Video of the Week: E.O. Wilson's Advice to Young Scientists about Facing Math and Excelling in Your Field

For many students, even those majoring in science, math is a four-letter word. But renowned evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson has a message for aspiring scientists:  "If you are a bit short in mathematical skills, don't worry."

Wilson--who didn't take algebra until his freshman year of college or calculus until he was 32 and a tenured professor at Harvard--wants students and young scientists to know that they can catch up. 
In our video of the week, Wilson offers advice on how to tackle fear of math, how to find the field of study that fits you, and how to excel even if math isn't your strong suit. He implores young people to go into the sciences, saying: "The world needs you, badly."

At Visionlearning, we know that many students struggle with the mathematical components of their science courses.  That's why we're excited to begin work on a series of new modules covering mathematical concepts and skills commonly used in the sciences, from biology to geology. We'll let you know when the first module is ready, and we hope you'll give us your feedback. 

In the meantime, is there a mathematical concept that you (or your students) struggle with?  Has there ever been a time when math held you back in your career or studies?

Beach Reads of the Science Variety

Looking for some titles to add to your summer reading list?
Check out some of the Visionlearning team's favorite books.  
Photo courtesy: Flickr User cmcgough. (CC)

Temperatures are on their way up and the swimming suits are coming out of hiding, which can only mean one thing: summer break. Before you buy the latest "beach lit" paperback to while away those sunny hours or download the entire Twilight saga to your e-reader, consider this humble suggestion: this summer, try a page-turner of the science variety.

Think we're joking? Not hardly.  The stories of science are full of complex and intriguing characters who experience, and are shaped by, all the same things as their fictional counterparts--conflict, mistakes, rivalry, passion, doubt, discovery, and luck, to name a few.  But these stories are even more compelling because they are true.

To get you started, we took a quick survey of the Visionlearning team's favorite (nonfiction) science books. They are a combination of recent releases and trusty classics, spanning the range of disciplines. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and we hope you will help improve it by critiquing our suggestions and offering up favorite titles in the comments section below. Happy reading!

ASTRONOMY
Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson
This collection of witty essays from well-known astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson runs the gamut, exploring what would happen if you actually fell into a black hole, the most egregious astronomy errors on the big screen, and everything in between.

The Day We Found the Universe by Marcia Bartusiak
In a book that is part scientific thriller, part character-driven drama, Marcia Bartusiak describes the exciting early days of modern astronomy in the United States. The characters, some of whom are rarely mentioned in pages of textbooks, show how breakthroughs are often not single moments of brilliance, but a collection of hard work, imagination, rivalry, and luck.


BIOLOGY
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
One of science's unsung heroes, Henrietta Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer from Virginia whose cells (taken without her consent) were grown in culture and used throughout decades of medical research on polio, cancer, the effects of radiation exposure, and much more. Yet Lacks died virtually unknown, and her family never received compensation from the multi-billion dollar industry that her cells made possible. Science writer Rebecca Skloot offers a riveting look at Lacks' story and her legacy, weaving together biology, business, ethics, and the ties that bind families together.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Science writer Mary Roach blends humor, science, and old-fashioned grossology as she explores the fascinating exploits and scientific contributions of human bodies--after they're dead.

The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen
As a winner of the John Burroughs Medal, David Quammen is known for his nature writing, but his ability to write about human nature and all our quirks and foibles is equally impressive. This book takes readers back to the 19th century to trace the journey of Charles Darwin--not so much his fabled voyage aboard the HMS Beagle,  but his intellectual and emotional struggle to understand the evidence for natural selection piling up before him.

Evolution's Rainbow by Joan Roughgarden
Evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden takes readers on a fascinating tour of sexual diversity among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, challenging traditional notions of gender and sexuality in the animal kingdom and human society.

The Journey of Man by Spencer Wells
Using DNA as a guide, population geneticist Spencer Wells maps all of human history, from our earliest common ancestor to the global diversity we see today, and illuminates the surprising links that connect all of humankind.


CHEMISTRY
The Invention of Air by Steven Johnson
Prolific author Steven Johnson tells the quirky, dramatic story of Joseph Priestley--an 18th century scientist, minister, and associate of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, whose intellectual contributions spanned chemistry, theology, and politics.

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
Writer, chemist, and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi blends memoir and science writing to tell the beautiful, poignant stories of his life and community--using one element from the periodic table to anchor each chapter.


EARTH SCIENCE
The Two-Mile Time Machine by Richard Alley
Climatologist  Richard Alley offers a glimpse into the world of a climate sleuth and a history of Earth's climate as written in the rings of Greenland's ice cores.

Basin and Range by John McPhee
A classic from Pulitzer Prize-winner John McPhee, Basin and Range is a poetic exploration of the rugged terrain along Interstate-80 through Utah, Nevada, and California--and the geologic processes that created it. A great book for anyone who has ever looked at a landscape and wondered how it came to be.

