Breakout Edu Live Events

Breakout Edu school kits are great team building  activities.   The games are designed for groups to solve puzzles and challenges,  and eventually get the physical cases open.   Right now the company is providing daily puzzles and a chance to win prizes for classrooms and homes.   These are short and fun topics that families can engage in. 

https://www.breakoutedu.com/

Idaho Codes and IPTV Partnership

I am copying the email/post we received from our local school district.  I am grateful for all the STEM opportunities that our families can pursue.   It looks like they are offering free curriculum to the first 1000 students that sign up.  Maybe that will be lifted during the stay at home orders.  

IDAHO CODES
Idaho Codes is a collaboration between the State of Idaho, Idaho Technology Council, local businesses, and Code to Success that offers an online web development program for the students in Idaho. By introducing computer science principles that can be learned at home or in the classroom, we prepare students to work remotely with the skills to embrace the digital economy.

Idaho Codes provides access to all Jr. High and High School students during COVID-19 and beyond with the mission to utilize coding as a relevant skill for the challenges of tomorrow. Idaho Codes is opening a pathway for students in Idaho to improve their future.

http://www.idahocodes.org/?fbclid=IwAR3kcwXuTYEkfVSnJcoSEwJ5MckQpiSG5x4dKfmdyAysqFML3pgl64ubPhE

Easter Eggs and Natural Dyes

There are so many ways to bring science into your homes, especially during holidays.  This fun graphic explains how you can color Easter eggs with natural dyes!   Hold the line by following guidelines about social distancing!

Signs of Spring and Journey North

This morning on a short walk (nearby, with just my dogs), I noticed tulips and daffodils starting to bloom.   Their bright colors reminded me of one of my all-time favorite sites for Citizen Science.  Journey North is a wonderful resource that focuses on migratory behaviors of animals large and small (literally gray whales to hummingbirds), and plant life cycles as well.  It has a fabulous collection of maps, reporting prompts, and activities for families, classes, and communities.  You can report when you see tulips emerging and blooming, butterflies migrating through your neighborhood, or birds of prey returning to nesting sites.   It teaches geography, global climate and planting zones, and all kinds of lessons in migration.   There is a section for educators and that is all of us!

https://journeynorth.org/
https://maps.journeynorth.org/map/?map=tulips-spring&year=2020

This picture was taken a few years ago...it's a beautiful day today!!

CSI Herrett Center Reptile Revue

I have loved the virtual museum, zoo, and aquarium tours streaming to our laptops.  I think the Georgia Aquarium set the bar high when they broadcast their penguins out for a walk to visit all the other exhibits.  For the time being,  we are being invited to places large and small to learn about unique ecosystems and species.

As I checked the Georgia Aquarium site today for updates, I found a delightful reference and invitation to practice Mindfulness while watching some of their webcams.  Yes, please!!

https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/mindfulness/

At CSI we have a great team that manages the Herrett Center and Centennial Observatory.  Tomorrow, they are hosting their popular Reptile Revue remotely.  Search @HerrettCenter for their Facebook Live event tomorrow at 4 PM MST. 

Teachers and parent-teachers, I want to point out the Educator Guide on their website.  I look forward to visiting again soon!   https://herrett.csi.edu/index.asp

Letterboxing while you socially distance...scavenger hunt hiking!

I have been an avid letterboxer for over 10 years.  I have dragged family, friends, and strangers on these deliberate hunts in all kinds of places.  Sometimes it has been a wild goose chase (in Lake Tahoe and on the shore of Puget Sound, and southeast Alaska to name a few memorable hunts) but most of the time, we find a hidden box right where the clues lead us.  The small containers have a stamp and a logbook for finders to document their success.  These boxes are hidden in plain site all over the world, and I have loved discovering new places as I follow the directions.  They are placed on tops of mountains, and underneath park benches.  They are NOT supposed to be left in national parks or other restricted areas, but they are near entrances in West Yellowstone and other popular tourist destinations. 

