Dynamite Website

NobelPrize.org/ Educational

This is my new favorite educational website. Brought to you by Nobelprize.org, this website has dozens of interactive lessons, games, and resources in every subject they award Nobel Prizes in. Very cool resource for a webquest or review activity.

I think that designing these products would be my dream job.

Check it.

The sky over Death Valley, California

Science doesn't exist in a vacuum. Science can't just plug along its merry way as it pleases. Science must contend with culture, religion, and politics. As history shows, this can make for some raucous debates and at times- revolution. All of this is fodder for a cool blog from the desk of NPR.

13.7 Cosmos and Culture

13.7 looks at the issues facing the science community including stem cell research, philosophy, human evolution, and political and religious opposition. The posts are relevant, interesting, and insightful. The contributors include an astrophysicist, theoretical physicist, two biologists, and a philosopher. Check it out.

NPR has a well-deserved reputation for fair and extensive reporting on a wide variety of issues. They are also one of the few news organizations that does regular science reporting with the radio show Talk of the Nation: Science Friday with Ira Flatow. I have found that NPR is an excellent source for blogs on an assortment of topics and issues, including breaking news and expert opinions.

By the way, the Universe is 13.7 billions years old.

Love of Life

Without question, nature documentaries are one of my favorite things of all time...like Top 5, for sure. The definition of a relaxing evening to me would include a glass of wine and a BBC natural history film. With the money and technology available to documentary producers, outlets such as the BBC and National Geographic have made landmark films that capture the humble grandeur of Earth's most intriguing and rare organisms and places. By using cutting edge cinematic technology, they are able to film rare animal and plant behavior (yes, plants have behavior), much of which has never been seen/filmed.

Science fiction writers couldn't design the incredible creatures that carve out their living on earth. When I am watching a documentary, I am transported into their bizarre worlds and have to be reminded that we share the same planet. Some of my favorites include the mud-skippers in the BBC's Life series, the vampire squid in Blue Planet and fungi in Planet Earth. From the extremely small to the depths of the ocean these movies allow a unique window into that natural world that cannot be matched.

 The implications for the classroom are obvious. It is one thing to lecture about marine ecosystems and quite another watch yellow-fin tuna and a whale shark devour a school of silver bait-fish. I remember watching nature documentaries in school and the tedious worksheet that accompanied it. I couldn't get three minutes into the experience before I had to interrupt my viewing to write down a meaningless answer to a question that required me to stay awake during the film but no deeper thinking skills. I reject that method of making students accountable for watching the documentary. I would like the students to be able to get lost in the experience. I want them to be transported into the exotic worlds the film is exploring. I also want them to take something away from the experience besides a nap. A meaningful assignment would be to ask the students to describe the relationship between two organisms in the film or explain how an organism has adapted to its environment. These quick-writes can be done immediately after the film or at home, independently or with partners. To help jog the students' memory, teachers can provide a scene list for the segment. This allows student to fully experience the film while holding them accountable for the content.

Natural Romance

http://www.sundancechannel.com/greenporno/
I am absolutely enchanted by the most recent season of Seduce Me by Italian actress/model/philanthropist, Isabella Rossellini. It is the follow-up to the web series Green Porno, both produced by the Sundance Channel. Rossellini writes, directs, and stars in these charming and informative shorts about the animal sexual behavior with alluring wit and artistic romance. Using brilliant colored-paper costumes, she details the mating rituals of a variety of animals from bed bugs to dolphins. Rossellini explores the dynamic nature of animal sexuality highlighting homosexual, transsexual, bisexual, asexual, and hermaphrodite behavior. Highly recommended for nature lovers that appreciate the "adult" side of the animal kingdom.

They are used in some high school classrooms, but I think that teachers should choose wisely the videos they will show in class. Some videos are more physically explicit than others and some animal behavior is pretty wild (dolphins for instance--wow!). With good judgment, the series can elegantly capture the diversity and passion of animal seduction. Bravo!

Microscope Video

Here is a video I made on how to use a microscope. Unfortunately, the volume is terrible-- but hey, it was my first attempt at an iMovie.

Enjoy-- don't worry, you'll be laughing with me.

Technologize It.

This is a truly awesome time to be a teacher. Technology has simply blown away the stigma of the boring, four-walled classroom. Both students and teachers have an infinite amount of information available to them and we are still exploring how to best use it in an educational manner. Here are a couple of articles related to technology in the classroom.

This is a New York Times article about teacher's reactions to using technology in the classroom. It really underscores the revolutionary aspect of such technology and the effect it has on the learning process.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/from-some-teachers-excitement-about-classroom-tech/

This article highlights the use of blogging and Skyping in the elementary classroom. Students are able to interact with authors via Skype and blogs making valuable connections for both the authors and the students.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/from-some-teachers-excitement-about-classroom-tech/

I can't wait to try some of my ideas for technology in the classroom.

Blogs, Cells, and Learning

As a future teacher, I am constantly developing ideas for lesson plans and resources to offer my students. Blogs are a dynamic way to integrate technology in the classroom. The blog format allows Internet resources to be organized for easy access by students. Students can respond directly through comments or links to their own blog pages.

Perhaps my favorite area of science is cellular biology. This also tends to be a subject students consider terribly boring. The use of interactive resourses helps the students understand the dynamic, fluid nature of cells. I have been thinking about creating a blog scavenger hunt in which students can utilize the links to interesting games, websites, and research articles on cells provided under the Wild Lynx gadget. Once they have completed the hunt, they can reflect on their learning through posts on their own blogs. I can give them detailed feedback through comments on their page. Students can access eachothers blogs to compare experiences. It would be hard to simulate this project in a traditional classroom without the use of technology.

Let me know what you think and ideas you have for using blogs in the classroom.