Solar panels and wind turbines for home and school...

[Under development]

Lesson plan ideas for sustainable energy systems for home and school coming soon...

http://homemadeenergy.org/aff/resources.html

One Viewpoint on Global Health Care (Available in Several Languages)

Posting this link does not indicate support or lack of support for the ideas presented. In other words, the view of the blogger is not, or is not necessarily, presented.

The viewpoint presented is that of the company IBM and suggests a sustainable health care system from its perspective: http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/healthcare/doc/content/landing/2955767105.html?re=gihclshome

It is presented to serve as a discussion starter. Your viewpoints and comments are welcome in the comments (Click on, "Comments," below the post.) For Earth to have sustainable systems, all our voices, ideas, and effort are needed. Yours are welcome!

Dr-J

Internet II; Internet 2 Commons Link

"Internet2....consortium...to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's internet."
Source
Security: Email [Internet] Educational CyberPlayGround website; 2004 [cited 2008 October 30]. Available from: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/technology/email.html

http://commons.internet2.edu/

Science Education, Worldwide...

Please submit science education news and teaching ideas from your part of the world. You can add news in, "comments," or submit an e-mail to Dr-J: shipmanjs(at)gmail.com. Also give feedback on lesson ideas you have tried or links you've found. Specify your contact information if you would like responses or ask that your name is withheld. Children and youth under 18 need to have adults submit their information.

Math Challenge

Try this:
http://nct.meeker.k12.co.us/highschool/Math/TierraS.htm

Hints from Bob Dorsett, MD

Batteries

At http://www.monkeysee.com/play/6354-how-to-make-a-potato-battery one can see a demonstration on making and using potato batteries to light an LED. The video does use a fair amount of vocabulary on basic electricity, however, it does show well how to use meters and how to connect batteries in parallel and in series.

An interesting activity is to show how common battery cells can be linked together inside of a larger battery container to make a battery with more voltage.

A tour to a battery factory would be a nice follow-up. It would help show real world applications for the lessons.

Love to cook? Here's a way to start reading journal articles in science.

Do you love to cook? Or, do some of your students or their parents or grandparents love to cook? Spices provide an interesting and potentially economically interesting link to the technical science literature that you may all find exciting. An introduction to journal articles is perhaps easier if you have another interest, such as cooking, to which you can link new skill in science reading.

For example, Coriandrum sativum L., the spice coriander and also fresh coriander greens, which in Spanish is, "Cilantro," is the subject of the following primary source article, or..."lab report:"

Coriander Under Irrigation in Argentina

Gustavo Luayza, Roberto Brevedan, and Rosana Palomo

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/V3-590.html

Take a look at it and see if you can find the various parts that are common among laboratory reports around the world.

• Introduction
• What did you find?

• Materials and Methods
• What did they do? What did they use to do it?

• Results
• Are there charts, graphs, photos, verbal descriptions? Explain what you found. (Opinions should not be located in this part of the laboratory report. Are there any here?)
  

• Discussion and Conclusions (Summary)
  
• What opinions are expressed (Here, they can be expressed!)? Is public policy suggested? What do the authors say about more experimentation? Are other sources of information used in the discussion?

• Literature Cited
• Did the authors site primary sources? Secondary sources? Personal communication?
• 
  

Reflection: Do you use similar parts in your laboratory reports? What do you think about what you read? Could you understand it? Perhaps you could just get one or two ideas. If you are just starting to read journal articles, that is certainly to be expected. (Even if you are familiar with journal articles in one field, looking at them in another field may require more vocabulary development and other "Reach Reading" skills.) So do not worry if journal articles seem hard.

So, spices and cooking can provide an introduction to the technical literature. To make the introduction here on coriander relate to other experiences in your life, you might try some foods made with this plant. (Do remember not to eat in the laboratory, however. Follow safety rules.)

Add in some geography: Look at the places where coriander is grown and the countries that use the herb and seeds of coriander in their cuisine.