You can find clues using a variety of apps and websites, but I stick with
https://www.atlasquest.com/
http://letterboxing.org/

Look up your area and see if anyone has hidden a box to find.  Geocaching is related, but I like the no-tech features of letterboxing.  As you safely explore the world around you, enjoy a new hobby!  It is so fun!

Let's celebrate Dr. Jane Goodall!

It's April 3, and Dr. Goodall is celebrating her 86th birthday!  I have posted about her before, but this year is special.  A few months ago on a quick trip home to Texas, I was able to visit the Grapevine High School Ecology Center, which we originally built during my senior year of '88-'89.  The dedicated teachers recently assigned to the Center have great things planned to restore the space to the primary purpose of outdoor, experiential learning. 

During my trip, I was able to locate, scan, and share most of the original pictures and documents from our work in the early years of the project.  These can now be accessed by the current set of students who will continue our efforts.

I am grateful for the influence of my parents who made it possible for me to meet Dr. Goodall in 1985.   After the tireless work of my mentor teacher, Sherri Steward, we were honored to have Dr. Goodall dedicate the Ecology Center in 1989.  She returned to support our school again in 1992 when the students were ready to celebrate an expansion. 

Dr. Goodall is a global influence today, even as she remains safely isolated at her home in England during the COVID 19 pandemic.  She remains active, passionate, and driven in much the same way that led her to Africa in the 1960s to change the world!

Seek out the people that have made a difference in the world.  They are real, and sometimes you get to meet them!   Sometimes they are the heroes in your own community.  Reach out, say thank you, and commit to making your little corner of the world a better place too!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/science/jane-goodall-coronavirus.html

STEM Kits that are Out of this World!

I don't have any stock in this company, but it's been one of my go-to gifts for family members for years.  KiwiCo makes monthly STEM kits for all ages, and each box comes with a building activity or all the simple tools to do science, engineering, and math. 

https://www.kiwico.com/

Today I received a few examples from my niece who uses these kits to support her curious children.  The materials are copyrighted, of course, so I will just include a few snapshots of some of the experiments that families can do together. 

KiwiCo has added a new section for all the parent-teachers and supporters leading the charge at home.  I love that they have included free resources for families about health, resilience, and learning. 

https://www.kiwico.com/kids-at-home

I grew up on Ranger Rick and Highlights magazines, and there was something so exciting about receiving the new issues in the mail.  Many years have passed, but it's still an awesome time to have an invitation to discover arrive in your mailbox every month!

Online learning, Guest Speakers, and the Genetic Science Learning Center

This semester,  I am teaching a "Science in Society" general education course for the College of Southern Idaho.  The purpose of the course is to develop a strong sense of connection between a variety of disciplines, including natural sciences, oral and written communication, social sciences, and the humanities.  We will also uncover and correct common misconceptions that impact our decision making and perception of the world. 

Each week we cover a specific scientific discipline and relate it to our daily lives.  Along with every other teacher in America, I moved my class to online delivery using primarily ZOOM sessions.   And of course, I modified the scope of topics to include the ongoing impact of COVID 19 and infectious disease prevention and treatments.

Yesterday, as I mentioned in my previous post, we also had an earthquake in the central mountains of Idaho, so it was great to hear from our local Geology instructor during our class discussion.  Remote learning is a challenge for all of us, but it does allow for new opportunities.

I shared one of my favorite teaching resources from the University of Utah Genetics Learning Center.  Both sites...the learn.genetics.edu and teach.genetics.edu are full of interactive resources and virtual labs for all ages.  For an at-home activity, my students can do the Family Traits Trivia Game.  We can learn a lot about our families while we spend so much unexpected time together!

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/

https://teach.genetics.utah.edu/

And then we had an Earthquake!!

