Science Education
gregladen | January 4, 2008Indeed, in science. The current issue of Science reviews the positions of each of the major presidential candidates in the area of science.
Writing the overview to this collection of views, Jeffrey Mervis states:
Many factors can make or break a U.S. presidential candidate in the 2008 race for his or her party's nomination. The ability to raise millions of dollars is key, as are positions on megaissues such as the Iraq war, immigration, and taxes. Voters also want to know if a candidate can be trusted to do the right thing in a crunch. Science and scientific issues? So far, with the…
gregladen | January 3, 2008It is common knowledge that most Americans are creationists, and prefer creationist stories of human origins and evolution in general over the findings of evolutionary biology. But this is only true if you ask the questions a certain way, and a new study shows very different results.
This is a new survey of 1,000 likely voters across the U.S. reported in an editorial in the journal of The Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The survey, reported here, found that most respondents "accepted that life evolved, many accepted that it evolved through natural…
sporte | January 2, 2008When in doubt, turn to the internet.
In a couple of weeks, I'm going to start teaching my first on-line course. So far, I've been preparing by:
learning how to use Blackboard
getting a subscription to iFinch so we can do bioinformatics in style, and share data and other files
getting a microphone and some software for making video podcasts
But, since this is brand new and I'm used to seeing students face-to-face, I have a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I do not want to be one of those people who simply puts lecture notes on a web site.
So, I'm turning to you for advice dear…
sporte | December 20, 2007You can get a jump on the Darwin Day festivities.
Once again the Alliance for Science is sponsoring an essay contest for Darwin Day. If you download their suggestions for good essay writing, you can get your essay done over winter break and have a good crack at winning on those cash prizes!
The Alliance for Science is pleased to announce our second annual National High School Essay Contest. We invite interested students to submit essays of up to 1,000 words on one of two topics -- Climate and Evolution or Agriculture and Evolution. Click on the topic names for some possible ideas to explore…
gregladen | December 19, 2007Popular Mechanics (one of those magazines that genteel people refuse to admit they read, but that is actually a blast) has published a thing called "Geek the Vote." According to an email from PM, this is:
...an online guide to all the candidates' stances on issues related to science and technology including energy policy and climate change, gun control, science education and infrastructure investment. The full chart, which can be navigated by candidate or issue, is [provided]
The site is here.
This is apparently in response to (maybe not, but there is evidence to suggest this) the Science…
clock | December 18, 2007You know that I have a soft spot for Project Exploration (just see this for starters), so when Gabrielle Lyon asks me to spread the word about their activities, I am more than happy to oblige. Here is the announcement of their latest action - and you may be interested or know someone to forward this to who can find it useful:
Are you running a science program for middle or high school students this summer in the Midwest? Project Exploration wants to know about it!
Project Exploration is seeking Midwest programs to include in Discover Your Summer, a free resource guide of summer science…
gregladen | December 15, 2007The Texas Based Institute for Creation Research would offer an online degree in Science Education. Approved by a State Advisory Board yesterday, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will consider the degree in January.
Could this be why there has been a shakeup at the Texas Higher Education department?
The prospect of the ICR offering a degree is at the same time chilling and satisfying. Accroding to NCSE Director Eugenie Scott:
They teach distorted science ... Any student coming out from the ICR with a degree in science would not be competent to teach in Texas public schools…
gregladen | December 14, 2007You will remember our blogospheric reactions to John West's talk at UMN (John West can Play the Violin But Not the Fiddle on my blog, and John West at the McLaurin Institute on Pharyngula for Scienceblogs.com, as well as In Which I Meet John West at Tangled Up in Blue Guy and here at Amused Muse).
Well, the brilliant and tenaceous Mark Borrello, a key operative with the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education, has written an excellent editorial on the topic on the MnCSE site, entitled Dancing with the Disco Institute.
sporte | December 14, 2007Last week I posted an image with two molecules (below the fold), one protein and one nucleic acid, and asked you about the probability of finding similar molecules in different species.
You gave me some interesting answers.
DAG made me clarify my question by asking what I meant by "similarity." I was wondering whether I would be likely to find a statistically relevant match by doing a BLAST search and I hadn't really thought about the cutoff values. I decided to guess and say that that the protein would be about 30% similar and the nucleic acid about 60%.
