Real Life Quidditch!

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST
"Block that quaffle!"

The last couple years the MOST has shown Harry Potter movies in our IMAX Omni-theater.  We have tried the create a number of different incentives to get the community interested.  These include Harry Potter planetarium shows, workshops, and demos, and getting the local bars to sell butterbeer, but today may have been my favorite.  Today we had quidditch!

Harry Potter fans know quidditch as the made-up game in JK Rowling's Harry Potter world.  Wizards and witches fly around on broom sticks and try to score points by throwing a quaffle through hoops, while being careful not to get knocked off their brooms by bludgers.  Meanwhile the seekers try to catch the snitch to win the game.

Muggle Quidditch is the real life counterpoint invented at Middlebury college in Vermont in 2005.  Since then college and high school students across America and Canada have formed teams, 100 of which compete at the International Quidditch World Cup in NYC every year.  Competitors still have to keep a broom between their legs, and seekers have to chase a human snitch.

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST

Our marketing department contacted Syracuse University's team, and they agreed to play outside the museum to promote our IMAX.  Today was a cold and drissly day, but they came anyway, and played with smiles on their faces.  In fact, I don't think I've ever seen people enjoying a sport so much before.  Their smiles were contagious, and I think those of us watching were tempted to start our own team.  I don't know how much the weather affected the attendance, but the MOST employees were just about the only ones there.  I nice exception was a family with two young boys who watched from their car.  It was pretty funny watching the expressions on people's faces who came up to ask what was going on.  "Quidditch?"

  I certainly enjoyed the experience myself, but I suppose the question we should be asking is "Was this effective?"  I'm not sure I have a good answer for this.  Events like this, and the other promotions we've run do not bring in a lot of people.  Some events at the MOST bring in hundreds or even a thousand people.  The planetarium shows, demos, and collaborations like this don't do much to increase attendance for the day.  Even so, I think it is important for museums and science centers to keep trying new things to connect with the community and bring in visitors.  As long as we are careful not to spend too much our resources on these projects, they may be worth it.  They always connect with someone.  The SU students will now appreciate the MOST more, and hopefully become advocates for science museums.  The two boys watching from their car will probably remember this quidditch game for years.  Events like this remind me once again that working in the informal science education field is always full of surprises and great experiences.

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST
"Catch that snitch!"

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST

Syracuse University Quidditch at the MOST
"Pass that quaffle"

Promoting the traveling science show on Bridgestreet!

I always enjoy promoting the MOST on Bridgestreet!

 

Ice Age Mammals of North America book review

Ice Age Mammals of North America by Ian M. Lange

In my search for reading material to help me better understand the Ice Age exhibit coming to the MOST, this has been the best.  This is a fantastic book for my needs.  I am not going to go into much of the content of the book, but I want to share a few thoughts.

The first thing I would like to point out is that the title and cover do not match what is under the hood.  If you couldn't read English and picked up a copy of this book, you might think this was meant for 8-12 year old kids.  It is glossy, floppy, has many illustrations, and the design of the text on the cover really appear to be created to get kids attention.  An intelligent and committed middle schooler may be able to follow the author's descriptions of the Ice Age, but this really seems like a book for high school students and adults.

What Ian M. Lange has done is create a fantastic overview of The Ice Age and how it related to North America.  The title implies the book is a guide to mammals, but much of the book is dedicated to explained the history of ice ages and the methods and history of the science.  He also does a great job describing many of the interesting animals from the Pleistocene that lived in North America.  What I like is that he puts the animals in an evolutionary context, explaining the species that let up to them.  In this way the reader gets a much better understanding of the relationship between the animals than a simple snapshots of each animal would do.  Mr. Lange even includes Woolly rhinos in the book.  He explains that they never made it to North America, but they got close enough and are really interesting.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the book are the pop-up sections.  Every so often the text will be interrupted with a pop up section that is a couple pages long.  Each one deals with an interesting question or topic.  Some of the topics include mammal mummies, clovis spears and culture, and tar pits.  Later this week I am leading a staff training on the traveling ice age exhibit, and I'm thinking that I will break the staff up into small groups and have each read one of these pop-up sections.

If I was going to recommend only one of the books I've read so far on the topic, this would be it.  This gives a great overview of what was happening in North America during the Pleistocene, and is full of interesting information.  .  Understanding the ice ages isn't just interesting from a "wow that's cool" perspective   It is an important topic for understanding human culture, environmental conservation, and climate change.  Start here and then journey into the many facets of this topic explored in other books.

Book Review: Frozen Earth

On my quest to learn more about the last ice age I recently read Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages by Doug Macdougall.  This 267 page popular science book is a great read. If you love going to museums and seeing the skeletons of the huge ice age mammals like mammoths and giant ground sloths, or get excited when you see a big boulder in a field where it doesn't seem to belong, than you will probably enjoy this, too.

Going into this book I knew some of the very basics about ice ages.  An ice age is a period of time when permanent glaciers cover much of the northern hemisphere and when ocean levels are much lower.  Ice a mile high covered my hometown, Syracuse, NY until something like 12,000 years ago.  In fact, much of the geology in Central New York was shaped by that ice.  Everything from the lakes and hills to the boulders and pebbles are remnants of the ice age.  And, thanks to the fiction of Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series, I have followed  the lives of early hunter gatherers through the landscapes of ice age Europe.

What I really didn't know was the science, and this book was a great help.  Mr. Macdougall's book is very accessible, well organized, and packed with good information.  I must admit, though, I had to read it twice to try to remember half of what he wrote and I'm sure I could benefit from a third reading.

