Science Education
clock | October 27, 2008ScienceWoman gives us a heads-up on a new and interesting organization - UnderTheMicroscope.com:
The Feminist Press with IBM have just launched UnderTheMicroscope.com, a new site to involve young women in science and to encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The site is part of the Women Writing Science, a project initiated by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York and funded by the National Science Foundation.
The site features personal stories of women scientists, role models, and mentors; tips for parents and teachers; links to related…
skookumchick | October 27, 2008This is it, folks - we're coming round into the home stretch of DonorsChoose, with one week left in October. And there is some great news - ScienceBlogs has decided to donate FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to Donors Choose, distributed among the bloggers who are participating! I'm still checking about whether this is participating *blogs* or *bloggers* -- if the latter, that means Sciencewomen will have $1430 to distribute among our projects, woo hoo! So we want your help on deciding how to distribute the funds.
Update at 11:34 am: Sb says $715 per blog, not blogger. However, we can still make…
sciencewoman | October 26, 2008Our DonorsChoose blogger challenge ends on Friday, and we've still got a couple of projects left to fund in our challenge. Yes, we've added a few along the way, but there's still a few of Alice's original picks that have been sitting there all month just waiting for your $.
You're making Alice a sad engineer.
And not just Alice, Academic Crossroads has also been waiting to see these projects funded, and even put a plea on her blog. Both of these projects have gone from 0% funded to well on their way to realization, but they each need <$250 to complete and make a difference in the lives of…
sporte | October 26, 2008Experimenting with on-line worksheets
I know some people who always teach their classes the same way, semester after semester, year after year.. Not me. I always want to experiment and try new things.
This fall, I'm experimenting with using a wiki in the classroom, in addition to my blog. This wont be my first wiki experience. We've long used wikis where I work, and I've used them to collaborate with people in different locations, but this is the first time that I'll try one in a teaching situation.
The wikis in my past
My earlier experiences with wikis had convinced me that they would…
sporte | October 25, 2008Why should professional scientists have all the fun?
Researchers have been engineering glowing cats, and selling glowing fish at pet stores. High school kids can do genetic engineering too, if they have the right equipment. And you can help them get the equipment by contributing to our DonorsChoose fund drive.
If you're willing to help students, they'll be able to do biotechnology in the class room and learn about DNA. They'll put genes for green fluorescent protein into bacteria and see how that bit of invisible liquid in a test tube gets used to make a glowing protein.
Even better,…
clock | October 24, 2008Less than a week to go in our DonorsChoose drive! Good news from the Seed Overlords:
Though we're already well into the campaign, ScienceBlogs has finally gotten a Double Your Impact donation set up with DonorsChoose for the Blogger Challenge; this means that $15,000 of Seed money will be distributed between our 21 participating bloggers (about $715 each) to benefit their projects as they see fit. Because there is such a limited time remaining in the challenge, DonorsChoose is working to credit each blogger's account with this money as soon as possible--it will likely be set up by tomorrow (…
scientificactivist | October 23, 2008Seed just announced that it will be matching up to $15,000 in donations to this year's ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Challenge. This is great news, and if you haven't donated already this is a great reason to do it now. There's only one week left!
You can donate to my challenge here.
sporte | October 23, 2008Two interesting events are happening, Monday night, Oct. 27th.
At the UW: Josh Rosenau from the National Center for Science Education will be speaking at 6 pm about Creationist attacks on science education. (Josh is also a Science Blogger).
In Ravenna, at Third Place Pub: Ted White from the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute will be talking at 7 pm about infectious disease.
If you're interested hearing Josh, contact Kristy Brady, kbrady at u.washington.edu.
If you're interested in infectious disease, just show up at the pub.
It would be hard to choose which event to attend, but I won'…
clock | October 23, 2008
Yes, this has been in the works for a long time, and a few hints have been planted here and there over the past months, but now it is official - NASA and The Beagle Project have signed a Space Act Agreement and will work together on a host of projects including scientific research and education. You can read the details on The Beagle Project Blog - space, oceans, biology, science education, history of science, exploration and adventure: all at once. How exciting!
The text of the agreement is under the fold:
NASA and the HMS Beagle Trust have signed a Space Act Agreement for cooperation…
sporte | October 22, 2008Are you interested in global health?
The Washington Global Health Alliance is looking for an education professional, with a life science or science education background (BS or higher) to help train faculty and students at the high school level.
The complete announcement is below, the appointment would be at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute in the BioQuest program.
The Washington Global Health Alliance is pleased to announce the
commencement of the WGHA Ambassadors Program: a collaboration of leading
state global health institutions and four Washington State high schools
to design a…
skookumchick | October 21, 2008Hear ye, hear ye! I am looking for an awesome up-and-coming scholar to work with on ADVANCE. See the job advertisement below! Email me with questions! Spread the word! Thanks!
