Brain-related / UDL picks for the week...

1) There was a fun article on Discovery.com about moths "remembering" what they learned as caterpillars. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/06/butterfly-memory.html

A study was done to condition caterpillars to avoid a food they usually enjoy. If the caterpillar was more than a few weeks old when this occurred, they avoided the substance as adult months even though their brains had gone through dramatic changes during the transformation. This reminded me of the Kandel studies with Aphysia (sea slug) in the 1960's through 80's(?) which I guess was one of the first and largest scale studies of synaptic learning in nervous systems.

What does this have to do with UDL? Well, maybe not much. I kind of just wanted to include this article because I thought it was cool, but in a way you could think of this as some primitive version of recognition, strategic and affective networks wiring up in this critter to avoid something other caterpillars/moths are attracted to. Also, somewhat Wikipedia-style, there were a few links embedded in the text which would take you to other articles on various topics which is helpful for students who are looking to learn more. There is one picture, and there isn't any sound unless you have the text to speech option; it's not really UDL in all its glory but here ya go.

2) I really like this online dictionary for several reasons: http://www.thefreedictionary.com
I keep this site bookmarked for quick look-ups and use it almost daily.

First, it's FREE.

Second, you can click and HEAR the word pronounced which is great for ESL students, for people who remember things better when they hear them, or for people like me who just like to make sure they say it right. In terms of UDL, it offers an additional way to access the word. I also love that it offers related words at the bottom if you need more context, or are looking for a synonym, etc.

Third, you can click on the tabs at the top of the page and look up words specifically in the encyclopedia or medical dictionary (very helpful for neuroscience stuff). Sometimes you just want to make sure you're using the best word possible to get your point across, and it helps to see what the other definitions reveal.

Finally, the wikipedia-encyclopedia tab on this site rocks. I recently discovered it, and I immediately thought "UDL! " Wikipedia is great for nerds because you can spend all day following the links starting from one idea... but on this site, it's cool because if you pass your mouse arrow over a term as you are reading, a box will automatically appear and give more information/context about its meaning.


Dig it.