Science Education
carlyo | January 15, 2014Sometimes students get the wrong message from peers: that it is not cool to be smart in science and other STEM disciplines. But biologist Joe Hanson has a more positive signal that he likes to send to kids - in fact the name of his popular science show on YouTube (via PBS Digital Studios) says it all: “It's Okay to Be Smart”. Join us at the USA Science & Engineering Festival this April as Joe, in his trademark erudite but uber cool and engaging style, brings his down-to-earth, hip style of science to kids in an unforgettable stage show, shedding light on a wide array of topics, from…
gregladen | January 13, 2014This is an interesting interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, writer/producer Ann Druyan, and Cosmos Studio president Mitchell Cannold about the new series Cosmos 2014. I am very much looking forward to this series, and it is very much time to make a new Cosmos, and entirely appropriate to do so.
I pretty much agree with everything they say, and I especially like the fact that cosmos 2014 is being produced in part as a reaction to three decades of anti-science activism and propaganda.
I was very disappointed with one thing Ann Druyan said. She made the unqualified (and undocumented) claim that…
carlyo | January 12, 2014Are you wowed and awed by the mysteries of the Universe, the courage of astronauts, innovative space technologies, and stunning images from other worlds? Want to learn how you can become a space explorer?
Well, get ready to find "Your Place in Space" with The Planetary Society – the largest and most influential space interest organization on Earth – as the Society returns once more as a major Festival sponsor and presenter this April in Washington, D.C.!
Just as it did in the first two Expos, the Society will ignite enthusiasm for space science. Founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray,…
gregladen | January 9, 2014As you know, Bill Nye has agreed to engage in a debate about evolution with Ken Ham at the Kentucky Creation Museum. You may also know that I suggested that this debate was a bad idea, not so much because it is Bill Nye doing it (he’s a great spokesperson for science and science education) but because the whole idea of a debate is questionable for a number of reasons (discussed here).
Bill recently made a few comments on the debate on CNN.
Here, I’d like to list a handful of the points I’d make if I was doing this debate.
It is not necessary or even possible to argue against “creationism…
gregladen | January 9, 2014Bill Nye on CNN:
I think Bill is going to make excellent points in this debate. I don't think changing creationists minds is the point, as Bill Nye says. I also like Nye asking about the sincerity of the creationist point of view. I wish him the best of luck.
And not just luck, but Science-Power. Because we're right and they're wrong.
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A rollicking adventure through the rift valley and rain forests of Central Africa in search of the elusive diminutive ape known locally as Sungudogo.
More on science education HERE.
Also, check out my novella,…
gregladen | January 7, 2014I admit it is hard to imagine a National Center for Science Education without Genie Scott; the NCSE was Genie, and Genie was the NCSE.
But I think I know what Genie would say if she heard me say that. The NCSE will be fine without her, Ann Reid is going to do great, etc. etc. And, I'm sure that is all true, owing both to Ann Reid being an excellent choice of Executive Director, and because Genie and the other staff at NCSE have done an excellent job.
Here's part of the announcement of the change in leadership, which happened yesterday:
Ann Reid is joining NCSE as Executive Director,…
gregladen | January 2, 2014Word on the street is that Bill Nye is going to debate Ken Hamm at the Creationism "Museum" on February 4th. This is a bad idea for several reasons.
First, Bill Nye is not really an expert on evolution and is actually not that experienced in debates. Being really really pro science and science education isn't enough. When they went in after Osama Bin Laden (my errand distant cousin) they did not send people who are really really against terrorism. They sent in Seal Team Six with a huge amount of support such as Army Rangers and such and even that was risky.
Second, there isn't a debate so…
gregladen | November 18, 2013The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has been ably run by Genie Scott since back in the days, well, the days when she started the damn thing up, if I recall correctly. But Genie retires at the end of this year.
Ann Reid will take over as NCSE Executive Director on January 2nd, 2014.
From the NCSE:
As a molecular biologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, she co-led the team that sequenced the 1918 flu virus—an effort that was hailed as "a watershed event for influenza researchers worldwide." She then served as a Senior Program Officer at the National Research Council'…
gregladen | November 8, 2013First, watch this ad:
Steven Colbert talks about the ad here in his Tip of the Hat; Wag of the Finger segment.
Peter Gleick goes after the ad here: Is This the Most Anti-Science, Anti-Environmental TV Ad Ever?
Besides nature sucking, pink is for girls and gunnish things are for boys.
Feel free to rant below.
gregladen | October 2, 2013Popular Science, one of the longest running and, well, popular, magazines that deals with science has a website. Last Tuesday, on-line editor Suzanne LaBarre announced that Popular Science would no longer have comment sections on most of its pages. The reason sited was that "Comments can be bad for science." She noted:
A politically motivated, decades-long war on expertise has eroded the popular consensus on a wide variety of scientifically validated topics. Everything, from evolution to the origins of climate change, is mistakenly up for grabs again. Scientific certainty is just another…
gregladen | September 14, 2013The EPA is providing free climate change related content material for middle school kids.
