2010

So cool! 3D micrographs of snowflakes

December 30, 2010

Just in time for our first big snow here in Boulder, Wired just published a set of beautiful micrographs of snowflakes, and as a bonus, some of them are in 3D! Here is one of the 3D images.  It’s a DIY 3D — let your eyes relax and blur, so that you’re slightly crossing them, [...]

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Ask Dr. Ryan: Environmental videos for the classroom

December 25, 2010

It is such a pleasure to see something done well.  And that is the case with the latest initiative from one of my fellow scientists and science communicators here in Boulder — Ryan Vachon.  Ryan’s got a PhD in geology, and is now plying his trade making educational videos on science.  And man, this guy [...]

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Two examples of social media in the classroom

December 20, 2010

Today we’ve got another guest post.  I’ve been writing quite a bit about social media in the classroom, and how it is (and isn’t) a useful way to support student learning.   Kate Willson had a few interesting examples of ways that an instructor — and an entire college — are jumping on the social media [...]

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List of Links: Some more helpful resources in science education

December 16, 2010

Yet another collection of cool stuff I’ve come across recently: High speed video of lightning flashes. Click on the link even just to see the front-page video, which is extraordinary.  You could analyze this for hours!  Unfortunately he doesn’t allow them to be reproduced, so I can’t show you here.  Just click! Science Tarot. This [...]

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Brain hacks: My polyphasic sleep experiment

December 14, 2010

So, I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with the familiar rhythms of my body.  I’ve tried different diets (you would be surprised at how vibrant you feel just eating rice and vegetables!), exercise regimes, caffeine intake, etc.  It’s the ultimate inquiry science experiments — when I do this, what happens?  It’s particularly interesting to experiment with your [...]

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Geeky treats #5: The Science of Cooking

December 10, 2010

Did you know that when you whip egg whites, you’re not just beating in air but you’re actually unfolding, or denaturing, the proteins in the eggs? The same thing happens when you heat up eggs, but as you heat them the unfolded proteins make bonds with other proteins, which is what makes them firm up. [...]

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Geeky Treats #4: Freezing food is cool

December 9, 2010

Got liquid nitrogen?  Apparently you can have an awful lot of fun with it.  I heard secondhand about a party at the Exploratorium where treats like candy, caramel corn, and whipped cream were dipped in liquid nitrogen to make a flash-frozen dessert.  One of the favorites was to take a ladle of whipped cream and [...]

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Geeky treats #3: The nose knows

December 8, 2010

Here’s a fun science experiment that you can do around taste.  You need to work with a partner on this one.  Get yourself some lifesavers, or other hard candy.  Plug your nose, cover your eyes, and have your partner give you a piece of candy.  Try to guess the flavor.  It’s really hard!  A related [...]

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Geeky treats #2: Chemical Cake

December 7, 2010

Don Rathjen also has a wonderful activity called Chemical Cake.  This is a great activity for this time of year since the recipe makes a spice cake (why a spice cake?  You’ll find out….).  He makes the following substitutions in a standard cake recipe: Egg (emulsifier)   –>  soap margarine (lubricant)   –>  vaseline water [...]

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Geeky treats #1: Electrical Cake (Just like Ohm-made)

December 6, 2010

There’s nothing cooler than something geeky that’s also yummy in your tummy.  So, this post is the first in a series about some cool science that that we can eat. There’s more than one way to bake a cake.  For one, why bother to let the convection of heat in your oven bake your cake [...]

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US Postal Charges Drive Global Warming

December 2, 2010

We knew that the rise in postal charges was horrible and inhumane, but now we can see that it’s also killing the planet!  A wonderfully funny blog post accompanies this over at JoNova. Similarly, global warming has apparently been causing the population of pirates to decrease: So, this means… the US postal service is killing [...]

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We’re on our 500th post! Come over and say hello.

November 30, 2010

Welcome to the 500th post of sciencegeekgirl!  To celebrate, I’m going to resurrect a meme from Not Exactly Rocket Science (via Cocktail Party Physics) and ask readers to introduce themselves in the comments.  Lurkers and one-time visitors and vocal frequent visitors — you know which one you are.  Say a quick hello and tell us [...]

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Geeky gifts

November 26, 2010

It’s black Friday!  Stay away from the mall and do some geek shopping.   Here are a few ideas: Giant Microbes are always a hit. Many years ago, my housemate gave me the common cold. I eventually gave it to my boyfriend (now my ex). No word yet on whether he’s recovered. At least I didn’t [...]

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Classroom activities on the atmosphere

November 23, 2010

Teaching about the atmosphere?  Here are a few ideas for the classroom. Activities about the atmosphere are particularly well suited for talking about air pressure, since air pressure is essentially the weight of the atmosphere pushing down on us.  At the Exploratorium we had a couple of really great activities to get at this idea. [...]

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How One Science Professor Made an Impact

November 22, 2010

I’m trying something different with today’s post:  A meta-commentary on one student’s memories of a favorite teacher.  Jillian Gile wanted to share her experiences with an inspiring teacher.  I saw many important messages in her story about what makes effective education, from a research standpoint.  So, here is Jillian’s story, with my meta-commentary appended.  Enjoy! [...]

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Friction is your friend…. A climber rests easy in her knowledge of physics

November 11, 2010

I was recently offered the chance to do a guest post for Expand Outdoors (a local blogger’s site about how the outdoors can be a powerful force for life transformation).  So, what would I write it on?  The physics of climbing, of course. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote for her site.  Or, [...]

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Hands-on activities for string theory and dark matter

November 8, 2010

There is a dreadful lack of good material for high school physics courses on modern physics — you know, the stuff after Newton?  String theory and dark matter and particle physics?  Yet, this is the stuff that inspires people to go into science — the unsolved mysteries, the new applications of old theories, or even [...]

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Trophy Wives Don’t Need Advanced Physics: Dubious Words of Wisdom from Physics Students

November 4, 2010

When I saw this book title, I knew I had to get a copy (and the kind folks at Pi Press were more than happy to oblige me with a review copy).  Trophy Wives Don’t Need Advanced Physics is clearly a labor of love from Mr. Korsunsky, who clearly spent many years jotting down the [...]

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Webinar: Writing great (science) clicker questions

November 1, 2010

The kind folks at i>clicker have invited me back to give another webinar on effective use of personal response systems.  This one’s called Writing Great Clicker Questions and will be focused on techniques and tips in writing questions that get students discussing and debating — questions that help students learn, rather than just assessing what [...]

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List of helpful educational links

November 1, 2010

This was popular next time so I thought I’d do it again!  Here is a list of helpful educational links that I’ve come across in the last few weeks.  Many are from the NSTA Freebies page. Paul Hewitt’s Next Time Questions (with solutions).  Freely downloadable from Arbor Scientific, this cartoon series is intended to keep [...]

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