Saturday, November 29, 2008

What does driving have to do with bacteria and chickens?

Click here to find out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_he_me/med_chicken_bacteria;_ylt=AtyxeluaYr4C_.t8Zz2lZ0.s0NUE

Readability...

Sciences, like biology, have many new words...readability in current topics in science could mean people would have to read beyond a college level... But, we need to read difficult material sometimes to get information to make our lives better. Reflect and comment on this topic.

Additional information to guide your reflection:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Readability_Index

http://www.online-utility.org/English/readability_test_and_improve.jsp

See also..."Reach Reading" (Use "search bar," top left on this blog.

[Under development]

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

"The ADVANCE Program awards several Marie Tharp Fellowships each year to women scientists on their way to becoming the best in their fields."

Source of quote in title at link below, accessed on Nov 25, 2008.


Find out how you can get one:
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/advance/mt_fellowship.html
.
.
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Carl Sagan and Nick Sagan Portals

http://www.carlsagan.com/ Science

http://www.nicksagan.com/ Movies

Epilepsy

Click here to see an article on new causes of epilepsy. Here's an excerpt:

A study of mice showed how immune cells sticking to blood vessels in the brain caused inflammation that contributed to epileptic seizures, Gabriela Constantin of the University of Verona in Italy and colleagues reported.


Footprints in sand, snow and rock...

[Under development]
Yesterday evening, I went to a dinosaur lecture presented at SUNY Orange. It covered dinosaur fossils from the Hudson River Valley (NY, USA), Palisades and Northern New Jersey (NJ, USA), Virginia (USA), Morocco, Poland and dinosaur and dinosaur footprints from many other places.
It was presented by Paul E. Olsen, Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (see video). You may be aware of Dr. Olsen's research which addresses evolution of continental ecosystems, including the pattern, causes and effects of climate change on geological time scales and how these in turn relate to mass extinctions and other biogeological events. The lecture was fascinating and presented views of many dinosaur and crurotarsians finds. Also discussed were the roles of pollen and of iridium in providing clues about dinosaurs. Given a chance to hear Dr. Olsen speak, I recommend going. You will get updated on dinosaurs, enjoy the depth of his knowledge and also his intelligent sense of humor. (Children attending might do well to be prepped before the talk, as it does go at a rapid pace. ) If you do not have that opportunity to hear Dr. Olsen speak, try reading his research. Next time you see him on a documentary, you can say to yourself, "I've read his papers."

Following the lecture, some went out for coffee and a discussion of the highlights of the talk, among thee topics discussed were footprints. Did you know footprints can give an overview of course taxonomic values (...Not to genus and species in other words, but to major groups)? We learned this point, along with many others, at the lecture. And at our coffee klatch after the talk, we discussed many of the points and then veered-off on a discussion of footprints.

Perhaps this discussion path was followed because one of us had worked tracking game for research purposes and had seen first hand how much the local professional trackers could discover from seemingly innocuous footprints. Then it happened that today I was reading, Billions and Billions (by Carl Sagan), and I came across this quote,
From a jumble of hoofprints, we can accurately tell how many animals passed; the species, sexes, and ages; whether any are lame; how long ago they passes; how far away they are.
It is through the lecture, discussion and Sagan book that I came to post on footprints in sand snow and rock. Have you left footprints in the sand at the beach or in the desert? Have walked through snow and made an imprint? Have you seen deer tracks?

[more coming soon]

Friday, November 21, 2008

Do you know about LORs and are you using them?

Here's some recent research on LORs:
What Will Make Primary Educators Use LORs: A Better Interface or More Free Time? by Loreen Powell and Carl J. Chimi

Here are some examples LORs:

Read about it
www.read-about-it.blogspot.com
(This site...You are on a LOR. Please use the search bar, top left, or e-mail in your suggestions. or, leave a comment.)

Australia's free online network for educators
http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go


Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

Please add a comment or e-mail on LORs and your use or non-use of them. Tell us what you do and why. If you use other LORs, please add the links. Also, tell us when and how you use LORs. If you home school, do you use LORs? Parents, do you use LORs? If you are a museum or other organization, please add your LOR. Thanks.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Science Teacher Education--Global network

http://tts.imtranslator.net/2IvM

If you are interested in science teacher education, please send an e'mail to shipmanjs@gmail.com. Specify your area of interest or your question. Put, `Read about it,` sci ed,` in the `Re:` line. Thank you. Dr. J

Monday, November 10, 2008

Educating Children and Teachers about Trees

I went for a walk in the woods yesterday: In New York, there are still a few trees with a spectacular array of color. Most leaves are on the ground. Children and the young at heart find frolicking in the downed leaves brings great joy. The cautious and those feeling old, though they may be young, worry a bit about the leaves being slippery if they are wet but join in autumn reverie. Fall scents fill the air.