Frozen Earth starts with a summery of ice age science and reminds us that we are actually in an ice age right now.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The last ice age, the Pleistocene Ice Age is still happening.  It started around 3 million years ago and has been characterized by cold and warm periods referred to as glacial and interglacial. The last 10,000 years have been an interglacial period.  The last warm period during the Pleistocene Ice Age was around 120,000 years ago.  If you live in a place that was covered by glaciers all those years ago, it might seem strange to think an ice age is still happening.  If you live in Greenland, however, it might seem pretty obvious.  The Earth still has glaciers, some of which are even pretty close to the equator.  Probably all these glaciers have been there at least since the peak of the last glacial period 19,000 year ago.  Of course, many of these glaciers are currently melting away due to climate change, but at least for now they remind us that the ice ages are not over.

Mr. Macdougall spends the bulk of the book taking the reader on a tour of the history of the science from the mid 1800's to the present day.  We learn about Louis Agassiz, the first scientist to really develop and advance ice age theories.  He was the one who got people looking at glaciers, stranded boulders, and the scratches on rocks that stand out as evidence for the ice ages.  James Croll is one of the other scientists who's life we learn about, and who stands out to me.  Agassiz convinced the world that the ice ages were real, but it is was James Croll in the 1860's who started to figure out their cause in the eccentricities of the Earth's orbit.  The author does a great job taking the reader through the major innovations of ice age science.  I already knew that ice cores were one way to study the climate of the past, but Mr. Macdougall impressed me with how it actually works.  One thing I hadn't known about before was that scientists also drill for cores in the ocean floor.  The author explains that too, as well as other methods of understanding the past climate.

So what causes an ice age?  What Frozen Earth taught me is that a lot of factors contribute to an ice age.  It seems that our Earth's orbit around the Sun, which has small changes over time due to the gravitational influence of the other planets, is perhaps the trigger for ice ages.  But it doesn't work alone.  The position of continents, the carbon cycle, the water cycle, methane in the atmosphere, the circulation of the oceans, all contribute.  If you have looked into climate change science, these factors should sound familiar.  They are the same ones that relate to climate change.  The Earth is a dynamic place.  Everything is interconnected.

Could the current man-made climate change end the Pleistocene Ice Age?  This question forms the basis of the last chapter of the book.  Judging from the duration of past interglacial periods of the last 3 million years, we are due for another glacial period.  Geologic time scales are very long, so this may be another 10,000 years or more from now, but it should come.  As the Starks from Game of Thrones would say, "WINTER IS COMING," and when it does much of North America and Europe will be under ice.  But maybe it won't happen.  Scientists don't know if it is possible, but it may be that humans, through climate change, will actually end the glacial cycles or put them off for a time.

In this review I have tried to give you an idea for the feel of the book and point out some of the things I thought were interesting.  If I've piqued your interest, than please give the book a read.  After all, I've only just scratched the tip of the iceberg.

Top 5 Best NASA Websites

NASA logo, sometimes called
the "NASA meatball"

I don't know about you, but I love NASA.   I think what the scientists, engineers, and educators do there is important and I hope you do, too.  But maybe you don't.  And maybe you don't know much about them.  Here are descriptions of some of my favorite NASA websites.  These are not in any specific order, but together represent some of the best science websites on the internet.

TOP 5 BEST NASA WEBSITES

1. NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studios:

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA Goddard
Scientific Visualization Studio
Webpage

This is probably the NASA website I use more than any other.  The Scientific Visualization Studios or SVS is made up of a team of scientists and artists that take NASA data and turn it into beautiful images and videos.  This is an archive of thousands of images and videos produced by NASA.  When I need new images or videos for a planetarium show or presentation, this is the place I go.  Although the front page does have a few categories to browse through, the site is mostly just a search engine that may bring up a couple hundred items for each search.  Many people will find this site a bit intimidating, but I assure you that your time here is well spent.  There is so much to learn.

2. NASA Visualization Explorer App

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasaviz/index.html

NASA Visualization Explorer

If I had an ipad, this would be one of the first apps I would get.  This is a FREE application available for ipads or usable online.  It is currently not available for any other platforms, but at some point it should be.  This app presents many of NASA's cool visualizations, like the ones on the SVS page, but is very user friendly.  The SVS team adds a new article twice a week.  Check it out!!!

3.  NASA Earth Observatory

 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

NASA Earth Observatory
website

Many people don't know this, but NASA does a ton of research on the Earth.  Seeing the Earth from space offers wonderful opportunities for science.  Not only did NASA design the weather satellites that provide the information you see on the Weather Channel, but they  take all types of measurements of the Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and even biology.  This site is a great place to find high quality and accessible visualizations.

4.  NASA Global Climate Change Website

http://climate.nasa.gov/index.cfm

NASA Global Climate
Change Website

NASA's Global Climate Change website is fantastic.  Trying to figure out what is going on with climate change can be a frustrating experience, but the information and design of this site make it a lot easier.  Climate Change is a topic that we should all be educating ourselves about.  This site has information for kids, adults, and teachers.  Please check it out.

5.  NASA TV

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

NASA TV website

NASA TV!  What more needs to be said.  Now you can stay caught up on NASA's missions and discoveries 24 hours a day.

Performing for Adolescence Psychiatric Patients Prt. 3

Last November I wrote two blog articles about performing science shows at Hutchings Psychiatric Hospital.        In the first article I explained what the experience was like for me, and the preparations I made before the shows.  In the second article I outlined some of the reasons I thought the shows were a success.  Here we are almost one year later, and last week I had the pleasure, thanks to financial support from OnCare, to work with the Hospital's patients again.  This experience was as successful as last year's, and I'd like to share some thoughts.

Well, the first thing I really thought about going into this was what demonstrations to bring.  The MOST has a number of demonstrations that are designed to be fun and interactive.  I could choose from bubble tricks, how to crush a can using air pressure, the science behind sound and music, the amazing properties of liquid nitrogen, or several other engaging demonstrations.  Last year, the patients loved meeting the museum's pet turtle and learning about the science of sound and music.  This time I decided to try the show I had been performing at the libraries this summer.  Beyond Dreams: The Real Science of the Night focuses on nocturnal animals and astronomy.  Acting out firefly light codes and using echolocation to chase down volunteer mosquitoes was a sure thing with the younger patients, but I wasn't so sure about the teen group.  I would have to think of something to spice it up a little.

