Science Education
tsmith | July 10, 2006...but luckily, I'm set straight over at Effect Measure, where Revere completely refutes my silly notion of mutations in H5N1 by citing this excellent guest commentary in the Greely Tribune (where their top story today is about a hot dog from 1952). The commentary is titled "Bird flu a lame claim to evolution theory" and written by one Mike Martin, former editor of Ag Weekly Magazine. He certainly demolishes my silly science-y notation of just what "mutations" (such as those discussed in the Nature article I cited use for analysis) are all about:
But now, "mutation" is being redefined to…
tsmith | July 7, 2006As I've mentioned previously, I'm an Ohioan, born and bred. I was living in the state when all the Discovery Institute shenanigans were ongoing, resulting in the addition of a "critical analysis of evolution" lesson plan (which was removed this past February). Of course, that hasn't stopped the anti-evolution folks in the state. RBH reports on the latest attack on science education in Ohio--and you may (or, may not) be surprised at what they're going after now:
Now, consistent with the creationist tradition of repackaging old trash, we learn that the creationists on the Achievement…
clock | July 6, 2006When I posted this originally (here and here) I quoted a much longer excerpt from the cited Chronicle article than what is deemed appropriate, so this time I urge you to actually go and read it first and then come back to read my response.
From Dr.Munger's blog, an interesting article: Liberal Groupthink Is Anti-Intellectual By MARK BAUERLEIN, The Chronicle Review Volume 51, Issue 12, Page B6 (that link is now dead, but you can find a copy here):
Hmmmm, why was the poll conducted only in social science departments (e.g., sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, anthropology, perhaps…
clock | July 3, 2006
This is the third in the series of posts designed to provide the basics of the field of Chronobiology. This post is interesting due to its analysis of history and sociology of the discipline, as well as a look at the changing nature of science. You can check out the rest of Clock Tutorials here.
It appears that every scientific discipline has its own defining moment, an event that is touted later as the moment of "birth" of the field. This can be a publication of a paper (think of Watson and Crick) or a book ("Origin of Species" anyone?). In the case of Chronobiology, it was the 1960…
evolgen | July 3, 2006Thank you to everyone who donated to the evolgen Donors Choose Blogger's Challenge. We have reached our goal of $500, which means Donors Choose will chip in an extra 10% for every dollar contributed. Everyone who forwarded their confirmation email to this address will be entered in a drawing to win some great prizes. There still are ten unfunded projects listed on the evolgen challenge page, so I will keep the challenge up for an undetermined period of time. Go here to donate to those unfunded proposals.
Finally, I would like to extend a big THANK YOU to Janet for organizing this fund raising…
clock | July 2, 2006Well, our big Scienceblogs DonorsChoose action is officially over. Our readers have donated a total of $22,554.38. This was matched by SEED Media with additional $10,000. Readers of Pharyngula, Stranger Fruit, Evolgen, Questionable Authority, Cognitive Daily and Terra Sigillata funded their challenges to completion. For each one of those, DonorsChoose adds another 10%, which, in this case, adds up to $1447.30. Thus, the total raised is $34,001.68.
I would also like to particularly thank my readers who donated - there may not be many of them, but those who donated were very generous,…
scientificactivist | July 2, 2006The ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Challenge is now officially over, and Janet Stemwedel has the results at Adventures in Ethics and Science:
195 of you made donations.
Together, those donations added up to $16,097.27.
You also helped 4 of the 19 challenges meet their goals, securing an additional 10% of the totals raised in those challenges ($841.53) from DonorsChoose.
Thus, with the $10,000 match from SEED, you've raised $26,938.80 to help students and teachers get what they need to make education happen.
I'd like to send a special thanks to the four generous donors who gave a total of $345…
clock | July 1, 2006Go here to see what the best strategy is for maximizing the impact. We have raised $14,913.09. SEED is adding $10,000. And DonorsChoose will add 10% for each blogger's completed challenge, so click on that link to see whose challenges are the easiest to finish.
clock | June 30, 2006There is only one day left in our DonorsChoose action. To see the strategy that will yield the greatest benefit to the teachers and their students, go to Janet's blog.
clock | June 29, 2006Evolution's Lonely Battle in a Georgia Classroom:
OCCASIONALLY, an educational battle will dominate national headlines. More commonly, the battling goes on locally, behind closed doors, handled so discreetly that even a teacher working a few classrooms away might not know. This was the case for Pat New, 62, a respected, veteran middle school science teacher, who, a year ago, quietly stood up for her right to teach evolution in this rural northern Georgia community, and prevailed.
She would not discuss the conflict while still teaching, because Ms. New wouldn't let anything disrupt her…
evolgen | June 29, 2006The ScienceBlogs Donor's Choose Blogger Challenge is nearing completion. You have until July 1 to donate to the evolgen challenge and forward your confirmation email to this address if you want to win any of the awesome prizes.
