Cephalopodcast

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership has a couple of interesting opportunities for teachers and students.

First, is the National Ocean Science Bowl. I will be volunteering at the regional Spoonbill Bowl competition this weekend and hope to report on that soon.

Second, is called the Deep Earth Academy, which is the education arm of their scientific ocean drilling program. In addition to resources to teach climate change and Activities of the Month, they have a free color poster for middle and high school students that shows what an oceanic survey cruise looks like and what kinds of information scientist gain from them.

…this (Anatomy of a Seamount Survey) poster shows the ship’s track, 3D bathymetry plots from the survey, and images from the ship’s dredging operations. On the poster’s reverse side are included: background information on site surveys, mini-profiles of some of the expedition’s key personnel, and four science challenges for middle school students.

You can also request oceanic core samples for use at your school courtesy of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Third, they have a fellowship for one lucky teacher to help them develop new content. Deadline is Monday, March 3, 2008.

Deep Earth Academy Teacher Fellowship 2008-2009

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership is seeking an enthusiastic teacher for a one-year fellowship in Washington, DC. The teacher will work with DeepEarth Academy staff to develop ocean science curricula, produce teacher-training workshops, maintain communication within a community of educators and assist with conference logistics. The position requires a minimum of 3 years classroom science teaching experience, a strong background in earth or ocean sciences, and temporary relocation to Washington, DC. Strong writing and computer technology skills are a plus. Salary will be commensurate to incumbent¹s current salary. Full time and part-time schedules will be considered.

To apply for the position, send a cover letter, resume, curriculum sample or list of professional development offerings and three letters of reference to learning@oceanleadership.org or mail to Deep Earth Academy, 1201 New York Avenue NW, 4th floor, Washington, DC, 20005 by Monday, March 3, 2008. For more information visit www.deepearthacademy.org

Finally, the COL is also hosting a number of events from February 25-29, billing it as 2008 Washington Ocean Week. This is not to be confused with the other Ocean Week in June.

With the release of the President’s budget earlier in the month and the appropriations season in full swing, this is a critical time for the oceanographic community to sound its voice in the nation’s capitol.

• Consortium for Ocean Leadership
• Deep Earth Academy Teacher Fellowship 2008-2009
• Anatomy of a Seamount Survey poster
• Deep-Sea News: A Valentine’s from Congress

SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science. Created for scientists, by scientists, SciVee moves science beyond the printed word and lecture theater taking advantage of the internet as a communication medium where scientists young and old have a place and a voice. SciVee is operated in partnership with the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC).

SciVee^alpha is a video sharing site for science. The concept is that a researcher links the PubMed ID or DOI of their paper to SciVee, then records ten minutes of video or audio discussing the highlights and concepts in the article. The site allows the video or audio to be synchronized with figures from the article. The next step involves the SciVee community then commenting on and discussing the new pubcast.

For an example, here is Christopher L. Dupont from Scripps discussing his co-authored work, Modern proteomes contain putative imprints of ancient shifts in trace metal geochemistry from PNAS.

Currently the site is in its alpha release. There does not appear to be any way to embedded SciVee videos on your own blog, a la YouTube. It would also be nice if their was a recommendation scheme, where the site suggested related materials or similar research. But it might be too early to effectively do that with a small database.

In addition to discussions of original research, there are several educational science shorts you can view. In particular, BioMEDIA has snippets from several of their videos on animal diversity (see below). BioMEDIA allows some limited educational use of their content. They are also offering a couple of free posters if folks register with their site.

So what do you think? Can scientist master the art of communicating to an Internet audience? Should they be expected to? Know anyone who has uploaded content to SciVee?

• A Video Overview of SciVee
• BioMEDIA Associates: Biology of Echinoderms (seastars and sea cucumbers)
• BioMEDIA Associates: Biology of Cnidarians (sea jellies)
• BioMEDIA Associates: Biology of Annelids (worms)
• Microbe World: Save the Oysters
• Robert Alan Weiss’ free love Protein Synthesis

It’s National Chemistry Week from October 21-27, 2007. And October 23 is an especially auspicious day, since it is Mole Day.

Celebrated annually on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry. Schools throughout the United States and around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles.

For a given molecule, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the atomic mass of the molecule.

• Wikipedia: Mole Day

[via SeaSpan]

The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History is offering free marine educational materials for undergraduate and professional-level teaching. Many of the materials are authored by Tundi Agardy, Pew Advisor and executive director of Sound Seas, and cover marine conservation biology, marine protected areas (MPA) and MPA networks, and marine conservation policy.

