Here's a link to a post and discussion on Scientific Literacy

Jon Miller on
Civic Scientific Literacy

Category: Policy and Politics Posted on: February 21, 2010 2:14 PM, by Josh Rosenau

There's lots to delve into in Jon Miller's study of civic scientific literacy, not least that US student jump from poor science performance in high school to high science literacy as adults thanks largely to the mandatory year-long science course most colleges require."

Read more below and add you comments. http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2010/02/jon_miller_on_civic_scientific.php

Facts and Critical Thinking in Science/Scientific Literacy

Maienschein, Ingrid Burger, Reza Enshaie, Marie Glitz, Kate Kevern, Brent Maddin , Mark Rivera, Diana Rutkowsky, have written on two ideas on science literacy and scientific literacy.

Evaluating Sources as a Part of Science Literacy

Today information is readily available. But, how does a student evaluate the literature available? "Hype" and sales pitches are easy to read, but, do they provide accurate information? Some do. Some do not. How do you know?

There is much controversy over human chorionic gonadotropin, better known to the general public as HCG. How can we use science literacy skills to evaluate this compound? If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know we typically start with general information and progress through Reach Reading TM to the refereed journal articles, which are peer reviewed.

Obesity is a problem. HCG is a product touted to contribute to lasting weight loss(Here's one website, but, there are many: http://www.yourhcg.com). Is that a factual concept? We know money is made from people trying various products or surgery to lose weight. How can one use science literacy to determine which information to believe? I am not saying use this example, HCG, for students. Pick something of interest to them. For example, if they have a pet cat, they might be interested in pet food advertisements and research that has been done on pet nutrition.

Do a search engine search for HCG (or a student- or teacher- selected topic). Pick a few articles. Evaluate them. How difficult is the vocabulary? Are the claims backed up with fact? Take some notes on points that interest you and remember to note the information to site the sources (left hand column of the blog has some style manual links if you need assistance with that).

Now, using some words or phrases that you find in the general literature to help you find information in the technical literature...the laboratory reports. Remember. the laboratory reports follow a format that is international in nature and are peer-reviewed (evaluated by other scientists in the same field):

• Introduction (background information, and hypothesis to be tested),
• Materials and Methods (procedures)
• Results (data)
• Discussion and Conclusions (discussion of the data, suggested public policy, suggested future experiments and requests for funding...)
• Literature Cited (gives complete source information)

These "laboratory reports" will be easy to recognize if you follow the same format for your own classroom laboratory experiments (granted, simplified as per student ability).

Here are some examples of peer-reviewed ("refereed") journal articles on HCG:

1. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) in the Treatment of Obesity: A Critical Assessment of the Simeons Method by Frank L. Greenway, MD and George A. Bray, MD. West J Med. 1977 December. Vol. 127. No. 6. Pp. 461-463. PMCID:PMC1237915 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC1237915/

2. Effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin on weight loss, hunger, and feeling of well-being by W. L. Asher M.D.¹ and Harold W. Harper M.D.¹ From the American Society of Bariatric Physicians Research Council, 333 West Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado 80110. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol 26. Pp211-218. (c) 1973 by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/211

These two articles have opposing conclusions, so, to formulate my own opinion on this topic, I would have to find more research. Knowing myself, I'd probably do an exhaustive search. The idea is not for students to take my opinion, nor for them to take their teacher's opinion, but, rather for them to learn to form their own opinions and be able to back those opinions up with information from refereed journals.

Check who paid for the research. Does the article support or attack or remain neutral on the points of interest to you? Were the research methods sound? (This type of analysis must be done at the students level...but even pre-school children get the concept of control versus experimental, even if they may not know all the vocabulary.) Is the vocabulary tougher? If we want to know something, we learn the vocabulary. (I have seen students in elementary and high school science classes use the refereed journal articles and stay much more engaged in science class as a result. But, even if the articles are too hard to read, the students get the idea that research exists and if they have a need to know, they will find and learn to read the articles. Students have come back years later to thank me for introducing them to the journal articles. Two more notes: 1- Journal articles exist in all fields...in case you are an artist, or a history buff... 2- People that win the national science fairs typically read a few refereed journal articles.)

