters tells a series of engaging true stories of the world’s scariest epidemics. Focusing on the courageous pioneers of epidemiology, each case follows the quest of a scientist to identify “patient zero”, the first person to contract and spread the disease. In each of the seven deadly diseases examined, scientists were able to build on the work of others to extend our knowledge in the hopes of preventing future catastrophes.

More people have died of disease than wars or natural disasters. The epidemics chronicled in this text include The Great Plague (1665), The Soho Outbreak (1854), Yellow Fever in Cuba (1900), Typhoid in New York City (1906), Spanish Influenza (1918), Ebola in Zaire, (1976), and AIDS in the U.S. (1980).

Peters’ writing style incorporates elements of mystery and horror to bring these compelling stories to life. Whether focusing on sympathetic victims like the infant in London who started the cholera epidemic or over-the-top characters such as Typhoid Mary, the cases are certain to jumpstart interest in other books related to disease and disaster. The glossary, index, and suggested readings are useful for youth readers.

Although students may be attracted to the layout and use of clipart, the book suffers from the lack of authentic primary source documents. Although the book points out that John Graunt collected health statistics, readers don’t get the chance to see his work. This omission would be a great opportunity to connect with online resources such as digital collections. Samuel Pepys’ diary accounts provide exciting insights into The Great Plague of 1665.

Maps play a central role in the world of many scientists seeking the elusive “patient zero.” Probably the best known is Dr. John Snow’s Mapping of the cholera epidemic of London. Check out an interactive map at http://goo.gl/Ff9qSw

Seeking online photographs is another way to enhance the book. The Library of Congress contains many excellent documents and photographs related to the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918. Chronicling American contains fascinating newspaper articles published during the epidemic at http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/pandemic.html. For more ideas, go to The Great Pandemic at http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/

PATIENT ZERO mentions Google’s Flu Trends at http://www.google.org/flutrends/. Use this opportunity to introduce youth to this exciting source of data.

This book is particularly timely given the recent Ebola epidemics in Africa. Encourage youth to keep up-to-date on an interactive map from Healthmap at http://healthmap.org/ebola/

Another, recently published book RED MADNESS (2014) by Gail Jarrow focuses on the pellagra epidemic of the early 20th century in the American South caused by vitamin deficiency disease. Scientists found that enriching the diet with niacin helped to resolve the problem.

To learn more about maps in nonfiction literature, check out my articles in the October and December 2014 issues of Teacher Librarian.

Publisher ARC used for review.