With the updates to iTunes 7, I noticed the EcoGeeks podcast promoted on the front page of the directory. It is a video podcast from the folks at TheWildclassroom.com. From their about page:
As an organisation built by a group of next generation scientists, The Wild Classroom and sister site Explore Biodiversity work to promote an interest in conservation, ecology and biology in a manner appealing to our youth and young at heart.
As they say in their intro video, they are passionate about science and sharing their enthusiasm with students. The production values on their shows are pretty good, almost to the point where I wondered if it was a creation of Discovery Communication. But as far as I can tell, it is an independent, grant-funded production that is free for educational use.
They offer companion lesson plans for educators and give permission to use their videos in the classroom. However, I could not find the exact terms of usage spelled out on their website (is this Creative Commons licensed?). They also need input from teachers to help determine future programming.
This is pretty exciting stuff, kind of like a next generation JASON Project but without the cruft.
The National Science Teacher Association has started a “new series of conversations with authors of NSTA Press® books.” The series is called Behind the Books and so far includes converstations with:
- Tomas Bunk (illustrator) and Arthur Eisenkraft (one of the authors) of Quantoons: Metaphysical Illustrations [mp3]
- Karen Rohrich Ansberry and Emily Morgan, authors of Picture-Perfect Science Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry [mp3]
They are nice productions. But I have one complaint. They are calling these things podcasts, however I do not think it means what they think it means. They have the audio files but I can’t find the RSS subscription file on their website or on iTunes. What’s up with that, NSTA? Where’s the syndication?
via BoingBoing.net
![image via Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Thylacine.jpg [200x150, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060907a.jpg "Thylacine or Tasmanian Wolf")
Found out that September 7 is National Threatened Species Day in Australia. Australia is home to many unique critters, and one of the strangest was the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Wolf/Tiger. It was actually a marsupial, and the last known living one died in captivity on this day in 1936.
[The] National Threatened Species Day…concept was developed by the Threatened Species Network, a community based program of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Commonwealth Government’s Natural Heritage Trust, as a way to showcase Australian threatened species. By focusing attention on the plight of many of our threatened animals and plants, Threatened Species Day aims to encourage greater community support and hands-on involvement in the prevention of further losses of Australia’s unique natural heritage.
Well, one of the extant Australian creatures that is currently under threat is Neoceratodus, the Australian Lungfish. According to PZ Myers, “[t]he Australian government is planning to dam the last rivers on which these spectacular vertebrates live, and that will be it for them. We’ll be left with nothing but bones and tissue samples and few relics in aquaria.” Myers lists several ways folks can act to help save this species. You can also sign the petition.
![image via Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Australian-Lungfish.jpg [400x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060907b.jpg "Neoceratodus, Australian Lungfish")
![Courtesy of Richard Giles, http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardgiles/78439513/ (cc) 2006 [200x150, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060904a.jpg "Steve irwin, television personality, zoo owner")
Sad, especially so soon after Australia’s Father’s day. Will miss you Steve. Crikey.
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series. Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef. The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead…
My generation had Marlin Perkins and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Not sure what Steve means to the current younger generation of wildlife enthusiasts. Like any public figure, he had his controversial moments. But I liked his unconventional style of popularizing nature and will miss him.
According to the Wikipedia entry, it is not the stingray poison that is thought to have killed Steve, but rather the puncture to his heart.
![Download a White Shark Photo. Courtesy of MBA (c) 2006 [200x150, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060901a.jpg "Download a White Shark Photo. Courtesy of MBA (c) 2006")
Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and this time it’s a male. He was captured by MBA’s husbandry staff a couple weeks ago and it’s now on display in their Outer Bay exhibit. Wish I could get there to see this.
For only the second time, there’s a healthy young white shark in our Outer Bay exhibit. 5 feet 8 inches long and 104 pounds, he arrived on August 31 and is making himself right at home in the million-gallon exhibit.
White sharks are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. MBA had a lot of success with a female specimen they kept for 198 days back in 2004. I reckon they’ll keep this male on exhibit for a couple of months too before he’s released. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about this species and educate the public about sharks.
UPDATE: Here’s some interesting links from the last time MBA had a shark. Did not realize there was a controversy.
Jason Robertshaw
![I'm a sucker for the Cephalopodcast, science edu+ocean info, cephalopodcast.com [180x150, 39K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalobanner1.jpg "Cephalopodcast Fans")
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