Science Education
clock | November 30, 2006You may remember when I mentioned the announcement of the new open-source online journal JoVE, a peer-reviewed journal of scientific methods in which submissions are provided in video form. Pimm, Eva, Jonah and Nick have also commented on it and Pimm prvides a look at the rate at which the news about the journal spread over the internet.
I have been thinking about this a little and I am wondering if we can predict what kinds of techniques are most likely to be found there - and what kinds will not.
I am assuming that showing how one uses a standard kit with no alterations of the protocol…
clock | November 29, 2006While all this was going on I was wondering where Jason Rosenhouse would stand on all of this. He is back from a break and has two posts on the issue here and here.
Update: Chris Rowan wrote an intriguing analysis and a huge thread on the topic is still ongoing on Panda's Thumb
clock | November 29, 2006Josh Wilson finds a new (to me, at least) metaphor that puts the geological time in perspective, and Carel discovers some cool models that place the astronomical size and space in perspective. Humbling and edifying. Good ideas for science teachers.
clock | November 28, 2006The story about National Science Teachers of America refusing the "Inconvenient Truth" DVDs is not as black & white as previously reported. Sandra Porter has a good run-down.
clock | November 28, 2006I wish that, many many years ago when I was becoming a biologist, that I could have read this wonderful little book - On Becoming a Biologist by John Janovy! What a little gem!
On the surface, or by looking at the Table of Contents, this slim volume appears to be just yet another in a long line of books giving advice to people who are interested about joining the profession. And sure, it does contain important information about getting accepted into a program, choosing one's project, teaching, research, publishing, getting funded, giving talks etc. But it is also much more than that. The…
sporte | November 28, 2006Antibiotics are molecules of biological warfare.
Produced by bacteria and some fungi, in response to extracellular signals, antibiotics represent a diverse group of compounds that inhibit bacterial growth at different points and different stages of the life cycle.
We will get around to antibiotic resistance, but in these few words, I think I already wrote quite a bit. Admittedly, some of these ideas need a bit of chewing, if they are to be properly digested. Already, I can imagine hands raised and questions waiting to be asked.
What are antibiotics made of?
I'm confused about this idea…
sporte | November 27, 2006A few years ago, I heard an interesting thing from another mother when I picked my oldest daughter up from daycare. The other mother was suffering from a head cold and confessed to me her fear that she had become "antibiotic resistant."
I found this statement pretty funny at the time, especially since I was teaching microbiology to college students.
Over the years, though, the joke quit being funny. Now I suspect that the worry voiced by the "antibiotic resistant" mother is shared by many people. It should also be noted that my anxious friend is an educated professional and at the time,…
clock | November 26, 2006Laurie David, one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth, wrote a piece for today's Washington Post describing her efforts to make 50,000 DVD copies of that movie available to America's science teachers through NSTA. They said no. And, more weirdly, they explained why.
Read the rest here. Horrifying. Go here to tell them what you think.
clock | November 26, 2006 I am sure glad that others have started parsing the numbers of the new report on 'The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science'.
Duane Smith takes a close look at a couple of tables in the report and concludes that, while relatively few people say they get their information on evolution directly from the Bible and Church, many do so indirectly, by beeing steeped in their comunities' beliefs transmitted by family, friends and neighbors (as well as local and church-run media). Interesting take (and I agree with him on this). What have you found so far?
clock | November 25, 2006Srbija najbolja na Astronomskoj olimpijadi (my translation):
Serbia, whose most modern telescope was built at the beginning of the 20th century and was brought to Belgrade as part of WWI war reparations, won two gold and two bronze medals at the 11th World Astronomy Olympiad in Bombay earlier this month. Olympic winners from Serbia are students of the first [ninth] grade of the Mathematical Gymnasium in Belgrade: Luka Milicevic and Natasa Dragovic. Milicevic competed in the younger category as he is 15 years old, while Dragovic is only 14. On the Serbian team were also Aleksandar…
clock | November 24, 2006Pew Internet and American Life Project just issued a new report: The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science (pdf). It states that:
Fully 87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept and 40 million adults use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science.
The report is chockful of statistics of great importance to us science bloggers. For instance:
Each respondent to this survey received questions on one of three specific scientific topics: stem cell research, climate change,…
clock | November 23, 2006I am still sleepy from all that tryptophan in turkey meat and the Evolution wine, so I don't think I have the energy to write a big post now - I'll leave much of my thoughts on the matter for a post-weekend post reviewing Dawkins' The God Delusion.