Coriander/Cilantro Recipes

1. http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices/Coriander/Main.aspx http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices/Coriander/Top.aspx
2. http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=coriander

About Coriander

1. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/corian99-s.jpg
2. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=COSA
3. http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=COSA&display=31
   

(c) 2008 J S Shipman

Potential New Crop Plants via Australian Portal

Here's a link to potential new crop plants

Have you thought about new crops?

What is the benefit of diversifying agriculture?

Do you need to think about, "invasive species," when introducing a plant to a new area?

Should a lawn be composed of several species? Why or why not?

What is a monoculture?

I've given you some open-ended questions for a brisk fall day's science discussion.

Have fun.

Dr. J

FYI: New Crops Authors

(c)2008 J S Shipman

Here's a chance to try some HOT Skills...

You may have heard about bacteria building up resistance to antibiotics, or, about using antibiotics in soaps, dish detergents and animal feeds leading to super germs. If not, do a search and see what you can find out about that topic.

Then, compare that to what you think might happen if fungal extracts are added to animal feed.

Here is an article to get you started on that topic:

THE EFFECT OF A WILD MUSHROOM (GANODERMA LUCIDUM) SUPPLEMENTATION OF FEED ON THE IMMUNE RESPONSE OF PULLET CHICKENS TO INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASE VACCINE hot!

Authors: A.O. OGBE¹, L.O. MGBOJIKWE¹, A.A. Owoade⁴, S.E. ATAWODI² and P.A. ABDU³

• ¹Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology,
• National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria.
• ²Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
• ³Department of Veterinary Surgery and Medicine, Ahmadu Bello
• University, Zaria, Nigeria.
• ⁴Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

See what you think. Use higher order thinking skills to develop a hypothetical public policy.

(c)2008 J S Shipman

History of the Periodic Table: BrentjChristy's You-tube and Ways to Learn Science

What do you think about these video's? Did you learn from them?

Do you think you would learn more if you created your own video on this topic?

Compare this video clip to the videos you've just seen:


or, this one...


Which video was easiest for you to remember the content? Why? Have you thought about how you learn and store information? Does a story about the information make it easier to remember?

Come up with ways to help you remember information that you are learning. Invent a song or create a video (or both) to help you remember information. Think about experimentation...Does doing experiments help you learn science? Why or why not?

(c) 2008 J S Shipman

New Math ...Reflection...

Many people make fun of the, "new math," lots of baby boomers were taught in the USA. Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a81YvrV7Vv8 and another version of the same song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAm3KWiDPKU&NR=1

I studied the New Math. It meant I did Boolean algebra in 4th grade (age 8 and 9). I loved it. It also helped me a great deal when I did my doctorate and when I used engineering skills at work. I get tired of hearing people bad-mouthing New Math because I believe it helped give me a basis for understanding all sorts of computerized lab equipment and also wave and tide recorders used in the field to predict tsunamis.

We did not memorize the (base ten) times tables, however we could multiply and divide in bases 2, 8, 10, and, 16. We could readily set up and solve problems. And, we could do all these things without a calculator and even without a slide rule. I do feel memorizing the times tables for base ten would have been useful and therefore, taught them to myself so I could do freshman chemistry problems quickly. That helped with rapid responses in physics, too. But, engineering courses and logic were much easier having had the bases and the Boolean algebra background in grade school.

So, based on my own experience, I suggest adding times tables and also radians to the, "New Math," but, I would not trade my, "New Math," experience. I loved it and found it very helpful toward my science career and to every day life in a computerized world. I understand the 1's and 0's so prevalent today.

I have come across a way of teaching math that I like that uses languages. More on that another day.

(c) 2008 J S Shipman

Publish Post

Views of Linnaeus: the botanical garden he tended, ecological ideas...

At this link, you can read and hear (in a computerized voice...) ideas about Linneaus beyond binomial nomenclature and Latin. Enjoy it.
If you press the speaker button marked, "Listen," you can hear the text read to you.

http://www.linnaeus.uu.se/online/life/7_2.html
http://79.136.80.82/cgi-bin/nph-neospeechstream?lang=en&id=18718.mp3

Latin and Science...English equivalents of Latin abbreviations

When Latin words, or other foreign words for that matter, are used in English or Standard American, they are italicized. Names of species and genera, for example, are italicized, e.g., Lactobacillus rhamnosis. Alternatively, such words may be underlined.

