Festival Book Fair

Addressing Gender Imbalances in STEM Education

carlyo — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 01:20:28 +0000

Addressing Gender Imbalances in STEM Education

Guest Blog by Lindsey Shephard
Rainmaker and Resident Mom at GoldiBlox

At GoldieBlox, we truly believe there are millions of girls out there who are engineers, but they just don’t know it yet. We’re thrilled to join this year’s USA Science & Engineering Festival, where we’ll be able to interact with girls and their families, showing them how fun engineering and science can be!

Like many other festival goers, we feel as though the toy industry could use some STEM love, especially among girls’ toys. If you take a stroll down the “pink” aisle at the toy store, you’ll come across princesses, dress-up kits and dolls. When these are the only choices girls’ see as “for” them, it’s no wonder they start losing interest in STEM fields as early as age 8. While all of these options are a great way for girls to interact and imagine, it’s time to alter the way we think about toys for girls. Construction kits are great, but our fearless leader Debbie Sterling found that young girls tend to be far more avid readers than boys, and they internalize and learn more effectively through storytelling. In order to get girls really engaged in building, Debbie broke through with GoldieBlox, the first construction set with accompanying storybook, which aims to introduce engineering concepts to girls.

Our girls need encouragement not only by being provided with the right tools, but through role models. Think about it: children’s characters who explore and share STEM concepts like Handy Manny, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, Jimmy Neutron, etc., are all boys. Goldie is a pioneer in her field, allowing girls to admire a strong and confident role model taking on axles and levers who happens to be their gender. Seeing a girl in this space is so important, for boys and girls alike. By following Goldie through a series of adventures, girls are not only practicing engineering and spatial skills, but they’re learning from a girl like them, increasing their confidence that the things they’re learning are just as much for them as they are for boys. And as we grow our product line this year, we’re excited to grow our cast of characters to reflect all children who learn and play with GoldieBlox.

Engineers help solve some of our biggest technological, physical and environmental challenges. They are critical to the world economy, earn high salaries and have solid job security. When it comes to engineering specifically, women only fill 13% of the jobs. Thirteen percent! Seems ridiculous when you reflect on the fact that half the population is women, right? But by normalizing an increase of women in this field, we hope the conversation about the role of women in the workplace won't continue to be a topic of discussion far into the future.

We realize this is only the beginning, but every beginning has hope. Our hope is that this conversation and the work we and others have been doing will impact both the toy industry and the engineering gender gap years from now. That’s really a tremendous motivator for all of us here and everything we do at GoldieBlox; we’re thrilled to be recognized as leaders in driving a larger female perspective in STEM fields, and honored to share the space with so many other pioneering women and companies.

At this year’s USA Science and Engineering Festival, you’ll find GoldieBlox at booth 1658 on the National Security Pavilion in Exhibitor Hall B, where we plan to host all-day play with hundreds of available parts and videos that will teach basic engineering concepts. We’ll also have a photo wall where future innovators and their parents can show off their inventions! And, I’ll be joining Andrea Beatty, author of "Rosie Revere, Engineer," for a panel titled ““Meet the Women Leaders Spearheading Cool and Fascinating Ways to Inspire Girls in STEM.”

Since joining GoldieBlox in 2012, it’s been so exciting to connect with all of our fans and realize how many people believe in our mission. We’re thrilled to spend three full days with STEM enthusiasts, professionals and families at the biggest STEM event of the year!.If you’ll be there, be sure to stop by our booth, say hello, and build with us!

Lindsey Shephard was Debbie Sterling’s first hire at GoldieBlox where she currently holds the title of Rainmaker and Resident Mom. GoldieBlox, a toy company out to inspire the next generation of future innovators, is a book series & construction set that engages kids to build through the story of Goldie, the girl inventor who solves problems by building simple machines.

carlyo Fri, 04/25/2014 - 21:20

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Seven Steps to Help Your Kids Fail

carlyo — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 15:54:29 +0000

Seven Steps to Help Your Kids Fail

Guest Blog By Andrea Beaty
New York Times bestselling author of Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect along with children’s novels, Dorko the Magnificent and Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies

Kids are their own worst critics. Perfectionism can reduce even very young children to hysterics over toppled towers, drawing disasters and other creative catastrophes. It breaks our parenting hearts to watch and we rush in with hugs and kind words to soften the blow. I confess that when my kids were young, I sometimes resorted to less dignified tactics to calm them. “Look! . . . It’s Barney! . . . On a pony! . . . And he has ice cream!”

I am not proud of this. Even if the image of a pony-riding, ice cream-toting purple dinosaur distracted my kids and averted the immediate crisis, it did nothing to help them learn to fail. And yet, the ability to do so is one of the biggest factors for success in life. It is also a key to success in science and engineering. Nobody understands the beauty and power of embracing failure as well as scientists and engineers. We can learn a lot from people who understand that failure is not the opposite of success but rather a step on the road to success. It’s one of the reasons I am excited to attend and present at the USA Science & Engineering Festival on April 26 and 27 when over 350,000 adults and kids gather in the nation’s capitol to celebrate science and engineering.