The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester
Prolific journalist and author Simon Winchester chronicles the story of William Smith--a British coal miner whose on-the-job observations of patterns in rock layers and fossils beds led him to develop the first geologic map of the strata beneath the Earth's surface. The map was not greeted with the acclaim one might expect, but Smith and the power of his idea ultimately triumphed.


ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & NATURE WRITING
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Journalist Richard Louv examines the body of research showing how healthy childhood development is linked with direct exposure to the natural world and makes a compelling case that the current "wired generation" is seriously threatened by "nature deficit disorder."

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
From the dizzying overabundance of a modern supermarket to the quiet intensity of wild mushroom gathering, Michael Pollan tackles the seemingly simple but ultimately profound question: what should we have for dinner?

The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
Today, marine biologist Rachel Carson is probably best remembered for her book Silent Spring and its role in chronicling the effects of pesticides and jumpstarting the American environmental movement. But a decade earlier, in 1951, Carson penned this beautiful, best-selling treatise on the science and poetry of the sea.

The Whale and the Supercomputer by Charles Wohlforth
Journalist and lifelong Alaskan Charles Wohlforth takes readers on a journey to the far North, where climate change is very tangible--to both the scientists studying it and the native people struggling to cope with it.


PHYSICS
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel
Physicist Chad Orzel, and his curious dog, Emmy, offer a fun, engaging, and truly unique way to explore quantum mechanics. By considering such practical questions as how to catch a squirrel or locate a bone, Orzel and Emmy dig into the history and technical details of weighty topics like particle-wave duality, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and quantum entanglement.

Einstein: His Life and the Universe by Walter Isaacson
Acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson examines the life and world-changing ideas of Albert Einstein. Like many icons of history and science, Einstein is surrounded by legends, and Isaacson offers an interesting new take on what is fact and what is folklore.


TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING
The Code Book by Simon Singh
Physicist-turned-award-winning-journalist Simon Singh explores the history and science underlying the secret world of codes and cryptography from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Internet security.

The Human Factor by Kim Vincente
If you've ever felt confused, frustrated, or even endangered by the very technology that is supposed to make life easier and safer, you are not alone. Scientist and engineer Kim Vincente offers a compelling look at how technology has failed us and how we can make dramatic improvements in our satisfaction and safety by factoring the realities of human needs, limits, and habits into technology design.

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus
Writer, educator, and sustainability consultant Janine Benyus presents a simple but powerful strategy for good design: ask nature. She argues, using compelling examples, that we can learn to design cleaner, more efficient products and technologies by studying nature's 3.8 billion-year record of innovation.


INTERDISCIPLINARY READS
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Renowned travel and nature writer Bill Bryson offers a quick and cheeky tour of, well…everything, from the beginning of the universe to the rise of modern human society. Not content to simply rehash what we know, Bryson takes readers on a thoroughly entertaining and enlightening quest to understand how we know what we know.

Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway
Science historians Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway shine the light on a group of high-level scientists who have repeatedly been the voices of dissent on topics like acid rain, climate change, DDT, and secondhand smoke and examine what can happen when scientific research is at odds with political motives.

Finally, we would be remiss not to mention Visionlearning's own book: The Process of Science by Anthony Carpi and Anne Egger
Using examples drawn from everyday life as well as historical case studies from nearly every branch of science, Carpi and Egger offer a clear and concise explanation of how science really works. While that may not sound like the first thing you'd normally toss in your beach bag, The Process of Science is an easy read and great way to reinvigorate (or start) a thirst for scientific thinking. If you're a student considering a career in science or a teacher looking for resources to help students engage in science, this is a must-read.

Video of the Week: Science (and Math) on Ice

Tonight the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils will suit up and hit the ice for the first game of the National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Finals. The players probably won't be thinking about Newton's Laws of Motion while being checked against the glass or how they make use of kinetic and potential energy to launch that 160 kilometer per hour slapshot, but a hockey game is a fast and furious demonstration of many of the key concepts of physics.

In fact, a careful observer can see physics, statistics, geometry, and biology all at work in the rink. Even if you're not a hockey fan, the speed, power, and reaction time of NHL players is undeniably impressive, and the Science of NHL Hockey video series from the National Science Foundation and NBC Learn offers a view you can't get from the nosebleed seats. We're crowning the segment entitled "Work, Energy, and Power" our video of the week, but they are all worth a watch.



For more videos from the Science of NHL Hockey series, visit the NSF's Science360 Network.

For ideas from the National Science Teachers Association about how to incorporate these videos into lesson plans for high school and junior high students, visit NBC Learn. (Scroll down, select a lesson plan, and then click on full-screen mode to read the document.)

