Spitballs
and Triple Plays
http://tripleplays.sabr.org
http://www.stevesteinberg.net/indexspitball_howitsthrown.htm
As a life-long
Tigers fan, you had to know that I'd be watching the World Series.
The closeup camera work and the concern about what might be on a pitcher's
hand got me thinking about spitballs. They were once legal and actually
some of the best tools in a pitcher's arsenal. I decided to do some
searching and, at the Steve Steinberg website found all kinds of information
about spitballs, how they're thrown, and the physics behind it. Extremely
interesting stuff and certainly a toss back in history to hear the
various opinions of this pitch.
But, while
I was there, I also read about the SABR the Society for American Baseball
Research. What a rich site for data! But, even more impressive is their
extensive collection of details about the most rare of baseball plays,
the Triple Play. Online, in categories, you'll find details of all
Triple Plays from the turn of the century to the present including
details of each play. Some are the expected 5-4-3 variety but there
are also some oddballs. In terms of data collections though, check
out all that the site has to offer. You can see Triple Plays by team
or by stadium. Nicely presented in table format - they're perfect data
for importing into Fathom! See last
month's issue of GEC Computers in the Classroom for details
about how.
We
All Use Math Everyday
http://www.weallusematheveryday.com/tools/waumed/activities_season3.htm
If you're a fan of the television series NUMB3RS,
you'll love this site. Texas Instruments, in partnership with CBS has
created this website with corresponding links to show all students how
important mathematics is and just where it fits into our lives.
What a great resource. There are details about the
legal aspects of showing parts of episodes in your classroom and a wealth
of online resources and lesson plans for using these materials in your
mathematics classroom.
Reading Rockets
http://www.readingrockets.org/
There's nothing like the love of a good book and
the enthusiasm that can come from reading. Reading Rockets is devoted
to providing ideas and resources for teachers and parents to help encourage
this generation of young readers.
Everyone is agreement that you've got to start them
young. See the research and also investigate the benefits of bilingualism.
Colour Theory
http://www.adobe.com/education/instruction/curriculum/exchange/color_theory.html
The newly upgraded Adobe Photoshop Elements will
no doubt inspire students and teachers alike to new height in digital
image editing.
The original Adobe Photoshop Elements has become
a standard tool for many people in their image editing and there's a
big desire to have access to more features. As with the original Elements,
there are features included that are no in the full-blown Photoshop.
Adobe is committed to ensuring that their products
are used effectively in the classroom. To that end, the Adobe educational
website includes lessons and unit plans for a wide variety of activities.
For example, if you are working with the elements
of colour theory, check out the link above. You'll be impressed with
the resource and hopefully the results in your classroom.
More Movie Maker Resources
http://www.bridgman.com/
Galan Bridgman is a writer who has prepared extensive materials for
Microsoft on a number of topics.
Of particular interest are his articles giving inspiration about how
to work with Microsoft's Movie Maker 2. He addresses the commonly asked
questions like "how do I burn a DVD" or "how do I capture from analog
resources".
When you visit the webpage, scroll to the bottom for this list of resources.
You'll find them very helpful in your movie making efforts.
