The Science of YouTube

If you are looking for engaging, entertaining, and excellent science on YouTube, you can't go wrong with the following channels:

Image courtesy of: Compixels

• Crash Course: teaches you ecology and chemistry
• Feynman Series: promoting scientific education and scientific literacy in the general population through the mind of physicist Richard Feynman
• MinuteEarth: science and stories about our awesome planet
• MinutePhysics: cool physics and other sweet science
• Periodic Table of Videos: your ultimate channel for all things chemistry
• Sagan Series: promoting scientific education and scientific literacy in the general population through the mind of astrophysicist Carl Sagan
• SciShow: where the science goes
• Veritasium: the science video blog from atoms to astrophysics
• Vsauce: amazing facts and the best of the internet

What are your favorite YouTube science channels?

Investigating Water Temperature

Research Question: How does temperature affect ocean water? Specifically, how does the temperature of a purple solution (hot vs. cold) affect the movement of the purple solution through room temperature water?

In our quest to better understand ocean currents, we investigated the effects of temperature on the motion of fluids through water. Students set up and performed a controlled experiment that tested the movement of hot vs. cold potassium permanganate solution (aka, "purple stuff") in columns of room temperature water. Watch as one group of students performs a trial (hot on the left, cold on the right):

Based on the experiment, ponder the following questions:

• How does temperature affect ocean water?
• How does temperature affect the way water moves?
• Which is more dense, hot water or cold water? What evidence from the experiment do you have to support your answer?
• How might uneven solar heating of the Earth (equator vs. poles) cause ocean currents?
• How do you think ocean currents affect global weather and climate?

To better appreciate how and why scientists monitor and study ocean circulation, explore NASA's Aquarius Mission website, which has many excellent animations such as the one below:

Education vs. School

"In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." —Al Rogers, pioneer in long-distance learning 

What exactly is the educational role of schools these days? Are schools flexible enough to meet the challenges of 21st century learning, or are they dinosaurs on the brink of extinction? Are stakeholders—teachers, administrators, students, parents, politicians, and bureaucrats alike—prepared for the looming academic cliff?

Are we brave enough, heroic enough, humble enough to discard the failed systems of thinking and finally embrace authentic, intrinsic, hyperconnected learning... or will we continue our desperate cling to a technophobic past that is doomed to collapse under the crushing, extrinsically-motivated weight of grades, test scores, heartless competition, and race to the top?

(And how complicit am I in perpetuating this anachronistic march toward obscurity?)

Of these questions and more I ponder...

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Thanks to for the love of learning, et al., for sharing this video

Ouch

The 2012 state of science standards: Colorado = D

"American science performance is lagging as the economy becomes increasingly high tech, but our current science standards are doing little to solve the problem. Reviewers [at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute] evaluated science standards for every state for this report and their findings were deeply troubling: The majority of states earned Ds or Fs for their standards in this crucial subject, with only six jurisdictions receiving As. Explore all the state report cards and see how your state performed."

I'm looking forward to the Next Generation Science Standards...

Value: Captured or Created?

"Create more value than you capture." —Tim O'Reilly, technical book publisher and entrepreneur

A recent article written by Tim O'Reilly mused about value creation vs. value capture, which got me thinking about educational value: Are we creating value or capturing value?

Image courtesy of morgueFile

With relentless emphasis on grades and test scores, I feel that today's schools and students are more focused on "value capture" than "value creation." The result is a motivation gap that is both widening and deepening within our education system—extrinsically motivated schools and students intent on grades and test scores engage more in value capture than those who seek intrinsic motivation and value creation. Of these two approaches, value capture is short-sighted and unsustainable, relying more on instant gratification and temporary "feel goods" than lifelong learning.

A continued diet of value capture (devoid of enduring understanding and lacking longterm transfer of skills and knowledge) will ultimately drive us toward intellectual starvation...

Writing in Science Class

A question posted recently on the National Science Teachers Association blog caught my attention:

We’re having a discussion in our secondary school science department. Some of us think our lessons should incorporate more opportunities for students to learn how to write, while others maintain there’s little time for writing and that’s the job of the English teachers. Who is correct?

I felt compelled to respond:

Communication in all forms is fundamental to science; therefore, writing should be a regular part of the science classroom. Teaching the writing process should not be the exclusive domain of just one teacher or department, but should be shared as part of school, grade level, and/or department goals and curricular expectations. Arbitrarily injecting writing exercises into the science classroom is neither the most efficient nor most effective approach to the task—common language among teachers and students as well as common writing strategies are needed to help maximize student progress in writing. 

Image courtesy of morgueFile

Including the process of writing into the science curriculum takes time, effort, resources, and collaboration—it’s tough to go it alone. It takes a shared vision and commitment to help students become better writers in all disciplines. 

While it may be (and is) daunting to add “one more thing” to the science classroom, better writers ultimately enhance all learning. Start small—incorporate one simple, manageable, and authentic strategy into your existing science repertoire, such as writing descriptive titles or writing scientific questions—then slowly build from there. The key to success is modeling and practicing the process until it becomes routine and comfortable to you and your students. 

As a science teacher, I shared the exact same questions and concerns as you when we first started emphasizing writing at our school many years ago. Now, writing (as well as reading, math, and other shared practices) is a regular and natural part of our everyday science experience, which is a source of pride and achievement for our students, our teachers, and our school.

What Is a Research Question?

During a recent professional development session among middle level science teachers, we pondered the criteria for an excellent research question. Powerful ideas emerged from our collective thinking.

Investigating Heating and Cooling Rates

An excellent research question:

• clearly identifies variables that will be tested
• helps visualize/identify equipment and materials needed to perform tests
• provides information about data that can be collected during the test
• is related to background information and observations
• reveals thinking about causes and effects
• is realistic, real world, and testable
• uses specific content vocabulary

There was a palpable feeling of accomplishment and pride at the end of our collaborative session, as we celebrated our continued progress in developing a common vision for authentic and meaningful science learning in our school district.

I know that professional development days can often cause inconvenience for parents, but providing quality collaboration time for teachers is a worthy investment in our children's education. Thank you for indulging us in these rich and rewarding professional experiences.