Next Generation Science Standards Open for Public Comment through June 1

Among other things, the Next Generation Science
Standards aim to emphasize the process and practice of
science.   Photo Courtesy: Argonne National Laboratory (CC)

Today, a draft of the Next Generation Science Standards was released for a three-week public comment period. The new Standards are based on the National Research Council’s (NRC) Framework for K–12 Science Education and are the first update since the original National Science Education Standards were released in 1996.

Among other things, the new Standards are intended to place a broader emphasis on the process and practice of the scientific enterprise. This is highlighted by the fact that the very first Dimension of the Framework on which the Standards are based is entitled Practices, and is meant to describe how scientists work. This is an ambitious and long-overdue goal, and we are excited to see more emphasis placed on it.

Over the past decades, science education has migrated away from teaching about science and has migrated towards conveying facts and figures. As Bruce Alberts, editor of the journal Science has said, “Rather than learning how to think scientifically, students are generally being told about science and asked to remember facts.”

There are many reasons proposed to explain this migration—an emphasis on standardized test performance, lack of specialized teacher preparation, etc. But probably the most reasonable of these explanations is the fact that science textbooks fail to describe the scientific process and instead present science as a series of facts and predetermined endpoints.

In his landmark book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, published almost 50 years ago today, Thomas Kuhn wrote:

Textbooks thus begin by truncating the scientist’s sense of his discipline’s history and then proceed to supply a substitute for what they have eliminated. …Yet the textbook-driven tradition in which scientists come to sense their participation is one that, in fact, never existed.

To educate students about science, we need to present the discipline as it is practiced, not as a series of inevitable facts discovered by fate.

In 2006, we began an initiative to develop a series of modules that expressly describe the Process of Science. This initiative—possibly better described as an ongoing journey—has been both incredibly rewarding and at times slightly maddening. As the core authors of the Process content, Anne Egger and I have invested thousands of hours into researching these ideas, writing about them, editing, rewriting, and eventually launching these to the public.

Writing some of these modules was relatively straightforward. For example, there is an extensive literature underscoring the concept of Scientific Ethics, and there are well defined ideas about how a scientific Experiment differs from a Comparative study. However, there is less written about many other core ideas underscoring scientific practice such as how and why individual scientists collaborate, how subjectivity affects data interpretation, and how error and uncertainty in data are quantified and expressed. Still other concepts that need explaining, such as “What is the Scientific Method?” or “How does scientific knowledge differ from other types of knowledge?” are sometimes defined by scientists in the same way Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart defined pornography in 1964: “I know it when I see it.”

In fact, Nobel laureate Sir Peter Medawar once said, “Ask a scientist what he conceives the scientific method to be and he adopts an expression that is at once solemn and shifty-eyed: solemn, because he feels he ought to declare an opinion; shifty-eyed because he is wondering how to conceal the fact that he has no opinion to declare.”

We hope that the Next Generation Science Standards will help catalyze a shift back towards teaching about science as it is practiced. In the meantime, please join us in reviewing the new Standards and submitting comments to make sure they emphasize the practices used by scientists.  Comments are due by June 1.

Need help getting started?  The National Science Teachers Association has created a “study guide” for organizing a group discussion, including questions to consider for each section of the new standards (see page 11).

Has a teacher changed your life? Say 'thank you' during Teacher Appreciation Week

It's Teacher Appreciation Week. Take a moment to thank
a teacher who influenced you.
Photo Courtesy: Flickr User James Boyd (CC)

William Butler Yeats, winner of the Nobel prize for literature, once said that "Education is not filling a pail, but lighting a fire." Learning from a teacher who approaches education this way truly is a gift that can change a student's entire life.

For me, that gift came during junior high school in the form of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. A husband-wife math power-couple, the Nelsons taught math and coached the after school MATHCOUNTS program at my tiny junior high school in the dusty tip of southern Nevada. They were such inspired and tireless teachers that we thought it was fun to stay after school for an extra hour and half every day and work math problems. We even had Saturday marathon sessions a couple of times--not exactly the kind of thing you expect to see junior high kids volunteering for, but we did.

In the classroom and at competitions, we were a team. It was us against the math problems, and the more we trained, the better equipped we were to battle the equations and untangle the word problems. After those two years, I never saw math, myself, or my education in the same way. The experience that empowered me to see myself as someone who was good at math. Someone who could study math or science--who could be a doctor or an engineer--if I that was what I wanted.

I have had many excellent teachers over the years, from elementary school to college. And I owe each one of them a huge "thank you."

This week (May 7th through the 11th) is Teacher Appreciation Week, and tomorrow (May 8th) is National Teacher Day. So as the school year winds down and students everywhere prepare for finals and graduations, it's a great time to pause and thank those educators--past and present--who have made a difference.

At the least, they have guided students through a year of learning. And at the most, they have lit a fire, inspiring students to think differently about their subjects and themselves. Either way, we owe them a debt of gratitude.

