Books Update

Trip to the Museum of Natural History on Friday revealed indeed an extensive selection of children's science books. Unfortunately, again, quite dissatisfying. Shelf after shelf of "core dumping" titles on dinosaurs, plants, mammals, frogs, snakes, human body, technology, etc. I want stories! I don't mean fictional stories, I mean stories in the sense of the books produced by best science writers for adults - Carl Zimmer's books tell stories about how scientists work and along the way reveal a great deal of information about the products of science in addition to the process. They have a central focus - usually a mystery or a problem to be solved - around which all the details coalesce. One would think that the story format would be all the more appealing to children, raised on a diet of fiction most of their lives, and yet they are the rarest of science books. In the stores there is often a "Young Adult" section for upper-middle school to high school aged students, and there's a rather large selection of titles - all fiction.

It's also my hunch that many of the non-fiction titles that may be more interesting are geared almost exclusively toward libraries. Few are available in paperback and fewer still are available in bookstores - what do I know, maybe they just don't sell. So I'll be talking to our librarian about getting some new material into the school library. In addition to the NSTA recommendations I mentioned earlier, I also stumbled on the Young Adult Library Association's recommendations. They have a quite extensive list including a list for college bound older students. All lists are broken down by category (fiction/nonfiction or science, history, etc.) and many are annotated.

core dump
n.

A recapitulation of knowledge (compare bits, sense 1). Hence, spewing all one knows about a topic (syn. brain dump), esp. in a lecture or answer to an exam question. “Short, concise answers are better than core dumps” (from the instructions to an exam at Columbia).

Originally: A copy of the data stored in the core memory of a computer, usually used for debugging purposes.


Answers.com

This Is "Fit To Print?"

I started writing this earlier today but had to leave before finishing it.

Ghosts in the machine. What is this rot? Scientists discovered (more or less accidentally) a part of the brain that, when electrically stimulated, induces phantom visions. The obvious logical conclusion to be drawn is that all those reports of people seeing ghosts and other supernatural apparitions are nothing more than the result of chemical/electrical disturbances in the brain. In other words, illusions. Most reasonable, rational people long ago accepted that these phenomena are merely tricks of the brain, but here comes a study - hard evidence really -that demonstrates the possibility of inducing exactly the kind of visions people sometimes report as paranormal. Case closed.

Unless, of course, your life's work is based on peddling this supernatural nonsense. Don't get me wrong. I don't really have a problem with kids believing in Santa or superman or space aliens or otherwise engaging in fantasies of ghosts or demons or the Avatar. But when these beliefs persist into adulthood in a literal way, you've got to wonder about the sanity of the people holding onto them.

Deborah Blum won a Pulitzer prize for “Ghost Hunters: William James and the Scientific Search for Life After Death.” I haven't read it, but I assume it's a pretty objective account of a turn of the century thinker who holds onto some romantic notions of spirituality and tries to bring science to bear on his beliefs. Sounds not much different from the "Creation Science" movement a few decades ago or the intelligent design fraud that is waning today. But apparently the author isn't just interested in this stuff for historical reasons but actually holds onto this desperate need for some form of supernatural world out there beyond the limited imaginations of the stale scientists who dismiss it. Nineteenth century indeed. Her conclusion says it all:

I suspect that we’ll dwell forever in the haunted landscape of our beliefs. To many people it’s a world more interesting — bigger, stranger, more mysterious — than the one offered by science. Why choose instead to be creatures of chemical impulse and electrical twitch? We would rather gamble on even a tiny, electrical spark of a chance that we are something more.

I suspect that my 8 year old twins have a similar rationalization somewhere deep in the recesses of their brains regarding Santa Claus. On one level, they must know that it just doesn't make sense and I can see the beginnings of doubt and realization on their faces and in the questions they ask. On the other hand, to disbelieve outright is to lose something warm & comforting and to risk not getting presents anymore. But eventually they will have to face the facts and appreciate the reality behind the fantasy - that Santa, in his purest form, is a mythical figure who represents something real but abstract, the spirit of giving and of generosity and good will and yes, even love. That is part of the "something more" that we are and it's enough for me, cynical "scientist" that I am.

I Started a Blog...

...which nobody read.

Sprites 2006 album Modern Gameplay

AKA Friday Random 10 + 1

I was about to post my random 10 for today when this song started playing on my Yahoo radio station. Seriously, not making this up. Must be a message from the BlogGods.

But since I don't pay much attention to the gods anyway, here goes.

