Looking at a Review Article to Engage Students in Science

Not every student puts science on the top of his or her list when it comes to captivating interests.  Yet, sustainability requires global citizens to be literate and educated in the sciences.  So, how can we capture student interest?

Perhaps you have pondered that question.  I will provide one answer (of the many available) and give an example here.  For this example, I will use a high school class level (ages 14-18), however, the technique may be modified for K (age 5) through U (age 18+-120+).

The article I have selected is one of many.  You can repeat such exercises a number of times.  I have chosen a review article as it is broader than a typical laboratory report-type article and it will therefore attract more students.  The review article selected for today:

Review
Herbal medicine in ancient Egypt
N. H. Aboelsoud
Department of Complementary Medicine Researches and Applications National Research Center- Cairo, Egypt.
           E  -   mail: neveenster   at   gmail   dot   com [modified to prevent spam]

 Accepted 8 December, 2009 

How will this article capture student interest?  Well, for one thing, Egypt has been in the news during their lifetimes, so, it is at least something familiar.  Most of them know about pyramids, for example.  If you ask them about Egypt, they will successfully have something to say.

Second-of-all, the scientist is approachable.  Aboelsoud has provided an e-mail address.  Even if students don't use it, they feel a connection with the researcher.  He uses electronic media like they do.

Wait, we haven't gotten to much science yet...  We will.  Look, we are already talking about reading a technical journal article.

But some of the students are putting on make-up (What, your students forgot lab safety rules? No.  Oh, I see, they've slipped out of the room and down the hall to the "lav" ... What better time than science to apply make-up?  At least they took hall passes and will be back soon...).

Oh, and let's get back to the article.  The citation information at the top of the page also informs us that the article is available on-line:

• Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 4(2), pp. 082-086, 18 January, 2010
• Available online at: http://www.academicjournals.org/JMP 
• ISSN 1996-0875© 2010 Academic Journals 

Good.  The students will likely enjoy accessing the article on-line, on their cell phones and newer technologies, or at the library computer.

A student that grows houseplants or gardens (or both) might find the section discussing,"Some of the medicines were made from plant materials imported from abroad," will suggest a new direction for science study: botany, economic botany, horticulture, or, even, border patrol.


Someone wishing to be a doctor might be captivated by this, "Thanks to the medical papyri, we know of many of the Ancient Egyptian treatments and prescriptions for diseases," or, " Medical prescriptions were written with high skill. A prescription usually began with a description of the medicine," or many other points in the article.  Students could compare and contrast the ancient prescriptions with modern ones, or, research new methods of treating the diseases mentioned with the Ancient Egyptians' treatments.

A history buff or someone who makes paper as a hobby might like all the descriptions of papyri.  Or, what about a map to where the plants were found and are found today, might that interest some?

Similarly, a student of ancient languages (Greek, Latin...) might also be interested in the ancient documents written on papyri and can go on to look up the science of preservation of old documents. Or, perhaps be interested in the scientific use of Latin as found in these examples:

- Acacia (acacia nilotica) - vermifuge eases diarrhea and internal bleeding, also used to treat skin diseases.

- Aloe vera - worms, relieves headaches, soothes chest pains, burns, ulcers and for skin disease and allergies.

- Basil (ocimum basilicum) - excellent for heart.

- Balsam Apple (malus sylvestris) or Apple of Jerusalem -
laxative, skin allergies, soothes headaches, gums and teeth, for asthma, liver stimulant, weak digestion.

- Bayberry  (Myrica  cerifera)  -  ...  [Many more examples are found in the article.]. 

The artist among the students may rather wish to draw the plants mentioned than study their Latin names.

The article does talk about adult topics (but many high school students do, too) so you might have to get permission from parents, guardians, schools (and caution is advised) because the article says, "The Kahun Papyrus (Ghalioungui, 1975) is a gynecological text  that  deals  with  topics  such  as  the  reproductive organs, conception, testing for pregnancy, birth, and contraception.   Among   those   materials   prescribed   for contraception are crocodile dung, honey, and sour milk (Rosalie and Patricia, 2008)."  Of course, some students' interests will be captured by these topics.  They might not have known science was so interesting.  And, the article could be a good segway to the school nurse's discussion with the students on similar topics.  Remember in high school, there are typically some students who become parents so some of their parents might like them to talk more about such topics.  Some students will laugh about the crocodile dung and some will need to be directed to their doctors for learning about safe practices, but, they will want to read more of the article.  I often worked with high school students who were between the ages of 18 to 21, so, this was less of a problem in terms of topic, but, even 80-year old students had to be guided to health care professionals for education in safe practices.