Paul gave me some answers…
gregladen | December 12, 2007This is an amazing story, and unfortunately, it is probably being repeated again and again across the country. It begins with a parent who does not want his daugther exposed to science, which is pretty common, but leads to a startling revelation about the local school board. Startling, but I'm afraid, probably not at all uncommon either.
In Pymatuning Valley Local School District, in Andover, Ohio, a "concerned" parent, Frank Piper, questioned the school board about the teaching of science in the middle school, where his daughter is enrolled.
Specifically, he is
concerned because the…
gregladen | December 11, 2007The two most annoying kinds of "hits" from an internet search are:
1) When you find a site with your question rephrased exactly as it should be, and the first few sentences of the answer you need, but to continue ... to be able to read the answer ... you must register, and possibly even pay; and 2)
When all you can find is the answer on Yahoo Answers.
The blockbuster success of Yahoo! Answers is all the more surprising once you spend a few days using the site. While Answers is a valuable window into how people look for information online, it looks like a complete disaster as a traditional…
jlynch | December 11, 2007Births
1761 - Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist
1781 - Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist
1843 - Robert Koch, German bacteriologist and Nobel Prize laureate
1863 - Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer
1882 - Max Born, German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
1925 - Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
1797 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician
1950 - Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer
1978 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
1998 - André Lichnerowicz, Polish-French physicist
jlynch | December 10, 2007The Arizona State Board of Education has unanimously voted to increase the amount of required science and math courses for the state’s high school students. Freshmen in 2008 will require a third year of math, and those the following year will require a fourth year. That entering class will also have to complete an additional year of science (an increase from two years).
terrasig | December 10, 2007Yes! "A Call for a Presidential Debate on Science & Technology."
Imagine a presidential debate focused solely on issues of science and technology as they relate to medicine, international competitiveness, terrorism, public health, embryonic stem cell research, bioethics of genotyping and other molecular diagnostics, research policy/funding and job creation, or minimization of health disparities, among others.
Science Debate 2008 is a grassroots initiative spearheaded by a growing number of scientists and other concerned citizens. The signatories to our "Call for a Presidential Debate on…
jlynch | December 10, 2007Presidential debates are largely meaningless. Simpleminded questions posed by simpleminded moderators who actively prevent candidates from answering in any sort of nuanced manner (were they able). In short, a microcosm of American political discourse in which snark and soundbite dominate substance every time.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could hear candidates answer questions on issues that we as scientists - and concerned public - care about? Wouldn’t it be great if we could have candidates devote an extended debate to such issues, a debate in which the environment, medicine & health, and…
sporte | December 7, 2007This is a fun puzzle. The pink molecule is a protein and the other molecule is a nucleic acid.
If I gave you the amino acid sequence of this protein, or the nucleotide sequence of this nucleic acid, what is the probability of finding a similar sequence in a different species (picked at random)?
A. High
B. Medium
C. Low
D. It depends on the database that you're searching.
You can have more than one answer.
Now, here's the hard part. Explain why you think your answer is correct.
clock | December 6, 2007Using a classic paper by I. E. Lawton and N. B. Schwartz to consider the array of factors that control luteinizing hormone production:
Two significant benefits derived from reading and discussing classic scientific papers in undergraduate biology courses are 1) providing students with the realistic perspective that science is an ongoing process (rather than a set of inarguable facts) and 2) deepening the students' understanding of physiological processes. A classic paper that is useful in both of these regards is by I. E. Lawton and N. B. Schwartz (A circadian rhythm of luteinizing hormone…
clock | December 6, 2007As usual, they made a great website and you can have fun with the "hidden camera" and try to figure out how many little movies did they have to make for the trick to work (i.e., try to "roar" when the people are on different places on the screen):
In support of this upcoming special, National Geographic has asked that I invite you to experience Dino Central Park [http://www.dinocentralpark.com]. Featuring a hidden "webcam" in Central Park, the website allows users to scare the pants off of unsuspecting New Yorkers walking through the park by controlling a virtual Dino hidden in the bushes.…
sciencewoman | December 5, 2007Congratulations to Isha Jain, Janelle Schlossberger, and Amanda Marinoff, this year's prize winners at the prestigious Siemens competitions for high school science research. Jain won the individual competition and was awarded a $100,000 scholarship. Schlossberger and Marinoff will share another $100,000 scholarship for their team research, while Alicia Darnell took home the second place individual prize, a $50,000 scholarship.
That's awesome with no qualifiers. These students are being rewarded for thousands of hours of effort and research that is graduate-level and publication quality. I've…