The young children's show went great.  There were less than ten kids, all who looked to be in the 7-12 range.  They were interested in the subject, excited to volunteer, and curious about everything.  As part of the show I brought a live Madagascar hissing cockroach.  This was a big hit.  When I first revealed the cockroach, some of the kids said they were scared and didn't want me to get near them with it, and certainly didn't want to touch it.  By the end of the show I think every one of them not only got up close to the insect, but asked to touch it as well.  Kids have such a natural interest in animals, and even though a part of them was afraid, the opportunity to touch the insect was too good to pass up.  Hopefully, overcoming their fear added a confidence boost for the day.  Having a small group of kids was key to the success of the show.  It allowed for an informal atmosphere and enough time for the patients to change their minds a couple of times regarding the cockroach.  If I am at a school with say 30 or 40 students in line to touch the cockroach, there may not be enough time for them to change their mind.

The MOST's Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
Photographed by Dustin Angell

The show for the adolescent group was another success.  I have personally performed around 150 traveling science shows in 2012 so far, but only a very small number included teenagers in the audience.  This was a chance to work outside of my normal comfort zone with an age group that is often skeptical of planned learning activities.  I think that challenge was part of the reason why a successful show for this age group meant so much to me.  I believed that nocturnal animals, star gazing, and astronomy are science topics for all ages, but I also knew how carefully I would have to "pitch" or "package" these topics to sell the teens on them.  When working with young kids my approach is simple: I demonstrate my own amazement and wonder with science and the natural world and give them a chance to participate.  That is really all it takes.  With the teens I tried something different.

Before becoming a science educator I was trained in college as a photographer.  Since I was a child I have felt that art was a calling for me.  In fact I still do, and the Beyond Dreams show utilizes a lot of my own photography work.  Fortunately, the first slide in the show is a photograph of mine, so I was able to introduce this side of myself.  I asked if any of them were interested in photography and about half put their hands up.  I explained that I used a lot of my own photography in the show and would be happy to answer any questions about it, which I did end up doing.

When it came to the parts of the show where audience members volunteered to help me act out certain things, I was careful to discard some of the more childish parts.  The cockroach was a hit again, and I think just about everyone ended up touching it.

Screenshot from Stellarium

What really got the attention of the adolescents was the astronomy section.  I don't think I showed them anything specifically that really astonished or excited them.  I think it the topic of astronomy did that all on its own.  I do many planetarium shows at the MOST, but don't usually use astronomy as a topic as part of the traveling science program.  However, it seems that whenever I do show astronomy images or use the free computer program Stellarium to teach about constellations, the audience can't get enough.  They just boil over with questions.  The show for the adolescent group ended up having an extra 10-15 minutes of question time.  The patients seemed to forget themselves and their problems, and for those few minutes they were concerned with something much bigger than themselves or even the Earth.  I was enjoying myself so much that I could have continued answering questions all day, but the patients needed to move on with their schedule.

I can't say that the patients will go home and start listening for owls, watching for bugs, or looking for constellations.  I don't really know what long term effect these 45 minute shows have.  But I do know that during both shows I saw kids enjoying a learning experience that aimed at empowering them with knowledge and confidence.  A room full of any kids doing this feels like a success to me, but when the kids are hospitalized psychiatric patients it seems like a step in the right direction, and even a move towards healing.

Neanderthal book review

This October the MOST is bringing in a traveling exhibit on Ice Age Mammals.  Last fall our dinosaur exhibit came from the same company (Kokoro Exhibits), and the quality was very nice.  The dinosaurs were animatronic and made sounds, too.  Many children wondered if they were real, and at least one middle school student tried to feed one of the raptors her cell phone.  From what I've seen on Kokoro's site, the Ice Age exhibit should be of a similar quality.

I love when we get in a new exhibit like this, because it gives me the opportunity to research the topic.  To begin my studies, I read Clive Finlayson's The Humans Who Went Extict: Why Neanderthals died out and we survived.

First off, though this book is relatively short (220 pages) it is not a simple read.  The author doesn't seem to be writing for a general population.  The reader should probably have some understanding of evolution, ecology, and geology.  His book is an overview of his opinions on human and proto-human populations during the last several million years, with a tighter focus on the last 780,000 years, a period characterized by cycles of ice ages.  If this sounds as interesting to you as it does to me, than you should enjoy the book.

Finlayson's perspective in The Humans Who Went Extict is very much in line with the thinking of Jared Diamond, found in his influential works Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies.  The assumption of both authors is that the success of different groups of people come not from any inherent superiority of intelligence, but from being in the right place at the right time.  Jared Diamond does a good job of showing that human history over the last 40,000 years is powerfully shaped by geography and natural resources.  Finlayson's book takes this same view, only he sees Neanderthals, Homo Erectus, Ice Age Homo Sapiens, and possibly even other groups of pre-historic humans as being similar in intellect.

Finlayson sees the story of humans (including Neanderthals) during the ice ages as one controlled by changes in habitat and ecology brought about by extremes in climate change.  Let's take a look at some of the points he makes during the book.

Modern humans weren't always the only humans:  During the last 780,000 years there have been a variety of human species that have lived at the same time.  For example, around 50,000 years ago Homo sapiens shared the planet with Neanderthals, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis, and possibly others.  These different humans didn't necessarily interact or live near each other, but they were all here.

Neanderthals weren't dumb:  Neanderthals may not have made art or worn jewelry, but Finlayson says that this doesn't matter and should not be a prerequisite when looking for intellect.  He also makes the point to say that some of them may have done these things anyway.  Many of the sites where tools and human ornaments are found don't have any human skeletons with them.  Scientists assume that the more modern artifacts come from our ancestors, but we don't really know.  We do know that Neanderthals, like all humans, adapted to their environments.  Their diet and culture depended on where they lived.