Sometimes you might come across related articles that are a bit off topic, yet peek interest in further study, such as research ...

on HCG and breast cancer risk (or lack of risk).
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/4/5/437.full.pdf; Accessed 10-26-09.

Find some refereed research articles on your selected topic(s).

Plan to write a persuasive essay based on your findings.

Most of all, have fun. I think of this as, "mental recreation."

Edit, Nov. 4, 2009:
Not convinced that refereed journal article reading is an important part of science literacy?
Want one parent's viewpoint on reading journal articles, which concurrently explains basic biology and genetic engineering? Try reading The Unhealthy Truth: How our Food is making us Sick and What We can do about It, by Robyn O'Brien [and] Rachel Kranz (Broadway Books (Random House), New York. 2009). Read more.


(c)2009 J S Shipman All rights reserved. Portions (c)1985-2009 J S Shipman. Used with permission of the author.

Help improve Science a Text Book

If you don't like science or if you do, you can write and be considered for publication in a WeBooks science book. You can join if you are interested in improving science education. You can join in if you home school, or go to a public or private school. You may write in any language as long as you include an English translation. You must be of legal age to submit work, however, a parent or guardian may submit for those under age. The entries will be edited prior to publication in a text. In a way, this is global, "brainstorming," for a new book. Your participation is welcome. What you post may also guide the development of interactive technology and laboratory exercises for science classes. Please do join in and improve science literacy.
.

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.

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.

Differentiating "Primary Sources" from "Stories about Science"

Here's a link to an article on fat genes.

Can you tell if it is a "primary source" or not?

Who did the research? Did the person or people who did the research write this article?

How can you find primary source articles?

Where can you find them?

What format do they typically follow?

Is any of your work generating primary source information? Which work?

(c) 2008 J S Shipman

Curriculum Guides Available from Newspapers

Curriculum Guides for Teachers (or, for parents providing enrichment at home) are often available from newspapers.
For example, the Times-Herald Record lists several. Click on the paper name to see what they have. You can also contact your local paper and see if they have anything. You might also want to ask them to have more articles on science topics. (I would like to see articles on preservation of habitat, especially in urban and developing sub-urban and rural areas. Often development proceeds more quickly than thinking about habitat preservation. Sustainability of the Earth requires that we think deeply and implement sustainable, preservation measures. What would you like to see? Let us and your paper know.)

If you are looking for curriculum guides for specific science areas, please email me at shipmanjs@gmail.com and let me know.

Using "EOL" and...being Part of the Global Effort to Add Plant Species to the Encyclopedia of Life

People all over the world are adding plant species to the Encyclopedia of Life. If you know of someone with a database of plant species, encourage them to add their database of plant species
http://www.eol.org/

If you are from Bolivia, or Morocco, or South Africa, or, the USA or, Canada, or the UK, or Japan, or Iraq, or Australia, or, Eritrea, or Somalia, or, anywhere in the world, contact botanists where you live and see if they have added their data to the EOL. Or, perhaps you know a plant that hasn't been added. You can add it.

It is exciting to be a part of this world wide peaceful effort.

You can also use the Encyclopedia of Life.

Link to the World of Microbes

http://www.microbeworld.org/microbes/

A Program of Assisted Migration—selectively moving Certain Species to New Locations better suited to their Survival

Here's a topic to think about. Use higher order thinking skills, stepping through the six levels as you explore this topic. Write about what you find out. Don't forget to cite your sources.

Source: In the news---Today (left hand column)

In the News provided by The Free Dictionary

Integrated Science of Cheese Making

First, enjoy the film:


Plants, sheep, dogs, microbes...
Botany, agriculture, microbiology, cooking, culture, Italy

What science do you see?