Tonight, just before 6:00 PM MST, we felt the house sway and the light fixtures swing in the kitchen.  It was a 6.5 earthquake right here in Idaho, and the epicenter was in the central mountains above Stanley.   Go to the USGS site and look up this particular earthquake, and you can help the scientists by recording what the earthquake felt like to you in your location.   I have attached a FB post from CSI Geology Instructor (and author of Geology Underfoot in Southern Idaho), Shawn Willsey, as he explains the science behind the quake!  March has been nothing short of memorable!



https://www.facebook.com/GeologyUnderfootinSouthernIdaho/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARDOs-YcFXCX0AYbveNw1l0soyQrsIl0hBgOC7SmdjXfPKmQIsPu7-WKP0YKLBeUmpc84mm7MuoHFPrQ&fref=mentions

https://mountain-press.com/collections/geology-underfoot/products/geology-underfoot-southern-idaho

Millions, Billions, and Trillions

Turns out, we don't usually quantify large numbers correctly.  What I mean to say is that we underestimate how many (fill in the blank) make up a million, a billion, or a trillion of something.

Here are a few helpful analogies to use when teaching the value of really really large numbers.  As we see these numbers more in the coming days to describe the number of coronavirus cases, or the population in the United States as compared to the global population, and even legislation that is meant to bring financial relief to our country, it would be a good idea to better understand what those numbers really mean.

• 1 second is 1 second
• 1 million seconds is 12 days (a vacation)
• 1 billion seconds is 30 years (a career)
• 1 trillion seconds is 30,000 years 
• (longer than human civilization)

"Suppose you landed a job paying $1 per second, or $3,600 per hour. (I assume your actual pay,
 like mine, is a tiny fraction of this. Indulge the fantasy!) For simplicity, assume you're paid 24/7.

At this rate, it would take one million seconds to acquire $1 million. How long is that in familiar
terms? In round numbers, a million seconds is 17,000 minutes. That's 280 hours, or 11.6 days. 
At $1 per second, chances are you can retire comfortably at the end of a month or few.

At the same job, it takes 11,600 days, or about 31.7 years, to accumulate $1 billion: 
Doable, but you'd better start young.

To acquire $1 trillion takes 31,700 years. This crummy job doesn't pay enough!

This analogy gives a taste for the absolute size of a billion, and perhaps of a trillion. 
It also shows the utter impossibility of an ordinary worker earning $1 billion. 
No job pays a round-the-clock hourly wage of $3,600."

• 1 millimiter is 1 mm (pretty tiny)
• 1 million mm is a kilometer (down the street)
• 1 billion mm is a 1000 km (600 miles — partway across the country)
• 1 trillion mm is 1,000,000 km (Going around the world 25 times, almost as wide as the Sun)

Making Easter Egg Hair styles

In two weeks we will celebrate a special day with Easter activities.   When my children were young, we would plant grass seeds in plastic easter eggs and carefully water the eggs until the "hair" grew in.  Then it was time to decorate their "faces"" and make some funky hairdos.    Find some seeds and prep for a great Spring season as we stick close to home.

Idaho Astronomy in March

I realize the month is about over, but Venus has been so bright in the western sky that I wanted to give you some context.  This video from JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) is a great review of our night sky, and it covers a special moment scheduled for TONIGHT right after sunset.    Fast forward to 1:54 in the short video clip for a preview of March 28. 

https://youtu.be/wf5ZE15ocCo

Science Literacy and Life Hacks for School at Home

Years ago I received great advice from a teacher.  Since I have less time to read large volumes of biographies, histories, and other non-fiction sources, she reminded me to check the teen section at the local library.   Countless books exist for young readers that distill stories into shorter and easier to read excerpts.  Since taking her advice, I have gathered more copies of these books so that I can read them in one sitting when I need a break.  As much as I appreciate the broad access to ebooks, I love to grab a book from the physical bookshelf and learn something new.  Check your collections and read for at least 15 minutes!  Your brain will thank you!
 