We have lots of problems to solve on this planet and need all the scientists and engineers we can muster. Even if our kids decide not to follow these paths, the basic recipe for success in science and engineering is the same as it is for all endeavors: Curiosity + Failure + Determination = Success.

How can you help your kids embrace failure?

1. Celebrate questions.
Questions are more important than answers. Create a space in your house that is dedicated to questions. This space can be as fancy as a chalkboard wall or as simple as a pad of paper kept on the kitchen table. Collect as many questions as you can. Talk about them over dinner. Explore them during those interstitial moments that crop up during the day: Walking to the park. Driving to pre-school. Waiting for dance class to begin. Explore the secondary questions that spring up. Get a thinking cap and take turns wearing it and writing down the questions that pop into your heads. Don't worry about finding answers. Answers come later. Just celebrate the questions.

2. Guide your child through the process of discovery.
Pick a question to answer or a problem to solve and make a plan. How can we keep squirrels off the bird feeder? Can we create an alarm to let us know when the siblings are home from school? Draw up pictures. Brainstorm. Treat every idea as a possible solution, no matter how improbable or even silly it might seem.

3. Turn brainstorming into an adventure.
Go on a brainstorming quest to the thrift shop, the hardware store, the craft store, or the park. Imagine how you can use the things you find to help with your project. Include ice cream. Adventures are always better with ice cream.

4. Set expectations for failure.
Use phrases like "The first thing we are going to try is . . ." Set the expectation that there will be a second thing to try and a third and a fourth . . .

It helps to make predictions before you test your invention. Be general: Do you think this will work? Why? Why not? Be specific: How do you think the spring at the top will react to the weight of the bird seed? Will the bells be loud enough to let us know when your brother gets home? Discuss what might break or function differently than hoped: “I think the string will break. That ribbon might get twisted and keep the bell from swinging back and forth freely.” Helping your child anticipate problems will ease their frustration when problems inevitably occur.

5. Have fun.
Diffuse drama through humor and set the tone with seriously silly sound effects: “Countdown to Fabulous First Flop in 10, 9, 8 . . . KABOOM!” Sound effects are like ice cream. They make everything better.

6. Celebrate what happens next. ESPECIALLY if it is a failure.
You set the tone. Just like a toddler who looks around after a fall to see if she should cry or brush it off, your child will follow your lead. If you show disappointment at a flop, they will too. If you treat it as a success, so will they. Cheer for the failures: “Yahoo! That was wonderfully awful! Let's do it again!” Cheer for the successes: “Yahoo! That was pretty good! How can we improve it?”

7. Rinse and repeat.
Ask questions - what worked. What didn't? Why? Why not? What should we change for Fabulous Flop #2? Fabulous Flop #3? Your process of discovery will reveal new questions. Add them to your question wall.

Learning to fail is not easy. It takes practice, but it is worthwhile. No matter if our kids grow up to solve cold fusion, write fiction, navigate the business world, or create a new path we haven’t yet imagined, they will be better at it if we teach them to fail. Fabulously. Fantastically. Ferociously.

Understanding and embracing failure will help all our kids follow their talents. No purple dinosaurs on ponies required. Ice cream always welcome.

Andrea Beaty is the New York Times bestselling author of Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect along with children’s novels, Dorko the Magnificent and Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies. She visits dozens of schools each year to share her enthusiasm for writing and STEM with students. Andrea also presents at science and engineering events such as the USA Science and Engineering Festival and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan as an advocate for girls in STEM. Andrea lives near Chicago. For more information visit her website.

carlyo Fri, 04/25/2014 - 11:54

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Caves of Ideas

carlyo — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 15:29:08 +0000

Caves of Ideas

Guest Blog By David Bolinsky
Founder and Creative Director of e*mersion Studio

In 1962, when I was ten, my family and I had the rare privilege of exploring the ancient caves of Lascaux in southern France to see 17,000 year-old Paleolithic paintings close up. Though sadly no longer open for public viewing, these iconic works changed me forever. In his film ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’, Werner Herzog documented limestone galleries of astonishing thirty-thousand-year-old artwork in the French Chauvet Pont d’Arc.

Having practiced the visualization of science for nearly forty years, I resonate with those ancient talismans to creativity and wonder. Our prehistoric cousins were not frolicking through the glacial tundra scraping meaningless graffiti on rocks. Intelligent humans like us, these clans conceived sophisticated panoramas celebrating a vast variety of creatures. In an age of hand-split obsidian tools, women and men invented the concept of visual storytelling through mimicking, in line and tone, the subjects of their ardent observations. They concocted their palette from hearth ash, charcoal and a rainbow of metallic clay oxides. These hunter-gatherers invented the blending of contour, composition, and color into accurate animal images. Scientists recently proved that a real species of spotted horse was the model for its portrait, once thought to be imaginary.

With incredible insight, the Chauvet artisans even depicted motion. A charging rhinoceros and an eight-legged bison, were posed in overlapping frames of sequential action. These cave walls could only have been lit by fire, and obscured by smoke. Dancing flames provided, and gathered herbs may well have influenced, the view. It is amazing to think that after thirty thousand years, these aesthetic-utilitarian depictions excite the same neurons in our brains as in their creators’. An age removed, and modern yet. In a nod to Herzog, I call these "proto- animations". They are very powerful.

