Pi Day and Albert Einstein Birthday!

This is a  little late, but I did my part on Friday and celebrated Pi day with my staff.  Of course, that means we had Pie for a mid-afternoon snack.

http://www.piday.org/

This reminded me of a favorite website that I used a lot when I was a substitute teacher.  It was a site that calendered holidays and anniversaries of inventions and discoveries.  Any given day I could share a story of a scientist and we could talk about the impact of their inventions on our daily lives.  That is when the history of science comes alive to students today.  When we ask them, "Where are we now because of ..." and "How has your life improved because of..." they can understand the relevance of discovery.

http://www.todayinsci.com/

Actually, I found another site that brought back great memories!!  The Pacific Science Center in Seattle is awesome, and I have enjoyed visiting it on several occasions.  The first trip was during a DOE internship during the summer of 1988.  We spent the night in the museum and had a great time!!  There was one student from each state, and somehow I was chosen as "Miss Texas."  OK..."Miss Science Texas."  That was a great 2 week experience as we traveled the state visiting research sites and doing lab work with scientists.   I would love to track down a few of my friends I met, but I did find one... he is now a Biology professor and researcher in New Hampshire.  We had a fun connection because we both lived in Connecticut when we were young, and we knew the same people.  The world can be so small sometimes.

http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/calendar-of-science.html

Hershey and Chase...Sept 20, 1952

60 years ago today...
I am always talking about DNA, and teachers everywhere usually start telling the story with the Hershey and Chase experiment. My favorite part of their story is that they used kitchen blenders to separate the pieces!  Martha Chase is still considered one of the pioneer women in science. 

On Sept 20, 1952, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase published a report confirming DNA holds hereditary data. Their experiment used the T2 bacteriophage, which, like other viruses, is just a crystal of DNA and protein. It can reproduce when inside a bacterium such as E. coli. When the new T2 viruses are ready to leave the host E. coli cell (and go infect others), they burst the E. coli cell open, killing it (hence the name "bacteriophage"). Hershey and Chase were seeking an answer to the question, "Is it the viral DNA or viral protein coat (capsid) that is the viral genetic code material which gets injected into the E. coli?" Their results indicated that the viral DNA, not the protein, is its genetic code material.

History of Science Now Showing on PBS

I realized last night that I forgot to post a reminder that Dialogue for Kids was on again, and the topic was Idaho Ecosystems.  Check out Joan's website on Idaho PTV to learn all about the topic.

To redeem myself, I am posting a link to another great show that I have been watching for the past 2 weeks.  History of Science is a BBC series and it covers my favorite part of science...the people!  I try to share who discovered all the things we study in Biology and Chemistry and Physics.  That is so interesting to me...and maybe it will help the vocab words stick a little better. 
Here are the episodes coming up, and the link to the complete schedule.  Thank heavens for DVRs...I never watch a program live anymore!  But the new episodes air on Monday nights, so those are easier to cath.

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012 - 2:00 AM "What Is The World Made of?"

Sunday, Apr 22, 2012 - 5:00 AM "What Is Out There?"

Monday, Apr 23, 2012 - 10:00 PM "How Did We Get Here?"           http://idahoptv.org/schedules/listingDetails.cfm?TZ=MT&SeriesID=17944&thisChannel=KAID&VersionID=241026&ThisDate=4-16-2012&thisTime=22:00:00