Something you can do about the oil spill and preventing some of the environmental damage that can result from oil spills:

So many times I've seen students who have been discouraged about environmental issues. They haven't realized that each of them can do many things to improve the environment. People are very resourceful in solving problems. I believe that is the message to convey to students. Using the HOT Skills Wheel TM brings students through several levels of critical thinking (Contact me to arrange training for faculty and students on the HOT Skills Wheel TM.) Problem solving results from using higher order thinking skills and then taking action. Here are some links to get you started in solving one global crisis: the current oil spill. Having such deep-thinking skills, the HOT Skills, and knowing that each of us can take action in solving global problems gives hope for achieving both sustainability and a peaceful World.

Here's a video about using human hair to prevent damage from oil spills:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7425820


Here's a link to the organization that you can contact for more information:
http://www.matteroftrust.org/

Use Reach Reading TM (Workshop Inquiries) and come up with research to back up other decisions about what you can do to help the environment. You might also want to look at the book Mycelium Running for ideas on not only cleaning up oil, but, also cleaning water before it is returned to the environment.

The current oil spill gives students the opportunity to understand the relevancy of their science education. It helps them understand why Reach Reading TM, science literacy, and science education are so important to their abilities to solve and prevent global problems. I challenge you to empower your students. Show them they can use their skills to take positive action to solve problems, even those of a global nature. We can show them the resiliency of the human spirit and give them pathways to solve and prevent future global problems. We can help them achieve sustainability and peace if we give them the science literacy and higher order thinking skills (HOT Skills)

Diseases can improve Science Literacy... What was that?

If you or someone in your family has a disease, you might Reach ReadTM to find out more about it. Students are the same way. The first journal article on a particular subject might be tough, but by the fifth one, you got most of the lingo down, and the reading becomes easier. The first one, though, you'll need to keep a dictionary (physical or digital) nearby.

Here's an example on, "glycemic index:"

http://endo.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/142/3/1148

When you have, "a need to know," hard words won't stop you. Even if you can't read the article, you can carry it in to your doctors' offices as your own, "reading material," and have a positive effect on your health care (my opinion and experience).

Now, back to the example of, "glycemic index." Let's look at the author and title of the above-referenced journal article:

Endocrinology Vol. 142, No. 3 1148-1155
Copyright © 2001 by The Endocrine Society

Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Diets Improve Glycemic Tolerance through Increased Secretion of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1¹

Antonio S. Rocca², Jonathon LaGreca³, Juliana Kalitsky³ and Patricia L. Brubaker

Departments of Physiology (A.S.R., J.L.G., J.K., P.L.B.) and Medicine (P.L.B.), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Patricia L. Brubaker, Ph.D., Rm 3366, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A8. E-mail: p.brubaker@utoronto.ca.

Hmm! What words do you know in the title?

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Do you have them all on your list? Congratulations! Now for the rest of us...

Do not panic!

You are in the Reach ReadingTM zone. Whew!

Take it slowly, like Einstein did when he read. It's ok to take a long time, even to get through the title. Oh, by the way, science fair people, it is a good idea to support some of your work, in background information or in discussion, by citing journal articles, so, take your time. You can do it. (Do I sound like a cheerleader yet?) Ah! That is more like it. relax. You are not supposed to know all the words. In fact,

No one knows all the words.

Source: Joan Beinetti, Reading Specialist and Home School Expert; Personal Communication with J. S. Shipman; 1989.

Don't you feel better knowing that, "No one knows all the words." Even geniuses use dictionaries. You don't have to be afraid of science any more (if you ever were.)

That release felt grand, didn't it. You don't have to be afraid in front of students of needing to look up words. It is expected!!! They should expect it of themselves. You are, "modeling," that desired behavior while learning new vocabulary yourself.

After slugging through the first article, the rest get easier and easier. Note, I didn't say easy. But after about five articles, they may seem easy to you. And, you will know a lot about your disease.

"Glycemic index," isn't a disease," you say.

"I know that," I reply. So, let's get on with the matter at hand. People with diabetes, pre-diabetes, people who are hungry all the time, people who drink a lot of water (more than everyone else), people who are hypoglycemic, people who are obese, people who are sooo slim, people who are, "just right," ...many people have diseases related to the, "glycemic index."

