education
edyong | April 16, 2009In American high schools, black students typically perform worse than their white peers, which can damage their self-esteem and their future prospects. Studies have found that the fear of living up to this underachieving stereotype can cause so much stress that a child's performance suffers. Their teachers may even write them off as lost causes, and spend less time on them.
With so many students caught in this vicious cycle, where the stereotype of poor performance strengthens itself, it might seem absurd to suggest that you could turn things round in less than an hour. But try telling that…
grrlscientist | April 16, 2009tags: American Coot, Fulica americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] American Coot, Fulica americana, photographed in [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Lobed feet are rare in birds. The foot in question is too long, too green, and too strong for…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scarlet Tanager, Piranga olivacea, photographed in Newton Hills State Park in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 16 May 2007 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Blur your eyes a little and step back from the monitor: what do you see? I see a smallish bird but not…
ddobbs | April 15, 2009"You couldn't make this up: Cameras are being turned on the people paid to watch CCTV streams, to note which bits of surveillance footage they didn't see." via BoingBoing
The beauty of sand, close up -- a photo gallery at Discover.
Robots as recruitment to science. "If you stick a robot--I don't care if you're talking about grade school kids or high school students--if you put a robot in the middle of the room, there is something captivating about the technology." from Making Robots Personal - an interview with Tandy Trower of Microsoft Robotics. I find this particularly relevant as my 7-y.…
bioephemera | April 14, 2009As I put it at a blogging panel last fall, "in science, it is normative to be not sure." It wasn't my most eloquent moment, but at least AAAS' president-elect Alice Huang agrees with me that one of the biggest challenges to public science literacy is understanding the contingent nature of scientific "truth".
But probably the most difficult concept to get across to nonscientists is that we look at data and then use probabilities to judge those data. The public wants an absolute black-and-white answer. We may look at something that is 80 percent likely as being good enough to base decisions on…
grrlscientist | April 14, 2009tags: Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 22 February 2009 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2009:02:22 16:36:34
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 250
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A big, long-tailed, pot-bellied, heavy-billed sparrow -- aka, a towhee.
The only towhee…
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, photographed in Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Yes, it's a gull -- but don't panic. I think you'll agree…
grrlscientist | April 12, 2009tags: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, photographed in Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 1 September 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
bioephemera | April 11, 2009Here's one perspective on why journalism training is a bad idea:
I like to joke that I'm "unqualified" to do my job. But I think it was precisely that total lack of journalism training that gave me an edge. I never worked the cops-and-courts beat. I don't know how to write an inverted pyramid story or even really what that is. I do know how to write for different platforms, be scrappy and break news. I've had zero important alum connections and never got an internship at a big daily. And, in hindsight, that's probably the greatest stroke of luck I could have had. Journalism schools are like…
grrlscientist | April 11, 2009tags: Female Gadwall, Anas strepera, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Gadwall, Anas strepera, photographed in San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
My usual harping is sort of beside the point when we have no…
ddobbs | April 10, 2009TAPPED notes that the Times is getting aboard the education reform bus:
THE TIMES ON EDUCATION REFORM.
More evidence that the establishment is getting behind major reforms in how teachers are evaluated and paid: The New York Times editorial board today calls on Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Obama administration to hold states to tougher accountability standards if they want to receive a piece of the $49 billion school stabilization fund included in the stimulus package:
Mr. Duncan made a wise move by requiring states to finally publish data on their teacher evaluation systems --…
bioephemera | April 10, 2009
Zea Poster from m f's flickr stream
Michael Franklin, Rochester Institute of Technology
One of the ways in which I can foresee Web 2.0 applications changing the culture of science is by increasing avenues for mentorship. Web apps allow students from different departments, universities, and nations to connect, collaborate, and exchange advice. This can mean career-changing help for students at small institutions (or for those at large institutions with poor interdepartmental relations or a dearth of experts in a particular field). I'm not just talking about help troubleshooting protocols; far…
grrlscientist | April 10, 2009tags: Fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 21 June 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:06:21 08:39:09
Exposure Time: 1/40
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 800
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This bird may have been a stumper for many of us. When we…
grrlscientist | April 9, 2009tags: Northern Shoveler, Anas clypeata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Shoveler, Anas clypeata, photographed in San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This is a great illustration of how it pays to know more…
drorzel | April 8, 2009New ScienceBlogger and American Gladiator Ethan Siegel of Starts With a Bang has a couple of nice posts about dark matter and how we know it's there (one, two).
These posts reminded me that I never did follow up on the discussion following my post about Magic World Media, who are looking to publish kids' books about science, and seeking kindergarten-level explanations about dark matter and dark energy. A few commenters expressed doubts about whether this could or even should be explained to kids at that level.
I don't have any strong feelings about the "should" question, but it seems to me…
grrlscientist | April 8, 2009tags: Eastern Screech-Owl, Otus asio, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Eastern Screech-Owl, Otus asio, photographed at the Unitarian/Universalist Fellowship building in Manhattan Kansas, Photographed from the inside with the woods outside to the south. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: photographed by Thomas Manney, this image appears here at the suggestion of Dave Rintoul.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
evolvingthoughts | April 7, 2009Well, it may be the case that science reporting is dying in English speaking publishing, but it looks like in Brazil, they are still able to do it. I was just interviewed online (good use of the technology) by a reporter from this site, Pesquisa FAPESP. If you do Portuguese, go check it out.
grrlscientist | April 7, 2009tags: Lazuli x Indigo Bunting Hybrid, Passerina amoena X Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lazuli x Indigo Bunting Hybrid, Passerina amoena X Passerina cyanea, photographed in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 December 2008.
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A blue bird with a conical bill can be only a Passerina bunting. The absence of cinnamon on the wing…
rallain | April 7, 2009Dan Meyer at dy/dan just posted about teacher-student analogies. His analogy is that the student is like a weight lifter and the teacher is the spotter. I like this. It is similar to my usual analogy that the teacher is like a trainer and the student doing some exercise. Another analogy I often use is a person learning to ride a bike. The learner is the one doing stuff, not the "helper" or "facilitator". I am really not sure what to call the helping person. Maybe the Yoda would be a good term. I like that.
Look at a person learning to ride a bike (btw, here are my tips for learning to…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2009tags: Sora, Porzana carolina, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Sora, Porzana carolina, photographed in San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A pudgy-bodied, short-tailed, short-billed bird creeping cautiously through the marsh is a crake. Only one species,…