A while back I wrote about Nin Andrews wonderful little book “Dear Professor, Do You Live in a Vacuum?”  This collection of poems based on real student notes to her physicist husband is a fun read — an interesting peek into the life of students from their point of view.  See my previous post to see the title poem (which I think is one of the best).

Here’s one, for example:

Dear Professor

I’m preparing for your exam

in Quantum

Which means I am waiting

for the nonzeroprobability

that my brilliance

will manifest on its own.

It’s bound to happen.

There’s just no telling when.

See Nin Andrews’ site for more, and a link to buy the book.

Got this gem from a recent issue of Science magazine…

Here’s a variation on the popular geeks who drink bar-room trivia contests.  This geek wanted to describe the evolution of drinks!  An evolutionary biologist, James Harriman, wondered whether new drinks arise by people adjusting old recipes to fit their tastes, giving rise to new “species” of cocktail in a sort of “taste-based natural selection”.

Geneticists have fancy software for making phylogenetic trees, showing how species branch out from one another genetically.  With a common ancestor of vodka, the program naturally sorted different drinks based on their ingredients (which would be the “species”, I guess).  You can get a poster of the cocktail evolutionary tree, which of course, doubles as a mixology guide.

And for those who haven’t discovered it yet, check out The Webtender This is a nice little algorithm for plugging in what you’ve got in your cupboard and finding out what you can make with it. You can also ask what you can make if you buy 1, 2, or 3 more ingredients.

I really like these continuing contests that ASPEX keeps offering (Name that Sample) where you get to try to guess what their SEM scan is of.  If you guess the what the image below is showing by August 14th, you could win a free netbook.  Put in your guesses on their website, not mine (if you want to win, that is).

For those who don’t know what “remote sensing” means, that probably sounds like a much sexier title than it really is. “Remote sensing” refers to getting data from instruments from afar, or remotely. The ability to collect data via satellite or cellular connection was an important step in being able to gather information from remote regions (such as the arctic, for example), or dangerous regions (like minefields). The polar regions are a particularly sensitive area to climate change, and so it’s very important to study, say, how the ice pack is melting or how the oceans are responding over time. But they’re not very hospitable regions. So you have to collect your data remotely. It’s kind of cool. You can look on a website and see the data, in real time, on the temperature and salinity of the arctic ocean.

I got to create a short video on this subject for the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears webzine this month — a lot of fun. See it below.

You can see the blog post about this video podcast, and other parts of this issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar bears on their blog.

I’m working on an abstract for the AAPT.  What do people think about this idea?

Facing Facebook:  Social media in and out of the classroom

Your students are already using tools like Facebook and Twitter.  In fact, they’re often using them when you’d rather they’d be doing something else (like paying attention in class). How can we turn the potential obstacles of Web 2.0 and social media into an opportunity for effective teaching and learning?  I’ll share some techniques instructors are using for communicating with their students and each other, including class blogs, real-time aggregated conversations in class, tweeted answers to student questions, dedicated YouTube channels, wiki-based class contracts, and more.  Through these tools, we may choose to leverage social media to promote conversation about things that we care about, using platforms that students find familiar and fun.

And now I have visual proof…  (that’s me in pink)

Our PhET interactive simulation project was just featured on Voice of America. It’s a nice short piece that gives information about PhET and why it’s helpful for student learning. Kudos to my boss Kathy Perkins who was succinct and clear — not always an easy task.

Below is the text from the VOA site

And here is the audio MP3

Website features interactive science experiments

You won’t need a one-gig internet connection to check out our Website of the Week.

This time it’s an educational site where principles of physics are illustrated with interactive animated experiments that you can perform on your own computer.

PERKINS: “The PhET website is a collection of 85 simulations for teaching and learning science. So our main goal is to help students better understand the science of the world around them, but instead of telling students how something works, our simulations let them discover important science concepts for themselves and really learn and engage through scientist-like exploration.”

Kathy Perkins is co-director of the Physics Education Technology, or PhET Interactive Simulations website, at phet.colorado.edu.

Despite the name, the site also includes animated simulations in biology, chemistry, and other disciplines, as well as physics. You can build your own solar system, model the hydrogen atom, or explore the properties of a gas as you change its temperature and other variables.

Another simulation allows you to design and modify a simple electrical circuit.

PERKINS: “So when you open up, you can drag out wires and batteries and bulbs. And as you connect them, as soon as you complete a circuit, you’ll see the light bulb light up and the electrons shown in the wires circulate around the circuit.”