All this talk about Vaccines!

When I returned to the college Biology classroom about 12 years ago, I went searching for reliable and thorough online teaching resources.  I found Goldie's Room!  Mr. Goldberg is a high school teacher based in New York and his website was and still is AWESOME.   So when I realized last week that my own kids have probably not heard all the stories about the heroes that discovered how to combat infectious diseases by developing vaccines, I knew Goldie's Room would have some great resources.  I have been using his Video Archives for years, especially because it's a great collection of Bill Nye videos.

So check out his class notes and lecture sets and videos...I  recommend them to any student in advanced life science classes.

If you scroll down to the video titled Vaccinations, Bill Nye will explain the work of Edward Jenners in the late 1700s when he discovered an effective therapy for Smallpox.  Vaccines save lives, and I am grateful for the countless researchers who are working around the clock to find solutions to the COVID 19 Coronavirus.

http://www.goldiesroom.org/

And if you want to watch all the Greatest Discoveries episodes, they are available on YouTube and divided by scientific categories.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpZlbSosECWWChD7sK-BkIGLfUfRnqcsI

Exploring City of Rocks and Castle Rocks State Park virtually with the Junior Ranger Program

Last month, I visited Castle Rocks State Park near my home and went for a snowshoeing adventure.  I met Kate, a new Ranger in charge of Visitor services, including educational programs.  She has invited kids K-6 to watch a series of YouTube videos that will help them participate in the Junior Ranger program.  For years, we did that program with our kids during our regular visits to Yellowstone National Park, and I am excited to support our local National Reserve and State Park again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhQKe_AhXL4&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2pRnLxEKN-hOLAMWh8p_BOFaUQ_tvCymOUja8_jhFTJXx15izkBu0wb34

"Junior Rangers! Join City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park Rangers over the next few weeks as we virtually explore the natural and historic resources of the parks. Each week we will be exploring different subjects and doing activities that you can follow along with at home.

Like us and subscribe on YouTube to make sure you don't miss any of our videos. Questions, comments, and suggestions for future videos can be posted to Facebook or YouTube."

Kool Aid Play Dough and Squishy Circuits

When my kids were little, I was taught by amazing friends how to make cool things in the kitchen.  Frankly, that has continued for 20 years.  But one of my favorite recipes was Kool Aid playdough.  We would make huge batches in a variety of colors/flavors, then play an adapted game of Pictionary using the clay to make the words.   You can find recipes online, so I am including my original recipe card because it brings me joy!

Now I make different clay recipes for science/circuitry activities because of Squishy Circuits.  I have posted about that resource before, and the tools and products are way more extensive now, but the fundamental ideas are the same.  Kids can learn about currents and energy using homemade playdough.   Check out their website!   This science activity is a hit with all ages!

"Good energy is contagious"

https://squishycircuits.com/

STEM @ Home with Idaho STEM Action Center

You may not be aware of how much good the Idaho STEM Action Center does for teachers and students in our state.  They offer grants, training, and partnerships in all things STEM.  They took over iSTEM workshops, and each summer hundreds of teachers receive amazing training with experts at 6 different college sites.

They have added the STEM @ Home section to their resources page.  Check out free activities that are meant for home-based exploration.

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

Rachel Carson

https://resources.stem.idaho.gov/

Loving all the Science sharing out there!

Welcome back to the Science of My Life!  It's been too long, and it took a global pandemic to bring me back to one of my favorite hobbies.  Hopefully, my daily posts will help spread good news, amazing resources, and fun examples of science learning during this global crisis. 

For the past few weeks, I have been sharing basic handwashing protocol with classes using Glo Germ and my handy dandy black light.  So I am sharing this informative video as my first post.  Stay aware, seek credible information, and spread knowledge not fear! 

"Creativity is contagious.  Pass it on."  Albert Einstein

https://youtu.be/I5-dI74zxPg