In order to use the materials, you have to register with NCEP website and promise to use the materials for good, not evil.

• Sample module: Why is Biodiversity Important?

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA, will host the traveling Smithsonian exhibit In Search of Giant Squid from September 22-December 31, 2007. The have a FREE Teacher Workshop & Open House on Thursday, September 27, 2007.

This 2-hour workshop for teachers will introduce useful resources from the Burke Museum and the upcoming Smithsonian traveling exhibit, In Search of Giant Squid. Learn how to use this exhibit to reinforce your marine science curriculum, including the scientific process, ocean research, and deep-sea ecology. The workshop will feature a presentation by a museum curator, a guided tour of the exhibit, an introduction to the exhibit curriculum created by the Smithsonian, a small-group activity, and a review of available teacher resources.

The workshop and curriculum is ideally suited for teachers of grades 5 through 8, but can be adapted for younger and older grade levels.

• Workshop Flyer [PDF]
• More Burke Squid Events

The Pacific Science Center has a variation on a popular numbers game.

Do you Sudoku? Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku…Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. The question in this edition is:

What ancient sea reptile lived during the age of the dinosaurs in what is now Europe?

To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:

A O U S D L R P C

This might be a fun supplement for educators following along when National Geographic premieres its new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure on October 5th.

Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animated transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America in two. The film follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere close to me. However, it’s not only a movie, it’s also a multimedia marketing blitzvideogame for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 2.

I have to think that combining these games with the standards-based lesson plans would make for a pretty interesting classroom assignment.

• PacSci-Doku - “Ancient Sea Reptile”
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Trailer
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Teacher Guides for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
• See also, Nat Geo’s previous productions: When Monsters Ruled the Deep
• See also, BBC: Sea Monsters adventure game and Sea monster facts
• Puzzle hint: A O U S D L R P C: Bizarre ‘Walrus-Turtles’ of the Triassic

We had a shark bite in Sarasota Bay recently. A hapless New College student went night swimming and got nibbled on by a (suspected) bull shark. She is expected to recover after receiving several dozen stitches. If you care to see the damage, she has posed for inspection.

Remarkably, it is only the seventh reported unprovoked¹ shark bite in Sarasota County since 1882. These statistics are literally kept on file at the International Shark Attack File. They advise not being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage. Indeed. My buddy SB and I didn’t follow that advice in our undergrad days either. We took a couple turns snorkeling along Lido at sunset. But the severed head of a stargazer and a disemboweled cownose ray were pretty good clues we weren’t alone.

Of course, I kind of like the notion put forth by NBA star Gilbert Arenas. He recently opined that there are no such things as shark attacks:

There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack. I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as. We’re humans. We live on land. Sharks live in water. So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack. When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”

Perhaps the co-ed would have been less attractive had she slathered on some Shark Defense. This is a new sun tan lotion that purports to also repel sharks. Testing for the product took place at the Bimini Biological Field Station. This is also the location where a classic Mythbusters segment was filmed, one dealing with the notion that sharks can smell one single drop of blood in a thousand drops of water. It’s a shame Discovery hasn’t cottoned on to the idea of letting users embed their video into posts, a la Comedy Central. But you can follow the links below to see how Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman used condoms and syringes to bust this myth.

• Shark Week Mini Myths: Can Shark Detect a Drop of Blood
• Discovery Channel’s MYTHBUSTERS hit the Bimini Biological Field Station
• Gilbert Arenas: There Are No Such Thing as Shark Attacks
• Florida Student Recounts Shark Attack, Shows Off Her Wound
• Florida student mauled by shark
• It’s the stuff of horror: a bay jaunt, and a shark
• Shark repellant + sun tan lotion: Fin be Gone

Unprovoked attacks are defined as “incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark.”

[via Informal Science Educators Network Listserv]

Reading PZ Myers, one gets the inkling that Minnesota is an anathema to science education. But these sites seem to be fighting that impression.

Over at the Minnesota Children’s Museum there is an interesting and economical idea for teaching science.

Science StoryPacks™ are backpacks filled with literature and fun science activities for students Pre–K – 5. They’re a great addition to educational settings: as a science book nook for students, a parent involvement activity, or a small group instruction. Shipping: Pick–up available at Minnesota Children’s Museum for free, or a shipping fee of $10 each way is charged for each kit.

And over at The Science Museum of Minnesota, they have a website called Science Buzz, which is a, “regularly updated community newsletter highlighting current science news, events, and findings.” One contributor has written an entry on the recent Humboldt squid invasion off the coast of California which has generated so much…buzz.

Teachers can browse the Buzz Blog by science standards.