Let's get back to the students interested in make-up.  They might be interested that, "Malachite used as an eye-liner also had therapeutic value. In a country where eye infections were endemic, the effects of its germicidal qualities were appreciated (Andreas et al., 1995).  They could start a whole new interest on germs in make-up, or germicidal additions to make-up, or, what germs are, or MERSA, or...   Well, you get the idea.  Their imaginations can take-off.

Students very interested in religion might find interesting that, "Along with their strong faith in their gods, the Ancient Egyptians used their knowledge of the human anatomy and the natural world around them to treat a number of ailments and disorders effectively. Their knowledge and research is impressive still today, and their work paved the way for the study of modern medicine. The remedies used by Ancient Egyptian physicians came mostly from nature especially medicinal herbs."

A business-oriented student might see this,"A kind of what is called today Quality Control Test was  done after preparing a drug; a chemist had to test its quality," and be fascinated that there was an interest in quality control that long ago.  S/he might come up with a business idea using herbs.

Math whizzes may wish to calculate the proportion of herbs used in Ancient Egypt that are still used today, or, do further research and calculate ratios of herbs used in different formulas.

Your students will have more ideas about what interests them from this article.  Watch them come up with ideas.
Are you ready to read the article yet?  Get the point.  There are so many ways, in just this one review article to capture the imagination and stimulate greater science learning.  Your students will capture your passion, too.  Enjoy!  By the way, students might want to go on and read the articles this author cited, or, read other articles citing the review article or the articles it reviewed.  Students will also what may be a new, "genre," for them, a review article.  Soon, the whole school will be talking science.

(c)2013 J S Shipman.  Please cite any ideas borrowed from the posts here, including this one and write to the author to get written permission first for uses in text book or money making ventures.   Thanks.

###

For questions on reading in and for science or any STEM (science technology engineering or math) topic, or for a science literacy workshop for faculty or students, contact Dr. Shipman.

Don't miss this Algebra link sent in by a reader: HippoCampus.org

(To Dr. J, and, to Read-about-it.blogspot.com readers)

Hi there!
Don't worry, this isn't really homework. I was checking out read-about-it.blogspot.com and I saw your page titled "Lab Exercise Link from Morrison Labs - Read about it." Here's the link in case you don't remember it:
read-about-it.blogspot.com/2010/09/some-lab-exercises-from-morrison-labs.htmlA lot of teachers and students aren't aware of the free teaching resource videos and homework help tutorials that are available online. There is an awesome site called HippoCampus.org that covers all the subjects--and it's supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Check out some of our videos on algebra:
Here's the link. I was hoping that if you liked it, you wouldn't mind sharing it with your readers by mentioning it on your site. If math isn't your subject, HippoCampus.org also offers free help for science, history, government and more so maybe you would just like to recommend HippoCampus.org.
Thanks!
Beth Pickett

Thanks so much, Beth.  I am sure our readers will enjoy improving their algebra skills here.  Math is critical to science literacy.

I found some things of interest.  Here is a sample of an open text book from the site (Note that I capitalized the S-es in the word Spanish, other than that, the links are quoted here and are just a sample of what is available.  Go to the original link for more details.  Report back here how HippoCampus.org ( Click hereHippoCampus.org   http://www.hippocampus.org/Algebra%20&%20Geometry?loadLeftClass=Course&loadLeftId=75&loadTopicId=7530/?ref=rpemail&site=read-about-it.blogspot.com&email=shipmanjs2@gmail.com)  works for you.:

Unit 1 - Algebra—A New Angle

Lesson 1 - Algebra—What’s it all about?

