Science Education
tsmith | January 12, 2007As Chad mentioned, in our super-triple-secret Scienceblogs hidey hole, we've been kicking around the idea of writing posts on some basic concepts in our respective fields of expertise. However, after studying this stuff for years and years and years, it's not always easy for us (well, OK, for me at least) to figure out what "basic concepts" would be interesting and useful to discuss here. I've written a bit previously on the difference between "infectious" and "contagious" disease, for example, but I can get much more basic than that. From those of you who commented here (and thank you for…
sporte | January 12, 2007The bioinformatics classes that I teach use web services and web sites as much as possible, but I still find that it's helpful to have programs on our classroom computers. Here is a list of my favorite desktop programs for those of you who might want to add some bioinformatics activities to your biology courses.
Why not use the Web?
Before going on, I should probably explain, why we use desktop programs, we have so many things available on the web. We do use the web whenever we can. Web services are nice because you can shift the computation burden to someone else's computer. (I think this…
clock | January 11, 2007Continuing with the Thursday series of the BIO101 lecture notes. Check for errors of fact. Suggest improvements (June 01, 2006):
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BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 4, Part 1
Adaptation vs. Diversity
Biology is concerned with answering two Big Questions: how to explain the adaptation of organisms to their environments and how to explain the diversity of life on Earth.
Much of the course content so far engaged the question of the origin and evolution of adaptation, and much of the remainder of the course will also look at particular adaptations of humans…
sporte | January 9, 2007There's nothing like the first day of class to make you appreciate the difference between the equipment you end up using at schools and the equipment that you get to use on the job.
For the month of January, I'm teaching a night class in bioinformatics at a local community college. We're introducing lots of web-based programs, and databases, and concentrating on the sorts of activities that biotechnology technicians are likely to use on the job. It's fun. It's practical. And I don't have to suffer through any lectures about the Semantic Web.
I'm also getting reminded (although not for…
tsmith | January 5, 2007From the Seed mothership: Cancer is due to 'fate', Britons believe
More than a quarter of people believe that fate alone will determine whether they get cancer, not their lifestyle choices, according to a survey conducted by charity Cancer Research UK.
The poll of more than 4,000 adults across the country asked people if they thought they could reduce their risk of getting cancer or whether it was out of their hands.
A total of 27 percent of people said cancer was down to fate, with more women than men believing cancer was a matter of destiny than prevention through measures such as quitting…
clock | January 4, 2007Tenth in the series of mini-lecture notes for the speed-class BIO101 for adults. Find errors. Suggest improvements. (May 21, 2006)
--------------------------------------------------Ecology
BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 3 - Part 2
Ecology is the study of relationships of organisms with one another and their environment. Organisms are organized in populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes and the biosphere.
A population of organisms is a sum of all individuals of a single species living in one area at one time.
Individuals in a population can occupy space in three basic patterns:…
evolgen | January 3, 2007But where is halfway?
The Scientist has published an article by Mary Woolley, president of Research!America, on communicating science to the general public. The basic premise is that scientific literacy must increase, and scientists must perform the outreach in order to increase the science literacy of the average American. But what is the basal level of understanding that scientists can expect from the general public? To where are we expected to increase the scientific literacy? In other words, how much ground must we cover?
From the example Woolley gives, the prospects look bleak:
Consider…
tsmith | January 3, 2007It's a new year, and it will be a busy one here in Iowa when it comes to evolutionary biology. I want to highlight two upcoming events: Iowa City's first annual Darwin Day celebration featuring a lecture by Massimo Pigliucci, and an upcoming symposium on evolution and intelligent design, featuring John Haught and Wesley Elsberry. These events will be held in February and March, respectively; more information on both of them after the jump.
Event Number One: Iowa City's First Annual Darwin Day Celebration
About: A celebration of science in general and biology specifically, with events…
clock | January 1, 2007The conference is only 19 [13] days from today! It's getting really exciting!
The program is shaping really well:
On Thursday (January 18th) we will have a teach-in session. About 20 people have signed up so far (update: 30, thus the session is now full). We'll use Wordpress to help them start their own blogs, so I'll have to make one of my own in advance and play around to figure out the platform before I teach others.