• Science StoryPacks™
• Science Buzz

UPDATE: Got in touch with Maija from the Science Museum of Minnesota. Their MathPacks website is www.smm.org/mathpacks. They have also published an article in Teaching Children Mathematics, the NCTM elementary journal:

Measuring Growth on a Museum Field Trip: Dinosaur Bones and Tree Cross Sections
The MathPacks program at the Science Museum of Minnesota provides students with in-depth understanding of real-world applications of mathematics and science. Students measure museum specimens and investigate ratios, patterns, and mapping while simulating the work of scientists.

Looking for ways to make a difference by beginning or improving a youth water education program? Educating Young People About Water (EYPAW) is a searchable oline database of over 150 water-related curricula. The fine folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Resources Center have cataloged all of them according to topic, format and education goals.

Glance at them all at once, or focus in on selections like Liquid Explorations or Your Impact on Salmon/Fish: A Self-Assessment.

But don’t wait too long to check these out. You want to be ready for World Water Monitoring Day, which is only two months away!

Today is World Ocean Day.

Whether you live along the coast or far inland, each one of us is connected to the world’s ocean. Make your ocean connection on June 8th!

Today also marks the start of the first Carnival of the Blue.

More events and activities will be posted here later today soon. Stay tuned.

The Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, a science centric teaching facility based out of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia, needs your haikus:

The [Science Creative Quarterly] is about to embark on a creative bioinformatics project that aims to collect a myriad of Haiku’s that reflect on an organism. These, we will collect and present as an exercise in phylogeny at a later date. Called the Haiku Phylogeny project. For more details, please go here.

Here is my contribution:
 

   PATTERNS IN THE SAND

   Heave ho, there she goes
   a sea turtle on the beach.
   Don’t disturb her nest.

• The SCQ’s Most Exceptional, Illustrious, Spendiferous Haiku Phylogeny Project
• Compulsory squid haiku
• A guide to defining the haiku form

Backside of a fossil sharks tooth, one of the largest ever excavated in Florida. On display at the Paleo Preserve (www.paleopreserve.org).

The Florida Museum of Natural History will soon open a new exhibit called Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived

At about 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived. The dominant marine predator vanished 2 million years ago, but its story inspires lessons for ocean conservation today.

Visitors enter a full-size sculpture of Megalodon through massive jaws. Once inside, they will discover this shark’s history and the world it inhabited.

The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through January 6, 2008.

[via FMSEA]

WHOI has a marine science image of the day that you can subscribe to. It is part of their Digital Image Catalog. In additon to the WHOI IoD, you can find:

• Current images of people, places, technology, events and projects
• Underwater photography from Alvin, Jason II and other vehicles
• Illustrations from WHOI publications and presentations
• Historical photographs of the Institution and Woods Hole area

• WHOI Image of the Day

Need a secchi disk or zooplankton net? How about a rubber squid or manual on building your own ROV? We’ve mentioned the catalog company from MarineLab before. They supply a variety of materials of interest to marine science educators.

Well, from a posting on NMEA’s Scuttlebutt listserv, it appears the business is up for sale. No word on why the change. But if you are interested, check out the website, www.leaveonlybubbles.com, and contact Art Mitchell (art [dot] mitchell [at] mrdf [dot] org) for details.

The newest issue of Sea Stories is available. Sea Stories is a quarterly online journal of international ocean writing and art, published by Blue Ocean Institute.

Sea Stories…features contributions by ocean-lovers from all backgrounds and walks of life - writers, artists, educators, students, scientists, fishers, conservationists, explorers, and just regular people. Educators are invited to use Sea Stories in the classroom or as a publishing opportunity for yourself or your students. Join us in celebrating all things oceanic!

• Sea Stories

Got a chance to see this at FMSEA. Very nice.

The Loxahatchee River District is pleased to announce the debut of its environmental poster series: Seagrasses found in the Loxahatchee River Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon

The poster provides a way to educate the public about the importance of seagrass and how residents can alter their actions to minimize their impact on seagrass. Through education and awareness, the poster will foster a stronger sense of stewardship for the protection of seagrasses and the Indian River Lagoon. The seagrass poster will be distributed throughout Palm Beach and Martin County schools, environmental centers, and other learning facilities. Funding for this project was provided by the South Florida Water Management District through the Indian River Lagoon License Plate Program.

• 8.5 x 11 Poster (PDF-556Kb)
• 11 x 17 Poster (PDF-536Kb)
• For more information or to obtain a poster, please contact Jocelyn O’Neill at 561-743-7123 or 561-262-2991