#science ed

[sometimes-rocket-science]

Crocodiles Went Through a Vegetarian Phase, Too

Ancestors of modern crocodiles evolved to survive on a plant diet at least three times, researchers say.

[sometimes-rocket-science]

New Weapons Against Cancer: Millions of Bacteria Programmed to Kill

Genetically modified microbes release “nanobodies” that alert the immune system to cancer in mice, scientists report.

[holtthink]

A study on teaching critical thinking in science

Study of 2,500 middle school students on teaching the scientific method in middle school yields large learning gains but not as a standalone

[babynaturalist]

Such a fun science ed experience, and I’m sure these kids know photosynthesis backwards and forwards now!

[sue-the-zoo]

This is a mini project to either preserve or melt ice quickly. It’s a lead in to learning more about thermodynamics that they will need to be HVAC consultants for the Cool the School project.

This time, instead of the usual lab sheet, I set the challenge and gave them time to brainstorm. Showed the equipment and supplies and we reviewed the norms each class had generated to check they’d work in a lab setting. Plus added “Be safe” and “Clean up” with a short chat about what that means. (Slipping on spills and ice, trip hazards and heat lamps.)

Scientists use lab books to record what they did, what happened and ideas and that’s how I framed using their notebooks. Plus the rest of the class will be visiting their table at the end of class and having good notes will help them share their experiments stress-free.

It was amazing how responsible they were with the foil, mylar etc. The only safety issue was a couple of kids who started burning holes in leaves with magnifiers outside. Sigh. Should have thought of that… The atmosphere right now is of focused chat, each group looks pretty absorbed in what they are doing. The only real management issue has been that in the time they are melting the ice cubes, they start messing about, so we had to chat about the valuable life skill of how to look as if you are working for your future boss.

Giving students so much freedom is at once a bit scary and a bit hard to trust that they will get to high level thinking about experimental design, melting and thermodynamics on their own. But the enormous gain is the level of engagement and conversation. Much better than having to roam around policing kids. Instead, I’m roaming around looking for good experimental design, getting them materials they need and encouraging them.

The lesson plan

A very complex set up

We finished off with a table by table share-out of what they did, what happened and what they learned. The main learnings were that you should only have one variable to make the experiment fair, that you need to measure the melt water and that the effect of foil is really confusing to students – all sorts of thermodynamic misunderstandings around insulation, reflection and absorption and re-emission. We’ll address those next week with some light and energy labs.

Ice Cube Challenge: Treat students like scientists for worse data and better learning. This is a mini project to either preserve or melt ice quickly. It's a lead in to learning more about thermodynamics that they will need to be HVAC consultants for the Cool the School project.

[theartguy]

(via The Apollo Mission Photos as a Stop Motion Journey to the Moon and Back)

[theartguy]

A statement said: "UCL can confirm that Sir Tim Hunt FRS has resigned from his position as honorary professor with the UCL Faculty of Life Sciences following comments he made about women in science at the World Conference of Science Journalists on 9 June.

Sexism row scientist Sir Tim Hunt quits over ‘trouble with girls’ speech - Telegraph

“Why aren’t there more women in STEM fields?”

Because too many men in STEM fields think comments like the one Sir Tim Hunt made are funny.

Worse, too many men in STEM fields think comments like the one he made are true.

[theartguy]

After Bishop blogged about this, things got even stranger. It emerges, for instance, that Matson was in the habit of accepting papers without sending them off for peer review, acting as sole handling editor. He also published a large amount of his own work in the journals he edited.

Editorial Misbehaviour in Autism Journals? - Neuroskeptic Peer Review is one of the cornerstones of science. It's a way to separate the credible scientific discoveries from junk "science" papers that do things like say vaccines are bad, climate change is a myth, or that homeopathy is anything other than expensive water. Johnny L. Matson, assuming these allegations are true, is a horrible person. (The allegations get worse as you read the full article, but skipping the peer review stage is pretty darned damning.) Anything with his name on it in any kind of decision making capacity should now be brought into question, which considering his involvement with autism "research" could be a very big deal.