Topic 1 - Algebra—Everyday and Extraordinary
Topic 1 - Algebra—Everyday and Extraordinary (Spanish)
Topic 2 - Algebra—Why and When
Topic 2 - Algebra—Why and When (Spanish)
Topic 3 - Algebra—Approaching Problems
Topic 3 - Algebra—Approaching Problems (Spanish)

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Active Engagement in Science and Mathematics through Music- Pattern Recognition leading to Higher Mathematics needed for Deeper Study in the Sciences

Here is a peaceful video to watch on the interconnections of mathematics and music.  Watch it and see what ideas come to your mind for connections of math and music to science.  Think about what questions come to your mind, if any, when you watch the video?  Jot them down.  



Since in this blog, the focus is on science literacy and science education, how can the video enhance them?  For example, did you hear new vocabulary?  A video can bring new vocabulary to life because we hear the words pronounced and also see the usage of the word, the context.  Mathematics is important to science literacy.  That is why the STEM- science, technology, engineering and math- education focus prominent today includes the, "M."Another valuable M, however, is music.  Music can engage students in science (That is why I once submitted a grant proposal to FIPSE called, Humanities at the Heart of Science.  Music is one of the humanities that engages students).  Vocabulary development is one way.  Another is the ability of music in the video to engage students in science and mathematical studies.

Many skill sets of musicians and scientists overlap.  Can you think of some?  List as many as you can.  Now circle on the list skills you think you have or could develop.  Write a reflection on what you discover by this exercise.

How can you use the video to further enhance science reading?  Do you know Harlan Brothers?  Have you seen his journal articles?  Do you know how to find them?  Remember that in journal articles, you might find new and difficult vocabulary.  Remember as Joan Beinetti says, "No one knows all the words," (personal communication, 1989).  After you have slowly read one or two articles on a topic, you will start to develop more vocabulary in the field of the article.  The more vocabulary you develop, the easier other articles on the same topic are to read.  By the time you have read 5 or 6 articles, you are likely to be looked at by others as an expert...or, at least, quite knowledgeable, in that area.

Let's go about finding some articles.  Just searching using his name, we find a number of links.  Let's look at one:

http://www.brotherstechnology.com/math/

H. J. Brothers, "The Nature of Fractal Music," in Benoit Mandelbrot - A Life in Many Dimensions, edited by Michael Frame, World Scientific Publishing (Fall, 2012).

H. J. Brothers, "Pascal's triangle: The hidden stor-e ." The Mathematical Gazette, Vol. 96, No. 535, 2012; pages 145-148.  [Try this, too: http://www.brotherstechnology.com/math/pascals-prism.html]

H. J. Brothers, "Pascal's prism." The Mathematical Gazette, Accepted for publication, July 2012.  (See here also.) [and here: http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/8238]

Pick one of the articles or books above as a starting point, or, try to find an article on your own to start with.  

You might be interested in the following biographical information quoted from Wikipedia:

In 1997, while examining the sequence of counting numbers raised to their own power ( {a_n}=nⁿ ), Brothers discovered some simple algebraic formulas ^[1] that yielded the number 2.71828..., the universal constant e, also known as the base of the natural logarithm. Like its more famous cousin π, e is a transcendental number that appears in a wide range of formulas in mathematics and physics.

Having no formal college-level mathematics education, he sent brief descriptions of his findings to the host of the National Public Radio show “Science Friday” and also to a well-known mathematician at Scientific American.

His communication with “Science Friday” led to a fruitful collaboration with meteorologist John Knox. Together they discovered over two dozen new formulas and published two papers on their methods. These methods subsequently found their way into the standard college calculus curriculum by way of a popular textbooks on the subject.^[2] [3]

Brothers went back to school to study calculus and differential equations. He went on to publish methods for deriving infinite series that include the fastest known formulas for approximating e.^[4]  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_J._Brothers#Publications.  Accessed 11 October 2012.    See also:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.).

So, there is a fine example of a student communicating on an interest leading to a fascinating career in an subject that blends his love of math and music.  Before digressing too much, let's return to fractals and music, remembering that reading slowly and carefully, you will develop the needed vocabulary to understand even very difficult topics. And, you can contact people, as did, Harlan Brothers, and meet the people you need to grow your knowledge.