I was changed by Lascaux. Inspired partly by the work of my ancient cousins, I studied both science and drawing before completing a degree in Medical Illustration. I intended to create a personal visual vocabulary to accompany my own ardent observations.

A more modern piece of art, Disney’s ‘Fantasia’, captured my four year-old imagination. I wanted to animate! My dad Joseph, a sculptor and art professor, taught me flip card animation. I soon graduated to stop-motion. As a sixteen-year-old in 1968, I discovered Robert Heinlein’s science fiction classic, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”. The ‘virtual’ main character inspired me to imagine using computers to animate. Since Nolan Bushnell did not introduce ‘Pong’ until 1972, I had a long time to wait for the technology to catch up. My last hand-made animated film, “Hey, What’s a Heart? -with Dr. LubDup”, was arduously made with hand-inked, back-painted cells, in 1974.

As the Senior Medical Illustrator at the Yale School of Medicine thirty-three years ago, I drew on paper with blue-steel pen nibs dipped in carbon-black ink, akin to linear charcoal inscriptions on a limestone cave wall. As did my illustrative forbears, I mimicked frozen motion to better convey my mental picture, but was not satisfied. I longed to depict the salvage of a damaged heart with realistic motion. When Wavefront Technologies introduced their Advanced Visualizer computer animation tools in 1984, I knew it was time to jump.

The “Powers that Be’, though, declared “there is no room in medicine for cartoons.” Friends and colleagues, some skeptical and some just wishing to protect me from myself, gave me a litany of reasons to not pursue my dream: too expensive; too strange; no market; has never been done; lack of technical qualification (truth be told, I had not yet touched a computer), and many more. Determined, passionate and naïve, I left Yale in 1984 to start Advanced Imaging, the world’s first digital medical animation company. Defying skeptics, I eventually found there was indeed room for ‘cartoons’ in medicine. Ironically, my move from quill pens to computer animation referenced my ancient muses. My cave was my darkened office, my hearth -- a monitor. My tools were invented and borrowed from other disciplines. I built a team of artisans, together blending science and aesthetics to create a visual language of science in motion.

In 2005 Dr. Rob Lue, Director of Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology asked if together we could fundamentally change how biology is taught by blending cinematic aesthetics with scientific sophistication. Though vision, with the greatest sensory bandwidth, is central to my work, there is no wider bandwidth than a fertile imagination. We imagined a molecularly realistic intracellular environment more complex than any created before. Immersed in a warm salt-water cytoplasm, intracellular structures are smaller than the wavelengths of light that convey colors, so we imbued our vista with the colors of a coral reef. We challenged our viewers with an environment richer than the voice over and labels could cover, compelling interested students to dig deeper on their own.

Our resulting animated film, ‘The Inner Life of the Cell’, has been seen millions of times and discussed extensively the world over. I am grateful to Rob for including my team, notably John Liebler, in such a visionary experiment. Globally this movie has stimulated students’ interest in learning cell biology to an unprecedented extent.

That’s why I’m talking about my work at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in hopes of getting kids excited about science and technology. I urge students to steadfastly make your passions a reality, as I did. Every one of us has the imagination to envision some novel twist on the substance or process of our civilization. Your particular insight may seem odd, unsettling or unimaginable to your peers and your mentors. Being told that what you imagine is not valid, by someone who cannot envision that which is so clear to you, is every excuse for you to persevere. Invite them along. It will be your hardest, most rewarding adventure.

A broad spectrum of viewers shares our animations, broadly and with gusto, reflecting a fellowship-in-common that I cherish when gazing upon the galloping creatures of the Chauvet Pont d’Arc, recognizing the passions of our timeless kin.

David Bolinsky is Founder and Creative Director of e*mersion studio, LLC, 2012, e*mersion studio is dedicated to creating high quality interactive science tools for students, publishers and medical schools.

carlyo Fri, 04/25/2014 - 11:29

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Meet Dr. John Sotos from the Festival's "Getting the Science Right in Hollywood" Panel

carlyo — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:14:48 +0000

Meet Dr. John Sotos from the Festival's "Getting the Science Right in Hollywood" Panel

Guest blog by Dr. John Sotos
Getting the Science Right in Hollywood Panel Member and Book Fair Author at the USA Science & Engineering Festival

I love medicine. But maybe not for the reasons you think.

Most people go into the field desiring to help others. Not me, at least not at first.

Many people go into medicine to make scientific discoveries. Not me.

And, alas, some people go into medicine to gratify their ego, pad their wallet, or satisfy parental expectations. Not me, thank goodness. I went into medicine because, well . . . I don't really know why. And that's the point.

One of my physician friends observed that medicine is the last universal field of study. He's right. Medicine is the biggest tent on the parade ground, and it's so big that it touches all the others . . . and almost threatens to push them aside.

If you're interested in mathematics or computers, there's a place for you in medicine. If you're interested in nanotechnology, there's a gigantic place for you in medicine. If you're interested in medieval agrarian farming techniques, there's a place for you in medicine. If you're interested in people at all, medicine is *the* place to be. And if you are so misguided as to be interested in finance, yes, there is place in medicine for you, too (but we don't have to like you). You name the field, and there's a medical aspect.