Often, students forget the spelling rules that apply to Latin names. The genus name is capitalized:Lactobacillus. The specific epithet is not: rhamnosis.

Many times in scientific (and other) writing, Latin abbreviations are used. For example, "et al," as found in the citation:

Delineation of HER2 Gene Status in Breast Carcinoma by Silver in Situ Hybridization is Reproducible among Laboratories and Pathologists. A. Carbone, G. Botti, A. Gloghini, G. Simone, M. Truini, M. P. Curcio, P. Gasparini, A. Mangia, T. Perin, S. Salvi, et al. (2008) J. Mol. Diagn. 10, 527-536

The following chart which is only slightly modified from the Mozilla Writer's Guide: https://developer.mozilla.org/Project:en/Writer%27s_guide accessed October 25, 2008, provides some helpful translations for Latin abbreviations.

Abbreviation	Latin	English/Standard American
cf.	confer	compare
e.g.	exempli gratia	for example
et al.	et alii	and others
etc.	et cetera	and so forth, and so on
i.e.	id est	that is, in other words
N.B.	nota bene	note well
P.S.	post scriptum	postscript

N.B. (Note well) Be careful not to confuse "e.g." (for example) with "i.e."(that is, in other words).

Historically, Linnaeus was the person who started us with the Latin genera and species names, reducing confusion and even preventing poisonings. (Click on the links for a pod cast and a word game on Linnaeus.) If you'd like to read more on Linnaeus, try writings by Linnaeus at the Linnaean Correspondence.

Enjoy using Latin in your scientific work. It is one thing that lets us know we are speaking of the same organism despite differences in our languages or differences in local names.

(c)J S Shipman 2008

Did you ever want to try tech writing?

Mozilla Firefox has wiki manuals, which means that you can help write and edit the manuals. Here is a link to get you started:
https://developer.mozilla.org/Project:en/Getting_started

What mathematician did the calculus of variations, the theory of point set measure, and the theory of functions of a real variable?

What mathematician did the calculus of variations, the theory of point set measure, and the theory of functions of a real variable?

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Caratheodory.html

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/new/Caratheodory.htm

Other references:

1. http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~ablass/set.html
2. http://www.irazoo.com/ViewSite.aspx?q=Caratheodory+measure&Page=1&irp=1&Site=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed.validclick.com%2Fgen.php%3...www.probability.net
   
3. http://www.springerlink.com/content/fm7x5k6470g10418/
4. http://www.lavoisier.fr/notice/gb064075.html
5. http://www.jstor.org/pss/748463
6. http://www.todayinsci.com/9/9_13.htm
7. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110003852223/
8. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r5775n4l55621330/
   

On Watson: News from Mitsuo Saitoh in Japan

The day before yesterday, I attended the lecture
of famous biologist, Dr. James D. Watson at the
University of Tokyo on Oct, 22,2008.
Sincerely yours,
Mitsuo Saitoh
------------------------------

--------------------
NINS International Forum on Molecular Biology
Dr. James D. Watoson and Dr. Joan A. Steitz
Organizer: National Institute of Natural Science
http://www.kuba.co.jp/nins_watson/index_e.html
--------------------------------------------------
James D. Watson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_watson
Joan A. Steitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_A._Steitz
http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/steitzja_bio.html

Lectures:
"Lupus, Snurps and the Expanding Universe of Small
RNAs" by Dr. Joan A. Steiz (Professor of Molecular
Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University)

"Personal Overview of My Life up through Sequencing
My Genome" by Dr. James Watson (Chancellor Emeritus
of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