A history of cheese-making from Switzerland is presented at http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_cheese/history_of_cheesemaking/

More information on cheese-making : http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20041013/Feature1.asp

http://www.goat-cheese.co.il/thecheese1.html gives information on cheese-making in Israel.

Some great pictures: http://www.farmhousecheeses.com/cheese_making.shtml

If Virginia Woolf had written on Science...

Post under development. Check back in a few days.

If Virginia Woolf had written on Science...

A Lab of her Own

But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and science—what, has that got to do with a laboratory of one’s own? I will try to explain. When you asked me to speak about women and science I sat down on the banks of a river and began to wonder what the words meant. They might mean simply a few remarks about Marie Curie; a few more about Rachel Carson; a tribute to the Barbara McClintock and a sketch of the now-gone corn fields under the snow-filled parking lot; some witticisms if possible about Miss Beatrix Potter; a respectful allusion to Flopsy, Mopsy and Peter Rabbit; a reference to Rosalind Franklin and one would be done. But at second sight the words seemed not so simple. The title women and science might mean, and you may have meant it to mean, women and what they are like, or it might mean women and the lab reports that they write; or it might mean women and the science that they do and what is written about them, or it might mean that somehow all three are inextricably mixed together and you want me to consider them in that light. But when I began to consider the subject in this last way, which seemed the most interesting, I soon saw that it had one fatal drawback. I should never be able to come to a conclusion.....

###

Well, you get the idea. The words in red are substituted for Virginia Woolf's words on women and fiction.

Please
feel free to post
comments below.
Also, check out the Creative Commons License below:

Thanks to http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/

A room of one's own

by

Virginia Woolf

eBooks@Adelaide
2004

This web edition published by eBooks@Adelaide.

Rendered into HTML by Steve Thomas.

Last updated Wed Mar 15 06:48:08 2006.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
(available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.1/au/).
You are free: to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, and to make derivative works under the following conditions: you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the licensor; you may not use this work for commercial purposes; if you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the licensor. Your fair use and other rights are in no way affected by the above.

For offline reading, the complete set of pages is available for download from http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/w91r.zip

The complete work is also available as a single file, at http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/complete.html

A MARC21 Catalogue record for this edition can be downloaded from http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/marc.bib

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Thank you for respecting the license.

Added 9-20-2008:
Woolf, Virginia (Stephen)

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!

Sauerkraut Science (Post under development)

Sauerkraut Science
What has sauerkraut got to do with science?
Here is a lesson about picking a science fair topic.

(Not doing science fair ? Just want a good read? Read the link at the end of this post.)

Pick something you are interested in or that you can afford to use. Then, look for the science related to that item. Okay, we've selected sauerkraut, just to prove that almost any topic can become a subject of science study.

Brainstorm: What about sauerkraut has to do with science? What does your topic have to do with science?

Do a Literature Search:
Here's a sampling of literature found on sauerkraut. Do a search on your own topic.

• Books

1. Chemical Activities (Teacher's Addition) Christie L. Borgford and Lee R. Summerlin. ISBN13:97808412163 ISBN10:0841214166 paper. 244 pages.
2. Traditionally Fermented Foods http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1939
   

• Newspapers and Magazines
• Journals

1. Food Chemistry: Changes in biogenic amine concentrations during sauerkraut storage. Volume 69, Issue 3, 15 May 2000, Pages 309-314
   doi:10.1016/S0308-8146(99)00273-3 Copyright © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
2. Leuconostoc sp. strains: aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/68/6/2877
3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/fstl.1996.0055
   

• Internet

1. Fermented Foods
2. Lactic Acid Bacteria
3. Microbiology
4. Create Sauerkraut (commercial kit)
5. Create sauerkraut (the old-fashioned way)
6. http://www.genkifoods.com/faq.html (commercial site)
7. DNA Fingerprinting in Sauerkraut?
   

Define a problem: "Do different amounts of salt affect the final product," or, "Do spices change the ability of the cabbage to be fermented?"

