All Science All the Time...

Many of you have probably heard me say "all science all the time..." fairly often.

Trained as a microbiologist, I was originally on the pre-med path when I took my first microbiology class. The instant I looked through a microscope at the unseen universe of microorganisms, I was hooked!

It's no wonder then that I changed my major and got an advanced degree in microbiology and immunology. I love it! Plus, I really enjoy sharing science info, images, videos, etc with children and adults. 

I do that via my books and Pinterest. Come check out all the fantastic animals, insects, element videos, science education handouts, and more at http://pinterest.com/sciwhisperer/. If you're on Pinterest, let's definitely connect. Go Science!!

Science Videos in School

When I was in school, having a film during class was a treat. Usually it was because the regular teacher was out, but sometimes films were used to augment curriculum. 

These days, videos are a staple in our culture. YouTube has experienced logarithmic growth. Teaching methods also use video more as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts especially benefit from video. Videos are able to show an experiment that would take too long in one class period or are too dangerous to demonstrate. 

I love the University of Nottingham videos on each of the elements in the Periodic Table. They are fun and offer examples of each element, their uses, and often a reaction. I also enjoy the Symphony of Science videos like "We Are Star Dust" by Neil DeGrasse Tyson that I've pinned with many other educational videos to my Cool Science Videos Pinterest board. Check it out and share some of your favorites.

If you're a teacher, I have Pinterest boards for Science Education, Science and Nature, Space and NASA, Robots, and Architecture and Design, to name a few. I use Pinterest as an online, visual filing system for cool websites, articles, concepts, and images. Stop by if you are exploring Pinterest and say hello.
Go science!

Symphony of Science

Have you seen the Symphony of Science website? It is awesome! Science and music combine to offer scientific knowledge in a novel way via music clips and re-mixed scientists.

My favorite so far is We Are Star Dust. The tune is catchy. I'm humming it now. It's also a great tool for teachers to jazz up chemistry, biology and physics lessons.

In addition, the Symphony of Science project offers presentations on dinosaurs, Mars, space, reality, ancient/native peoples, and the environment among others.

Hunting the Elements

Did you catch the NOVA Science program Hunting the Elements last week? I learned that calcium is really a silver-colored metal. Who knew? It combines with phosphate in bone and carbonate in sea shells to get that familiar white color. If you want to see metallic calcium as well as calcium in different compounds, check out this University of Nottingham video on calcium. http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/020.htm
And for more little known facts on elements, check out the Hunting the Elements PBS link. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/hunting-elements.html
There is also a "Name That Element" game to test your chemistry knowledge. A different question is posted every day. Try it! http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/name-that-element.html

Periodic Table of Videos

Have you seen the Periodic Table of Videos created by some folks at the University of Nottingham? Each element has a brief video about it. Of the videos I watched. I liked potassium (K) and tungsten (W). Off to see more now...