The Lecture of Dr. James D. Watson,
Title: "SCIENCE IN TEN WAYS OVER 60 YEARS"
(1) Learning how to do science at Indiana University.
Indiana Univiersity
http://www.indiana.edu/
(2)Finding the Double Helix with Francis Crick at
Cambridge Univeristy.
Francis Crick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Crick
Double Helix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_helix
DNA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA
Rosalind Elsie Franklin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin
University of Cambridge
http://www.cam.ac.uk/
(3)Working with graduate students at Harvard Univiersity
to learn how proteins are made on ribosome.
Harvard University
http://www.harvard.edu/
(4)Transforming my Harvard lectures to undergraduates
into The Molecular Biology of Genetics.
Molecular Biology of the Gene
http://www.aw-bc.com/watson/
(5)Creating a non-fiction novel about how science and
personal titles came together to reveal the Double Helix.
(6)Preserving the essence of Cold spring Harbor Laboratory
through making it a power house for cancer research.
- A turning point in CAncer Research sequecing the Human
Genome by Renato Dulbecco -
(7)Getting the Human Genome project started.
(8)Broading CSHL through education innovation.
(9)Following Judah Folkman to make cancer without disease.
(10)Using High throu-out, low cost Genomes to understand
psychiatric disease.
--------------------------------------------------
The Society of Practical Education in Biology
SAITOH MITSUO
2640-5,Kawaguchi,Hachioji,Tokyo,193-0801,Japan
Saitoh Institute for Biology Education
Tel&Fax:+81-42-654-2474
E-mail:rxp04450@nifty.com
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jissen/
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jissen/english.htm
---------------------------------------------------

Australian Ideas for Science Education

Here is a link to Australia K-6 ideas:
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/k_6/ouroz.html

For example, you can take a virtual field trip to Australia.


You might like to compare and contrast Australian environmental weed control methods with Control of invasive species in your own country.

Refereed journal articles may be a mouthful...

Here's the opening line of the abstract from, "Patrick J. Neale, Anastasios Melis' article on a small green organism: "Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was grown at photon flux densities (PFDs) ranging from 47 to 400 μE.m^-2 s^-1." Now, unless you are a phycologist (double-click any word for the meaning), then you've probably found three or four words you don't know, even if you are a great reader, right in the first sentence. This "jargon" is typical of refereed journal articles, by the way. A poor reader might become discouraged with the words found in journal articles, but, those of you familiar with my, "Reach Reading tm" technique, or, with Einstein's ability to stay on one paragraph till he figured it out, know that that is just a challenge of reading in science. You won't let yourself worry about a new set of vocabulary! As my sister, a reading specialist, says, "No one knows all the words."

The abstract continues, "The total cellular content of chlorophyll (Chl) was twice as high in the low light (LL) versus high light (HL) grown cells." Phew, you got some of that! I mean most of us learn the simplified equation of photosynthesis when we are children and we can recognize light, cells, perhaps chlorophyll, and, other words here. We can also get the gist of the article...A ha! We are reading about plant response to light... I mean, there might be more, but, there is something we can get.

Let's try some reach reading and look up some words. Let's see what else we can understand. In this way, reading an article becomes like finding treasure in a computer game. Let's see who can find the most treasure. Try to then use the words to paraphrase what you think the authors are saying.

In this way, elementary and secondary school, children and teens (and for that matter, adults), can build technical reading skills. They are playing a game.

Let's look at the ending of the abstract, "Thus the stoichiometry of electron transport complexes changes in response to growth PFD and this change is correlated with the response flexibility of algal photosynthesis in diverse light environments." Though there are difficult words, we're not afraid of them now. It is a challenging game, perhaps, but, it is fun. High school students should recognize, "stoichiometry," from chemistry classes. Here they get to see it in a, real "laboratory report," the refereed journal article.

I hope reading just this tiny bit of the abstract of the article has gotten you interested in reading more. You might be interested in contacting a phycological society, or, getting the full article via inter-library loan, or, you might wonder about plant pigments, or have other questions that could become wonderful experimental designs. Typically students winning science fairs use such journal articles, even in elementary school.

Try reading more of these authors' works. Do you know how to find them? Please feel free to ask questions in the comments. Jargoning is typical in many fields outside of science, too. So, what you learn about "playing" with science words in journal articles is applicable in all subjects.