Artist - Title

1. Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube
2. Phoenix - North
3. Dismemberment Plan - Time Bomb
4. Franklin Bruno - Bulk Removal Truck
5. Cat Power - Say
6. Muse - Starlight
7. Placebo - Running Up That Hill
8. Joesf K - Endless Soul
9. Patty Griffin - One Big Love
10. Bloc Party - Plans
    

Naked Roach

Sounds like it ought to be a euphemism for something, but no...

Until they reach adult size the Madagascan hissing cockroaches molt every few weeks. This was one of the few and probably the first that I ever observed in this state. I actually took this picture back in September, and just now got around to uploading to my computer from the camera. Since then I've seen a few more, and even one that was in the process of emerging from its exoskeleton. Just to add to the ick factor, they usually eat the molted shell.

Nowhere to Browse

I spent about an hour in a bookstore looking for reading recommendations for my students. I wanted some titles that were written with young readers in mind, but the science section is hopeless - it is filled with books that are written, in principle, for the lay-reader, but they are mostly pretty heavy reading even for me, and certainly beyond the reading level of most of my students. Even the advanced readers would have a hard time with the science content of almost all of the books, including the Cartoon Guide to Genetics that I finally purchased.

So off I trudged to the children/young adult section. Waste of time. Their nonfiction selection is an abomination, and especially so for science. Most of the offerings are those Eyewitness or similar type books, which are almost mini-encyclopedias more than anything else - not exactly what I have in mind. Hardly any scientist biographies (Einstein, not much else), and no titles comparable to any of the selections in the adult section. I've been to a couple of the major bookstores in the city and they all look the same in this regard. I haven't tried Bank Street yet, maybe they will have a better variety. Then there's the Museum of Natural History gift shop that has a rather large book section as well. I'll check them out after the holiday.

I came home from my book hunt and remembered that the NSTA publishes an annual list of recommended trade books (non-textbooks with science content). I selected a few examples and searched Barnes & Noble online. Turns out they do in fact carry most of the books online. But online browsing just isn't the same. I want to see the book and flip through the pages and read a little to get a feel for it. Looks like that's a luxury I won't have.

Happy Holidays

This has been one of the nicest pre-holiday weeks I've ever experienced as a teacher. There's been warm feelings all around, our "office party" was well done, students have been excited, albeit reluctant to get much work done. I think I timed it so that this wasn't a problem and factored in some down-time this week to tie up some lose ends, such as finishing the (PBS) Evolution video and working on some extra credit assignments and the like.

My 8th graders had the luxury today of having laptops in the classroom so I had everyone set up their google account and post something on the class reading blog. I let them go a little crazy and post whatever they wanted (within reason) with the caveat that all would be deleted soon except for serious reading logs. I did have one student post her pre-reading entry on the book she chose, which was nice - otherwise it's a free-for-all, instant messaging, chat-room kinda atmosphere. Maybe I'll copy everything to a single post and leave it there- they can get pretty attached to their postings.

The English teacher (humanities in our school) approached me about the assignment and offered some much-appreciated ideas on modifying or augmenting the assignment somewhat to take into account the huge range of abilities and access to resources among our students. Some students have no problem getting to a public library or bookstore to find books, and no trouble picking a book that appeals to them, is at an appropriate reading level, and satisfies the requirements of the assignment. Others will be both unable to get the necessary materials and unwilling to ask for help. I will be at a bookstore this weekend looking for 5-10 titles at a range of reading levels to recommend and we will be offering to order copies for them from Barnes & Noble for a discounted price. Also the 200 page requirement may be a bit much for the 10 weeks I've given them to complete the assignment. So I'll probably reduce that to a 100-150 range for the book, and 10-15 for the articles.

In other news, I'm totally unprepared for the holidays. I am going to try to buy all gifts for next year during the after-Christmas sales this year in an effort to avoid this madness next year - although I think a lot of the after-Christmas sales are fraudulent and will have to be careful in terms of comparing prices. I'm going downtown early tomorrow morning for last-minute items, but there may not be an "early" in terms of beating the crowds.

Now the Good News

At the risk of being pre-mature, I've been informed that my student blogs got the nod from the "elves" at the DOE. That means I may be able to demonstrate how to post tomorrow and a few of the intrepid may even get started over the break or sooner with their book reviews or article summaries.

In other good news, and in a completely different vein, Pitchfork has posted their annual Top *** lists. I'll post the links here, but Pitchfork has a habit of moving things around so I'll try to keep checking to make sure they work. If they break, you can find the links pretty easily from Pitchfork's homepage. First, there's the Top 100 Tracks. Up from last years "Top 50 Singles" because they've expanded the field a bit to include any track, released as a single or not, including remakes and covers - basically anything released in 2006. Then there's the Top 50 Albums, which always take a while to wade through.