Neanderthals weren't made for the cold or the plains:  One popular view of Neanderthals is that they were adapted to the ice age cold and hunted woolly mammoths.  Finlayson believes this is wrong.  Neanderthal bodies were wide and strong, but this was an adaptation for hunting and not for the cold.  And while some may have hunted woolly mammoths, Neanderthals were probably not very good at it.  Neanderthals evolved their body types hunting in forests and woody savannahs, where they could ambush there prey and fight them head on.  Neanderthals did live as far north as the British Isles, but these were only during interglacial times, when the climate warmed up.  As soon as the next ice age came, the Neanderthal range would contract again.  Because of their stocky bodies built for ambushing, Neanderthals were not well suited for the long distances required for hunting animal herds on the plains.

Modern human's didn't cause Neanderthals to go extinct:  The popular conception about the demise of Neanderthals is that modern humans did it.  We think this because we can see Neanderthal populations and their ancestors in Europe for 500,000 years or more, but they disappear when humans enter the region around 30,000.  This evidence, and the fact that we always assumed they were stupid, is taken to mean that we either outcompete them or murdered them.  Finlayson says that there is no evidence for any of this.  In fact, he points out that when our ancestors reached into Europe and other places where Neanderthals had lived, they were mostly already gone.  Certainly there were probably moments of contact, which could include interbreeding and cultural diffusion, but there is no reason to suspect genocide.  He even finds cases in which different human species did live near each other for thousands of years.

Modern humans survived because they were better adapted to the plains:  The ice ages brought with them the mammoth-steppe, a type of treeless plains.  Homo sapiens were better adapted to this habitat because they were built to walk long distances and lived in larger social groups than Neanderthals.  It is because of these features Finlayson claims that wolves and Homo sapiens were the best predators for the plains.  Finlayson beleives that as these plains spread the range of the Neanderthals shrunk until the species was isolated into such small groups that it went extinct.

There is a lot that we don't know and scientists have very contradictory perspectives because of that:  I want to end the book review with this final point.  Finlayson makes it clear right from the beginning that there are a lot of differences of opinions on the topic of the book, and much of this is because of a lack of evidence.  When the author comes to contested issues, he makes a point to let the reader know a little about the history of the arguments surrounding it.  He, of course, has his own opinion about each of these issues, and his always seem to make the most sense.  After finishing the book I do think that Finlayson is a credible source.  He seems to have a strong grip on all of the developments in the field, and his endnotes are almost as long as the book itself.  I am now eager to start another book by another author and see what they have to say.

Sun-Earth Day 2012 Transit of Venus

June 5th was NASA's Sun-Earth Day! This was a celebration of the 2012 Transit of Venus.  A transit is when something passes through something else, and in this case the planet Venus was passing across the face of the sun. Since it is dangerous to look at the sun directly and because Venus won't appear to transit the sun again for over 100 years, my fellow science educators and I decided to become part of the celebration. We often teach people about astronomy at the MOST, but this was the first time our team tried to have a public viewing event. The MOST is located in downtown Syracuse and is surrounded by tall buildings and plenty of light pollution. Since this event involved the sun and would take place in a area of the sky we could see from outside the building, we knew it could work. We started putting the event together a few months beforehand and spreading the word. We put together a number of activities to do inside, as well as a live webcast of the event from Hawaii, and arranged to have sun-safe telescopes set up outside. One of our volunteers brought a couple and the Syracuse Astronomical Society brought the rest.

For my part, I helped organize a computer lab with Sun-Earth Day videos from NASA, gave two planetarium shows that focused on debunking 2012 "end of the world" nonsense, and a station that tough people how to write numbers like the Ancient Maya. The Ancient Maya were Venus experts, and calculated their data with a very different number system than the decimal system we use today.

As June 5th approached the skies grew overcast and I came down with the flu. The event at the MOST started at 6pm, and I arrived a few hours earlier to finish setting up. I was also thinking that I might have to leave before the event, and stay home sick. When I arrived, however, I learned that people had been calling the museum non-stop. I thought that because of the bad weather we might get thirty people to show up, but we already had more than 80 reservations! Staying home sick was not going to be an option. A short trip to the pharmacy later and I was ready to give it my best.

Venus is covered by thick clouds.  Image: NASA

 Our event ended up succeeding beyond our expectations. The weather cleared up, the astronomy society did a great job with their telescopes, our activities were a hit, and over 150 people participated! I really wasn't sure I would have a chance to actually see the transit. While inside I was enjoying teaching people about the ancient Maya counting system, which is a base 20 instead of a base 10 system. My first guest was a mathematician and it certainly didn't take him long to catch on. I was also impressed by an elementary student who loved numbers.  He did a great job taking the time he needed to learn the system.  If you are curious about the Maya system, you can learn it from the Calendar in the Sky website. I was fortunate to recently participate in a 2-day training at the NYC Natural History Museum run by the Calendar in the Sky people. If you go to the resource section of the website, there are a number of lesson plans you can view or download. A couple of these will teach you about the counting system. The planetarium shows were both almost filled to capacity. There wasn't a lot of questions asked, unfortunately, but the shows went well. Often groups with a lot of adults don't ask questions. If I hadn't been sick, maybe I could have coaxed a little more out of them, but I think most everybody enjoyed the show.

The surface of Venus if you could look
through the clouds.
Image: NASA

 And now for the best part! Just as I finished the second planetarium show and the event was ending, my girlfriend surprised me by showing up. She had already seen the transit and urged me to get outside to the telescopes while there was still time. The sun was pretty low in the horizon and most of the scopes were already taken down. Luckily, I was able to look through one just before the sun went behind a phone pole or something. In fact, I may have been the last one to see it that day.

I did go home and spend the night with a nasty fever and little sleep, but I'm still glad I worked the event and that Emily showed up to bring me outside. I will never again have a chance to see this happen, but now I can remember it and talk of it for the rest of my life.

The day before the event I went on Channel 9's Bridge Street morning show to promote Sun-Earth Day as well as other things happening at the MOST.  If your curious, you can watch the clip below.