Dr. J

[under development]

Source:
Patrick J. Neale ^{2 1} Anastasios Melis ¹. 1986. Algal photosynthetic membrane complexes and the photosynthesis-irradiance curve: a comparison of light-adaptation responses in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlorophyta)¹. Journal of Phycology. 22:4. 531-538 (¹ Patrick J. Neale ² Anastasios Melis ¹

¹ Division of Molecular Plant Biology, University of California. Berkeley, California 94720) DOI: 10.1111/j.1529-8817.1986.tb02497.x" http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.1986.tb02497.x

Links to Phycological Societies and Information:
Phycology Section of the German Botanical Society

Asia Pacific Phycological Association

www.trincoll.edu/~cschneid/ (If this doesn't open, click it, then, delete the http:// and then hit enter) Or, try this one. http://www.trincoll.edu/~cschneid/bermuda.html
.
(c) J S Shipman

Science Education in Latvia

Click here for a link to science education ideas found on the Latvian site: which was found by searching Meklētie vārdi: science education and Serveris: www.lzp.lv

http://www.rtu.lv/ Rigas Tehniska Universitate (Technical University)

AWIS and other Scholarships for Women in life science, engineering, or physics

http://www.awis.org/careers/edfoundation.html

http://scholarships.fatomei.com/women.html

Nathaniel Hawthorne and You: floral Displays, beautiful and unusual Trees at Leamington Spa

Overlapping humanities and science is a way to get more students interested in science. A stroll through Leamington Spa, or view its gardens on-line, for example, and you will share something with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Our Old Home, by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes, in a section on Leamington Spa, the gardens and their beauty. Students interested in literature, or especially in Hawthorne, may find a connection to science through the gardens of Leamington.

A stroll through gardens in your own vicinity might encourage students to write, as Hawthorne did of the gardens of Leamington Spa, of their beauty. By writing, a student can educate others as to the beauty of gardens and of nature in general, and this, in turn, may contribute to the sustainability of the Earth.



(c) 2008 J S Shipman

Malawi: Information, Floras, and, Herbals

Do you know much about Malawi? Can you find it on a map? Here are some links to some resources on Malawi's economic botany and other information on Malawi. If you know more, please add them in the comments section.

Chewa Medical Botany (herbal)

The Flora of Zomba Plateau, Phase II: 1996-2000

The Survey of the Algae of Zomba Water Bodies: 1990-2000

The Inventory and Conservation of the Flora of Lunyangwa Forest Reserve: 1990-2000

The Revision of the Phaseoleae (Leguminosae) of the Flora Zambesiaca region (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia): 1986-, and

The Biodiversity and Conservation Status of Protected Areas in Malawi: 1992-.

Orchids

www.nhbs.com/evergreen_forest_flora_of

malawi_tefno_117441.html

http://www.admin.uio.no/fa/felles/countries/africa/malawi.html

http://www.africanconservation.org/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=listcats&cat_id=86&Itemid=3

http://www.iamshaman.com/lotus/botany.htm

http://www.ossrea.net/ssrr/no14/no14-07.htm

Cassava

Have you been to Malawi? Share your science stories from Malawi.

Thanks

Dr. J

Science of Transistor Radios

Today's column listed an article on the transistor radio:
Transistor radio story posted October 18, 2008

The story offers a good way to interest some people in science and engineering. For example, a comparison and contrast could be done on the effect of transistor radios and MP3's on teen culture, someone might want to build a transistor radio or a computer, one might study electricity, someone else might study sound waves. A news story on historical development of the transistor radio could, thus, lead to a class full of students working on science activities, all different, yet, linked by the transistor radio. Because the students could select something of interest to them, it is likely they would be engaged in their studies.

More Sources:

1. http://www.vintageprojects.com/radio/transistor-radio.pdf
2. http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit
4. http://www.retrothing.com/2006/03/heathkit_h8_dig.html
5. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/06/23/the-new-heathkit-personal-computing-systems/
6. http://www.heathkit-museum.com/hvmhstory.shtml
7. http://www.heathkit-museum.com/computers/hvmec-1.shtml
   
8. [Please add more in comment sections, if you know of good links. Thanks.]
   

Have fun,

Dr. J

Kipepeo: Build your science vocabulary in Swahili!

http://www.kipepeo.org/ is the site for a butterfly farm in Kenya.

"Kipepeo," is the Swahili word for butterfly. Visit the link to learn more about kipepeo.