-----

More by Joan Beinetti:
http://blog.bravewriter.com/2007/08/16/freshening-the-homeschool-plan/

More on and by Patricia Brubaker:
http://www.obesitynetwork.ca/members/view.aspx?id=126&title=Patricia+Brubaker

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Patricia+Brubaker+Toronto&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Search

Key Deer and Plants in its Environment

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Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) are an exciting part of a visit to the Florida Keys, a string of islands dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Patience pays off when trying to observe them. When first looking, you might not readily spot the deer.

A stop at the visitors center, and Jean might tip you off to where you can see them. Her tips lead to these pictures (and many others, not posted here.) Someone else came up as the photographer was taking the pictures and scared off the deer...so, what does that suggest? To me, it says, "if you want good pictures you likely need to sit quietly and wait." What do you think about taking photos of wildlife?

Did you see only the deer, or, did you also see the plants the deer was munching on? Were you plant blind? Remember that the deer (and we, too) rely on plants for many purposes. What plants do you see?

Have you thought about what the Key Deer eat? I know some people have felt bad that their gardens were eaten. But, what if you want to know more? Science literacy can help students get into journal articles that are original source laboratory reports. One technique for improving science literacy, and finding out more about what the deer eat, is to encourage Reach Reading ^tm into the journals. For example, http://www.jstor.org/pss/3809097 is about the plant foods deer browse on and how to foster their growth. It may be of interest to some students.

More reading:

• Fire in Key Deer Habitat Improves Browse, Prevents Succession, and Preserves Endemic Herbs Peter C. Carlson, George W. Tanner, John M. Wood and Stephen R. Humphrey The Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Oct., 1993), pp. 914-928. Published by: Allen Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3809097

• Survival, mortality, and life expectancy of Florida Key Deer LOPEZ Roel R. ⁽¹⁾ ; VIEIRA Mark E. P. (2) ; SILVY Nova J. ^{(1) ; FRANK Philip A. (3) ; WHISENANT Shane W. (1) ; JONES Dustin A. (1) ; Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)(1) Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, ETATS-UNIS (2) Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, ETATS-UNIS (3) U.S. Fish and Wildiife Service, National Key Deer Refuge, Big Pine Key, FL 33043, ETATS-UNIS http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14606308}

• ^{http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:dwJRzf4C-0kJ:scholar.google.com/+Key+deer&hl=en&as_sdt=40000 .... A thesis...more on this later... Dr. J}
  

^{(c)2010 J S Shipman. All rights reserved (text and photo(s)).}

Bridging from Pomegranites in the News to Technical Information

Bridging from ordinary articles about science up to technical information on the same topic is one of the main benefits of Reach Reading^(TM). This post will review an example bridging from an article on Pomegranites found in today's news, up to the technical journal articles on the same topic.
Here's a link to the news article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6045JT20100105

The article starts,"An acid found in pomegranates appears to block aromatase, an enzyme that converts androgen to estrogen, a hormone that plays a role in the development of breast cancer, the researchers wrote in the journal Cancer Prevention Research." It gives us a few clues.

Good: There are a few familiar items: acid, pomegranate, hormone, estrogen, breast cancer. Some might even be familiar with enzyme. A beginning step in Reach Reading^(TM) is to identify any words we don't know and define them. Granted this takes time, but, ultimately, it speeds up comprehension. It is important to use articles on topics of interest to the student when doing reach reading. I would have students bring in the initial science articles that they find in the newspaper or on line. Ah, there is another clue, "Journal of Cancer Prevention Research."

Jot down a few ideas about what you know already:

• acid

• pomegranate

• hormone

• estrogen

• breast cancer

• enzyme

Now, look up word you don't yet know, and find definitions for them. (Don't forget to get the complete reference for the definition. For example,

• aromatase

Here's a link to one definition of, "aromatase."
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15844 Check it out:

"Aromatase: An enzyme involved in the production of estrogen that acts by catalyzing the conversion of testosterone (an androgen) to estradiol (an estrogen). Aromatase is located in estrogen-producing cells in the adrenal glands, ovaries, placenta, testicles, adipose (fat) tissue, and brain."

The definition goes on and talks about breast cancer. You might want to come back to it later if it wasn't yet helpful, so, keep good track of where you got your information. Remember, we found this at:
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15844. Accessed 14 Jan 2010.