ADVANCE-Purdue and the Purdue Center for Faculty Success (PCFS) invite applications for a postdoctoral scholar.
We are seeking a highly-motivated up-and-coming researcher to help develop and administer a series of research studies associated with increasing the number of women, particularly women of color, in faculty positions in the Colleges of Science, Technology, and Engineering at Purdue University. This…
clock | October 21, 2008Only 10 days to go!
Seed Overlords are pitching in some cool prizes for people who donate to any of the SciBlings DonorsChoose challenges, including mine.
Janet has the goods:
First, make a donation (from $5 on up) to any of the challenges mounted by ScienceBlogs bloggers.
After donating, forward your email receipt to scienceblogs@gmail.com.
If you've already donated to DonorsChoose, you're still eligible. Just send us a DonorsChoose receipt for a ScienceBloggers' challenge dated from 2008 to enter.
Winners will be chosen at random every Friday from now through the end of the DonorsChoose…
gregladen | October 21, 2008If you live in or near Boston, Raytheon is one of those companies that you know about because you know someone who works for them. Or, you've been to the "Raytheon ... something or 'nuther" funded by the Defense contracting giant. Back when I lived in the vicinity, they were famous for making Patriot Missiles. Ah ... suddenly the name "Patriot Missile" makes sense, doesn't it!
Anyway, like any big giant company, Raytheon tends to fund stuff, and one of the things Raytheon funds is math and science education. I have received word of a revamping of Raytheon's MathMovesU scholarship…
sporte | October 20, 2008What happens when a group of streptococci stick to cells in your throat and start to make toxins?
Your body fights back by making clones.
The animated video, Fighting Infection by Clonal Selection, from Etsuko Uno and Drew Berry is so good that if I didn't know better, I would almost think it's really capturing clonal selection on film.
What is clonal selection?
We call this process "clonal selection" because only some lucky cells get selected for cloning. These cells have proteins on their surface that are able bind to bits of stuff from bacteria or viruses. We call that stuff "antigens…
sporte | October 17, 2008The Galápagos islands rank high on my list of places that I really, really, really want to visit. But for many reasons, it's always looked like a trip to the Galápagos would be at least a decade or two away.
Now, I'll be able to go in January and so will all of you.
Thanks to the University of Cincinnati, we'll be able to follow in Darwin's historic steps, and experience some of his amazing journey.
The only difference is we'll do this trip as avatars in Second Life.
The University is stocking this intriguing exhibit with photos and images from the Galápagos, as part of a 150 year…
sporte | October 15, 2008Every year students in the Puget Sound area gather together at the Biotech Expo to celebrate the life sciences and compete for prizes. Although their projects are diverse in nature, they compete in categories like research, art, journalism, drama, music, and others, all the students learn about science as part of their work.
You can help a high school student learn about science by being a mentor for the Biotech Expo. It is especially helpful to students if they can bounce questions off of a real-live person who works in a scientific field.
The Northwest Association for Biomedical…
sciencewoman | October 15, 2008When you hear the word "poverty," what do you think of? Starving children in Africa? Subsistence farmers in Asia? Is poverty some distant concept? Something terrible, but far off? Yes, and no. Because, while poverty is terrible, it can also be close to home. Maybe as close as the public school down the street.
Poverty is the vexation of the junior high school science teacher with no budget to buy paper to print worksheets, tests, and notes. She teaches in a "low-income, rural district in southwest Mississippi" and $243 would give her a year's supply of paper for 120 students.
Poverty is the…
scientificactivist | October 14, 2008We're now two weeks into our 2008 ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Challenge, which means that the challenge is almost halfway over. So, if you haven't donated yet, please do! Either click on my widget to the left or on this link. The pace of donations has been a little slow this year, which is a shame considering that there are so many worthy proposals in need of funding. Let's step it up!
In case you needed a little bit of extra motivation, though, Seed just announced that it's offering prizes to donors. To maximize your chances of winning, donate as soon as possible, because prize drawings…
grrlscientist | October 9, 2008tags: DonorsChoose2008, education, public school education, fund raising, evolution education, nature education, bird education
Already, dear readers, you are making a difference. For example, a few days ago, a classroom in North Carolina learned that they will be able to learn how to identify wild birds because you donated enough for them to fulfill their funding request. Thank you!
Of course, I will be sharing all updates with you that they send during the upcoming school year.
Dear GrrlScientist,
Thank you so much for funding my request for binoculars. Your gift was especially…
clock | October 9, 2008My DonorsChoose board includes challenges like this one, for example: Life Cycles Explosion!:
Hello! I am a first grade teacher at a primary school in North Carolina. The young students here are always most eager to learn through hands-on, live experiences. It is my goal through this project to not only TALK to my students about the miracle of life cycles but to SHOW them the amazing transformations with their very own eyes.
Throughout the school year, the students will read about the life cycles of butterflies, ladybugs, frogs and plants in small groups with sets of life cycle science…