Finally, the one I have browsed a little already is the Guest List - a collection of recommendations from some of the bands/artists themselves. I already fell in with Juana Molina's Son, an "alternative Latin" sound that's mesmerizing - and I thought I didn't like Latin music.

So that'll more than fill any free moments I have over the break to sit back and record some new music.

Good Mood Dashed

A series of cold viruses had left me in a pretty dark mood these last 4 weeks or so, but today I felt well enough to bike in to work (the weather was unseasonably warm), and by the time I got set up for the day at school the endorphins were kicking in and I felt pretty good, excited even, about presenting the blog to my students this morning.

Turns out the DOE found something objectionable on my blogs and blocked them from the school's server - I don't know if it's the link to a NY Times article on !BREAST! cancer, or the article on whale !VOMIT! (ambergris, actually), or the reference to Eli Lily's !DRUG! problems, or Chile's policy on the morning after !PILL! Or maybe they just don't like blogspot because it might have !BLOGS!

Who knows. All I know is they need to get a clue. If the security filters are this lame, or if they are stupid enough to think blogs are bad, they may as well get rid of the whole idea of internet access in the schools as more and more content, commentary, and meaningful interactions are being conducted on blogs.

So there went my great day. I did speak to our tech person about getting the blogs allowed, we'll see what happens. Worst case scenario, I may have to host the blogs on my own website (like this one) for the time being.

A Tear for Baiji

(Cross posted to my student blogs)

"I consider myself a strong man," he said. "But when I saw that footage I cried for several minutes. It's just so terribly sad."

That was August Pfluger's response to watching a video of Qi Qi (pronounced "chee-chee"), the last known member of the now apparently extinct Chinese River Dolphin, or baiji. Qi Qi died in 2002 after over 20 years living in captivity. She was rescued after being caught in fish hooks and brought to the aquarium.

Pfluger lead a team along China's Yangtze river (the dolphin's only habitat) in a 6-week search for any remaining dolphins that might still be alive but their quest was fruitless and they have essentially declared the species extinct. Official recognition of the extinct status takes a lot longer to reach.

There are now only 5 remaining species of freshwater dolphins, and 4 of them are "critically endangered."

As usual, the culprit is human exploitation of the rivers. In the case of the baiji, industrial needs led to the dredging and deepening of the river, boats propellers may confuse the dolphin's sonar, and pollution reduces the dolphin's food supply, which consists of smaller fishes in the river.

Baiji is the first large species of (aquatic) mammal to become extinct since the Caribbean monk seal was driven to extinction by over hunting in the 1950s.

National Geographic Article

Hello yeah it's been a while...

..not much, how `bout you?

Ahh, the 70s. I couldn't resist. I'm guessing England Dan & John Ford Coley - let me look it up. Hold on a second, wait for it... Yes! I was right. Kind of embarassing, really. I don't listen to radio and even if I did I doubt you'd hear that stuff anymore except on the cheesiest soft rock/easy listening stations. And another pet-peeve - I don't know when stations decided we don't really want to know who performs the music anyway, but when I do have the displeasure of listening to radio (my wife sometimes channel surfs when we are driving somwhere) they NEVER announce the artists. Drives me batty when I hear an old song and then we rack our brains for an hour trying to remember who did it, waiting patiently for the voice break and hoping this will be that one time in a thousand where the DJ will put our suffering to an end with the old, "and you just heard..."

So what brings me back to the blog. I decided last week to strike up the student blogging idea again. I got some nice tradebooks from the parents of my students at an annual Barnes & Noble fundraising event and wanted to get the students to start reading science that is way more interesting than what gets covered in the textbook and doesn't require me to copy newspaper articles every week. So the reading blog seemed a perfect fit.

I've created a basic assignment consisting of a choice between a heavy reading requirement ( a 200 page book, e.g.) with a limited written requirement (3 blog entries) or a limited reading requirement (25 newspaper/magazine articles) with a heavier written component (one blog entry per article). Students also have the option of turning in their logs in the traditional pen/paper fashion. I've posted links below, but the blog is just starting and no student entries yet. One separate blog per class. Only students and I will be allowed to post or comment.

The other nice thing I discovered is that Blogger has made it significantly easier to add outside content to the blog. So I've posted some site feeds from a number of science & health news providers to the sidebar, offering a source of reading selections to those students who want to take the articles path, right there on the blog itself. Check it out.

Science Readers (Blog)

Assignment