Conversely, if you want to learn about and maybe even affect the world in general, medicine will give you the best and broadest toolset to do that.

So, the first reason I love medicine is that your choice to apply to medical school at the tender age of 21 (or whenever) doesn't close any doors. Anything is still possible. Without question, doctors will be among the first on Mars.

The second reason I love medicine is for the magic. I can look at the top of your ears and know that your back hurts. I can put my hand on your groin, not in public, of course, and know that you need a heart operation. I can look at your fresh mosquito bite and know that you have cancer. And I can know how your mother died just by the way you shake my hand.

This is powerful magic -- not just for its obvious medical uses, but also for its ability to motivate and inspire. It has certainly been a major factor in my own life.

The type of magic discussed so far is *clinical* magic, directly associated with taking care of patients. Painstakingly assembled by 95 successive generations of physicians following in the rationalist footsteps of Hippocrates, it is, of course, not magic at all. But it is genius.

Technology can of course appear magical, too, and there are no better examples than technology used in medicine. Early in my career, for example, CT scanners appeared and suddenly we could see into an intact human body in three dimensions. We could know so many previously unknowable things that it was simply breathtaking every day as we learned to use this incredible tool.

However, if I were to use the word breathtaking now, it would have to apply to the genetics revolution. No matter what you predict for the evolution of computers, the technology that will most fundamentally change the world in the next 100 years is DNA technology.

So far in clinical medicine, we have mostly been reading DNA sequences, and even then, not very often. The revolution will truly start when it becomes routine to write DNA sequences into our cells, and when we can predict the effects of that writing.

From an information-science point of view, DNA is a digital medium, and so there is a coming generation of app-writers who will use DNA as their programming language, not Python or Java. Thus, the incredible imaginative creativity that we now see on our smartphone screens will be re-directed to produce and alter living things. Breathtaking.

In fact, it's more than breathtaking. The molecular workings of living systems are *beautiful*. Nature activates and deactivates segments of DNA, depending on what's happening in your life. Fragments of RNA (DNA's close cousin) are now known to be part of our immune system. A significant fraction of your DNA comes from viruses that infected your ancestors. Only 1.2% of our DNA is different from a chimpanzee's. And changing just six atoms out of the hundreds of billions in your original DNA would have made you six inches taller and look like Abraham Lincoln.

Wow.

Someday, all of this subtlety and richness will yield tools that improve human health. (Its terrible potential is another story.) Although Americans are living longer and better than ever before, there is enormous room for improvement, for us and for the rest of the world.

Most likely, the greatest improvements in human health worldwide will come not from almost-magical DNA technology, but from simpler innovations, like extracting safe drinking water from the moisture in the air, as is currently being tested.

That's another great thing about medicine -- innovation on all technological levels can do incredible good. It's just one more bit of magic from medicine's big tent, and that's a key reason I'm trying to spread the word at the USA Science & Engineering Festival (www.usasciencefestival.org). Medicine needs the world's brightest and most motivated people -- no matter what their interests and strengths -- to join the team.

It will matter to all of us.

See Dr. John Sotos on the Einstein Stage at 2:30 pm on Saturday as part of the "Getting the Science Right in Hollywood" Panel. Dr. Sotos will also be signing his book "The Physical Lincoln" Saturday at 4:00 pm on the Book Signing Table 3.

Dr. John Sotos, a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is a cardiologist, flight surgeon, computer scientist, medical historian, and the author of the books Zebra Cards: An Aid to Obscure Diagnosis and The Physical Lincoln. For six years he was a medical technical consultant to the acclaimed television series House, MD. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, a board member of the American Sleep Apnea Association, and a colonel in the Air National Guard. All opinions are his, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense. His personal website is http://www.sotos.com

carlyo Tue, 04/22/2014 - 16:14

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Futurist Michio Kaku Headlines Book Fair at USA Science & Engineering Festival

carlyo — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 21:33:41 +0000

Futurist Michio Kaku Headlines Book Fair at USA Science & Engineering Festival

By Shawn Flaherty

Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and author of New York Times’ list topping “The Future of the Mind,” is one of 31 best-selling science-related and children’s book authors (and characters) who will be signing books during the USA Science & Engineering Festival’s Book Fair, hosted by Anderson’s Bookshops.

The Book Fair is part of the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, hosted by founding and presenting sponsor Lockheed Martin, taking place April 26 and 27 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C. from 9am to 6pm daily. Designed to inspire the next generation of scientists, the Festival is a free, family-friendly expo that allows kids and adults to participate in more than 3,000 hands-on activities and see more than 150 stage performances.

“We are excited to share these brilliant writers with future innovators,” explained Larry Bock, Festival co-founder. “We must entice more young people into STEM careers to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Our Book Fair line-up of outstanding thinkers and authors will help us capture young people’s imaginations.”

Many of the authors are trained scientists, engineers and educators; others are physicians, athletes, and journalists and editors.

