Month: February 2010

Wha’ is the stars, Joxer?

Boyle: An’, as it blowed an’ blowed, I ofen looked up at the sky an’ assed meself the question — what is the stars, what is the stars?
…
Joxer: Ah, that’s the question, that’s the question — what is the stars?
Boyle: An’ then, I’d have another look, an’ I’d ass meself — what is the moon?
Joxer: Ah, that’s the question — what is the moon, what is the moon?

“Juno and the Paycock”, Seán O’Casey (1924)

 From pretty much the time a baby can focus on the lights overhead he will notice the stars in the sky and wonder about them. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has lasted through the years partly because it resonates with an innate curiosity in all of us to find out exactly what is up there. So you would think something about astronomy or better still cosmology would be on either the Junior Cert Science syllabus or the Leaving Cert Physics syllabus (or here’s a mad idea – why not both?). Not only is it not on either, but in the draft of the new Physics syllabus it doesn’t even get a mention.

Last year at a physics-teachers’ convention we were told that the draft could not be altered significantly and that therefore there would be no mention of stars, galaxies, the Big Bang, or indeed any reference to any of the incredibly exotic objects out there. There would, of course, be a consultation process but this seems to allow for no more than tinkering around the edges. Which begs the question why could we not have been consulted to begin with? Are we not to be trusted?

Presumably it’s still considered much more important to be able to measure the density of a stone than it is to explain the origin of the universe (interestingly you will find the Big Bang mentioned in the Religion syllabus).

 I suppose even if these topics did get mentioned we would somehow manage to distil the wonder out of them like we do pretty much everything else on the syllabus.

Did you know that there are objects in the sky which are about the size of the Earth but which have the mass of the Sun, and which can spin almost 1,000 times a second? Remember our Earth takes 24 hours to do one revolution and yet these guys can spin one thousand times a second! Mad I tell you. Oh, and they were discovered by an Irish woman (they are called pulsars; check out this cool video on YouTube)

 So what should students learn about the heavens? As always, put away the textbooks and look to our colleagues across the so-called ‘two cultures’ divide.

You want to know about galaxies? – sit up straight and listen to Monty Python.

Or how did it all begin? – Try The Barenaked Ladies.

Maybe if we want to attract students back into science we could do worse than start here.

Barenaked Ladies: It all started with the big bang

Monty Python: The Galaxy Song

The wonder of the cell

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; we need to put the wonder back in to science education. Currently the science syllabus in school couldn’t be more devoid of wonder if you went through it with a microscope and deliberately sucked out all the good bits. To put the wonder back in we need to go beyond scientists, teachers and educationalists; we need help from those who are expert in the field. We need artists. We need poets. We need to listen to children.

I don’t eat, read and sleep science because I think we need more engineers. I don’t teach science because it may someday produce graduates who could be good for the economy. We seem to have been down that road before and it didn’t quite work out too well.

I like science (in fact let’s be honest about it – I love science) because of the sense of wonder and awe it leaves me with. And the more I know the more amazed I get. I’m still learning basic biology – up until now it has mainly been just enough to teach with, so when I teach about the cell at junior cert level I stick up a diagram on the board and go through the main parts of the cell and their functions. What a disaster. What a disservice to my students. I may not know all that goes on inside the cell, and they may not need to know, but at the very least they do need to appreciate the complexity, the incredible organisation and the beauty of the cell. Which is why we need artists.

I have seen Harvard University’s The Inner Life of the Cell many times, and have never failed to be blown away by it, but recently watched one of the animators give a talk on TED, explaining the background to the production. It’s well worth watching.

 They finish up with a 3 minute clip from an ABC news report on the animation. As the anchor-guy says; it makes you want to go back and take Biology.

 Now that’s what I’m talking about.

The Inner Life of The Cell

ABC news report

David Bolinsky on TED

Finally there is a three hour documentary going from the history of the discovery of the cell right up to the present day where scientists are almost at the stage where they can manuafcture cells on demand (once agian scientists need outside help to guide them methinks).

Like, why would you watch Cornation Street of an evening when you could get all the drama here?

 All the above clips can now be accessed from the livingthings webpage of thephysicsteacher.ie

Engineers’ Week Family Fun Day

As an Applied Maths teacher I feel duty-bound to pass on the information that Engineer’s Week Family Fun Day is running all this week.

Personally I believe that Engineers’ Week Family Fun Day is right up there with military intelligence, airline food and accurate horoscopes as a wonderful example  of an oxymoron (religious education anyone?). And not because of the apparent contradiction between week and day either.

🙂

Best website ever: runner-up goes to TED.com

I am amazed that so many teachers are not aware of TED.com. Tagline: Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

It doesn’t matter what subject you teach – there is something there for you. I like it because it is a counter to the compartmentalisation of knowledge which is so endemic in secondary schools.

So what should I recommend? I was going to try to list a few, but that would actually go against the spirit of TED; there is no ‘best’. Simply go to the home page and just browse through a category that interests you. It won’t be long before you get pulled out of your comfort zone.

But keep it a secret; if the powers-that-be find out how incredible it is they may just have to block it.

TED.com

Last two videos watched:
Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?
Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives

Wonderful bank of science videos: howstuffworks.com

It’s no substitute for the real thing (YouTube) but howstuffworks.com is still a tremendous resource. The video section has taken hundreds of science videos and chopped them up into bitesize chunks, which is ideal for today’s student and their lack of attention-span.

I have included links to many of them in the website under the appropriate chapter heading, and it means that I now have links in almost every chapter at Junior Cert level, which is nice if I do say so myself. It means that teachers can get into the habit of checking out the relevant web-page every time they start a new topic.

Teaching crystals? Here are two wonderful (and beautiful) videos:
1. The largest crystals in the world are to be found in Naica, Mexico (2:40)
2. Watch crystals develop in a beaker of super-saturated solution (1:00)

Howstuffworks: a wonderful resource which deserves to be more well-known.

CESI annual conference next weekend

Once (and only once) a year do teachers come together from all sectors of education to share ideas and resources on teaching. You don’t get paid for attending, you don’t get a day off school and it doesn’t count as in-service training (although that wouldn’t be a bad idea) so the only teachers you will meet there will be enthusiastic and hard-working. Just like you.

CESI (the Computer Education Society of Ireland) is holding its annual conference next weekend (5th and 6th of February) in Portlaoise. There will be a highly-energised Teachmeet on the Friday night followed by a full day of presentations, workshops and seminars on Saturday.

Teachers are renowned for hoarding their resources, but here you are quite likely to see the swapping of usb files and at the very least the swapping of email addresses.

The theme for this year is Creative Technology in Challenging Times but don’t worry if you are a complete novice when it comes to technology – the very fact that you will make the effort to turn up means that you are a teacher keen to see what’s out there, and that’s all you need.

To find out more (including how to register, but you can also just turn up on the day), see the CESI conference page at http://cesi.ie/conference-2010

And to find out more about how CESI can help you why not sign up to their discussion forum (it now contains over 400 members, again from all sectors of education) at http://cesi.ie (look for the “Join the CESI mailing list” heading at the bottom of the page).

See you there.