###

Sustainability through science education is a major theme of this blog. In order to have a global audience, I try to add topics of interest to scientists and science educators, and the general global community. By increasing communication among different people, all over the globe, I hope to enhance global sustainability. So, today, I have chosen to add a link to Kenya. I hope to encourage all of us to get a better understanding of each others' cultures and science applications throughout the World. Please add more links from Kenya or other parts of the World.
Dr. J

For more information on science in Kenya: http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/amed/kenya/resources/kenya-science.html

Finance, Integrity, Energy Solutions, and, Botany all in one great film

Frank Capra's 1938 film, You Can't Take It with You, staring, among others, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Lionel Barrymore, foreshadows sustainability.

Tony Kirby (James Stewart) dreams of finding out how the, "green stuff," in plants can solve the World's energy needs. While the film has a touch of romance, covers family values, and, and provides social commentary on finance, the film could serve as a unique introduction to the study of photosynthesis, or, to how film can contribute to scientific reality, or, to the overlap of finance and science.

Use the film to jump-start an inspiring study of global energy, starting with the producers, the, "green," plants. You know, energy leads to money and money being called, "green," could have been providing a huge hint all these years to solving the energy problems of the world. Use your ideas. Go back through the critical and higher order thinking skills as you study. Relate the science knowledge you discover to the choices you make in your life, to public policy, to how you vote, how you choose your food. You make a positive difference by wise choices. Thank you.

Dr. J

P.S. I recently found this link: http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=42 which might help with Americans wanting to use science knowledge to help decide their choices for the upcoming election. I haven't reviewed all of the points on the site, however, so, use your own judgment.
(c)2008 J S Shipman

An exercise in comparison and contrast.

[under development]

Bird's nest fungi have interesting spore dispersal mechanisms. These organisms are found among those in the Kingdom Fungi.

Jewelweed are found among organisms in the Kindom Plantae (Plants). These flowering plants have interesting seed dispersal.

It might be an interesting exercise to do a comparison and contrast of these two organisms. That would involve telling differences between the two kingdoms and between the dispersal mechanisms and the features of the organisms themselves.

This comparison and contrast could be done with an essay, a chart or a Venn diagram.

Additional sources of information
(Feel free to add some more sources to the comments or e-mail them to Dr J.)
Bird's Nest Fungi
http://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/birds-nest-cannonball.html

http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/p321birdsnests-etc.html

http://www.sydneyfungalstudies.org.au/articles/DISPERSAL OF FUNGAL SPORES.pdf

Now for this link, remember that fungi are not considered plants any longer. Fungi are in their own kingdom. Still, there is other good information. http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljune96.htm


Seed Dispersal in Jewelweed and Other Plants
http://library.unesco-iicba.org/English/SECONDARY_SCIENCE_SERIES/science_articles/the_flying_sunflower.htm

Comparison and contrast is important to science. Consider the case of the, "control." Read about: Control, Kontrollieren and Compare

Metal [and other] molecules main concept of Paris Festival in November

Science Days this November (2008) will feature ideas about metals. Check the link here for more information: http://www.fetedelascience.fr/

For example, "Organometallic chemistry of transition metal used for life sciences," might sound like a mouthful, but researchers will be on hand to explain it, in terms simple or complex, depending on the needs of the listener. The École nationale superieure de chimie de Paris's Laboratoire de Chimie et biochimie des complexes moléculaires:, http://www.enscp.fr/spip.php?article96, will present ideas from their research.

However, such complicated ideas of complex molecules will be presented in an easily understandable format and with enjoyable family activities, for all ages, as found on the festival's program including:

1. cuisine[ cuisine],
   
2. molécules en bonbon [molecules of candy],
   
3. secrets de chefs [chefs' secrets] ...),
4. alliage à mémoire de forme [Shape memory of alloys],
   
5. piles à combustibles [combustible batteries],
   
6. corrosion [corrosion, rust]...
7. une exposition présentera quelques grands chercheurs européens. [An exposition of presentations of some great European researchers]
8. des animations pour les jeunes : [cartoons(?) for youth]
   
9. un coin pour les enfants, [infants' corner]
   
10. de la magie, [magic]
    
11. des jeux sur les couleurs [a game of colors]…

So if you are in Paris, or near by, for

Fête de la Science, samedi 22 et dimanche 23 novembre 2008

don't miss this exciting science festival.