 

 I was also on Bridge Street a couple months ago to promote our Nano Science Week. You can watch that video below, too.

New Science Standards: A Framework for K-12 Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

It has been over 15 years since the last national science education standards were written, and now it is almost time for some new ones.  The National Research Council has published a report called A Framework for K-12 Science Education.  This 385 page document is being used to inform the creation of the new standards. These standards are currently being written in collaboration with 26 states who have agreed to give serious consideration to adopting the standards when they are finished later this year.  Once written and adopted, these standards should have a profound effect on the way science is taught in schools.  For those of us informal science educators that work with schools and teachers, these standards will have a big impact on us, too. 

I finished reading the report this weekend and would like to share with you the general structure of what the report outlines as well as include some of my own thoughts.  The report can be purchased from amazon for $39.95 or downloaded as a pdf for free on www.nextgenscience.org.  Throughout this review I will include passages from the report.  While reading through it I recorded many passages.  I’ve uploaded these notes on my site here for any who are interested.

What is wrong with the old science standards published in 1996?

According to the introduction, the overall goal of the report is “to ensure that by the end of 12^th grade, all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science; possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues; are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives; are able to continue to learn about science outside school; and have the skills to enter careers of their choice, including (but not limited to) careers in science, engineering, and technology.” 

The problem, they say, is that our current system of science education is failing to do these things.  The system “is not organized systematically across multiple years of school, emphasizes discrete facts with a focus on breadth over depth, and does not provide students with engaging opportunities to experience how science is actually done.”  And apart from this, scientific knowledge, technology, and understanding of how students learn science have all changed since the mid-1990’s.  Now, more than ever, in order to properly make choices that relate to legislation as well everyday decisions, citizens need to have a certain level of scientific literacy.  We are also currently in a time when states are collaborating on educational standards, which gives an added push toward the creation of new standards.

How will the new standards achieve their overall goal?

The report sets out some specific directions on what components should make up the new standards.  Mostly, they call for science education to be based around three dimensions: scientific and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts that unify science and engineering across grades and disciplines, and core ideas in four disciplinary areas.   How exactly these pieces will fit together will be determined by those writing the standards, but the report is clear that all three should be intertwined.  For example, when learning about a specific core idea a student should actually explore the idea using scientific and engineering practices, and be able to identify how that idea relates to some of the overall crosscutting concepts in science.

Here is what the dimensions look like:

Dimension 1: Scientific and Engineering Practices

1.       Asking questions and defining problems

2.       Developing and using models

3.       Planning and carrying out investigations

4.       Analyzing and interpreting data

5.       Using mathematics and computational thinking

6.       Constructing explanations and designing solutions

7.       Engaging in argument from evidence

8.       Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts

1.       Patterns

2.       Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation

3.       Scale, proportion, and quantity

4.       Systems and system models

5.       Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation

6.       Structure and function

7.       Stability and change

Dimension 3: Disciplinary Core Ideas

1.       Physical Sciences

PS1: Matter and its interactions

PS2: Motion and stability: Forces and interactions

PS3: Energy

PS4: Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer

2.       Life Sciences

LS1: From molecules to organisms: Structures and processes

LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics

LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits

LS4: Biological evolution: Unity and diversity

3.       Earth and Space Sciences

ESS1: Earth’s place in the universe

ESS2: Earth’s systems

ESS3: Earth and human activity

4.       Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

ETS1: Engineering design

ETS2: Links among engineering, technology, science, and society

These three dimensions, used together, will make up the bulk of the new standards.  Let’s take a look at each dimension separately.

Dimension 1: Scientific and Engineering Practices

The thinking here is that students learn by doing.  As an informal educator I can certainly agree with that.  The report recognizes eight scientific and engineering practices that students should become familiar with through experience.  You may notice that nowhere on this list do you see the scientific method.  Instead we have scientific methods.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The scientific method is gone.  Some form of it, I’m sure will remain, but the report wants the students experiences to greater reflect the variety of scientific methods used in the real world. 

The report maintains that “a focus on practices (in the plural) avoids the mistaken impression that there is one distinctive approach common to all science - a single “scientific method” - or that uncertainty is a universal attribute of science.  In reality, practicing scientists employ a broad spectrum of methods, and although science involves many areas of uncertainty as knowledge is developed, there are now many aspects of scientific knowledge that are so well established as to be unquestioned foundations of the culture and its technologies.  It is only through engagement in the practices that students can recognize how such knowledge comes about and why some parts of scientific theory are more firmly established than others.”

If that passage didn’t convince you that the scientific method needs to go, than the report gives this objection to the method as well: “For example, the notion that there is a single scientific method of observation, hypothesis, deduction, and conclusion- a myth perpetuated to this day by many textbooks- is fundamentally wrong.  Scientists do use deductive reasoning, but they also search for patterns, classify different objects, make generalizations from repeated observations, and engage in a process of making inferences as to what might be the best explanation.  Thus the picture of scientific reasoning is richer, more complex, and more diverse than the image of linear and unitary scientific method would suggest.”

I’m not sure how I feel about the scientific method going away.  In some ways it reminds me of the emotional resistance many feel toward Pluto being demoted to a dwarf planet.  I think many of us have a deep connection and loyalty to the scientific method.  It is a powerful tool for understanding the empirical nature of science, and we know that it works in the classroom.  It is also relatively simple, so there is less for an instructor to get wrong when teaching it. However, if the alternative in the new standards is to have students doing more hands-on activities and working through a variety of methods, then that seems good too.  Hopefully, this will help them to better understand how science is done, deepen their understanding of the content, and in doing so build a greater respect for scientific knowledge.

Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts

The idea of crosscutting concepts really appeals to me and the way I think about science.  This isn’t altogether a new idea, but as I read the report, this dimension is what got me the most excited.  I believe that recognizing the concepts that permeate each discipline and core idea will help students better understand what they are learning because it will provide context.  A student may have trouble with a certain scientific idea, but if their teacher can help them to place it inside one of these crosscutting concepts, then it will give them a reference point.  The new standards are committed to having less content and more understanding, which is exactly what I think these crosscutting concepts help to do.  It is unknown how exactly the standards and school curriculum will integrate these crosscutting concepts.  Personally, I think the concepts will be most effective if they are referenced and explained frequently throughout K-12 education.

