http://www.smete.org Newest 10 learning objects added at SMETE.ORG http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=EC33D29C-FDBC-46C5-8DDF-233B05A4FD81 These 4 training modules are the first of our new interactive study modules. These four focus on memorizing Allen Bradley Data tables and types. Depending on popularity, we will create more on other topics the training module users recommend . Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:22:47 GMT Industrial Training, BIN http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=EC33D29C-FDBC-46C5-8DDF-233B05A4FD81 Industrial Training, BIN 2012-01-28T22:22:47Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=0245B0C2-04C3-4F81-BE97-B1BD30601ADB History of the Panama Canal Railroad. "Ever since the Spaniards landed in the Isthmus of Panama for the first time in 1501, Panama has been a natural transit route for merchandise and people attempting to cross from one ocean to the other. As early as the 1520’s the Spanish Crown explored the possibility of constructing a Canal through the Isthmus, but the idea was later abandoned. In the 19th Century, the United States also saw the opportunity of joining the two oceans, but they had a railroad in mind instead of a Canal. In 1832, Congress sent Col. Charles Biddle to Panama to negotiate a concession for the construction of a railroad. He also inspected the country for the best route. Biddle died shortly afterward, but interest in the project continued. In 1848 a charter was granted to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to deliver mail between the U.S. and Panama. The incorporators were William H. Aspinwall, his uncle, Gardiner Green Howland, Henry Chauncey, and Edwin Bartlett. Three wooden paddle-wheel steamships were built; the California, the Oregon and the Panama. They would deliver mail between New York, Panama and San Francisco, but the discovery of gold in California in January 1848 took Aspinwall’s attention away from mail delivery. Gold seekers chose the Panama route instead of the difficult, plodding journey across the plains, desert and mountains of the uncivilized, Indian-infested overland route. . . Aspinwall immediately sent John L. Stevens to Colombia, which controlled Panama, to negotiate a concession for a Panama Railroad. The company would have the right to excavate a Canal or build a highway or railroad across Panama. The concession was exclusive for 49 years. They were granted 250,000 acres of land, and other government land could be used freely. The Panama Railroad was incorporated in New York on April 7, 1849. In January 1849 the company hired Col. George W. Hughes to make a location survey. This was not an ideal location to build a railroad. From June through December there were deluges of rain in cloudbursts that often lasted as long as three days. The isthmus was covered with dense, steaming jungles, and there was no durable timber for railroad construction. The native population was unaccustomed to physical labor and was undependable. Men, materials and provisions had to be imported from thousands of miles away. . . . On Sunday, January 28, 1855 a train ran from the Atlantic Ocean all the way across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The Panama railroad was in business. It was a single-track railroad 47 miles long with a maximum grade of slightly more than one percent for four miles approaching the crest of the Divide. Rails were laid on pine crossties, which disintegrated quickly in the damp tropical heat. As a remedy, ties of lignum vitae were imported from Cartagena, New Grenada. The wood was so dense and hard that holes had to be drilled before spikes could be driven." Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:24:17 GMT Panama Canal Railroad Company http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=0245B0C2-04C3-4F81-BE97-B1BD30601ADB Panama Canal Railroad Company 2012-01-28T17:24:17Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=AE28222C-C7EE-4AF1-9468-FCBE55560AED The College of Communication & Information is starting a Masters in IT program Part of the process involves opinions and input from current students Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:34:32 GMT Eli Perl http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=AE28222C-C7EE-4AF1-9468-FCBE55560AED Eli Perl 2012-01-26T05:34:32Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=11EEC36E-5815-4077-9646-F8EF3D326A58 Scratch workshop used with high school students and Intellibot robot workshop used with same population Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:55:53 GMT Gloria Townsend http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=11EEC36E-5815-4077-9646-F8EF3D326A58 Gloria Townsend 2012-01-25T21:55:53Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=7CC87EA6-59EE-4384-A4F1-689F788F50F4 Topic Description: This lesson will provide students with a hands-on experience in order to investigate the binary number system. LEARNING ABOUT THE BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM Objectives: Students will be able to understand what Binary numbers are and why computers use this system to represent information. Students will explore ancient number systems and use binary numbers to decode data. Goals: The goals of computer science unplugged are to develop the computer science skills of algorithm development, problem solving and programming. Students will also be introduced to topics such as human interface design, Error detection, and recollection of binary numbers, image representation, and more. Learning objective: This curriculum has been developed for a culturally, linguistically, and socially diverse group of students in Greene Count y. We