March 2012
56 posts
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The Crisis in Early Education A Research-Based... →
By Joan Almon and Edward Miller
The crisis in early education in the U.S. continues unabated. Policymakers persist in ignoring the huge discrepancy between what we know about how young children learn and what we actually do in preschools and kindergartens.
Numerous studies—some extending over decades—show the effectiveness of play-based education that combines hands-on learning...
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Ravitch: The toll of school reform on public... →
By Diane Ravitch
There comes a time when you look at the rug on the floor, the one you’ve seen many times, and you see a pattern that you had never noticed before. You may have seen this squiggle or that flower, but you did not see the pattern into which the squiggles and flowers and trails of ivy combined.
In American education, we can now discern the pattern on the rug.
Consider the...
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Do You Know This Face? The Smithsonian Needs Help... →
Each March, the Smithsonian Institution Archives celebrates Women’s History Month by posting historical photographs of female scientists, science journalists and engineers to a Flickr Commons album. Taken from the 191os to 1960s, the portraits capture many women who were pioneers in their fields. But for a number of the photographs, however, there is little in terms of caption information...
Khan Academy Stories →
These stories inspire us. We decided to share them with you, unedited.
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How to Write Like a Scientist →
I didn’t know whether to take my Ph.D. adviser’s remark as a compliment. “You don’t write like a scientist,” he said, handing me back the progress report for a grant that I had written for him. In my dream world, tears would have come to his eyes, and he would have squealed, “You write like apoet!”
In reality, though, he just frowned. He had meant it as a criticism. I don’t write like a...
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Your Brain on Fiction →
Brain scans are revealing what happens in our heads when we read a detailed description, an evocative metaphor or an emotional exchange between characters. Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.
Read more…
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Mild winter gives deer ticks an early start: And... →
On the heels of a mild winter, experts say ticks are already on the move in the region, and some species of mosquitoes could also stand to benefit from unseasonably warm weather this spring. The past winter was the fifth-warmest on record, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Hawley. Hawley said the average temperature this winter, between December and February, was 29...
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Smithsonian Channel presents Women in Science →
iTunes University’s Smithsonian Channel’s has a great set of interviews with women scientists covering everything from planetary geology to forensic ornithology. Check it out and share it with your budding scientist today!
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Artist suspends real clouds in the middle of the... →
good:
This is not a fluffy mass of cotton strung up in a room. It’s an actual, man-made cloud.
That’s not photoshop; that’s an actual cloud hovering inside an actual room. Artist Berndnaut Smilde merges art and science to create small man-made clouds that exist — albeit for just a moment — indoors.
(via singularitarian)
(via poptech)
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TEDEducation Channel →
TED-Ed’s mission is to capture and amplify the voices of great educators around the world. We do this by pairing extraordinary educators with talented animators to produce a new library of curiosity-igniting videos. A new site, which will launch in early April 2012, will feature these new TED-Ed Originals as well as some powerful new learning tools.
For those who can’t wait that...
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GeekDad Interview: Neil deGrasse Tyson
By Matt Blum
Email Author
March 13, 2012 for Wired
Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the very few people smart enough, knowledgeable enough, charming enough, and, yes, famous enough that he might just be the best spokesperson for science alive. He’s certainly the best spokesperson for American space exploration, a subject that has never needed advocates more than it does today. I recently had the...
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Overcoming 10 “Hands On” Hurdles
Overcoming 10 “Hands On” Hurdles
by JAMIE on MARCH 11, 2012
I’ve been in conversation with my sister-in-law lately about being a hands on mom. She’s just at the beginning stages of truly being able to do activities with her oldest [2 years old].
As we’ve been talking, it has opened my eyes to common excuses, or hurdles, that a lot of moms have when it comes to becoming hands on with their...
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The BeetleCam Project →
In 2009 we embarked on a project to get unique close-up, ground level photographs of African wildlife. To achieve this I built BeetleCam; a remote controlled buggy with a DSLR camera mounted on top. Matt and I travelled to Tanzania and used the buggy to get groundbreaking photographs of elephants and buffalo. However, we lost a camera and BeetleCam was almost destroyed in our only encounter with...
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Tangled up in blue →
Those who have been reading this blog for awhile know I’m obsessed with blue pollen. It just seems like such a gratuitous gesture on the part of mother nature. After all, the bees are attracted to the color of the flowers, the sweetness of the nectar, and the scent oozing from the glands. The color of the pollen shouldn’t much matter. And, as we all know, bees will collect it regardless of the...
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Luck o' the Irish
raisingcoolkids:
A thumbprint shamrock // Family Corner / via Julie
A green pasta dish // Avocados from Mexico / via Michelle
A green smoothie // Babyccino Kids / via Jackie
A rainbow with a pot of gold // it is what it is / via Rebecca
A green ice cream cupcake // One Charming Party
A shamrock stamp // LesTout / via Laura
A shamrock hat // Alphamom / via candepop
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Full Moon Dominates Planet-Filled Night Sky... →
discoverynews:
The full moon of March takes charge of the evening sky tonight, but Jupiter, Venus, Mars and other solar system objects are putting on a show for stargazers as well.
March’s full moon peaked at 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT) this morning (March 8), though the bright moon generally appears full to casual observers both a day before and after the exact time of its full phase.
Space.com...
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A Challenge to Make Science Crystal Clear →
The actor Alan Alda has created a contest where anyone — including scientists — can offer an explanation of what a flame is; 11-year-olds will judge which answer is best.
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Small Kids, Big Kids: We Must Use Our Words |... →
Submitted by Gwendolyn Eden on March 6, 2012
I recently visited a friend’s preschool classroom. While there, I saw an argument that mirrored my high school students’ conflicts. I walked away curious about the way younger and older students use their words to explain their feelings and the actions of others.
The 4-year-olds were in different activity centers. Students built a labyrinth of colorful...
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“All the adults are saying, ‘We need to improve science in the world. Let’s train...”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson, on America’s lack of science literacy (via theatlantic)