Dimension 3: Core Ideas

Dimension 3 illustrates the actual science content students are expected to learn.  Each of the major disciplines is broken up into core ideas.  In the framework a summary of each idea is given, and then guidelines are set for what aspects of the idea should be taught by certain grades.  The core ideas should help to solve the problem of organizing content systematically through the years.  From the report and its appendix - which talks about the reports revisions - it appears that the writers of the report took much care in understanding the learning capabilities of children at each grade level.  Research into the cognitive abilities of students as well as feedback from many teachers, scientists, and engineers helped to divide these core ideas appropriately. 

Personally, I like the way the ideas were divided.  If the standards adhere to them, then subject matter will not be repeated over and over in each grade, nor accidentally or purposely left out.  Instead, from the youngest grades, students will start to learn what they need in order to grow with the core ideas and follow them through their educational career.  As part of these grade divisions, the report suggests the standards should have boundary statements.  These will let teachers know what they shouldn’t teach at each level. 

The report describes it like this: “Boundary statements can signal where material that traditionally has been included could instead be trimmed.  For example, in the physical sciences, the progressions indicate that density is not stressed as a property of matter until the 6-8 grade band; at present, it is often introduced earlier and consumes considerable instructional time to little avail.  Boundary statements may also help define which technical definitions or descriptions could be dispensed with in a particular grade band.”

In looking over the core ideas you may have been surprised to see engineering listed as one of the four main scientific disciplines.  On this the report says: “Engineering and technology are featured alongside the natural sciences (physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences) for two critical reasons: (1) to reflect the importance of understanding the human-built world and (2) to recognize the value of better integrating the teaching and learning of science, engineering, and technology.”  I think focusing on engineering and technology is a great idea.  It does bring up some questions on how this will effect class instruction, particularly at the High School level.  Will students be required to take an engineering class in High School?  The report itself cannot answer that question, but it will be interesting to see how this is interpreted when the standards are adopted.

When reviewing the core ideas, one could go into great detail.  The only specific subject matter I would like to highlight is climate change.  The report is firm and confident in dealing with this topic.  Since this is such a hot political issue, I wonder how different states will approach this.

Here is part of what the report says on climate change: “It is important to note that although forecasting the consequences of environmental change is crucial to society, it involves so many complex phenomena and uncertainties that predictions, particularly long-term predictions, always have uncertainties.  These arise not only from uncertainties in the underlying science but also from uncertainties about behavioral, economic, and political factors that affect human activity and changes in activity in response to recognition of the problem.  However, it is clear not only that human activities play a major role in climate change but also that impacts of climate change - for example, increased frequency of severe storms due to ocean warming - have begun to influence human activities.  The prospect of future impacts of climate change due to further increases in atmospheric carbon is prompting consideration of how to avoid or restrict such increases.”

Additional Chapters

After explaining the 3 dimensions, A Framework for K-12 Science Education report focuses on ideas relating to diversity, equity, teaching strategies, implementation, and assessment.  In many cases, finding answers to the questions these topics bring up is out of the scope of the report, so the report identifies what further work may need to be done.  The additional chapters brought up many important issues related to education, but the one I would like to mention related to working with students from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds. The report talks about finding ways to bring students’ ethnic experiences into the science classroom.

On this topic the report reads: “Recognizing that language and discourse patterns vary across culturally diverse groups, researchers point to the importance of accepting, even encouraging, students’ classroom use of informal or native language and familiar modes of interaction.” 

Certainly, this is a very interesting idea.  I sometimes work with English Language Learners and try to find ways to incorporate their native languages into my presentations.  So, how could this strategy be used in a school classroom?  The report gives an example, saying “Brown has recently extended this line of work by developing an instructional model that helps students bridge the transition from using their vernacular language for scientific phenomena to using disciplinary terminology and forms of discourse; essentially, they describe and discuss the same phenomena in both modes in turn.  The challenge for teachers is to know enough about their students’ relevant linguistic practices to be able to support this transition in the classroom.”

Final Thoughts

The last time national science standards were written I was eleven years old.   My K-12 education was effected by those standards, but this time I get to observe the writing of the standards and participate in the implementation.  Reading through A Framework for K-12 Science Education was an enjoyable experience.  The ideas are engaging and thinking about how they may be implemented is really interesting.  The report’s vision makes a lot of sense, but I must say that I do worry about the implementation.  If school teachers are expected to teach science in the way outlined in the framework they will need professional development.  Yes, teachers have professional development every year, but this will need to be much more extensive.  Textbooks and lessons need to be rewritten.  I believe in the vision of the report, and hope these changes don’t become rushed.  I worry that the burden of responsibility will fall on teachers, and that they will be without the proper resources they need to successfully make this work.  I hope this is not the case.

I would like to end on a positive note and say that I am very much looking forward to being a part of making this happen.  My own school presentations and educational programs will change, and I will hopefully be a part of the teacher development in the Central New York area.  When working with teachers I hope they become convinced of the vision in this framework, too, and that I will be able help provide them with the resources they need

Thanks for reading and please leave your comments.

Nature Photography in Science Education

Recently I went hiking at Howland's Island, which is part of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex.  I'm a photographer as well as an educator, so I brought my camera along.  In fact, I put up some of the nature shots I took from the trip up on my photo blog.  This was my first time hiking there, and I found it to be a beautiful place and an enjoyable experience.  While I was there the informal science educator in me kept popping into my head.  Instead of looking for artistic things to photograph, I started thinking about what kinds of photographs I could use as part of a educational program.  Usually, I use photographs in my work to give a clear representation of something I'm teaching about.  It might be a picture of a planet, a moon, or an animal, but the pictures are always direct and easy to read.  Maybe it's because I've been thinking about Landsat imagery lately, but the idea that came to me was to make photos that weren't so easy to read.  Instead of the subject being centered in the foreground, what if it were hidden somewhere in the setting?  This approach, seems to me to be more in-line with what being in nature is actually like.  When you are out there you have to seriously observe your environment if you want to find the good stuff.  I don't know if the images I made will end up in an education program or not, but I think they are fun and remind of the wonder I always experience when encountering animals in the wild.