would like to continue Building from students’ prior knowledge, the collection of problem solving skills, everyday “algorithmic thinking”, and social and ethical knowledge of computer-related problems will result in a more student-centered curriculum. Introduction: The activities found in this lesson provide students with a hands-on experience in order to investigate the binary number system. Students will explore ancient number systems, use binary numbers to decode data, and count in base 2. Have students write a message in binary code. Exchange papers and have other students decipher the given message. Other assessments could include translating base ten numbers to base two and vice versa. What Are Binary Numbers? Introduction A binary number is made up of a combination of only two digits: zeroes and ones. The right most number in a binary code series indicates the number of units (ones). The next digit to the left indicates the number of twos, the next digit, the number of fours; the next, eights; then, sixteens; thirty-twos; and so on doubling each time. Hands On Lessons: The activities found in this lesson provide students with a hands-on experience in order to investigate the binary number system. Students will explore ancient number systems, use binary numbers to decode data, and count in base 2. Have students write a message in binary code. Exchange papers and have other students decipher the given message. Other assessments could include translating base ten numbers to base two and vice versa. Other lessons include Culturally Situated Design Tools, ARCgis, and Wilber………. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:54:50 GMT Deborah Love http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=7CC87EA6-59EE-4384-A4F1-689F788F50F4 Deborah Love 2012-01-25T20:54:50Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=3E329F18-F3F9-4DBE-8C6C-3F5DE22E1BA1 We hope to share some of the work we’ve done with new STARS members to help ease their recruiting process. This presentation was given to approximately 16 SSC students who attended an information session after receiving an Invitation Letter. Applications were handed out at the end of the information session. Students were selected and notified in the week following this presentation. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:11:09 GMT Melinda White http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=3E329F18-F3F9-4DBE-8C6C-3F5DE22E1BA1 Melinda White 2012-01-25T20:11:09Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=ACF8F714-B7E0-42FB-B814-1178F2AC878E We hope to share some of the work we’ve done with new STARS members to help ease their recruiting process. This letter was mailed to approximately 200 students who were either nominated by an instructor or who recently signed up for the BS in IST program at SSC. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:21:37 GMT Melinda White http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=ACF8F714-B7E0-42FB-B814-1178F2AC878E Melinda White 2012-01-24T22:21:37Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=54072B98-A01C-4417-8D6C-F32C8B977A8D We hope to share some of the work we’ve done with new STARS members to help ease their recruiting process. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:40:54 GMT Melinda White http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=54072B98-A01C-4417-8D6C-F32C8B977A8D Melinda White 2012-01-24T21:40:54Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=C7D85373-6BD6-4D48-89DF-296F98324560 This module introduces students to multidisciplinary approaches to sustainability and guides students to analyze sustainability issues related to an engineering design project. 4E Sustainability Analysis refers to analysis based on Environmental, Energy, Economic, and social and political Equity considerations. The module uses lecture material and a written homework assignment and an accompanying assessment rubric. The lecture material briefly introduces sustainability topics relating to ecosystems services, multidisciplinary approaches to sustainability, and green engineering. The crucial homework assignment exercises sustainability analysis skills by having students explain how their project directly and indirectly fosters or prevents sustainability. Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:53:32 GMT David Braun http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=C7D85373-6BD6-4D48-89DF-296F98324560 David Braun 2012-01-16T16:53:32Z http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=70B031D6-B62E-4E99-9006-9F65CEB9DD8F Sustainability practices cannot be expected to get performed effectively without integration of its key concepts such as systems thinking in education. This module intends to describe a teaching method to instructors of related courses and share techniques used in transmitting information and conveying systems thinking concepts in the classroom. It helps students gain an understanding of systems thinking as a crucial approach in sustainability and the ability to apply it in engineering design and as a tool in finding more sustainable solutions. After this module, students will be able to define and explain systems and how they function, explain the systems thinking approach and how it differs from the classical approach, relate systems thinking to the construction industry and their future roles in it, and finally apply systems thinking to solve engineering problems and more general problems that they may face in the future. Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:38:49 GMT Tina Nikou http://www.smete.org/smete/public/learning_objects/summary/?lo=70B031D6-B62E-4E99-9006-9F65CEB9DD8F Tina Nikou 2012-01-16T16:38:49Z