education
mikethemadbiologist | July 5, 2006
I might have more to say about the Delaware mini-pogrom later, but by way of Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, I found this bit of abject idiocy:
Just two hours prior, while executive session was held, Bennett led nearly 100 spectators in song as they waited patiently for the news.
..."If these kids are taught evolution -- that they came from apes -- and they're not given the basis of faith, what's to stop them from acting like animals?" he said.
"What's to stop them from acting like animals?" I dunno. How about doing your fucking job as a parent, and setting a good example? Not running…
mikethemadbiologist | July 4, 2006It's the 4th of July, and the Mad Biologist doesn't work on yontif, so here's something from the archives about scientific literacy (or illiteracy, actually). Surprisingly, I actually agree with Nicholas Kristof (originally published Dec. 8, 2005).
Nicholas Kristof actually made sense today. He described on the widespread ignorance of science and math, even among those typically considered well-educated. Says the Great Solon (italics mine):
One-fifth of Americans still believe that the Sun goes around the Earth, instead of the other way around. And only about half know that humans did not…
tqa | July 3, 2006
The ScienceBlogs Bloggers' Challenge was wildly successful, raising well over 30,000 dollars in 15 days to fund education projects at individual schools. The challenge here at The Questionable Authority was also successful, bringing in a bit over $650.00, meeting the goal that I set.
Thanks to all of the donors to both my own little contribution and to the broader challenge.
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.
grrlscientist | June 30, 2006"Space," wrote The Bard,"is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-boggingly big it is."
And who can argue with that? But seriously, how big is "vastly hugely mind-boggingly big"?
This website will help you comprehend the size of our solar system. It shows the sizes of each member of our solar system in relation to the others, and also shows the distances between each, which is really amazing, especially on the 1:1 scale. You can also jump from one planet to another if you don't have time to mouse from one to the other (hint: most people don't have time for mousing…
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, 2006This week, it took me quite a while to figure out how to answer the Ask a ScienceBlogger question: "What are some unsung successes that have occurred as a result of using science to guide policy?"
As a relative newcomer to the United States, and even more a newcomer to American politics, I was not around long enough to pay attention to various science-driven policies of the past. Most of what I know are far from "unsung" successes - from Manhattan Project, through Clean Air and Clean Water acts, to the EWndangered Species Act, to the international Kyoto Protocol. Dealing with DDT, DES,…
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…
clock | June 29, 2006This post was first written on October 28, 2004 on Science And Politics, then it was republished on December 05, 2005 on The Magic School Bus. The Village vs. The University - all in your mind.
Eric at Total Information Awareness wrote two excellent posts on something that touches me personally, yet has much broader consequences on the country as a whole: the well-organized and well-funded assault of the Right on the University (check some links in the comments section, too): Freedom Fighters and Academic Freedom Fighters.
There were a couple of other articles on the same topic, e.g.,The…
mikethemadbiologist | June 28, 2006A bunch of us ScienceBloggers have decided to help raise funds for teachers (more details here). I really don't care if I 'finish' dead last, but who doesn't want to help kids?
For the price of a couple of those ridiculous Starbuck's milkshakes, you can help kids learn.
Besides those lattes go straight to your thighs.
Seriously, if you would like to help out, please go to my challenge and donate. You can donate to individual projects or to the slate as a whole. It will make you feel good.
And remember: even Dick Cheney likes kids.
grrlscientist | June 28, 2006
Question: What makes a good science teacher?
It took me forever to answer this question, mostly because I don't know the magic formula that makes a good science teacher, but I finally came up with a useful answer. Well, I think.
I think that a good science teacher has the same qualities that any good teacher has. I have had many more terrible teachers than good ones, so I will begin by telling you about the qualities of those teachers whom I hated, and then I will tell you a little bit about the best high school teacher I ever had.
I hated (science) teachers who;
made me feel stupid (…
clock | June 28, 2006Carnival of Education #73 is up on The Lilting House.
Carnival of Homeschooling #26 is up on The Homeschool Cafe.
mikethemadbiologist | June 27, 2006A bunch of us ScienceBloggers have decided to help raise funds for teachers (more details here). I really don't care if I 'finish' dead last, but who doesn't want to help kids? Everybody likes kids. Even Dick Cheney likes kids. Sometimes, he even lets them live.
Seriously, if you would like to help out, please go to my challenge and donate. You can donate to individual projects or to the slate as a whole. It will make you feel good.
Remember: even Dick Cheney likes kids.
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…
drorzel | June 26, 2006This week's Ask a ScienceBlogger question is a total meatball:
What makes a good science teacher?
Teaching science is a big part of what I do, so of course I have an answer for this. Which is basically the same answer as everybody else has already given, so let me try to put a slightly different spin on this, and object to the implicit premise of the question.
Let's be clear on one thing: Science is not special. The qualities that make a good science teacher are exactly the same qualities that make a good English teacher, or a good history teacher, or a good shop teacher, for that matter.…
mikethemadbiologist | June 25, 2006From the archives, here's a post about Paul Krugman's explanation of why academia is so full of those goddamn libruls (originally published April 6, 2005).
Yesterday, Paul Krugman wrote an editorial about the high proportion of liberals in academia. His major point was that the anti-intellectualism of the Republican Party has waged an incessant cultural war against academics to gain its 'populist' bona fides. Consequently, they have driven academics into the Democratic Party. This is mostly right: in fact, many faculty, even if they are ideologically liberal, are tempermentally conservative (…
mikethemadbiologist | June 25, 2006...don't think I'm not watching. I'll know who's been naughty and nice. A bunch of us ScienceBloggers have decided to help raise funds for teachers (more details here). I really don't care if I 'finish' dead last, but who doesn't want to help kids learn?
Seriously, if you would like to help out, please go to my challenge and donate. You can donate to individual projects or to the slate as a whole. It will make you feel good.
mikethemadbiologist | June 24, 2006From the archives, here's a post about high school science fairs (originally published Jan. 31, 2005).
Once again, New York kicked butt in the Intel science competition. On the face of it, this would be a good thing. Then I looked at the titles of some of the projects. Here's just a few titles:
Digitally-Enhanced Thin-Layer Chromatography: An Inexpensive, New Technique for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
An Investigation into Multiple Sclerosis: Antibodies to CD44 and ALPHA 4 BETA 1 Differentially Affect Myelin-specific T Cell Responses
The Effects of a Quark Matter Core on Neutron…
grrlscientist | June 23, 2006
To join the Geography Challenge in support of your country, you simply need to select which country you will be representing and take the quiz. This quiz consists of trying to locate 10 randomly selected countries on a map of the world. It is different every time. You may take this quiz up to 3 times per day, but no cheating. It is a timed quiz.
This is a really difficult geography quiz (or do I just think it is difficult because I don't know my geography very well?). Give it a go and tell me how you did.
My scores; 3, 5, 7 correct out of ten possible (it takes a little while to figure…
mikethemadbiologist | June 22, 2006Our Seed Overlords ask:
What makes a good science teacher?...
Lots of other ScienceBloggers have given really good answers to this, so I'll just add one more thing. A good teacher has to know what students don't know. When I ran into problems, I was always assuming that the students had sufficient background. I think too often teachers (and for that matter, people in general) underestimate ignorance--what students know and remember. If you keep that in mind, you won't lose the class (hopefully...).