Let's look at the abstract of another article on fractals and music (http://www.euromath.org/assets/files/2010/2.Alice%20Cortinovis.pdf, accessed 11 Oct 2012):

FRACTALS AND MUSIC

Alice Cortinovis, Liceo Scientifico Mascheroni -  Bergamo –  

Email: alicecrvs@gmail.com

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to identify  some distinctive features of fractal music – offering a possible answer to the question: “What does fractal music mean?”.  Following an introduction to the general concept of fractals, it discusses their fundamental characteristics, that is the scale invariance and self-similarity derived from a power law. The understanding of the fractal nature of music requires a clear grasp of the fundamental physical characteristics of sound, such as pitch, duration and timbre. The perception of music, however, is  a psychological experience, so the paper briefly explores some amazing but widely known examples of aural illusions, deriving from our logarithmic sensitivity. Following a brief  outline of the main areas of current research in this sector, the paper proposes a formal definition of fractal music, based on its physical, mathematical and psychological characteristics.  Finally  a musical composition is analyzed, showing that it is indeed real fractal music according to the proposed definition. The paper concludes by suggesting possible areas for further exploration."

It looks like this article might be readable, but, even here, students will have to develop some vocabulary as the authors definition may be difficult for many people (children and adults, alike).  Also, the author is new to this research area and the understanding is limited as a result.  Check out the definition of fractals in the article here:

http://www.euromath.org/assets/files/2010/2.Alice%20Cortinovis.pdf 

 and compare it to what you find here:

http://www.brotherstechnology.com/yale/FractalMusic/FracMusicBground/Frac.html, 

or here:

http://www.brotherstechnology.com/yale/FractalMusic/FracMusicBground/Frac.html

Have students note that not every article presents the rigorous academic nature needed for serious study fractal music.  Have the students check for these concepts and other possible errors:

Transliteration 

All Iteration

Limited Self-Similarity

Let students have fun finding articles and slowly reading them, using the dictionary at hand or an on-line dictionary as needed.  For example, fractals are defined here:

http://www.brotherstechnology.com/docs/fractals.pdf

A deeper study of fractals and related material can be found here,  "a collection ... meant to support a first course in fractal geometry for students without ... strong mathematical preparation, or any particular interest in science:"

http://classes.yale.edu/Fractals/ 

Have students do their own searches for definitions and journal. (Be sure your virus protection is on.) Have them check the academic rigor of any definitions they find.  Similarly, are the journal articles they look at refereed (peer-reviewed by those knowledgeable and recognized in the field of study)?  Have the students each find an article abstract by a leading researcher in this field.

After the students read the article abstract(s), they might wish to get the article(s) by inter-library loan from the local library and then read the full article and even e-mail the author with a question.  They might even pick up a musical instrument and try to make some musical fractals.  Enjoy!

Note that Michael Frame and Harlan J Brothers have worked hard to establish a rigorous framework for the study and discussion of fractal music. Comments or questions can be posted below in the comment section and also submitted to:

"Dr." J.  and to Harlan Brothers



(c)2012 J S Shipman

Canadian Sustainability Group Provides a Role Model

Here's a link to a Canadian sustainability group:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/biorenewablescafe/.

The Biorenewables Cafe meets informally and provides a networking forum for people interested in sustainability.   The September meeting featured a speaker, Dr. Richard Chandra, from the UBC Faculty of Forestry.  Dr. Chandra is a research associate in the Forest Products Biotechnology/ Bioenergy Research Group. His talk, "Bio-fuels and Bio-products from Biomass:  Breaking apart something that's meant to stay together," will springboard the networking session.  Here is a quote of the abstract from his presentation:

Bio-fuels and Bio-products from Biomass: Breaking apart something that’s meant to stay together! 

The major hurdle to overcome when trying to unlock the energy in leftover agricultural biomass and woody waste to supply our needs for renewable fuels and products is the inherent recalcitrance of the biomass itself. Nature has interwoven the chemical components of biomass into a structure that resists breakdown by biochemical means, thus necessitating various processes called pretreatments. Pretreatments aim to cleanly separate these chemical components in a usable form and, in many cases are analogous to processes used in the pulp and paper industry. This presentation will examine the biology, chemistry and physics responsible for the resistance of biomass to breakdown, while detailing the various pretreatment processes that are currently being examined at UBC which aim to maximize the value obtainable from biomass.

This Canadian sustainability group serves as a model because many of us could form such groups in our own communities where we can learn from one another, listen to experts, read, discuss, and improve science literacy on sustainability.  In fact, global sustainability will increase as more and more of us educate ourselves and each other about how we can sustain the Earth. 

