Science Education
finchtalk | October 7, 2014Scale, proportion, and quantity belong to one of the cross cutting concepts in the next generation science standards (NGSS). According to Volume 2 of the NGSS, "in engineering, no structure could be conceived much less constructed without the engineer's precise sense of scale." The authors go on to note that scale and proportion are best understood using the scientific practice of working with models.
When scientists and engineers work with these concepts at a molecular scale, new kinds of technologies can be created to advance our understanding of the natural world. One example is DNA…
gregladen | September 9, 2014Climate Smart & Energy Wise: Advancing Science Literacy, Knowledge, and Know-How by Mark McCaffrey is a book written primarily for teachers, to give them the information and tools they need to bring the topic of climate change effectively to their classrooms. It addresses the Climate Literacy and Energy Literacy frameworks, designed to guide teaching this important topic.
The book provides basics on climate and energy, approaches to teaching about climate and energy, and of special interest for teachers, syncing the topics with existing standards. The main point of the book is to get…
sporte | July 30, 2014Living in Seattle fosters a certain pessimism when it comes to large companies. Boeing has always been a poster child for employment uncertainty, regularly hiring large numbers of people and just as regularly, laying them off. Now, we have Microsoft and Amgen joining the club, with Microsoft layoffs impacting an estimate 1350 people in the area, and Amgen, planning to shed 660 jobs when it closes facilities in Seattle and Bothell. Sometimes as a biotech educator, it’s hard to reconcile the prospects of knowing we're training students for well-paying, interesting biotech jobs, with the…
gregladen | June 28, 2014The Root 100 2014 is seeking your nominations. DEADLINE IS MONDAY. They are
...just about ready to celebrate the innovators, the trailblazers and the influencers in the African-American community who have caught our attention in the past year. [They] will announce The Root 100 of 2014 and celebrate these 25-45-year-olds who are paving the way in politics, entertainment, business, the arts, social justice, science and sports. Right now, it’s your turn to submit nominations for those you think deserve this coveted honor.
There will be many well-known figures on the list, but, each year, The…
gregladen | May 28, 2014Republican lawmakers and their kin are opposing the acceptance of National Science Standards. Why? Because those standards are based on science. What they prefer is that the standards we use to guide curriculum in America's public schools be the hobgoblin of the Koch Brothers and the rest of the petroleum industry. Way to ruin the country, man. Civilization too. Nice move.
As Chris Hays points out (see below) the anti-science industry in America is leaving Creationism behind and shifting towards the denigration of Climate Science, much to our detriment.
The following interview from All…
carlyo | May 15, 2014Guest Blog By X-STEM Speaker Aaron A. Alford, PhD, MPH, PMP
Hands-on learning and human connections are essential to STEM education. Without exception, all of the scientists that I know were inspired to enter STEM career tracks by someone who helped them make an emotional connection to science and discovery.
As a scientist and an educator, I was absolutely thrilled to be a part of the X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium and the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. at the end of April. Both events provided a grand opportunity to interact with students and learners of all types…
carlyo | April 11, 2014The National Science Foundation returns to sponsor the USA Science & Engineering Festival and will showcase an incredible group of exhibits at the NSF and Friends Pavilion! Visit the National Science Foundation's exhibit area to explore tsunami waves, mind control, robots, spiders, cranberry acids, crazy physics experiments and more! Stage performances, a wearable tech fashion show and interactive activities will entertain and engage visitors of all ages.
Listed below is a sampling of the fun and excitement you can expect at the NSF & Friends Pavilion:
Wild Lives in Your Own Back…
carlyo | April 9, 2014
You've heard the saying: Science is truly all around us. Get ready to discover how accurate this maxim really is as Science Buddies, an award-winning, non-profit resource in STEM for students, joins the USA Science & Engineering Festival as a major sponsor. Moreover, don't miss Science Buddies' exciting, hands-on exhibits for kids at the Festival Expo, which include delving into the physics of catapult launching and how to build your own robot "bugs" that follow light!
It's a natural fit for us at Science Buddies to join with the Festival in sharing projects that encourage kids to keep…
tsmith | March 28, 2014Mayim Bialik is an actress. She grew up playing TV's "Blossom," and recently has surfaced again on television as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, a neurobiologist on "The Big Bang Theory." In between, she went to college and on to grad school, receiving a PhD in neuroscience. She is a "Brand Ambassador" for Texas Instruments and is this year's featured speaker at the National Science Teachers' Association conference.