Nobel Prizes 2008

http://nobelprize.org/nobelfoundation/press/2008/announcements_08.html

Thank you for visiting!

I am very happy to announce that recent visitors to this science education/global sustainability blog have been from many places on the globe. Most recent visitors have been from the following countries:

Australia * Canada * Colombia * France * India * Japan * Maldives * New Zealand * Pakistan * Phillipines * Portugal * Singapore * Switzerland * United Kingdom * United States of America

What a wonderful global forum. Please add your comments and suggest posts. Each person might contribute something on his or her own educational system, how science is taught, new research to discuss and other science ideas. Welcome.

You may contact me via my e-mail, or, by leaving a comment.

Thanks,
Dr. J

The Public Library of Science

For information on the Public Library of Science, click here.

Please add your comments and reviews.

There is an article in one of the journals on. "the general paucity in the literature of negative data." (Source: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050201, accessed 11-13-07).

Remember that, "no," to a hypothesis still gives valuable information. This point is important to convey to science fair judges, participants in science fairs, the general public who ultimately fund what could be un-biased research, and to scientists and journal editors.

Dr. J

(c)2008 J S Shipman

Double-click Definitions: New Feature to this Site!

You can now double-click a word to get its definition.

Some teacher-directed links suggested by the British Mycological Society

• Cells Worksheet from the British Mycological Society
  
• Inspiring learning for All from the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council
• Department for Children, Schools and Families
  
• 
• http://www.exploringscience.co.uk/ (I couldn't link here. You might try pasting the link into your browser, or, the cache if this link doesn't work. I'll work on it.)

For information on the British Mycological Society, click here.

Functional Metabolism

In, Functional Metabolism, Kenneth B. Storey deeply examines metabolism and regulation of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids.

Find it in a library near you by going to http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/53937951

Feel free to add your comments or reviews. (Remember, this book might take, "Reach Reading™" but it is my opinion it will be worth the challenge!)

Dr. J

Reach Reading is ™ of J S Shipman.

Bridging from Children's Science Activities to Current Science Concepts

[under development, but, nearly done...]
Click these words for a link to a site full of children's science activities.

If you pick an activity, see if you can find how it relates to current (or, sometimes old-but-still-relevant) science research. For example, as we have a few warm days after the frost... a time reminiscent of and feeling like our summer, it might be fun to make ice cream...one of the fifth grade (USA, around age 10) activities.

As you can imagine, this is also about freezing point depression. So, what does freezing point depression have to do with current scientific research? Do you know? A search using a search engine can quickly come up with a huge list. Here is a small selection of what is available in the technical literature that involves this topic--- freezing point depression. It covers mammals (including rats and humans), fish, urine, veins, Vitamin C, sugar, protein, diabetes, salt, water, electricity, fluids, and other topics. In other words, there's a little something for everyone. If you can't find something in this list, it's probably out there in the other available research. A reference librarian should be able to help you find something. Be sure to let him or her know you are looking for difficult-to-read, refereed journal articles (primary sources).

1. The freezing pointdepression of mammalian tissues

2. Ascorbate Restores Endothelium-Dependent Vasodilation ...
   

3. Structurally Caused Freezing Point Depression of Biological Tissues

4. The freezing point depression of mammalian tissues after sudden heating in boiling distilled water

5. Freezing point depression of rat kidney slices during water diuresis and antidiuresis

6. The relationship between the freezing point depression and specific gravity of urine under varying conditions of metabolism, and its clinical value in the estimation of sugar and albumin

7. Freezing point depression of NaCl-KCl-H2O solutions
   
   
8. Freezing point depression of aqueous sodium chloride
   

9. vbA method for the determination of the freezing point depression of aqueous solutions..