In school communities, each student could spend time becoming a mini-expert by reading up on a particular aspect of sustainability, or, even by "slogging" through a journal article and slowly learning its vocabulary, and content.  Then, students could come together after 2 weeks or three of their independent or small group work and could then learn in a cooperative manner, but also have fun, by having their own Sustainability Cafe...healthy snacks included (by assisting parents and school volunteers).  Please feel free to report back here on your experiences either by adding a comment or by submitting a post. (Please put BLOG POST in the re: line.  Thanks.)

Forest Products Biotechnology/Bioenergy Research Group:  http://www.bioenergy.ubc.ca/
Biorenewables Cafe on Linked-in:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Biorenewables-Caf

(c)2012 J S Shipman.  All rights reserved.

Using On-line Instruction in Science Classes

If you are using on-line instruction in science classes, you might find the following links useful:

 http://ccism.pc.athabascau.ca/html/ccism/deresrce/ride/html.xml

Instructional design of interactive multimedia: A cultural … - Henderson 

Teaching via ITV: Taking Instructional Design to the Next Level ...

Amazon.com: Teaching via ITV: Taking Instructional Design to the ...

Teaching via ITV: Taking instructional design to the next level - Tags ...

Instructional Design at Instructional Communications Systems

Instructional design - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Source:  http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Distance_Learning/Instructional_Design/;  Accessed August 21, 2012. and Google:teaching via interactive instructional design

And for additional guidance, you might contact:

• Ardamada.com

The following Journal might be of use, too:

• http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/  

Research areas of interest community wide have been identified as:

• "Three areas he recommended that should be studied included the following:

• Students’ competence in and attitudes toward                                         technological studies and attitudes about themselves.

• Determining how political decisions are made.
• Outcomes of technology teacher education."

•  "There is evidence that the challenge has been taken seriously by members of this teaching community. In 2004, faculty from nine universities established the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE), with funding from the National Science Foundation. In July 2006, researchers working with NCETE proposed a research agenda for this teaching field. Major areas that NCETE proposed for continued research included:

• Questions Involving Learning
• Questions Involving Teaching
• Questions Involving Assessment (D. Householder, personal communication, December 8, 2011 as cited by Martin and Ritz)"

• The authors selected the Delphi method to develop a rank-ordered list of topics that would be of substance and which researchers might wish to further explore individually ... In the end, six issues were identified and rank-ordered for Research Question 1 and one issue for Research Question 2. Obviously, it is unknown whether a different set of panelists would have generated a different list of issues. The final rank-ordered list, however, does provide a foundation of information to build upon for future researchers and ...[advisers]... of aspiring graduate research students who have as one of their goals to establish a better knowledge base for the technology education school subject.

 Source:  Research Needs for Technology Education: A U.S. Perspective. Gene Martin and John Ritz PDF [281 KB] HTML [59 KB]  http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v23n2/pdf/martin.pdf; Accessed August 21, 2012.

Learn STEM with MIT

http://k12videos.mit.edu/content/the-colorful-chemistry-of-acids-and-bases
http://k12videos.mit.edu/

Sample Video on Acids and Bases click the links

THE COLORFUL CHEMISTRY
OF ACIDS
AND BASES   

http://k12videos.mit.edu/content/the-colorful-chemistry-of-acids-and-bases

STEM Quotes and Commentary

Post under development. Check back later.

"Anyone who’s done work in STEM education has a special spot on their bookshelf for copies of the Holy Grails of science ed standards: the National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards and the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science for All Americans and Benchmarks for Science Literacy. But as valuable as these documents are, they are getting a little dogeared and in need of being spruced up."

Source: http://ocess.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/conceptual-framework/, Accessed 4-30-2011.

When teaching with research in the classroom, the year Science for All Americans was first published, students were saying, You're not teaching us. Why do we have to do this? Why don't you lecture more?" When I gave them assignments to read in Science for All Americans, the students did a complete turn-around. You are exactly like this book. They then loved the class.

 They started designing and doing experiments. The book helped them with a necessary attitude change.

