teaching
grrlscientist | March 13, 2009tags: Alom Shaha, why is science important, streaming video
In this streaming video, Physics teacher and film-maker Alom Shaha sets out to uncover a genuinely satisfying answer to his students' most common question: why is science important? This film was made with funding from the Wellcome Trust, and is being broadcast in the UK on Teachers TV during March 2009. For more background and reaction, see the project website, Why Science? [28:10]
Why is Science Important? from Alom Shaha.
H/T: TravelGirl.
sb admin | March 12, 2009Um, hi. Apparently I've been gone for a while. Yeah. Sorry about that. Life's been a bit crazy around here lately, and I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. I'm not sleeping. I'm not taking care of myself. I'm sick. I'm stressed to the gills. I have way too much to do. I feel like I work all the damn time. Hmmm, maybe that's because I *do* work all the damn time.
In addition to not having time to breathe blog, I haven't really been in the headspace to blog. I have a ton of stuff on my mind, but I'm not sure how to blog it. It's all about tenure, of course: the…
grrlscientist | March 12, 2009tags: Prairie Warbler, Dendroica discolor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Prairie Warbler, Dendroica discolor, photographed at Newton Hills State Park in southeastern South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, June 2007.
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 12, 2009tags: Robert Friedhoffer, kitchen science, magic tricks, science facts, streaming video
This streaming video is an interview with science teacher and book author, Robert Friedhoffer, who likes to use magic tricks to help kids learn scientific principles. I was especially pleased when he asked the interviewer to predict what would happen to the newspaper (near the beginning of the interview) -- what a great way to let the audience know that scientists are actually doing experiments rather than "just blowing up stuff" [7:09]
Here's the links to his book, if you are interested to purchase it,…
khannula | March 12, 2009I'm working on re-designing an upper level general education course called "The Control of Nature. Yesterday, I talked about the problems I've had in the past. Today, I'm going to start thinking about the context of the course, and what that means for improving it.
One of my commenters yesterday made exactly the same suggestion as the course design tutorial that I'm working through. Yes, I've been doing it all backwards, deciding what I want my students to read and discuss and write about before I've defined my goals. The first step is recognizing that things aren't working. The next step is…
grrlscientist | March 11, 2009tags: Elf Owl, Micrathene whitneyi, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Elf Owl, Micrathene whitneyi, photographed outside a gorgeous little bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 7 May 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
khannula | March 11, 2009I've got a course that (IMO) is broken, and I'm working on fixing it.
I've been teaching a course called "The Control of Nature" (after John McPhee's book) for 16 years, after thinking of the idea on my way home from my first academic job interview. (Yes, that was a bad time to come up with an answer to a question like "what other class could you teach?" No, I didn't get that job.) I've taught it as an intro course for non-majors and as an upper-level interdisciplinary general education class, and I had plans, once, to adapt it for a freshman seminar and for a large-lecture gen ed class. It'…
grrlscientist | March 10, 2009tags: Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus photographed in Brazoria Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 February 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 8, 2009tags: leucistic House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] leucistic House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, photographed on Farm Island near Pierre, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 16 February 2009 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
"It's not in the book."
A birding acquaintance of mine, long since passed away, I fear, once told me about the "…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2009tags: Streak-backed Oriole, Icterus pustulatus microstictus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Streak-backed Oriole, Icterus pustulatus microstictus, photographed at the Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 15 December 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Any doubt that this is an oriole? Good. Confused about just what an oriole is? Better.
The English word was first applied, naturally…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2009tags: Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus, photographed at Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 9 December 2005 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
sporte | March 4, 2009A friend of mine; serial entrepreneur, and former president of Genetic Systems; Joe Ashley, told me once that starting a business is an unnatural act.
Now that I've done it, I agree. Even with my multiple back-up plans, possible grants, and part-time activities, my stomach still hurts and my mind is racing. My new company has "spun out" of another. Spinning out of control until you fall down from exhaustion. It's a great metaphor all right.
Sure, there's excitement and adventure. I love my new shiny business cards and my new shiny web site! It's fun to do things that I like and would…
khannula | March 3, 2009I've got a question for all sorts of different scientists. What kind of skills do undergrad science/technology/engineering/math majors need in order to survive and thrive?
If you're a student, I've got some bad news for you. When you're not around, professors have a tendency to rant about the stuff you don't know how to do. Things like coming to class and taking notes and getting information from a book and starting homework assignments early. And, yes, I want to rant sometimes, too, especially when I'm answering complicated questions five minutes before an assignment is due. But I don't…
sb admin | March 3, 2009I know it doesn't feel like spring on the East Coast of the US, what with the big snow day yesterday. But it's been in the 60's here for the past three days, and in the 50's before that. At my elevation (6800 feet), the snow is gone except in the shade and on north-facing slopes. It's nice, but worrisome: my mountains are the headwaters of the Rio Grande and part of the Colorado, and our snow is the water supply for cities and farms from Texas to California. March is supposed to be the big snow month here. We'll see.
In the meantime, I'm watching spring arrive. And this year, I'm going to try…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2009tags: Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] light-morph Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo lagopus, photographed on the Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 26 November 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 3, 2009tags: human-chimp hybrid, humanzee, chuman, science, streaming video
Humans and chimps have DNA that is something close to 99% identical, so could there ever be a human-chimpanzee hybrid -- a Humanzee? Watch this video to learn the answer to this question [2:28]
bioephemera | March 2, 2009
Wax anatomical figure of reclining woman, Florence, Italy, 1771-1800
Science Museum London
Starting today, the Wellcome Trust and sciencemuseum.org.uk open a brand spanking new collection of medical history archives. "Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine" is searchable by people, place, thing, theme, and time. You can view a timeline of medical history in Europe next to similar timelines for the Islamic empire, Egypt and Greece (I do wish China and India were as prominently placed). You can read essays about larger questions, like what "wellness" means, or play with a cool…
grrlscientist | March 2, 2009tags: Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 16 April 2008 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2008:04:16 08:46:29
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 1, 2009tags: Eastern Screech-Owl, Otus asio, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rufous morph Eastern Screech-Owl, Otus asio, photographed at near Beaver Creek Nature area in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 11 June 2006.
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | February 27, 2009tags: Blue Grouse, Dusky Grouse, Dendragapus obscurus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Blue (Dusky) Grouse, Dendragapus obscurus, photographed in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 August 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.