Autism and Oxygen in the News--Leading to Science Library Research and Citations

Autism and Oxygen in the News--Leading to Science Library Research and Citations

"In a recent study, autistic children who received 40 hours of hyperbaric treatment showed significant improvements in overall functioning, social interaction, eye contact, receptive language, and sensory or cognitive awareness." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7940149.stm

Here's a link to a post from todays' left-hand column's link. After today, those links change, so, I have linked to the source article.

Remember using current events in science classes helps maintain interest. Students can also look for related research articles. for example:

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may improve symptoms in autistic children.

ROSSIGNOL DA, ROSSIGNOL LW.

Med Hypotheses 2006 Mar 20;[epub ahead of print].
Blue Ridge Medical Center, 4038 Thomas Nelson Highway, Arrington, VA 22922, USA; University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800729, Charlottesville, VA, USA (Source: http://www.websciences.org/cftemplate/NAPS/archives/indiv.cfm?ID=20061272).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may improve symptoms in autistic children
Medical Hypotheses, Volume 67, Issue 2, Pages 216-228
D. Rossignol, L. Rossignol (Source:http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306987706001198).

And, that type of searching may lead to other interesting articles, such as:

Hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of patients with cerebral stroke, brain trauma, and neurologic disease

Journal	Advances in Therapy
Publisher	Springer Healthcare Communications
ISSN	0741-238X (Print) 1865-8652 (Online)
Issue	Volume 22, Number 6 / November, 2005
DOI	10.1007/BF02849960
Pages	659-678
Subject Collection	Medicine
SpringerLink Date	Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Noori S. Al-Waili¹ , Glenn J. Butler¹, Jorge Beale¹, Mahdi S. Abdullah¹, R. W. Bill Hamilton¹, Boke Y. Lee¹, Paul Lucus¹, Michael W. Allen¹, Richard L. Petrillo¹, Zev Carrey¹ and Michael Finkelstein¹

(1)	Life Support Technologies, Inc. and New Technologies, Inc. The Mount Vernon Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College, New York, NY ( Source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/7474746430118483/).

I have posted these, "finds," in the way a student might when he or she just locates them, and, "cut -and-pastes," them into a word processor. Try to show the students how to cite information by using style manuals, such as CBE, MLA, or others. I like to suggest to students that they locate the style manual of the field that they hope to go on to study. It is much better for students to have an idea that there are different style manuals than to have them get to college saying that they do it the way their, "high school English teacher told them." I have found that many students frequently say the latter when they arrive at college. Your students will be different. If they use MLA, at least, they should know it is MLA. Scientists usually use others. Do you know which ones? Do you know how to find out? Take a look at the, "Rules for Publication," in journals that publish work that you are interested in...You can find out the styles typically recommended for that science field.

Desert Ideas from Australia

Alice Springs Desert Park

We recently talked about dreaming big. An example was given of a high school student who went to Australia. Maybe that whet your appetite for an excursion to Australia. Here is some information about one of Australia's many parks and research centers. Take a virtual tour, or, plan a real one to Alice Springs Desert Park. Here are some pictures, quotes and links to the park's website.

• Home Page for Alice Springs Desert Park
  
  • Information for teachers planning field trips
    
  • Ideas for student planning to visit
    
  • Research and Conservation at Alice Springs Desert Park
    
• There are employment, work experience and volunteering opportunities at the park.
• Contact Alice Springs Desert Park

Some quotes from the Alice Springs Desert Park Website:

"Hundreds of species of plants and animals found across Central Australian deserts can be seen, smelt and heard.

"You will even have the opportunity to experience desert habitats as they are at night, seeing some of the animals near impossible to see in the wild.

"...When you leave the Desert Park you will go away with new stories, skills and some of the secrets of the desert."

[Under development]


Source: http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/ Accessed Mar. 4, 2009.

Another website shows these pictures from the desert region: http://asdpeducation.wikispaces.com/Desert+Rivers+Habitat

New Desert Rivers shelter available for School Groups

"Desert Rivers is a great place to study the diversity of life, as many animals and plants can be found due to the availability of water."


Desert Rivers Habitat

Source: http://asdpeducation.wikispaces.com/Desert+Rivers+Habitat Accessed: Mar. 4, '09

Dream Big...

When teaching students, I believe one has to expect great things. Students usually go beyond what their teachers teach, when they have great teachers. The last post on an exciting high school, led me to post this one on dreaming big.

At one point, I volunteered or was employed at helping various elementary, middle, and high schools apply for grants to build their science programs. One thing I noticed in talking to teachers and students is that their vision was often limited when it came to designing a laboratory. For example, if I asked them to list or brainstorm or shout out anything that they would like to have in a new science lab at the school, I got answers like more pencils, paper. Even when I provided a list of equipment that I knew companies would be willing to donate, it was difficult to find schools interested. That amazed me. Initially, this response was typical at most schools I visited. I believe that perhaps it is because many of the students and teachers haven't visited well-equipped research laboratories, but, I am not sure if that is the reason. I can only say how very wonderful it is to have a school that has dreamed big and as a result provides a top quality science education.

If you haven't been exposed to a modern research laboratory for young scientists before now, consider that now you have. That vision is the first step toward having young people in your community having the science skills they need to create and keep jobs in your community.

Even when a grant isn't found, it is possible to gain access to needed laboratory equipment. While a particular school in Boston didn't have an electron microscope, students were able to gain access to one at the museum of science and could use it for research.

Another example of successfully dreaming big: Onehigh school student got a grant to go to Australia to study marsupials. Her research there enabled her to get a selection of scholarships to top universities to pursue her passion for zoology research.

Congratulations to Bergen County Academies for setting the pace. Congratulations to the rest of you who will make this race a competition where all of us will win.

Parent-Teacher groups, Science Mentors, Students, Administrators and Faculties, "On your mark, get set, go!" The race for top high school is on.

Great American High Schools are Big on Science Research: Congratulations Bergen County Academies!

Does your high school let you do real research?
Here is an example of a school that fosters quality science education:




More information can be found here:

http://bcts.bergen.org/

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0115_best_schools/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_County_Academies

If you don't have the equipment they do, you can still do great research. Be innovative (and patent your ideas). Think deeply. Apply for grants. Use University labs. Use this schools lab? (Write and ask... You never know.) Publish your results.