Many will be presenting as well as autographing. Below is a sampling of other participating authors:

Danica McKellar, “The Wonder Years” actress and “Math Doesn’t Suck” author
David Macaulay, illustrator and “The Way We Work” author
Nate Ball, host of PBS’s “Design Squad” and “Alien in My Pocket” author
David Pogue, journalist and “Science of Everything” author
John Sotos, science writer for “House” and “The Physical Lincoln” author
Jeffrey Bennett, astrophysicist and “Max Goes to the Space Station” author
Rebecca Klemm, mathematician and “Hello Numbers” author

Two participants are themselves the subject of STEM-related books:

Paul DePodesta, baseball executive and stats maestro portrayed in “MoneyBall”
Mike Aponte, MIT grad and blackjack player whose story was captured in the book “Breaking Down the House” and the movie “21”

Most participants will give a 30 minute presentation about their books and adventures followed by an autograph session. These presentations take place in the convention center’s Concourse Hall C. The Book Fair also has leading science, technology, engineering and math books, toys, games, and kits for kids of all ages for purchase.

Watch a preview video here:

http://youtu.be/WmVimxW0e_k

In addition to the Book Fair, the Festival Expo features science celebrities, explorers, astronauts, athletes, authors, and experts in fields like robotics, genomics, medicine, advanced manufacturing, and even 3D printing. Participating celebrities include: Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” (Discovery Channel), Bill Nye the Science Guy, Grammy Award-Winners They Might Be Giants, Miss California Crystal Lee, Illusionist Apollo Robbins, Chris Hackett of “Stuck with Hackett” (Science Channel), and Super Woman of Big-Wave Surfing Maya Gabeira. The Festival Expo will also have a Career Pavilion and multiple competitions such as EPA’s P3 sustainability challenge. Taking up the entire convention center, the Festival expects more than 250,000 attendees.

Founded by serial entrepreneur Larry Bock and Dr. Ray O. Johnson, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Lockheed Martin, to address the severe shortage in science and technical talent, the event is the nation’s largest science festival and was developed to ignite the next generation’s interest in considering careers in science and engineering.

For more information, visit www.USAScienceFestival.org, connect with the Festival on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @USAScienceFest.

carlyo Thu, 04/10/2014 - 17:33

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At the Festival Expo's Two-Day Book Fair, Meet the Authors Who Are Inspiring America in STEM!

carlyo — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:49:52 +0000

At the Festival Expo's Two-Day Book Fair, Meet the Authors Who Are Inspiring America in STEM!

In an eventful two-day affair hosted by Anderson's Bookshops, don't miss the opportunity to meet and hear some of the nation's most exciting and inspiring authors in STEM at the Festival Expo's Book Fair.

Hear these authors talk about their books and adventures, April 26-27, 2014, plus get your favorite must-have books autographed. The Book Fair will also feature STEM-related games toys and learning kits for kids of all ages, and those who are kids at heart!

Here are just some of the amazing authors you will experience:

Michio Kaku. What does the future hold for the human mind and consciousness? Plenty, says this famous theoretical physicist and futurist -- who in his bold #1 New York Times best-selling book, The Future of the Mind, foresees a time when our dreams will be able to be captured on video and shared with others; scientists will build an internet of the brain through which our thoughts and emotions can be sent worldwide, plus other wonders!

Jon Scieszka. He's the nation's first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature, and the author of such children's favorites as The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man, and the Time Warp Trio series. At the Book Fair, he'll be unveiling his exciting new Science Action Invention series, Frank Einstein.

Megan McDonald. The creator of the popular and award-winning Judy Moody, and the Stink book series, Megan will shed light on her latest work, Stink Solar System Superhero, in which she merges facts about astrophysics with everyday second-grade school experiences.

David Macaulay. He's an award-winning author and illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies in the United States alone, and his work has been translated into a dozen languages. His most recent book, The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body, is also sure to become a favorite among readers as it beautifully explains the inner workings of the human body in fascinating ways.

(In addition to their appearances at the Book Fair, the authors above will also conduct stage presentations on their work at the Expo.)

Remember, the Festival Expo Book Fair is FREE, and author presentations begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, 2014 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, D.C. on the EXPO Concourse Hall C.

For more information on the Book Fair, including authors, click here.

carlyo Fri, 03/28/2014 - 13:49

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"Science, Danger, and Progress" a Talk by Featured Author William Gurstelle

carlyo — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

"Science, Danger, and Progress" a Talk by Featured Author William Gurstelle

The USA Science and Engineering Festival will really heat up when Popular Science and Make Magazine writer William Gurstelle speaks at the Family/Hands-on Science Stage on Sunday morning. Gurstelle, who wrote the bestselling DIY science book Backyard Ballistics, will be reading from his newest book, The Practical Pyromaniac. The book is a hands-on guidebook to playing with fire and narrates the story of humankind's long-coming understanding of the most important chemical reaction on the planet.

In addition to his talk, William will join a number of other well-known science authors including Homer Hickam, Theo Gray, and Robin Cook for a panel discussion on Saturday night to discuss how current science writing is reinvigorating interest in the sciences among young people. The Featured Author Panel Discussion "Science Stories in Society & School: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap" will take place at 8 pm at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium. Click here for free tickets to this event.