Muskrat swimming at Howland's Island

At first glance the image above looks like a simple view of a wetland pond, but can you find the muskrat?  This muskrat started near the bank on the right.  When I started walking by it swam out 10 feet or so, and then swam back the bank on the left side, making on big half-circle.  The muskrat started swimming directly toward me, but right before it reached the bank it dived underwater and vanished.  I never saw it come up.

Muskrat lodges and Canada goose

Some of the most noticeable features of the wetlands at Howland's Island are muskrat lodges.  The photo above shows three of these lodges.  At first glance they may seem like the interesting part of the image and the educational subject of the photo.  In fact, this is all I noticed at first too.  Luckily, my girlfriend is a birder and spotted a Canada goose.  Can you find it?  Click on the photo to view a larger version and see what you can find.

Canada goose on muskrat lodge

Here is a close-up shot of the Canada goose.  It appears that this is probably a female guarding her next.  A nest which happens to be on top of a muskrat lodge.  The color of her back is well camouflaged against the dead branches.  Notice that she hides her black neck, which may have been more noticeable.  My girlfriend and I watched this bird for five minutes or so, trying to figure out what was going on.  At first we thought she might be dead, but we did end up seeing some slight movement and ended up agreeing on the nesting hypothesis.  I wonder if she adopted that posture when we came near or was already laying like that.

Have any of you ever tried activities with images like this with your students or museum visitors?  Wouldn't a program with photos like these be fun.  I imagine the students could really become engaged talking through what they saw and trying to figure out the animal behavior.

Can you find the bird's nest.

PS.  This shot is from a different photo shoot from a few weeks ago.  I couldn't resist adding it.  Can you find the bird's nest?

Erie Canal Village Memory & ASTC Connect

ASTC logo

If you have ever gone to a science museum and looked into their memberships, you probably noticed that buying one membership allows you access to over 300 other museums. In fact, I wrote a blog article about this. The reason you can get into these other places is because they are all part of the Association of Science & Technology Centers or ASTC. ASTC is a great resource for informal science educators. They publish an inspiring magazine called Dimensions, host a big annual conference, and have some great resources on their website. I recently started checking out the ASTC Connect portion of their site, which has online workshops. The first one, called Science Center Basics is great resource for museum educators, particularly for newer workers. The workshop is described as a "self-paced tutorial" that "introduces key aspects of science center philosophy and practice." The goal is to have the student learn more about their museum and visitors, and to use this information to better understand their job. The first activity relates to thinking about the importance of museums in your own life and asks the student to write about their first museum experiment. I enjoyed this assignment and hope my memories will spark some of your own. Enjoy!

What is your first memory of a museum?

The Erie Canal Village in Rome, NY

The first museum I can remember visiting was the Erie Canal Village in Rome, NY on a 4th grade school field trip. I don’t recall the museum portion itself, but I do have some fond memories from the day. I remember walking around outside, learning about the canal locks and about how mules helped to pull the boats. Going inside a one- room school house was fascinating, and made me curious about what it would have been like to be a student there. My mother volunteered to help with the trip, too, and I loved that. She let me buy a toy train whistle from the gift shop and I just thought it was the coolest thing. That wooden whistle ended up in a drawer of old things. Years later I would find it now and then accidentally, blow a couple toots, and remember how excited I was when I first got it. My favorite part though, had to be the Erie Canal song. I don’t recall if we learned it before, during, or after the trip, but that song has always stuck with me. I just looked up the website for the Erie Canal Village and was glad to see that they have the lyrics prominently posted on the site. Even today the song will pop into my head. A year or two ago I bought my father a Bruce Springsteen DVD, and would you believe it, it had a performance of him singing the Erie Canal song. One doesn’t always realize the historic importance of the places you live, but if Springsteen is singing about it, then it’s got to be important. I only visited the Erie Canal Museum that one time, but what I experienced there is still a part of my life today.

Promoting Feb Break with Optical Illusions on Live Morning Show

February Break Week has come again! Those who work at science museums or have visited one during this time know that it is the busiest 9 days of the whole year. The lines at the admission desk can sometimes be out the door, and the planetarium and IMAX are sure to have good attendance. It is also a time that brings out the best in the staff. It is a challenge and it is always inspiring to watch everyone work so hard.

Rob Benedict playing the
Native American flute

This year we have really gone all out, trying to create as much value as we can for the visitors. We are showing two new IMAX movies, have a new exhibit, and have added extra planetarium shows which were written specifically for this week. For me, the best part of the week has been a planetarium collaboration I'm doing with Rob Benedict, a local Mohawk flute player. We have put together a show that is part musical performance, and part storytelling and astronomy. Last Saturday it sold out really fast, and I hope it does again this coming weekend.

Anyone interested in looking over our movies schedule, prices, or events, can check out our website: www.most.org

Yesterday I had the privilege to go on Channel 9's morning show and talk about this week. I always enjoy going on Bridge Street because the hosts and the rest of the staff are all friendly and easy to work with. One of the tech people is an old high school buddy of mine, too. If your interested in seeing me on air doing a couple optical illusions, check out the video below.  Please note:  Admissions is $8 for adults and $7 for children.

Here is a video I made of Rob Benedict playing the flute last year.