10. Freezing-point depression: New Method for Measuring Ultramicro ...
11. Freezing resistance in some antarctic fishes

12. Freezing-point depressions in stabilized soil aggregates
    

13. Structure-function relationships in an antifreeze polypeptide. The ...

14. Detection of freezing point by dielectric measurements

15. A method for the determination of the freezing point depression of aqueous solutions.
    
    

For fifth graders, the goal is not to have them understand everything in all of these articles, nor, even to have them understand everything in one article. The "Reach Reading™" goal at this age is to have students understand that:

1. The lessons learned in making ice cream do apply to and are "real" science. Science can be fun.
2. There is technical research, in the form of laboratory reports found in journal articles that uses this research.
3. They can get a few new ideas from such articles, even if they don't understand everything (...or, even if they don't understand 99.9%).

Such ice cream and other fun science activities can also be adapted to children of any age--- Here's a song (to Frere Jaques) I wrote for a similar activity when my son was in pre-school:

Freezing point depression
Freezing point depression
Makes the ice cream freeze
Makes the ice cream freeze
Salt particles lower the temperature
Salt particles lower the temperature
The ice cream's cold
The ice cream's cold

In what other timely topic(s) does freezing point depression play a role?

• Fruit ripening
• Cold hardiness
• Autumn color (and leaf fall) (Note, though dated 1939, this selection still carries valuable information that students may find more readable than some other selections.)
• and, a thesis...
  

One added point: Click here for some winter science ideas.




(c) 2008 J S Shipman
"Reach Reading™"is a trademark of J S Shipman

A touch of sugar

Cereal nutrition in the news today, discusses sugar. Here is a tip for decreasing sugar in your morning cereal, but, first, a nutrition lab that overlaps with other areas like shopping, advertising, marketing, and, human behavior.

Every parent or guardian seems to discover that children, as well as adults are attracted to ideas in marketing and advertising. In a course I designed called, Nutrition, Health and Lifestyles, we discussed breakfast cereals and other overlaps among the science of nutrition.

In one of the labs that I designed for the course, students analyze supermarket fliers for area of advertising devoted to good and bad nutrition, or, analyze television commercial time devoted to good and bad nutrition . Students quantitatively describe what constitutes good and bad nutrition for their own experimental designs. Students love this lab. I also did the lab and used my own analysis to decide where to shop. (I like shopping where the person deciding what to sell considers the health of the shoppers.)

The lab can readily be adapted to students from K through graduate school, based on level of analysis and reference to sayings of parents or grandparents or school nurses, to, references in the technical literature of both science and business.

Typically, there has been much space and time devoted to sugary cereals in the media. As a parent, I didn't want my child to never have cereals other children craved. A solution we came up with in our household was to use the "sugared cereals," in the sugar bowl and sprinkle a spoonful of that onto a healthy breakfast cereal selection. For example, one might put a spoonful of Fruit L.-Coco P.- Captain C., or other sweet cereal, onto a dish of old-fashioned oatmeal. Children readily adapt to this, "special use," of the sweet cereals. The result is connecting science to what you and your children eat, and, a healthier family.

Enjoy breakfast together! Enjoy science together!

(c)2008 J S Shipman

K-12, year 5..Making sense of levels across borders

[Under Development...Needs your input...]

Many people from outside the United States have asked about K-12: Kindergarten through 12th grade. Those queries has prompted this post.

• pre-K and nursery school in the United States are usually for before age 5.
• K is for Kindergarten... around age 5.
• 1-6 is primary school...but, 1-3 make-up Lower School, while, 4-6, is Upper School
  
• 7-8 is Junior High...but, 4,5,6,7 is Middle School
• 9-12 is Senior High School, but 4-12 is Middle-High School
• Exams include the PSAT and SAT
  
• Prep school gets one ready for college (or University)
• Community College is usually a 2-year school, but college is used to refer to colleges and universities... We often say, "college," for what a European would call, "University."
• After 4 years of college (=university) comes graduate school..but you need the GRE's before that or MCAT's or other professional exams...
  

Now, in the USA, people often ask what Year 5 is, or
Gymnasium (France), Baccalaureate (spelling? ... Morocco).

KS4 and higher KS3 level students (in the UK)

CELS=Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences

Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences

[under development]