William's Sunday morning's talk is entitled "Science, Danger, and Progress". The three decade period preceding the year 1800 was a time of incredible scientific progress. Led by scientists such as Benjamin Franklin, John Dalton, Henry Cavendish, Joseph Priestly, and Antoine Lavoisier, the understanding of the physical world radically changed. The old theories of nature - the four elements, alchemy, and phlogiston, among others - were swept aside and new scientific understanding based on real chemistry and physics took hold. These men - The Practical Pyromaniacs - led lives filled with science, danger, and progress.

Visit this link to learn more about William Gurstelle and all of the Featured Authors at the USA Science & Engineering Festival.

carlyo Wed, 04/11/2012 - 04:00

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Science and Math With an 'Edge' -- Learning Is Best When It's Messy and Unpredictable

carlyo — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Science and Math With an 'Edge' -- Learning Is Best When It's Messy and Unpredictable

By Larry Bock
Founder and organizer, USA Science & Engineering Festival

The world runs on science and math, but let's face it, to get this across effectively to young students we sometimes have to get a little, well... messy.

No one knows this better than math and science author Sean Connolly who's gained a reputation with kids and teachers alike for breathing life into such potentially stuffy scientific tenets as Boyle's Law and Bernoulli's Principle through hands-on demonstrations and experiments that involve everything from potato guns and cola geysers to film-canister rockets and floating ping-pong balls. The result? Rapt attention and plenty of oohs and ahhs from students, in addition to an experience that illustrates first-hand in unforgettable ways to them how science and math relate to the real world.

If we are to excite and inspire kids in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) -- including motivating the next generation of innovators -- we have to learn to begin exploring new and creative interactive approaches such as Connolly's. Science has suffered too long from a public-relations problem perpetuated by images of nerdy researchers in white coats spouting boring formulas and theories, he says.

A full-time writer but not a trained scientist, Connolly has authored 65 educational books. He knows that in reaching kids, you often have to think like a kid, and sometimes this means getting messy, dirty and unpredictable. It's little wonder that his arsenal of science tricks and experiments are wildly popular -- a repertoire that also includes showing children how to grow a Frankenstein hand, turn milk into stone, produce a cola geyser with Mentos candy, burn ice, and make homemade lightning.

One only has to glance at the titles of Connolly's books for children in science and math -- such as his most recent work that is due out in March through Workman Publishing called The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math: 24 Death-Defying Challenges for Young Mathematicians -- to realize that this writer likes his content on the "edgy" side. The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math offers "64 daring experiments for young scientists," while his other well-known works in this realm are: The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science (Workman, 2008), and The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science (Workman, 2010), winner of the Science Books & Film's "Excellence in Science Writing" award for hands-on science.

He once said: "It's a terrible loss for children who didn't get the opportunity to get messy and dirty and get into a little bit of trouble. It's a good way to view the world -- through science eyes."

Connolly is among a prestigious lineup of 36 Featured Authors in STEM who will excite and engage young readers April 28-29, 2012 in Washington, DC at the USA Science & Engineering Festival and Book Fair hosted by Lockheed Martin, the nation's largest celebration of science and engineering.

The Book Fair, with its Featured Authors and book signings, is designed to demonstrate something that both kids and adults tend to forget: that science is fun and is not just something practiced in laboratories -- it's part of everything we see and do each day. Moreover, the fair gives students the chance to meet and hear some of the best-selling science writers in the country, which not only inspires kids to connect with science through reading, but helps build a strong foundation for science motivation in the classroom and for science literacy into adulthood.

In reflecting on his upcoming appearance at the Festival Book Fair, Connolly, with his characteristic wit and wry sense of humor, also provides a brief preview of his new book when he writes:

An appearance at the Festival gets us authors out of our garrets, blinking as we meet the real people out there. And it's those real people -- particularly the young ones -- who make it all so much fun.

I can draw them into my world of bad puns ("science friction," "give peas a chance") but also into the wider world of science. And on "Pi Day" (March 14) of this year, Workman [his publisher] will publish The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math: 24 Death-Defying Challenges for Young Mathematicians.

Writing it has given me the chance to replace those old "two trains leave Chicago" word problems with challenges that have real bite. Speaking of which, if one vampire drinks the blood of two humans at each full moon, turning them into vampires, how long will it take for Washington to be populated by vampires (and don't say it is already)?

No ordinary event, the Book Fair is part of the Festival's finale Expo weekend celebration scheduled at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Expo -- replete with a bevy of hands-on excitement in science, including 3,000 exhibits and 150 stage demonstrations -- will culminate a month-long series of nationwide activities by the Festival to inspire the next generation of innovators.

At the Book Fair, each author will give a 45-minute presentation on his or her work, followed with a question and answer period and book signing. Books by these writers can be purchased at the fair and online through the Festival Book Fair website.

In addition to Connolly, here is just a sampling of other esteemed Featured Authors that visitors can expect to hear and meet at the Book Fair:

Mathematics. Educator Rebecca Klemm is an advocate for numerical literacy among young learners. Her latest work, NumbersAlive!, demystifies numbers and mathematical concepts for students of all ages by helping them discover how numbers are an essential component of everything. Pendred (Penny) Noyce is a physician and a founding trustee of the Noyce Foundation, which supports mathematics and science education by supporting through enriching, hands-on experiences. She is author of the acclaimed children's book Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers.