If we reach our goal of $500, Donors Choose will kick in an extra 10% for every dollar contributed -- we're 42% of the way to our goal. Let's see if we can make a big push in these last few days. Janet has compiled a list of blogs that are close to their goals, but she left evolgen off the list. We're just as close (if not closer than those other guys), so you should…
evolgen | June 29, 2006They showed us the movie Flock of Dodos at the Evolution Meeting. Randy Olson (the director) was also there to field questions. So was Eugenie Scott. Someone asked about scientists boycotting the Kansas Kangaroo Court. Olson thought it was a bad idea because it made it look like the scientists couldn't deal with the "criticisms of evolution". Scott defended the boycott by arguing that because the school board's decision was predecided, scientists would have only legitimized Connie Morris and her posse of ignorance. In case you care, I agree with Genie.
I think Flock of Dodos is a movie worth…
clock | June 29, 2006The fifth part of Kevin's snake research in rural China is coming up on this blog today at noon. How do you think Kevin became such a scientist at such a young age? And how can we get more Kevins? Answer: science teachers in our schools. That is why we need to help teachers make science alive and exciting for their little charges. Just lookk at what is needed:
How about Dino-Mite!, in which a SC teacher needs just $221 dinosaur books for the school library.
Or Scientists in the Making, for a teacher in a Gifter & Talented Magnet school in rural North Carolina in which 48% of the…
scientificactivist | June 28, 2006Before I get started here, I have a quick announcement. Seed is seeking reader-submitted questions to ask its ScienceBloggers, so if you have a burning question (and I know you do), submit it to askablogger@seedmediagroup.com.
This week's (or last week's, rather) Ask a ScienceBlogger question is "What makes a good science teacher?" I probably put this one off for so long because there's so much to cover there. Since nobody wants to read a 5,000 word essay, and since I've pretty much missed the boat on this one anyway, I'll make this one short.
Most of the general qualities that make…
clock | June 27, 2006A bunch of updates are in store. First the DonorsChoose update. Let's look at the whole SEED scienceblogs action first (thanks Janet for all the information):
Total raised so far: 13,535.14Total donors so far: 170
Excluding Pharyngula (because Pharyngula is done), the top 5 in terms of ...
Amt/donor:
Stranger Fruit ($132.64)
A Blog Around the Clock ($116.50)
Good Math, Bad Math ($110.34)
Terra Sigillata ($86.35)
The Scientific Activist ($86.25)
Donors per 1000 hits:
Terra Sigillata (4.96)
Evolgen (2.35)
Stranger Fruit (2.02)
Afarensis (1.89)
The Questionable Authority (1.74)
$ raised per…
clock | June 27, 2006
Thsi post (and you can always click on the icon to check out the original) was written on April 29, 2005. Those are my observation about the in-class science fair in my daughter's classroom.
Yesterday morning Mrs.Coturnix and I went to Coturnietta's school. Her class had a Science Fair! You can just imagine my excitement - a scientist's daughter's first venture into science!
For two weeks she pestered me to help her with her project, and I did a little bit here and there (using sharp objects when neccessary, for instance, or going to the store and buying supplies she ordered), but in…
sporte | June 27, 2006Yet another Bio-Link blog post.
The San Francisco bay area has experienced phenomenal growth in both the number of biotech companies and the need to find employees. But, no matter how many attractions entice potential employees to move to the Bay Area, they still face the problem of finding a place to live. Housing prices are, well, a bit startling to anyone from just about any other part of the country. This presents a dilemma for local companies.
If there aren't enough trained people nearby, and you can't get people from elsewhere, what do you do?
The City College of San Francisco may…
clock | June 26, 2006
This is the second in the series of posts designed to provide the basics of the field of Chronobiology. See the first part: ClockTutorial #1 - What Is Chronobiology and check out the rest of them here - they will all, over time, get moved to this blog.
Here is a brief overview of the concepts and terms used in the field of chronobiology. I will write much more detailed accounts of various aspects of it in the future.
Seasons of the year, phases of the moon, high and low tides, and alternation between night and day are examples of cyclic changes in the environment. Each presents a different…
tsmith | June 24, 2006More interesting topics I didn't mention here this week.
Over at Effect Measure is an excellent post discussing a topic I've touched on here mainly just in the comments section: diagnostic testing (and the pitfalls thereof).
Alex depresses me regarding NIH funding stats, but unlike many of us who just grouse about it, he has some interesting suggestions about ways to actually deal with it in the long-term.
DarkSyde interviews physicist Sean Carroll (of Cosmic Variance, discussing the "Big Bang," dark matter, dark energy, and string theory.
Forensics for jr. high and high-schoolers as…
tsmith | June 23, 2006In many ways, I'm like my kids: it doesn't take much to amuse me. I mentioned previously my kids' enjoyment of catching all things crawly, and our "pet" wolf spider, "Wolfie." Well, Wolfie is now a mommy to hundreds of spiderlings. I'll put the pics below the fold so that those of you with an aversion to spiders won't be subjected to them.
She's now dropped the egg sac and is just carrying around the babies. We plan to put her into a box or somewhere where I can get a few better photos, and then send her and her family back out into the garage from whence she came. In the meantime,…