You can get the material HERE.
In my opinion, even though this material is aimed at middle school audiences, it is all potentially useful in high school as well depending on the class you are running. For instance, if you have a climate change related module in your 10th grade biology class, some of this material will make excellent handouts.
I would like to recommend an exercise, perhaps for extra credit. FOX News went apoplectic about the idea that a federal agency full of expertise on climate and…
carlyo | April 26, 2013Save the date: the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo is just one year away! We are so excited to bring you the largest celebration of science & engineering for the 3rd time! Leading up to the Expo we will have affiliate events, the return of the Nifty Fifty (x3), contests, and school programs! The Festival week will kick off with the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference, the launch of X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium (Thursday, April 24) and Sneak Peek Friday (April 25)! The free and open to the public finale Expo will be the weekend of April 26-27, 2014!
The spotlight on STEM (…
sporte | March 3, 2013Yesterday, I wrote about students using science blogging as a way to develop an on-line portfolio and document their skills. One friend wrote me this morning and asked if my instructions to our students were really as simple as I described.
Well, no.
In fact, it wasn't easy to persuade my colleagues that we should let students blog. I had to promise them I would scrutinize every post and make sure no one got in trouble. Luckily, our student bloggers are responsible adults. Reading their posts has been a pleasure and there have only a couple of cases where I checked with them to make sure…
sporte | March 2, 2013Why should students blog about science? Don't they have enough to do already?
Last Thursday night I participated in a panel discussion about science blogging (see the video) at ScienceOnline Seattle (#scioSEA)(video) and mentioned that we have two students blogging for us at Bio-Link. A question I saw afterward via Twitter, from @NurhafizPiers was this:
what is the purpose of the blog for the student?
I didn't get to answer the question Thursday night, so I'll answer now.
We're doing an experiment. My student bloggers and I are going to try and figure out if their blogs help them get jobs…
gregladen | February 9, 2013"You will be a restless wanderer on the earth" -Genesis 4:12
Today, a few of us visited the Twin Cities Home School Creation Science Fair of 2013 at its new location. The fair used to be held in the historic Har Mar Shopping Mall but for some reason it has wandered up the road and across Snelling Avenue to a nearby Christian college on the shores of beautiful Lake Johanna Lake, in Roseville, Minnesota.
We were, verily, Mike, Angry by Choice, and me. Angry arrived separately and reviewed the exhibits on his own, and Mike and I visited nearly all of the 23 posters together and spoke to many…
sporte | February 8, 2013If you want to work in biotech, you have to get work experience. But, how do you find it?
One way to find work experience is to do an internship.
When do I look?
If you're a college student, and you're planning to wait until spring to apply for a summer internship, you're waiting too long. The time to look is NOW. Many of the best internship opportunities appear between the beginning of December and end of February.
Where do I look?
As far as where, quite a few places have regular internship programs. I listed some examples below.
[View the story "'tis the season - to apply for summer…
gregladen | December 27, 2012What about a picture of Charles Darwin burning in hell to teach kids about flames?
I don't think so. Although I personally am not like some of my fellow secularists in reacting viscerally to any and all stylistic or symbolic references to Judeo-Christian religious themes, I am aware that there are recognizable religious visual or literary elements which, if used as part of a teaching tool, can be easily construed as promotion of a religion. "Promotion" is not standing on a soap box preaching, or telling students that a particular religion is bad while another is good, or giving extra credit…
gregladen | November 26, 2012Alternate titles for this post:
"It turns out, it is a little like a priesthood."
"Join us. Join us. Join us. Braaainzzzzz"
"Imma gonna let you finish, but first I think you need to get your Wellies wet."
...
[Modified repost]
In a library, there is a spatial relationship between knowledge and books or journals, and there is a sense of completeness about it. I'm thinking in particular of the Tozzer library, one I spent a fair amount of time in. I would go to the basement of the library and the entire ancient world (this is an anthropology library) was arrayed in a set of shelves to the…
gregladen | November 20, 2012Neil deGrasse Tyson if famous for telling us that children are natural scientists, and cautioning us to be careful not to ruin that thing about them. He makes a good case. No one ever thought, I think, that he meant that children were born resistant to the sorts of biases that scientists actively eschew, or with a developed sense of probability theory that all scientists need to evaluate their work and the work of others, and those other tools that scientists get trained in for several years before they can really call themselves scientists. He mean, rather ... how shall I put this. Oh hell…
gregladen | October 7, 2012Watch the following video without reading any context. Listen to what the guy says. Note that he says that evolution and embryology are lies from hell. Note that he claims that these lies have one purpose: To keep us from knowing that we need a savior. Note that he claims that the earth was create in 6 literal days about 9,000 years ago (why not 6,000 is a topic of another post some time, perhaps). Note that he claims that the Bible teaches us how we run our lives, our families and our churches, but most importantly, note that this man is saying that the bible, which he takes absolutely…