Cephalopodcast

I listen to the Earthwatch Radio Podcast. It’s a nicely produced, short-format show originally meant for broadcast. A recent episode was called Screening Out Nature, and briefly covers the decline in visits to America’s national parks. One can conjecture about the many reasons for the decline, but according to the The Nature Conservancy, it directly correlates with a rise in the consumption of electronic media and a rise in oil prices. The episode gives more attention to the former and concludes that “parents need to get their kids away from the video games and computers and send them outside.” There is certainly a lot of alarmist ink spilt on the topic of “Nature Deficit Disorder.”

But I wonder why video games and the outdoors have to be mutually exclusive concepts. They aren’t oil and water. Maybe it is just the antiquarian nature of many environmentalists’ worldview? It should be possible to make the digital and the organic world live together in one experience. Geocaching comes to mind as one example. Anyone else have others?

• Is Wireless a Natural for National Parks?
• Wireless tour guides for national parks

The Exploratorium is a museum in San Francisco, CA and was founded in 1969 by noted physicist and educator Dr. Frank Oppenheimer. They have an extensive website with many, many pages exploring hundreds of different topics. They also have competition called the Iron Science Teacher which is webcast live. The next event is on August 11, 2006 at 12:00pm PST/3:00pm EST/7:00pm GMT.

Parodying the cult Japanese TV program, Iron Chef, the Exploratorium’s Iron Science Teacher competition showcases Bay Area science teachers as they devise demonstrations around a particular ingredient—an everyday item such as a plastic bag, a milk carton, or a nail. In a fast-paced atmosphere where showmanship and creativity reign, science teachers are given ten minutes to concoct a science activity that can be used in the classroom.

Unfortunately, you need RealPlayer in order to see the webcast.

• Iron Science Teacher competition
• Iron Science Teacher competitions are archived here according to where their secret ingredient was found. After watching the Webcasts, cook up some activities of your own.
• See also: The Exploratorium eclipse exhibit in Second Life