Twigs and bark are easily visible. Leaves can be examined readily. Autumn is a time for learning about trees.

"There can be so many leaves. Which trees are they from? Are these all oaks? How do we tell them apart?"

"How do you tell a swamp maple from a striped maple, from a red maple, from a sugar maple? How can we make maple syrup?"

"Look at the bark on that tree. It looks like one tree near the ground and like a completely different tree five or six feet up!"

The air is also full of inquisitiveness. It is a, "teachable moment."

Here is a resource to assist both teachers and students with tree education:

http://www.trees4life.ca/

Enjoy the fall. Since these activities carry over into winter, enjoy the winter, too!

Dr. J
(c) 2008. J. S. Shipman

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Time to build immunity in your classroom?

"Immunity and You," Curriculum Available
This curriculum from Cornell will enable you and your students to learn about immunity.

I have posted related vocabulary words here. You can therefore double click on them for meanings and pronunciations. You might also want to use them to create a, "Word Wall," in your classroom. Perhaps each student could design a card and write the definition, too, for the wall.

AIDS Allergy Amino Acid Antibody Antigen Antihistamine Bacteria Disease Fungi Genes Histamine Genetic Recombination Homeostasis Immunity Immune System Insulin Lipid Microbes Organs Pancreas Parasites Pathogen Quarantine Receptor Molecule Recombination Synthesis Template Tissue Trait Tumor Vaccine Virus

Get rest, eat healthily, play healthily, and enjoy life. Build your immunity.

Here is a link to various sustainability issues that also lets you send e-cards.



Posting this link does not imply support, or lack of support, for any of the issues presented.

Science Teacher Education and Curriculum Development: Questions for Reflection

Reflection directions: Read through the questions and then write a reflection about what you think. Feel free to post ideas in the comments.

Do you have input for teacher education and curriculum development? You might if you are an employer needing employees with math and science skills. You might if you are a parent of a young child. You might if you are a researcher with knowledge of new scientific developments. You might if you are already teaching science at any level. You might if you are a student.

To have a science that educates us for sustainability, many of your experiences contribute to developing and implementing a leading curriculum for science.

Skilled scientists and/or global citizen, we all need science education. To have it reflect the situations of the world and support diverse needs, science education continually needs to be updated. Higher-order thinking skills, critical thinking skills, are necessary to learn what we need to know to be effective global citizens building sustainability.

Science is not easy for everyone. How can the knowledge we need be transmitted? How can people stay current as times change?There is so much to know and more data available every day. How do we not get overwhelmed? How do we use the new technologies to improve science education? How do we account for diversity of experiences, linguistics, and cultures in curriculum design? How do we expand our curriculum and instruction forum to increase multiculturalism?

How can the programs developed engage the learners? How do we imagine better science education programs? How do we evaluate/assess science learned? How do we help individuals, male and female, old or young or in-between, of any culture or race or mixed races, to recognize their potential to do science...to contribute positively to the global community?

How do we use science education to foster the desire to learn continually? How do we encourage use of science knowledge to improve the world?

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Old Fields Restoration Ecology

Click here for details...
on Dr Viki Cramer & Prof Richard Hobbs' book about restoration ecology

[under development] Please check back in a few weeks.

International ecological restoration

Perhaps you are interested in how fields are studied. What techniques are used?

Koalas for School....

Try visiting Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia, or, checking out their educational programs.
http://www.koala.net/lonepine/index.htm

If you can't get there, look up Australia on a map and create a virtual visit or design a travelogue for a pretend visit.

What is special about the animals found at this sanctuary?

Have you been there? Tell us about it.

One of my Boston students did get a chance to go there. She is now a scientist that works on marsupials. We raised grant money for her to go. You might be able to raise funds for your own studies there.

Try using Google map (and comparing it to plotting the same trip using a paper map, in case the computer is down...) to go from:

90 South St
Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia

to:

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket Qld 4069, AUSTRALIA

and, then, to:

Sydney Airport
www.sydneyairport.com.au
The Ulm Building
1 Link Rd, Sydney International Terminal, NSW 2020, Australia

for the trip home to your own country.
Dr. J