Constellation Myths Part 2: Why Tell Them

Callisto and Arcas

Zeus according to
Marvel Comic Books

In Part I of this blog article I wrote out the story of Callisto from Greco-Roman mythology.  Frustrated that each source I go to for constellation mythology has a different version of this story, I decided to start reading the original, or at least one of the originals.  I read three different translations of the story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.  I suggest you check out Ovid’s work yourself, but I think my version does a good job of telling the story and keeping the major points intact.  If you’ve always thought Greek myths were cool, but were only familiar with the kid-friendly versions found in many books and movies, then you may have been shocked by the original.  Not only is there adult content, but it is handled in a way that a modern reader may feel is morally wrong.  You may find yourself wondering if these stories are appropriate for our children, or even for anybody.  In this, Part 2, I would like to identify the problematic parts of the story and talk about why I think these stories are worth telling.  In Part 3 I will give advice on how to retell these stories in ways that are appropriate for your audience.


Note:  When referring to the characters I will use their Greek names instead of their Roman ones, assuming these are more familiar to readers.

When looking for the inappropriate parts, Zeus is a good place to start.  Most people know that Zeus was the king of the gods and that he threw lightning bolts.  If this is all you know, you may have thought of him like a superhero of sorts, a powerful figure for us to relate to and empower our daydreams.  And maybe you even heard that Zeus slept around on his wife.  Well, “he’s a god, it’s what they do in these stories” you might have thought.  But, if you are like me, you didn’t realize that his sleeping around could actually have been the violent rape of virgins like Callisto.  This point in the story is already upsetting for the reader, but as the story continues we soon see that Callisto, the victim, feels ashamed and is blamed and abandoned by the goddess she serves.  And soon after her son is born, Callisto is met by Zeus’s wife, who pulls her to the ground by her hair while blaming her and calling her a harlot, before punishing her by transforming her body into a bear.  Callisto, who was once a devoted virgin, the favorite of Artemis, and a masterful hunter, becomes a broken victim of rape, thrown out from her community, and forced to abandon her child.  And if that isn’t enough, when she finally sees her boy again he tries to kill her.  In the end, her and her son are reunited and placed in the sky as constellations, surely a great honor, but the story is still unsettling.  Once, when I finished telling a much milder version of this story, a mother added for the benefit of the child, “So it had a happy ending.”  I’m not sure why she felt her child needed it to have a happy ending, but I got the impression that she didn’t like the one it had.  We may be accustomed to our stories, especially children’s stories, to always finish with a happy ending, but the ancient Greeks apparently did not.  Of course not every classical myth is as disturbing as this one, but most have something many would deem inappropriate for children or against the values of our society.   For instance, other stories may include child abduction, pedophilia, bad morals, and violence on a level we are unaccustomed to.  But before I convince you (and myself) that Greco-Roman myths should be banned from our culture, let’s take a look at four reasons why they probably haven’t yet and probably never will.

pppst.com has free powerpoint lectures
on Roman Architecture

1. They are important.  Greco-Roman myths and the cultures that inspired them are the bedrock of Western culture.   If Western culture is part of your life (and I bet it is), then these myths are also a part of your life.  History is a powerful subject.  I still remember taking my first college history course (Dr. Mitchell you rock!) and just being amazed.  I always thought history was interesting, but this class showed more than that.  It started to show me the layers, the meanings and reasons why things are the way they are, how they got that way, and even why we think the way we do.  I was so impressed that I ended up minoring in Medieval/Renaissance studies.  Learning about your culture’s history isn’t just for the historically curious, but also helps one better understand and navigate their culture, while also fostering a sense of national identity.  Greek and Roman culture, including their myths, have had an enormous impact on our culture.  Everything from politics, architecture, engineering, philosophy, science, art, and religion have been influenced in a profound way by this culture.  Learning or retelling the story of Callisto may not help you pass an American citizenship test, but it is part of our culture’s history.

Percy Jackson
Popular story based on
Greco-Roman myth

2.       People like them.  Actually, let me correct that.  People love them.  People of all ages.  They love the fantastical elements of gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, and magical creatures.  The stories of romantic rescues and heartbreak are popular, too.  Many can’t resist the gory violent details of battles, deaths, and godly punishments.  Even disturbing moments, like those from Callisto’s story are still relatable.   We feel for her character and the injustice done to her, and know that many in modern societies still face similar attacks and accusations.  Most of the Greek myths we know were first told some 3,000 years ago, and yet they are still relevant.  They are emotionally powerful and inspiring to us even today. 

3.       You can skip the offensive/inappropriate parts.  There are so many modern retellings that one doesn’t need to be exposed to the inappropriate elements.  If you don’t like reading about Zeus raping someone, and you don’t want your child reading about this either, then find a version without it.  Or retell it.  Or skip that story.

4.       They are great for teaching.  Greek myths are a great resource for teachers.  Because of the influence of classical myth and culture, and because these myths are so popular with children and adolescents, they can be used in any number of ways by an educator.  A quick search online will bring up all kinds of ideas for using classical myths in the classroom.  As a planetarian (professional planetarium educator) I use myths in relation to the constellations.  I enjoy talking about stellar evolution, space exploration, and galaxies (I really do), but for me the highlight of a planetarium show is the stars and constellations.  I confess that I don’t tell “star stories” in every show, but most of the time I do.  And what I’ve learned is that people really enjoy it.  Once, while spending the day giving lessons on ancient astronomy and myth for 7^th graders at a local school, I was amazed to see many of the students give up their normal lunch period to come back into classroom to hear more stories.  When we look up at the stars on a dark night we really are awestruck.  Soon our intellect, emotions, spirituality, and curiosity kick in as we wonder about the nature of the universe.  We think about our own beliefs and wonder about the beliefs of others through the ages.  One of my favorite styles of planetarium shows happens when we have overnight camps at the museum.  After an evening of hands-on science activities and just before bed, we bring the campers into the planetarium.  These are usually kids around 10 years old.  Instead of putting on the computer projectors and giving a slide show on the constellations, I just turn the lights down, tell stories, and point out the constellations with a laser pointer.  Sure, the campers may have thought the constellations were interesting themselves, but the addition of stories makes them real.