But I have to chime in briefly by sending you to the relevant links and copying some of the comments I wrote on those comment threads. Brace yourself for a lot of reading as there are several posts and many comments on each of the posts. Sorry, the links are not neccessarly in order, but you'll get the gist of the argument anyway.
Ed Brayton…
jlynch | November 23, 2006Larry Moran seems to think that I belong to the "Neville Chamberlain 'apeasement' [sic] school" of evolutionists. So what does one need to believe to be part of this school? Moran, having spent long hours talking with me on these issues, and knowing me so well, can enlighten us. In short, one must believe the following:
These are scientists who are willing to compromise science in order to form an alliance with some religious groups who oppose Christian fundamentalism. Do you believe in miracles? That's okay, it's part of science. Do you believe that God guides evolution in order to produce…
clock | November 23, 2006Continuing with my BIO101 lecture notes (May 08, 2006). As always, please correct my errors and make suggestions in the comments.
-------------------------------------------------BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 1 - Part 4
Cell-cell interactions
Cells do not exist in complete isolation. For a coordinated function of cells in a tissue, tissues in an organ, organs in a system and systems in the body, cells need to be able to communicate with each other. Each cell should be capable of sending chemical signals to other cells and of receiving chemical signals from oter cells, as well as signals…
jlynch | November 22, 2006I've been involved in the creation/evolution battle - for such it is - since 1998. Over the years, I have talked to many groups - students, concerned citizens, scientists, lawyers - on this issue and have often been asked to recommend a book that would offer the non-scientist advice as how to deal with attempts to dilute academically sound science standards. In the past I have recommended books like Pennock's Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics and Young & Edis' Why Intelligent Design Fails. Both of these works, excellent though they are, are probably scientifically and…
clock | November 21, 2006Two years ago, there was quite a brouhaha in the media when Serbian minister for education decided to kick Darwin out of schools. The whole affair lasted only a few days - the public outrage was swift and loud and the minister was forced to resign immediately. I blogged about it profusely back then and below the fold are those old posts:
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I Take This Personally (September 09, 2004)
Serbia takes a bold step back into the Middle Ages
Serbia strikes blow against evolution Creationism put on equal footing with Darwinism
Serbia vs…
evolgen | November 21, 2006When we were asked what the best science TV show is, a couple of people answered Mythbusters. It turns out it's not a science show. Here's how Jamie Hyneman, one of the shows creators, describes it:
Mr. Hyneman, however, insists that he and the "Mythbusters" team "don't have any pretense of teaching science . . . If we tried to teach science," he said, "the shows probably wouldn't be successful."
Even if they aren't teaching science, they are approaching problems using experimentation. So, they're doing science (minus the whole 'replication' thing), even if they aren't calling it that.
clock | November 16, 2006Here is the third BIO101 lecture (from May 08, 2006). Again, I'd appreciate comments on the correctness as well as suggestions for improvement.
--------------------------------------------------BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 1 - Part 3
The DNA code
DNA is a long double-stranded molecule residing inside the nucleus of every cell. It is usually tightly coiled forming chromosomes in which it is protected by proteins.
Each of the two strands of the DNA molecule is a chain of smaller molecules. Each link in the chain is composed of one sugar molecule, one phosphate molecule and one nucleotide…
evolgen | November 15, 2006Nature has published a correspondence from Maciej Giertych, a Polish biologist, defending his view that evolutionary biology is bullshit. He's actually striking back at Nature for this news item on creationism in Poland. Long story short, the League of Polish Families (LPR), a group led by Roman Giertych (Maciej Giertych's son), has been pushing for the inclusion of creationism in the science curriculum of Polish schools. Maciej Giertych did not like how he and his fellow creationists were portrayed in the Nature article. He decided to defend himself in a letter to Nature, despite the fact…
clock | November 9, 2006Second lecture notes from my BIO101 class (originally from May 08, 2006). As always, in this post and the others in the series, I need comments - is everything kosher? Any suggestions for improvement?
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BIO 101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 1 - Part 2
The Cell
All living organisms are composed of one or more cells - the cell is the unit of organization of Life.
Most cells are very small. Exceptions? Ostrich egg is the largest cell. Nerve cell in a leg of a giraffe may be as long as 3m, but is very thin.
Basic Structure of the Cell
A cell is a…