Engineering. In writing Is There an Engineer Inside You? Celeste Baine says this is the book she wishes she would have had when entered the profession. The book, now in its third edition, provides insight into 32 different fields of engineering.

Space Exploration. Retired NASA engineer Homer Hickam called upon his childhood love of building rockets to pen the #1 New York Times bestseller Rocket Boys, which was made into the acclaimed Hollywood movie October Sky.

Books by Science Reporters. Joe Palca and Joel Achenbach, as authors and full-time science journalists, bring interesting perspectives. A science correspondent for NPR since 1992, Palca is the co-author of the 2011 book, Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us. Achenbach covers science for the Washington Post and is also a regular science contributor to National Geographic. He is author of A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea, an account of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Excitement. Engineers Ken Denmead and William Gurstelle have a talent for encouraging kids to dive in and get their hands dirty with projects that make science exciting. Denmead is author of The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists, while Gurstelle, a DIY building enthusiast in catapults and flamethrowers, is author of The Practical Pyromaniac.

Medicine. Physician Robin Cook has long thrilled readers with such novels as Year of the Intern, Coma and Chromosome 6. His latest book, Death Benefit, deals with Wall Street greed and medical malfeasance. Renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist Alfredo QuiÃones-Hinojosa, in Becoming Dr. Q, chronicles his amazing life story of rising from being a migrant worker to becoming one of the top physicians in his field.

Physics. The author of such works as Knocking on Heaven's Door, Harvard's Lisa Randall is among the most influential theoretical physicists today, with a penchant for explaining her topics in clear, exciting ways. In the same vein, former MIT physics professor Walter Lewin is introducing kids to the wonder of physics through For the Love of Physics.

Science With a Twist. Creator of that iconic, unforgettable periodic table of elements poster seen in TV shows MythBusters and Hannah Montana, Theodore Gray is author of such bestsellers as The Elements and Mad Science.

For more on the Book Fair and its Featured Authors and appearance schedules, click here.

Join us at the Festival and Book Fair when we put an "edge" on science, technology, engineering and mathematics to excite students in STEM and inspire the next generation of innovators.

Follow Larry Bock on Twitter.

carlyo Mon, 04/02/2012 - 04:00

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USA Science & Engineering Festival

Walter Lewin

William Gurstelle

Those above mentioned efforts to make Science and Math more recognizable and more effectively-educated to people especially kids, are very valuable. Those are a breakthrough that have been long awaited by humanity.

About learning, in my opinion, Learning Is Best When It's Reality-Based, Real-Life-Oriented, Personal, All-Experiential, Living, and Transforming! Therefore, IT IS MESSY and UNPREDICTABLE.
I Hope that This Breakthrough Movement on Science, Math, Learning, and Education goes on more massively!

Thanks Mario and wonderful opinion on learning!

I completely agree that teachers and instructors should not be afraid to let their students get "messy" during science instruction. Research has shown that "hands-on" learning is the best way for children to learn, especially in a subject such as science. Seeing, feeling,and watching science before student's eyes will make them dig deeper with their thoughts and discussion.

However, it is understandable that coming up with these hands-on activities are more time consuming for the teachers to find supplies, set up the lesson, etc. When it comes down to it, it is well worth it! There is nothing worse than students doing worksheet after worksheet. Why not go the extra mile and impact students and let them EXPLORE with hands on learning?!

Earth Day 2012 Finds Kids Ready to Do Their Part, Says Author Seymour Simon

carlyo — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Earth Day 2012 Finds Kids Ready to Do Their Part, Says Author Seymour Simon

By Larry Bock
Founder and Organizer, USA Science & Engineering Festival

Planet Earth -- that fragile blue marble in space that we call home -- deserves better from all of us, I think we would agree.

And for good reason. With such issues as energy, pollution, conservation and sustainability, and climate becoming rising worldwide concerns, it behooves everyone to do their part to make sure she thrives -- and survives.

NASA astronaut Ron Garan said last year after returning from spending more than five months on the International Space Station situated 250 miles above Earth: "I looked down at this indescribably beautiful fragile oasis, this island that has been given to us and has protected all life from the harshness of space, I couldn't help thinking of the inequity that exists. I couldn't help but think of the people who don't have clean water to drink, enough food to eat, of the social injustice, conflict, and poverty that exist. The stark contrast between the beauty of our planet and the unfortunate realities of life for many of its inhabitants reaffirmed the belief I share with so many. Each and every one of us on this planet has the responsibility to leave it a little better than we found it."

It is this interconnectedness and the power within all of us to make a difference that comes to mind as we prepare to observe the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. Moreover, what is especially refreshing is the growing number of children who are primed and ready to do their part in Earth Day, said Seymour Simon, well-known children's science book author whose array of award-winning works have covered such subjects as ecology, the environment and nature. "You might think that the Earth is so big and the subject so vast that kids would be overwhelmed," said Simon, "but you'd be surprised at what they have to say about it all."