On Friday (January 19th), we'll have dinner and all the bloggers present will read their posts. We have not decided on the place yet, but perhaps a site that has wifi, or…
clock | December 28, 2006Here is the next installment of my lecture notes for teh adult education speed-class in biology. As always, I ask for corrections and suggestions for improvement (May 20, 2006):
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BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 3 - Part 1
Imagine that you are a zebra, grazing in the savannah. Suddenly, you smell a lion. A moment later, you hear a lion approaching and, out of the corner of your eye, you see the lion running towards you.
What happens next? You start running away, of course. How does that happen? Your brain receieved information from your sensory…
evolgen | December 22, 2006
Eugenie Scott and Glenn Branch are two of the leaders in the movement to keep the science in science classrooms in American public schools. Both Scott and Branch hold administrative position at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and they've displayed great commitment to maintaining the scientific integrity of American primary and secondary education. Of recent note is their new book Not in Our Classrooms, which offers an introduction to modern creationism and science education in the United States.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church…
evolgen | December 19, 2006
Via this press release I learned about this book: The Top Ten Myths About Evolution. The book deconstructs ten myths that creationists propagate while spreading misinformation. It also gives me an excuse to post cute pictures of furry primates.
The official website lists the ten myths:
1) Survival of the Fittest; 2) It's Just a Theory; 3) The Ladder of Progress; 4) The Missing Link; 5) Evolution is Random; 6) People Come from Monkeys; 7) Nature's Perfect Balance; 8) Creationism Disproves Evolution; 9) Intelligent Design is Science; 10) Evolution is Immoral
It sounds like a good treatment of…
tsmith | December 14, 2006So, razib relates a recent observation of the apparently rare species hottus chicas scientificas at a local wine bar. Shelley's ticked:
Not sure whether to be more irked that Razib suggests that smart women aren't hot (and vice versa), that hot women don't like sci fi, or than sci fi somehow denotes intelligence. Booooooooo.
While razib tells her to "focus on the science fiction part. not the intelligence," I agree with Shelley's later comment that who cares exactly whether he was talking about SciFi or intelligence--the idea that, because one is female and "hot," one therefore cannot be…
clock | December 12, 2006Ms. SuperScience loves to include anecdotes in her science classes. Now she wonders, how much personal information may be over the line. An interesting ethical (and pedagogical) question. And some creepy comments - go add some more of those!
clock | December 11, 2006If Buzz Skyline was my physics teacher back in high school, and taught lessons like this one (reading aloud NSFW, silent reading is OK), I'd be a physicist today, not biologist.
clock | December 10, 2006Thanks to The Science Pundit for alerting me to this amazing animation (now also for sale as screensaver):
Secret Worlds: The Universe Within:
View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe…
evolgen | December 8, 2006My university has been hosting panel discussions on science, religion, and teaching. I missed the first installment, which consisted of faculty members from science and humanities departments and a local clergyman. The second discussion was led by four students from a course cross listed in Science and Technology Studies and Philosophy. The topic of this discussion was teaching science and religion, but the discussion often strayed to the intersection of science and religion in general. It would have been nice if they stayed on topic. I, however, can't hold much against them, as I once took a…
clock | December 7, 2006It's Thursday, so it is time for the next portion of my BIO101 lecture notes (May 15, 2006). As alway, I'd appreciate corrections of errors, and suggestions for improvement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Cell Differentiation and Embryonic Development
BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 2 - Part 2
There are about 210 types of human cells, e.g., nerve cells, muscle cells, skin cells, blood cells, etc. Wikipedia has a nice comprehensive listing of all the types of human cells.
What makes one cell type different from the other cell types? After all,…
clock | December 4, 2006Brookings Hamilton Project Issues New Papers on Science and Technological Innovation:
Experts Address how Education, Patent Reform, and Inducement Prizes in Science and Technology can aid Competitiveness and Growth.
Focusing attention on the importance of science and technology innovation to U.S. growth and competitiveness, The Hamilton Project, an initiative at the Brookings Institution, today released policy proposals to spur investments in innovation, research and the education of a highly skilled American workforce. The proposals were released on The Hamilton Project website ( www.…
clock | December 3, 2006Take the LabLit Survey and tell me which choice you picked and why.
Thanks to John Dupuis for the heads-up.