So why not send your teacher (or your child's teacher) a note--a simple thank you for doing the difficult work of teaching? Educators need inspiration as much as students, and knowing that they are appreciated can make a world of difference. If you want to recognize an educator publicly, tell us the story of how they inspired you in the comments below.

Or visit the National Education Association's Teacher Thank-You Project to see the virtual mural of thank-you notes and add your own.

If you are an educator, thank you. Even if it takes years for your students to realize it, you are making a difference.  As Henry Adams said, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

3 Simple Steps to Celebrate STEM and National Poetry Month

April was designated National Poetry Month in 1996.
Image courtesy: American Academy of Poets

Today marks the last day of National Poetry Month (NPM) 2012. Each spring since it was created by the American Academy of Poets in 1996, NPM has offered an opportunity for people to "band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture."

On the surface, science and poetry may seem like polar opposites and the poet and the scientist like two different breeds. But the two realms have a deeply entwined past, and there are some interesting similarities. Both poetry and science require keen observation skills and precision in word choice. Both are outlets for exploring and describing the world around us. And both have elements of creativity and inspiration. (More on this in our module Creativity in Science.)

Even in modern society, where we tend to specialize in a particular field of study and professional practice, there have been notable scientist-poet crossovers, as well as poets who have written beautifully about science. Among the many examples are:

• Lewis Thomas, the "poet-philosopher of medicine" and former president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who wrote popular essays (eventually compiled into two best-selling books) and poetry about cells, disease, medicine, and evolution;
• Chemistry Nobel laureate, Roald Hoffmann, who pens poetry and plays tackling a variety of scientific and nonscientific topics; and
• Philip Appleman, one of the world's leading experts on Charles Darwin, who is well known for his celebrated volumes of poetry illustrating Darwin's life and theories.

While the official NPM celebration is wrapping up, there's no reason to stop exploring the connections between science and poetry--on your own or in the classroom. Here are three simple steps to get you started:

1) Draw inspiration from some accomplished science and nature poets using resources from The Poetry Foundation and the American Academy of Poets. For starters, try:

Ten Poems to Get You Through Science Class This Year (we're not crazy about the title given to this collection, but the selected poems from across several generations and scientific disciplines can certainly inspire before, after, or during science class)

The Sciences Sing a Lullabye  by Albert Goldbarth

Darwin’s Bestiary  by Philip Appleman

Haiku Journey by Kimberly Blaeser


2) Try your hand at writing a science poem. We suggest beginning with the short, powerful haiku form, which the Poetry Foundation describes as:

A Japanese verse form of three unrhyming lines in five, seven, and five syllables. It creates a single, memorable image, as in these lines by Kobayashi Issa, translated by Jane Hirshfield:

        On a branch
        floating downriver
        a cricket, singing.
(In translating from Japanese to English, Hirshfield compresses the number of syllables.)

Developing a talent for writing haiku, like any form of art (or science), takes effort, thought, and practice. Capturing a moment is difficult enough, let alone distilling it down to 17 syllables. But beginners in all fields must start somewhere, and the short, flexible form of a haiku can be less intimidating than penning a sonnet, a ballad, or a even a limerick. And whether it's your first attempt or your 400th, haiku is always a great work-out for the creative muscles.


3) Share your poem. Swap haikus with a colleague, classmate, or friend. And please inspire others by posting it in the comments section here or on our Facebook page. To break the ice, I've posted a couple of my own attempts below. I'm sure you can do much better, so get writing!

Happy National Poetry Month!

We're Back!

We've been on a blogging hiatus for a
few months, but we're back.

Photo Courtesy Flickr User sidewalk flying (CC)

It's been a few months since we last posted, but we're excited to announce that we're back!  And we have tons of new things in store. Behind the scenes, we've been working away on plans for some major changes at Visionlearning, including:

• A redesign of our website (Stay tuned, we'll want your opinions on that soon!),
• New content and features for our modules and glossary of science terms,
• New comprehension tools to help students get the most from our materials, and
• More opportunities to connect on social media and discuss topics like STEM education, interdisciplinary teaching, and science in the news. (If you haven't found us on Facebook yet, come on by and connect with others who are interested in STEM topics.)

You've no doubt noticed that STEM education has been in the news lately (it even made the State of the Union address in January!). Everyone at Visionlearning is thrilled to be working at the heart of such an important topic. We think that discussing the issues and sharing resources that work is critical, whether you're a student, a teacher, a parent, a STEM professional, or a concerned citizen.

We intend for Visionlearning to be an open community, and we hope you'll join us in discussions here on our blog and on social media. Please use the comment areas liberally. Do you have a topic you want to discuss? A burning question? A must-have teaching tool? Tell us about it!

Thanks for your patience during our hiatus. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Visionlearning Team