Alchemy, revisited

Alchemy is a pseudoscience that contributed to the development of the science of chemistry. Alchemy talks about creating gold. A newspaper article in the New York Times talks about making other metals look like gold by pitting their surfaces. Similarly, gold can be made to look black. Can you see an application for this science which falls into the realm of surface chemistry? Well, jewelry manufactures are very excited about it. Can you speculate as to why?

Write an essay comparing and contrasting alchemy and chemistry. Then, discuss ideas you find in the newspaper article telling what you think about them. Be sure to cite ideas from the paper. But, also include your opinions about the article and whether you think it is alchemy or chemistry.

Suggest a product you think would be made from the "new" gold. Then, summarize your essay and make a conclusion. Draw pictures if you like. A parent, guardian or teacher can post your essay in the comments, or post a link to it. Have fun writing!

Are you an inventor?

If you are an inventor, or want to become one, recordkeeping is important. Check out this website on logbooks for inventors:

http://inventors.about.com/cs/logbook/ht/Log_book.htm

From Tesselation and Fractals to Stretch Reading in Science

Here's a playful way to learn some advanced math that applies to science. Enjoy! http://wchow.home.znet.com/koch.htm

Here's a link to a pineapple fractal...Fractals are found in nature. This link goes to a photo taken by Dr. Ron Hurov who works in the botany of commercial pineapple production. http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/botany/pineapple.htm

One of Ron Hurov's papers is at this link. You can try reading scholarly works in botany and other fields as part of "stretch reading."

"Stretch Reading," invented by Dr. J, is needed in the sciences where vocabulary words are developed every day as we discover new things. First, just skim the paper and look at the graphs and pictures. Then, circle any words (on a photocopy) or list words in your notebook that you don't know. Now, just try to get the gist of the article in one sentence. This might be as simple as, "The article is about pineapples, whatever they are." As you look at more and more articles, you will find yourself more able to understand them. Do not worry about understanding when you first start. Even medical doctors and PhDs need to learn new words and especially if they switch their area of reading a bit. For example a biopsychologist may have to learn new jargon to read electrophysiology papers. So don't worry, even if every other word is one you don't know. You are getting yourself comfortable with the unknown. You are stretch reading. (More on that later.) When there is something that interests you enough, I have no doubt you will attack it to the point you understand it. And, you won't be afraid to tackle it. You might also like: Reading Science.

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Cool: You go to MIT!

Build up your math, science and engineering skills!!!

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Science Fair Winners!!!

Here's a quote on science fair winners:

"Erin's project involved testing two water sources along the Appalachian Trail to find how safe they were and whether iodine would get rid of three forms of bacteria in the samples.

"'And I found that the iodine does work,' she said.

"Chris entered a working prototype of a hard-surface "sailing" vehicle he had designed and engineered. He had competed in last year's fair with a scale model.

"The vehicle might be described as a sailboat on wheels using wings instead of sails. Next year, he hopes to be testing the 'land sailer' itself and seeing what wing angle gets the best speed."

Congratulations!!!
(Read more at http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/wb/xp-57687)

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Building your educational website?

Looking for a web developer? Click here

Brainy Course for Free...

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Brain-and-Cognitive-Sciences/index.htm

Snow's coming....

Snow flurries are expected today and Monday. Do you already find yourself thinking of spring? You might enjoy this video. It is about sunflowers.



Can you write a few paragraphs on spring, seed germination or health benefits of sunflower seeds?

Vote!

Voting and science do overlap. Want clean air and water? Safe food supply? Peace? Then, vote. Thanks. J

Love a challenge? Try writing some science.

Here is a writing challenge for you to try:
thisisby.us/index.php/content/dr_j_throws_down_the_gauntlet

List of Women in Science

Click here for an annotated list of women in science.

Stocks and Options and Science?

You know, banks would have us believe that stocks and options are dangerous. To some extent they are. Like driving a car, you need to know what you are doing. Stocks and options share with science that they have their own vocabulary. The jargon of the finance world, like that of the science world, is worth learning. The rewards are many.

I am not recommending that you go out and get into stocks and options any more than I would recommend driving a car without knowing what you are doing. Even when you know, you must stay ever vigilant. Yet, if you "safely" keep your money in the bank at 1 or 1.5, or even 3%, the inflation monster will eat you (and your money) alive. And while you are safely at 1.5%, the bank is using stocks and options to make 12-35% with your money and then keeps the difference between that percentage and what they give you. With a portion of your money, you could risk, lose half, and come out ahead of where you'd be if you stay safely at the bank. You need to learn the jargon (http://tradeoptioned.blogspot.com/2007/08/some-new-changes.html), understand math and charts, and, know what you are doing. Do not risk borrowed money, or your house, or college fund, insurance,nor retirement. These are other aspects of your financial house that you need in order.

So, where does science fit in? The analytical skills and chart reading skills are critical in science. Practice reading financial charts and graphs can synergistically improve your interpretation of data in science, strengthening your science abilities. Enjoy the overlap in these seemingly different fields and grow in both.

Dr. J

(c)2007 J S Shipman

Why you should know Typha spp.

Why you should know Typha spp.

Cattail plants are often seen on towels and kitchen decanters and placemats...but you might notice fewer of them along the roadways and creek beds. In their place, you might see an invasive plant, like Phragmites (tall waving grass-like fronds) or like loostrife (magenta flowers). But the cattails are part of the environment that belongs here. They clean the waterways and they provide food for many other living things in our environment. Help preserve the native species. "Dr. J"

Prosper grows

Integrity is an important part of any education. P2P lending counts on integrity. Prosper is a key place for P2P, People-to-people lending. Remember that your name is important, Honesty and integrity are part of that name. Prosper is a place that lends a helping hand when many banks won't. But, if people fail to keep their word, P2P will not succeed. I believe it will succeed because we strengthen our selves and our nation with values like honesty and integrity.

Twenty Minutes Twice a Week

Summer is a good time to review what you've learned over the last year. Twenty minutes twice a week, or even three times, is all you need for a good review. Since we learn as we progress through life, this applies to everyone, not just to, "students." (But if you are a high school student, let me suggest high school ace as a great review site.It is even good if you are in grade school or out of school completely, in my opinion. :-) ) Reflecting on what we've learned over the last year helps us make the learning more permanent. Having structured time to do that, helps us integrate that knowledge into our brains. Have fun doing it. Don't let it be a chore but rather a pleasure. Learning and reviewing are fun.

(c) 2007 J S Shipman

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

Sign Language Help

I came across this on Prosper but it looks like a good source of Sign Language Info...



(C)2007 J. S. Shipman

A Wrinkle in Time

An ad just came on my blog for Madeleine L'Engle's book. Oh, that was one of my favorites when I was in third or fourth grade. I loved it. I still remember the characters. I gave a copy to a boy who had immigrated here. He read it when he was in sixth or seventh grade. It's now among his favorites. I hope you read it. Whatever your age, it holds some treasures for you.

Reading another book? Post your mini-book report in the comments!

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Reading Science

Slowly studying a small part of text, or a chart or graph, may be the best way to read some science. What do you think about that? How do you read science. Let us know.
What science have you read this week? Please share your comments.
(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

See also: Stretch Reading

New Hope for Stutterers...We want to hear you!

Try Friendshipcenter.com for a way to connect with people that understand stuttering and who are familiar with overcoming chllenges in life.