Brainstorm again:

Select a question from among your brainstormed ideas:

Write an experimental design:

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods (future tense)
• Blank data table
• Literature Cited

Set up the Experiment

Perform the Experiment

Collect Data

Analyze Data

Think about the Experiment and Future Experiments it suggests

Write a Laboratory Report:

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods (Past Tense)
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusions
• Literature Cited
  

Write a Reflection

• What did you do well?
• What did you learn?
• Do you have something to publish?
• Do you have ideas for another experiment?
• What can you do to improve your science fair experience next time?
  

Here's a wintertime story on sauerkraut that you might enjoy: http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/old_mother_hubbard__s_sauerkraut_soup

(c)2007, 2008 J. S. Shipman

Here's a Science Fair Guide you might find useful:

A Public Library Resource on Science Fairs:
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/projectguide/

Remember that scientists use art and writing. They are imaginative. They also pay attention to detail. Some important words for science fair (among other words) are:

control

versus

experimental

replicates

replications

duplicate

triplicate

quadruplicate

repeatability

fact

opinion

statistics

Do you know what these words mean?

Do you know why they are important?



(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Welcome to Society of Practical Education in Biology

Please click the link to visit the Society of Practical Education in Biology:
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/jissen/english.htm

A Gift You can give

At freerice.com, you can play a game and donate rice to feed hungry people. Enjoy it.

http://freerice.com/index.php

Here you can see the generosity of the world:

http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html

All about rice:

---Under development---

International Rice Research Institute
People all over the world cooperate on rice research. This cooperation keeps so many people from dying from starvation. It helps us prevent or lessen the effect of plant disease on crop harvest. There is a similar cooperation among wheat researchers that is also saving lives and preventing or decreasing diseases of wheat crops. Research helps feed people. We can accomplish great things when we work together.
http://www.irri.org/

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Words are added each day, but, they change on archived posts.

Word of the Day: Words are added to this blog each day, but, they change on archived posts. Today's word is a science word, so I've added it here, in the posts, so that we can look at it again in the archived versions and still see what the word is. I've also added questions for a discussion and writing exercise about the word. You might like to keep a notebook or a spreadsheet or data base file about your words. I do this for new vocabulary I want to remember and for words I like to use. I then use the file in many way to enhance my own vocabulary development.

Today's word is, "ecesis."

It is said, "Eh-see-ses" and rhymes with , "yes," and the "c" sounds like and "s." "Ecesis," means, "The successful establishment of a plant or animal species in a habitat." A synonym is, "establishment. "A sample sentence is: "The ecologists were especially interested in ensuring the ecesis of the endangered species in the wildlife refuge."

1. 
   

2. 
   

3. Did you know this word, "ecesis," before?
   

4. Will you remember it now?

5. How does building your vocabulary help you learn more science?

12-17-07 petrous, stonelike

What can you learn from one plant?

Pick one plant, say potatoes, or chicory, or a tulip...or, any plant you like. What can you learn from that plant? Many subjects overlap with botany.

The selected plant: _______________________________________________________

Writing: Can you write an essay or a paper about your plant. Be sure to cite sources. Can you write a poem about your plant?

Art: Can you draw your plant? What colors are found in your plant? Is paper made from your plant?

History: Did the plant have an effect on human history? Does the plant have its own story?

Math? What is the growth rate of the plant? How big are the seeds? How big are the leaves? What is the range of sizes for leaves?

Classification and organization? How would you classify this plant? What characteristics would you use? How do other scientists classify it?

Geography: Where is the plant found in nature?

Biology: What lights affect the plant? Reds? Greens? Blues? White? Does day length affect the plant? What is the life cycle of the plant?

Chemistry: What chemicals are found in the plant? Does pH affect the plants growth? Does salt?

Music: Is the plant used to make musical instruments? Can you write a song or a symphony about your plant? Can you do a spring concert based on songs your class wrote about flowers?

(c) 2007 J S Shipman.