STEM Ed Announcement: EcoLibrary Website

[Morton Sternheim <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

This is not a UMass Amherst STEM Education Institute Program
Contact information is below
===============================================


Greetings,
We would like to introduce you to EcoLibrary
<http://www.ecolibrary.org/>, a new resource to help your students learn
about the natural world.  We believe that good visual images engage
students' interests and passions.  EcoLibrary was created to give
students and teachers free access to high-quality images and useful
supporting information.  Our goal is to help students learn more about
ecology, conservation biology, and environmental issues.

At EcoLibrary.org <http://www.EcoLibrary.org> you will find:

·         *Excellent photographs*, all accompanied by detailed and
scientifically accurate descriptions

·         *360° interactive panoramas*, from deserts to tropical
rainforests around the world

·         *Thematically linked groups of images* *for* *K-12 teachers*
(such as /Mimicry and Camouflage /or /Ecosystems and Biomes/)

·         *Cross-links *among* *items; every image in our database leads
to related images

·         *Free use* *of all EcoLibrary materials*, if used for
non-commercial, educational purposes

We hope that you will take a moment to browse EcoLibrary.org
<http://www.EcoLibrary.org>. You can find materials using:  1) a
sophisticated text search <http://www.ecolibrary.org/AdvancedSearch>, 2)
a visual browse page <http://www.ecolibrary.org/Browse>, 3)
recommendations by chapter for college textbooks
<http://www.ecolibrary.org/Textbooks>, and 4) recommended themes for
K-12 classrooms <http://www.ecolibrary.org/Themes>.  And, make sure to
try out the panoramas <http://www.ecolibrary.org/Panoramas>!

To learn more about EcoLibrary, please try our short Flash introduction
<http://www.ecolibrary.org/introduction>.

We welcome your feedback about EcoLibrary as well as any suggestions for
improvement. Feedback and questions can be sent to info@ecolibrary.org
<mailto:info@ecolibrary.org>.

Sincerely,

*The EcoLibrary Team
www.ecolibrary.org*
Dan Perlman, Founder
Limo Sadalla, Technical Developer
Emily Silver, Image and Panorama Editor



*Small Print*:

·         *Panoramas:*  EcoLibrary contains dozens of 360° panoramas
that give the viewer a sense of being in a specific ecosystem. To
download a panorama, click the /Get Panorama & Text/ button, or you may
view it directly from the Web by clicking the /View Panorama/ button.

·         *Hot-linked metadata:*  Any green text on an image page is a
hot link that searches the entire database for that topic (e.g.,
clicking /Tropical savanna/ will display every item in the database
categorized as tropical savanna).

·         *Related Materials:  *Many pages include links to "Related
materials," items that we recommend using as a group. Some pages also
include pedagogical suggestions on how to use EcoLibrary materials in
the classroom.