Multimedia for Social Studies and Science

The two sites that I am sharing today both have multimedia presentations that could be useful in the classroom. Actually, both sites are so well done that their content is interesting to view even if you don’t teach the content that they illustrate!


The Maps of War web site is a collection of some of the best multimedia war maps on the web. The topics listed include Iraq, World War I, World War II, Darfur, Israel, terrorism, crime, and migration. I also found maps on some other topics (e.g., democracy and strength—or lack thereof—of other countries). These maps have been created by MSNBC, the BBC, and other producers.

What is amazing when viewing these maps is watching in just a few minutes the effects of years of human activities on countries, lands, and peoples.

The maps available at this web site include:

• Iraq War Coalition Fatalities,
• The Fight for Iraq: A Regional Powerplay,
• Baghdad: Mapping the Violence,
• The Western Front, 1914 – 1918,
• World War II in Europe,
• World War II in the Pacific,
• The Darfur Tragedy,
• Eyes on Darfur,
• Strategic Israel,
• Failed States Index,
• War on Crime : The Homicide Map, and
• Snapshot: Global Migration.

I have embedded the March of Democracy map to show an example of these multimedia maps. Watch 4,000 years of the history of democracy in 90 seconds!


http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/march-of-democracy.html

Cell Biology Animation… and other multimedia

John Kyrk is “a biologist by education and an artist by disposition.” He has created and posted on this web site animations of biological processes. The animations are a combination of graphics and text that together explain the process being described. They are very well done.

The cell biology animations include:

• amino acids and protein,
• cell function overview,
• cell anatomy,
• cell membranes,
• chromosome structure,
• diffusion,
• DNA: structure, replication, transcription, and translation,
• evolution,
• glycolysis,
• golgi apparatus,
• krebs citric acid cycle,
• meiosis,
• mitochondria/electron transport,
• mitosis,
• pH,
• photosynthesis: light reactions and dark reactions, and
• water.

Additional multimedia presentations are also available at the web site. One in particular, the golden ratio presentation, could supplement mathematics or art instruction.