Simon, whom the New York Times called "the dean of the [children's science] field," is among a prestigious lineup of 36 featured authors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who will excite and engage young readers April 28-29, 2012 in Washington, DC at the USA Science & Engineering Festival and Book Fair hosted by Lockheed Martin, the nation's largest celebration of science and engineering.

The Book Fair, with its featured authors and book signings, is designed to demonstrate to kids that the wonders of science are all around them waiting to be discovered. In addition, the fair gives students the chance to meet and hear some of the best-selling science writers in the country, which not only inspires kids to connect with science through reading, but helps build a strong foundation for science motivation in the classroom and for science literacy into adulthood.

As a preview to Earth Day, Simon, in a recent blog titled "Children Are Earth's Powerful Advocates," details just how tuned in kids are to observing this special day and doing their part. He writes:

Earth Day is a topic that comes up often as I travel the country, speaking in schools to thousands of children. Our planet Earth is so big and the subject so vast, that you might think that kids are overwhelmed. "What does this mean to me?" Or, "Why should I bother about Earth Day?" You might think that kids wonder. You might be surprised at what they really do say.

In anticipation of Earth Day last year, I posted an invitation to kids on my blog. I wrote: "How are you contributing to the Billion Acts of Green? Tell us how you are celebrating Earth Day." And I promised to publish each child's writing to inspire other readers to do the same.

We often get a dozen or so responses to one of my blog postings. But this invitation to be a vocal participant and advocate on Earth Day drew almost 300 responses from around the country. Here are some of the promises made by elementary students who have specific strategies for making a difference:

"Our class is going green. We are recycling all our old papers."

"I ride my bike or the bus to school to keep the air cleaner by not using our car."

"My carbon footprint was 13.5 (not so good). To reduce my carbon footprint I will reduce, reuse and recycle."

"My brother and I go out and pick up all the litter that people throw in a creek near us. There are lots of fish and frogs so when we are finished I look back and feel great."

"I love trees and that's why I don't waste paper. I recycle and encourage others to care about our world like a mother would care for her newborn."

"I usually refuse to use plastic silverware and cups."

"I learned that it takes one step at a time and if we start now the Earth will get better sooner. If we don't start.....who will?"

I have a favorite Native American proverb that suggests why we, as adults, should take our lead from the children as we celebrate Earth Day: "Treat the Earth well. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

The author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books (more than seventy-five of which have been named Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association), Simon brings his excitement in science to children' at the Festival's Book Fair during his presentation on Saturday, April 28.

No ordinary event, the Book Fair (April 28-29) is part of the Festival's finale Expo weekend celebration scheduled at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Expo -- replete with a bevy of hands-on excitement in science, including 2,000 exhibits and stage demonstrations -- will culminate a month-long series of nationwide activities by the Festival to inspire the next generation of innovators.

In addition to Simon, here is just a sampling of other esteemed featured authors that visitors can expect to hear and meet in the subjects of conservation and sustainability, green technology, climate, nature and energy alone:

Loree Griffin Burns, Ph.D., author of such natural world books as: Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion, and Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard.
Bruce Degen, noted children's science book author and illustrator, whose latest works include The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge, which was named the 2010 AAAS Science Books & Films Award winner.
Physicist-turned-writer Fred Bortz, author of Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future.
Paleoecologist and climate science author Curt Stager whose latest book is Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth.
Children's author Dia Michels who specializes in writing about mammals and whose latest work includes If My Mom Were A Platypus: Mammal Babies and their Mothers.
Joel Achenbach, staff writer for the Washington Post, whose suspense thriller, A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea, is his groundbreaking account of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Being a good steward of the Earth is our challenge. Join us at the Festival for inspiration and insight into what we can do with our children to make a difference!

For more on the Book Fair and its featured authors and appearance schedules: http://www.usasciencefestival.org/bookfair/

carlyo Fri, 03/23/2012 - 05:00

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Max Kurzweil Describes the Science Behind the Potato Chips

carlyo — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Max Kurzweil Describes the Science Behind the Potato Chips

By Max Kurzweil

When we're at a baseball game or on a picnic we call 'em chips. But when we're cooking up experiments at the Chip Science Institute we maintain in our basement, or at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington D.C., we call the world's most beloved munchie "research material."

For the last five years my dad and I have been using potato chips as a portal into the world of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. Who knew thin-sliced, deep-fried tubers could teach us about buoyancy, electrostatics, surface tension, acoustics, forensics, Bernoulli's principle, and more. When we tell you that investigating the material properties of the potato chip can be a BLAST, we mean it. (We'll be giving away a few dozen potato propulsion pipes to prove the point!) So for folks who like snacking on science high in saturated facts, you can't go wrong analyzing the material properties of chips, bags, lids, spuds, and tubes. Hope to see in D.C. -Max Kurzweil, co-inventor of Potato Chip Science (the bright blue bag of experimental swag).

You can meet Max Kurzweil and Featured Author Allen Kurzweil at the Festival Sunday, April 29th at 12:45 PM on the Family/Hands On Science Stage.

carlyo Wed, 03/21/2012 - 05:00

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USA Science & Engineering Festival

Washington D.C.