Unfortunately, at that time, not every college was ready for the research-supported teaching methods. Even today, teachers are being told, "Why don't you lecture more? Why are the students out of their seats? (Getting lab supplies), Why don't you just have them copy things from the book?" Can you believe it? The lesson here is that teachers who adapt research-supported new science education techniques should be supported so that their careers don't get off-track by administrators and parents who are not yet current with the successful new pedagogies. Good teachers were lost by their not getting support as they taught science well.

"Exploring the NAS Framework for New Science Education Standards
"On July 12th, the National Academies of Science released a draft of the Framework for New Science Education Standards. The framework consists of seven chapters and almost 200 pages. It clearly identifies three “dimensions” of science education that must be woven together into standards, instruction and assessment: 1) Disciplinary core ideas in life science, earth and space sciences, physical sciences, and engineering; 2) Cross Cutting Elements including cross-cutting scientific concepts and topics in science, engineering, technology, and society; and 3) scientific and engineering practices.
"Learning progressions are central to the framework. Learning progressions provide a coherent description of how core ideas in science and engineering build throughout K-12.
The framework embraces the mantra, less is more, and states, 'Reduction of the sheer sum of details to be mastered give time for students to engage in scientific investigations and argumentation and to achieve depth of understanding of the material that is included.'"

Source: Eric Brunsell, http://www.teachingscience20.com/2010/07/exploring-the-nas-framework-for-new-science-educatin-standards/
Learning progressions are important. Let's first explain what they are so that everyone reading starts with the same concept in mind:

Pour some Milk in each of Two Saucers

Pour some Milk in each of Two Saucers
And keep a group of children (or adults) busy all afternoon
by Dr-J

We all know about milk.. It's white, It has calcium. You drink it. Children will come up with more ideas about milk than grown-ups, often. So, you put out two saucers (Paper cake plates work fine.) and pour the milk. Then what? Discuss the milk, and , then?

Take some food coloring, pretending the saucer is an analog clock face, drop a drop at 12, 3, 6 and 9. Do not stir. Don't even move it. And, please don't shake the table.

Okay, so the milk sits there. And the colors sit there, though, they do spread out a tiny bit. Now, take just one drop of an effective dish detergent (I use Dawn or Palmolive) and drop it in the center. Light show... I won't tell you what happens you have to watch.

The key to staying busy is to come up with a hypothesis or educated guess as to why what happens happens. Of course, you can search the web...but my experience is that you come up with the wrong answer, even from sites describing this activity.

So, let's make it a real experiment...what hypotheses did you have? The fat content? The calcium? Diffusion? There must be magnets somewhere? Oh, great, we have hypotheses. How can we test them? How can we make an experiment. You see for our first experiment, the plain milk saucer just sat there. And, we can compare the saucer with the milk and colors and detergent to it. But, it isn't identical except for one factor because two factors are different: colors and detergent. So how can we set up a controlled experiment where we check only one factor.

You think it's fat? How can you check? I have done a series of these tests and so, I know now. But for you to know, trust me, you can't just read it on the internet. I did find one correct answer out of about 6000 I found on the topic.

The point is, you are doing science because you don't know. And, when you are doing science, that's when it's fun. Of course you have to be confident that your ideas are good...as good as anyone's, and, you have to think about what you are doing and why. You have another hypothesis? What is it? Oh, you think it is because of the acid. Hmm. What acid is in milk? Do you know other household acids? Oh, lemon juice...yes, yes. I see, vinegar. Do they have anything in common with milk?

How many saucers do you have out now?

(c)2007 J S. Shipman
See also: http://www.thisisby.us/pour_some_milk_in_each_of_two_saucers

Pour some Milk in each of Two Saucers
And keep a group of children (or adults) busy all afternoon

Enjoy!!!



(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Update 1 Oct 2012:
Here is a link to a video that might be used by students to think about what is happening in the science activity and experiments discussed in this blogpost:
http://evl.vcsd.k12.ny.us/safevideos/Video.aspx?id=VGoJuLX3BQQ (Paper clips floating Scott Thompson, Wisconsin Public School System, and, ExpertVillage.com (Source:  http://evl.vcsd.k12.ny.us/safevideos/ Video.aspx?id=VGoJuLX3BQQ, Accessed 1 Oct 2012)).  Can you think about how it might be related?

(c)2012 J S Shipman