Thursday, February 26, 2009

Weather: A love for meteorology---New Link

Dick Albert, a well-loved New England meteorologist, is retiring today from his position forecasting the weather. He is however continuing to share his passion for meteorology with us via his own website, which you can click here: http://www.dickalbert.com/

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

True Science according to Tolstoy

Quote of the Day
True science investigates and brings to human perception such truths and such knowledge as the people of a given time and society consider most important. Art transmits these truths from the region of perception to the region of emotion.
Leo Tolstoy
(1828-1910)
What do you think about science? Do you agree with Tolstoy when he says, "True science investigates and brings to human perception such truths and such knowledge as the people of a given time and society consider most important. Art transmits these truths from the region of perception to the region of emotion?"

Make a chart with portions of the quote in the left hand column, and examples to support on contradict them in the right hand columns (one for support, one for contradiction). Use your chart to help you formulate an essay on true science.


Stop invasive species:

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/freshwater/strategies/invasives.html

Thursday, February 12, 2009

New posts coming soon.

[Under Development--- very busy for a couple of weeks...Please be patient. Meanwhile please feel free to "Try these links," in the left-hand column, or use the search bar (white box in top left in blue line) for finding items of interest. You can also read the news items, for example The story on Bill Clinton which shows up today.http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Clinton%2c+Bill, then, think about how science and politics overlap. I'll be back intermittently for a few weeks.]

Monday, February 9, 2009

Safety in the Science Lab: The Goggles Story

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I tell this story because it may save someone's eyesight or life. I hope you will remember it, embellish it, and use it for your own, "jumping up and down," classes.* (See note below for permission information.)

My students like to laugh when I emphatically insist on safety rule. I still jump up and down to get the point across. Safety is critical!

The students were teasing me about insisting on safety goggles. Still, I was persistent. They got the idea about safety goggles: "We have a crazy teacher. We'd better wear our safety goggles." The teasing was ok. I could take it. They wore their goggles.

I went on to cover washing the eyes in case of emergency, hot glass looking like cold glass, among many other safety issues. For example, chemists clear a building in less than a minute when the fire alarm goes off (None of this waiting around inside until the firemen tell you it was a false alarm, or, not. They get out, "now!".). The students respected the eye-wash and safety shower. I reminded them that safety goggles should be used at other times, too: at work and at home, for example, mowing the lawn, using household chemical, or when using solvents like gasoline. I reminded them how important it was to wash out the eyes for a minimum of 15 minutes if they got anything in them.We went on to design some laboratory experiments once the safety topic was done to my satisfaction.

It was summer. Many of the students had jobs. It was hot outside. Class was soon over (When doing experimental design, time goes quickly in a most enjoyable fashion.)

A few days later, I got a call from the dean, one of my students would be out for a while, he had been in an accident. The weather was great for swimming, then a cloudy day or two before the usual hot and humid Boston summer.

He missed a few classes. When he returned, he said, "Every one always wear your safety goggles. Jump up and down as much as you like, Dr. J. My doctor says I can see because of what you taught me about safety." You can't imagine how I felt. It made up for years of being teased about being insistent on safety issues before doing lab work. This student told me to always be as emphatic as I was with his class.

What had happened?

The student was a life guard. One of the days after the initial class was a warm, but, cloudy day. He wasn't wearing the usual sunglasses that you might at the swimming pool on a sunny day. He added chlorine to the pool and the chemical went into his eyes. He didn't hesitate, though he couldn't see. He dove into the pool and blinked his eyes several times, coming up for air and to tell someone to call 911. He then kept blinking in the water until help arrived.

The doctor said he might be permanently blind. He was blind for four terrifying days. Luckily, he got his sight back. They didn't think he would. The doctors said it was only his quick thinking of diving into the pool to wash his eyes, and washing them for a long time, that saved his sight.

So, if you see Dr. J (or your own science teacher) jumping up and down to make a safety point, you know she's (or he's) not crazy. She's (or he's) on her (or his) safety spree.

*(c)1996-2009 J S Shipman. For permission to use this story for profit, contact the author for an agreement. For use in teaching in your own class, please cite this blog.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Visitors from all over the World...Please, provide Feedback

People from many countries have visited this blog. Global attention to the blog contents gives me confidence that we can achieve sustainability through quality science education and cooperative work toward the shared goal of survival.