Does the definition help you? If not, try another: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase. The Wiki link has a drawing of aromatase. Then, a set of definitions related to hair loss gives another definition of, "aromatase": http://www.americanhairloss.org/hair_loss_glossary/. Soon enough, you'll find a definition that starts to make sense to you. Don't worry if you don't completely get it. Perhaps English isn't your first language. No problem, just keep going. You will catch on.

French: "L’aromatase est une enzyme du groupe Cytochrome P450 qui permet de convertir les androgènes surrénaliens comme la testostérone en œstrogène ..." fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase

German: "Die Aromatase (CYP19A1) ist ein Enzym der Cytochrom-P450-Superfamilie. Seine Funktion ist die Aromatisierung von Testosteron zu Estradiol und von .." de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase, or, "ein Enzym im menschlichen Organismus, durch dessen Wirkung Vorstufen des weiblichen Geschlechtshormons Östrogen in das aktive Hormon umgewandelt ..." www.mamazone.de/obere-navigation/glossar/, or, "Ein Enzym, welches nach den Wechseljahren Androgene in Östrogene umwandelt. Aromatasehemmer blockieren das Enzym..." www.ueberleben-mit-brustkrebs.de/brustkrebs/service/glossar/content-121465.html

Portuguese: A aromatase pertence ao grupo das enzimas do citocromo p450 e age como mediador da aromatização de andrógenos em estrógenos. pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase

Perhaps reading definitions in other languages will help you, though, often the science words are cognates and are very similar to eachother in many languages.

Now, you try finding definitions for other words you don't know, for example, if you don't know, "androgen," you can look that up.

• androgen

Then, we'll continue... The idea is to have fun with it. Don't feel it is a chore. Feel like you are on a treasure hunt in a video game, or, that you are making a great discovery. Enjoy the process of, "Reach Reading ^(TM)".

We can scan the article and see if a scientist is mentioned. Yes, there, in the next paragraph, "Shiuan Chen." Looking further, I found this information via Google: "Requests for reprints: Shiuan Chen, Department of Surgical Research, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010. Phone: 626-256-4673, ext. 63454; Fax: 626-301-8972; E-mail: schen@coh.org." The Chen article is on white button mushrooms, however: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/66/24/12026 (Anti-Aromatase Activity of Phytochemicals in White Button Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) Shiuan Chen¹, Sei-Ryang Oh¹, Sheryl Phung¹, Gene Hur¹, Jing Jing Ye¹, Sum Ling Kwok¹, Gayle E. Shrode², Martha Belury², Lynn S. Adams¹ and Dudley Williams^1, so, let's keep looking.

(Notice first, however, that the article gives contact information for the authors: ^"1 Department of Surgical Research, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, California and ² Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.")

But at the January 2010 issue of Cancer Prevention Research, http://cancerprevention research.aacrjournals.org/current.dtl, we find, " Pomegranate Ellagitannin–Derived Compounds Exhibit Antiproliferative and Antiaromatase Activity in Breast Cancer Cells In vitro Lynn S. Adams, Yanjun Zhang, Navindra P. Seeram, David Heber, and Shiuan Chen. Cancer Prev Res 2010 3: 108-113. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0225[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] ." There is the original source for the abundance of articles found in the news today about pomegranate. The article itself will give you a mouthful, for example, "On consumption, pomegranate ETs hydrolyze, releasing ellagic acid, which is then converted to 3,8-dihydroxy-6H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-6-one ("urolithin") derivatives by gut microflora, " where every other word (or nearly so) is an unknown...(so, we can go back to the definition game...) If you have breast cancer, or, know someone that does, you'll likely want to understand every word (Or, if not, you might want to bring a copy of the article to you doctor's office, so he or she will know, you've, "Done your homework.")

I hope that this has made, "Reach Reading ^(TM)" fun for you. If not, we'll try again another day. My students love it, but, perhaps not being with me in the classroom, but, rather. on-line, it might not come across as as much fun. Please give me feedback and ask me questions.

Dr. J
shipmanjs@gmail.com


P.S.: Either men or woman can get breast cancer, so, I hope that you found the article of interest. Now that you are one of the world's few that knows about , "aromatase." perhaps you'd like to Reach Read^(TM) what it has to do with the prostate: http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17598374.
(c) 2010 J S Shipman