The simulations look like entertainment, but Perkins says the design of each has been tested for its educational value and can be used in the classroom, or you can just run the sims yourself and learn by doing online at phet.colorado.edu, or get the link from our site, VOAnews.com.

MUSIC: Michel Petrucciani – “Laws Of Physics”

You’re listening to Our World, the weekly science and technology magazine from VOA News. I’m Art Chimes in Washington.

Project Tomorrow (which does really good work) is creating a new survey of teachers, to get the lay of the land in teacher prep.  This one is the first one, I believe, in which they’re including aspiring teachers.  Here is the blurb — if you’re seeking your credentials, consider contributing your voice to the survey!  Due February 19th.

Wanted: Aspiring Teachers to join the National Dialogue about Teacher Education!

Project Tomorrow is seeking Aspiring Teachers who are currently pursuing a degree or credential to participate in its nationally recognized Speak Up project.  The Speak Up for Aspiring Teacher survey is the newest in Project Tomorrow’s suite of Speak Up surveys and provides aspiring teachers with the opportunity to contribute to the national dialogue about teacher preparation.  This online survey asks participants questions about how they use technology in and out of the classroom for personal and academic reasons, how they are learning to use technology to facilitate learning or for professional tasks, and their aspirations for your future classrooms.

The national findings will be released during a Congressional Briefing in May 2010 and used to inform national, state, and local policymakers about key issues related to teacher preparation and training.  Your voice matters!  The survey responses are 100% anonymous, so let us know what’s important to you and your future teaching career.

It’s easy to share your ideas – all you have to do is take the survey on our website!

For additional information, please contact June Pai at june@tomorrow.org or 949/609-4660 Ext. 12 or visit Project Tomorrow’s website.

Remember, the survey closes on February 19th, 2010!

I don’t usually post job listings on the blog, but I *love* the local NSDL office and would be so happy to see someone excellent in this job opening.  See below — it’s a really great opportunity for someone qualified.

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) (http://nsdl.org), based at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, CO is seeking candidates for an Outreach and Professional Development Specialist.  The full position announcement and application procedures can be found on the UCAR website at:

http://bit.ly/cKNwYq

This position is responsible for leading efforts that inform and engage NSDL’s stakeholder and user communities. Assists the Director of Education and Strategic Partnerships in developing and implementing strategies to build significant use of the library and ensure that the NSDL is educationally beneficial across all science, technology, engineering and mathematics education communities. Leverages the use of online tools and social media as new outreach and engagement mechanisms for NSDL. Measures and analyzes an array of metrics to interpret progress toward goals for NSDL’s usage and impact. Sets direction for, designs and delivers professional development programming for NSDL’s educational users that also helps to inform audience needs, practices and incentives for engagement. This position includes responsibilities for representing NSDL in a variety of public and professional venues.

Minimum requirements include:
* Bachelor’s degree in education or a science/mathematics field; and
* at least three years of experience in K-16 and/or public education in formal or informal settings; and
* at least three years of experience in teacher/faculty professional development design, delivery, and evaluation.

This is a full-time replacement position. Initial consideration will be given to applications received prior to Friday, February 12, 2010. Thereafter, applications will be reviewed on an as-needed basis.

Got a geek in your life who’s aching for something cool?  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 give him ebola.  Now Giant Microbes even has bird flu and swine flu…

Made with Molecules This is the business of a wonderful science writer, Raven Hanna — silver jewelry in the shape of molecules .  She’ll send you caffeine (for the coffee addict), serotonin (when you’re feeling blue), oxytocin (for valentine’s day)… they’re really lovely!  If anybody’s looking for a gift for me, I love the serotonin necklace or earrings…

Trilobite For the bio-inspired, this site has clothing centered on evolution and paleontology.

XKCD.com has wonderful stuff inspired by the comic – posters, t-shirts, a tie, and more.  The shirt to the left is one of my favorite items in my closet.  Deadline for holiday orders is Dec 14!

There are also a couple of good geek-oriented stores, like ThinkGeek and X-Treme Geek.

Got a geek reader?  Try a subscription to Isotope (a journal of literary nature and science writing) or Science News (all the news from the science world you could ever want in succinct well-written form).

For those of you who are both geeky and patriotic, here is a patriotic periodic table t-shirt.

And Sarah over at Schooner of Science beat me to the punch with her own geek shopping list, which is suitable for biologists, like cool lab coats and a tie, and my favorite, a cute bacteria wall clock.