It would be helpful to receive more feedback on the contents via the, "Comments," below each post or by e-mail to me, directly. If you do not have my e-mail, you can post a comment. If you would like to submit a post, let me know, too. Posts may be in any language and should be geared to adults but with science activities for all ages, reflective comments, announcements, references to journal articles, bird sightings, notes from your garden, comments from scientists, and whatever you think will help foster science literacy and science education, world peace and global sustainability.

Thank you for your input and feedback. Let's extend the global reach.

Sincerely,

Dr. J
Visitors from 2/4/09
Middletown
New York United States

Read about it

Victoria
British Columbia
Canada

Read about it: Cornstarch and Water Mixture

Nashville Tennessee United States
Read about it: Play and Win: Nobel Prize Games---Learning key current information in a jovial way.

Cardiff Wales United Kingdom
Read about it: Building Observation Skills

Kingston Ontario Canada
Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation


Germany

St. Paul Minnesota United States
Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation

Thailand
Read about it: A Sampling of Topics to be Presented at Asian Association for Biology Education (AABE 22)


Read about it: Resource for Science Fair Ideas...Plant Research (Botany)

Littleton Colorado United States
Read about it: Wisconsin Fast Plants™

Mooresville North Carolina United States
Read about it: The Old Oak Tree and it's Life Cycle
Read about it: life cycles

Littleton Colorado United States
Read about it: Wisconsin Fast Plants™


Chicago Illinois United States
Read about it: Wisconsin Fast Plants™

United States
Read about it: Building Observation Skills


Korea, Republic Of
Read about it: The Old Oak Tree and it's Life Cycle

Murfreesboro Tennessee United States
Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation

Clemson South Carolina United States
Read about it: Cornstarch and Water Mixture

Wenatchee Washington United States
Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation

Kingsport Tennessee United States
Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation




Visitors from 2/5/09

Boston, Massachusetts left via live.feedjit.com from "Read about it"
21:11:34 -- 1 minute ago
21:05:01 -- 7 minutes ago
Henderson, Nevada arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Desert Watermelon" by searching for desert watermelon.
20:51:08 -- 21 minutes ago
Boston, Massachusetts left via thepetitionsite.com from "Read about it"
20:42:33 -- 30 minutes ago
Boston, Massachusetts left via thepetitionsite.com from "Read about it"
20:33:11 -- 39 minutes ago
Boston, Massachusetts left via my.statcounter.com from "Read about it"
20:20:11 -- 52 minutes ago
Boston, Massachusetts left via google.com from "Read about it"
20:16:29 -- 56 minutes ago
20:16:13 -- 56 minutes ago
Washington, Iowa arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Wisconsin Fast Plants™" by searching for history of fast plants.
20:15:14 -- 57 minutes ago
Boston, Massachusetts arrived on "Read about it".
20:15:01 -- 57 minutes ago
Pearl River, New York arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Footprints in sand, snow and rock..." by searching for NJ animal foot prints.
19:37:37 -- 1 hour 35 mins ago
18:26:30 -- 2 hours 46 mins ago
Richmond, Kentucky arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Cornstarch and Water Mixture" by searching for cornstarch and water mixture.
18:21:32 -- 2 hours 51 mins ago
Neversink, New York arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Cornstarch and Water Mixture" by searching for theories about cornstarch and water .
18:02:09 -- 3 hours 10 mins ago
Reno, Nevada arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Cornstarch and Water Mixture" by searching for cornstarch mixture.
17:26:07 -- 3 hours 46 mins ago
Monroe Township, New Jersey left via nobelprize.org from "Read about it"
17:12:48 -- 3 hours 59 mins ago
Monroe Township, New Jersey left via nobelprize.org from "Read about it"
17:08:33 -- 4 hours 4 mins ago
Monroe Township, New Jersey left via nobelprize.org from "Read about it"
17:06:27 -- 4 hours 6 mins ago
Monroe Township, New Jersey arrived on "Read about it".
17:05:28 -- 4 hours 7 mins ago
17:04:39 -- 4 hours 8 mins ago
Monroe Township, New Jersey arrived from google.com on "Read about it" by searching for readaboutit.blogspot.com.
17:04:05 -- 4 hours 8 mins ago
16:25:16 -- 4 hours 47 mins ago
12:45:10 -- 8 hours 27 mins ago
Beaverton, Oregon arrived from google.com on "Read about it: Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation" by searching for how to teach kids radiation convection conduction.

Edited to include visitors from 10-21-09

San Marcos, Texas
Somerville, Massachusetts
London
Englewood, Colorado
Englewood, Colorado
Göttingen, Niedersachsen
Banstead, Surrey
Tokyo