She is also anti-vaccine, and a spokesperson for the "holistic mom's network," which eschews much that modern medicine has to offer and features several prominent anti-vaccine advocates on…
tsmith | February 26, 2014This week at #scio14, Danielle Lee is leading a discussion on privilege in science. I'd started this post and abandoned it a few weeks back, but I think it speaks to a similar phenomenon as she describes in her post. Low-income students are being lost not only to science, but often to the college experience in general. This is amplified at elite institutions, but even at the public institutions I've worked at, lower income students are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to preparing for any kind of graduate or professional post-bac training.
My first introduction to one of my…
gregladen | February 25, 2014There's this new thing. Quarterly.co has this thing that when I first heard described I didn't quite understand, and was not sure if I liked it or not, so I dug a bit deeper and it turns out I think it is cool. Here's the idea. Quarterly has assembled a bunch of people they call "Curators." These are famous people among whom you are likely to find someone you admire or respect or perhaps stalk in your own Internety way. The curators then work with Quarterly to assemble a box of stuff. Then, you, as Quarterly's customer, arrange to have the box sent. There are four a year (quarterly…
gregladen | February 19, 2014One of our local news stations, WCCO (Channel 4) CBS, has this story.
Blindness Isn’t Stopping This 15-Year-old H.S. Senior’s Quest For Knowledge
WAYZATA, Minn. (WCCO) – When the Wayzata Science Bowl team practices, they mean business. They just won the state championship, and they are now getting ready for nationals in Washington, D.C.
They’re all smart kids, that’s obvious, but one of them stands out — team captain Nathan Stocking.
“The other team gets intimidated,” said teammate Jayant Chaudhary, “because he doesn’t even need paper for pretty complex complications.”
Stocking is a high…
gregladen | February 18, 2014Every year the Twin Cities Creation Science Association puts on a science fair which is sometimes called the Home Schooling Creation Science Fair. It used to be held at Har Mar mall, which was great because it is always a pleasure to stop in at Har Mar. But for the last two years, including last weekend, it was held at a local Bible College. I haven't gone every year, but most years, as does The Lorax at Angry By Choice and a variable handful of others. This year, PZ Myers also attended. (Speaking of PZ I just noticed that his book is now available as an audio edition, just so you know.)…
gregladen | February 12, 2014A planetarium is cool. Kids and adults alike are exposed to the vastness and intricacy of the Universe. A planetarium and the educational programs that go along with it can be a pillar of science education in a community. All the cool metropolitan areas have one. But we don't have one in the Twin Cities.
But we are working on it. There has long been a plan to build a new 120 seat planetarium (long ago we did have one in Minneapolis) at the site of the new Bell Museum, to be located adjacent to the Saint Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. (Click here for more information: PDF and…
gregladen | February 5, 2014In the Spring of 2010, evangelical Bible scholar Bruce Waltke, in speaking about the overwhelming evidence for evolution, said “To deny that reality will make us a cult, some odd group that is not really interacting with the real world.”
In response to this, Ken Ham, president of Kentucky’s Creation Museum, commented, “What he is saying ultimately undermines the authority of God’s word.”
Both statements seem to be true. (I don’t think you necessarily need to have faith in a god to accept the basic logic of Ham’s statement.) Also, that’s really all you need to know about young earth…
gregladen | February 4, 2014See the link?
It is pretty obvious to me.
It seems that terrorists who are really serious, reasonably numerous, presumably well funded, and certainly experienced have threatened to attack the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia (both of them). The fallback plan, it is assumed, is that they can't attack Sochi so they pick some other random locations, maybe in Russia, maybe not, and attack them. (That is the part about terrorists being cowards, I assume.)
The Russians have security that is probably second to none in the world, or at least on par with the countries that have a lot of…
gregladen | January 28, 2014The Wayzata High School Science Bowl Team was acknowledged today in the Congress of the United States of America:
Yes, that "Amanda" is my Amanda!
carlyo | January 17, 2014By Stacy JannisKavli Science Video Contest Manager
The Kavli Science in Fiction Video Contest challenges Gr 6-12 students to examine the science in fiction, including science fiction movies, TV shows, and games. Our contest advisors include science educators , scientists, and Hollywood scifi visual effects experts. Follow #SciInSciFi on twitter for contest updates.
James Kakalios is a physic professor at the University of Minnesota, lecturer, and author of the books, The Physics of Superheroes, and the Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics, which use science fiction, or speculative science, as…
carlyo | January 16, 2014By Lisa Matthews
Bladensburg High School and the biomedical sciences program welcomed Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the FDA, on Wednesday January 15th as a Nifty Fifty Speaker, sponsored by InfoComm International. She was honored with a color guard, musical presentation and was presented by the Mayor of Bladensburg with a proclamation honoring her accomplishments. She reciprocated with a compelling and interesting discussion of her career path and opportunities with the FDA, and a message to the student of Bladensburg to continue on the path they have taken that focuses on math and…