Repeating history - does that sound like a good idea to you?

2017 in the United States of America and one of the many current conversations about Science is Data Rescuing. Data Rescuing. How do we care for scientific data? Just let that sink in for a minute. 

As a science teacher, I encourage my students to visualize the lives of the historical scientists we study and read about. I remind my kids that we only know what we know when we know it. Science is about collecting data, analyzing that data, and figuring out relationships between the data. Are scientists wrong? Of course, all the time, and how do they handle the new data that shows that the relationships they analyzed aren't really what they thought? They CHANGE their claims. Science is ever evolving, ever changing, morphing as we find more data, as technology enhances our ability to "see" the world. 

It wasn't so long ago that people thought that sicknesses were because people were possessed with the devil. In a world before microscopes, there was no way to imagine microscopic organisms, never mind these microbes causing disease. 

Science is the human mind's way of explaining natural phenomenon. Science is different from religion because science is based on evidence, AND changes with new evidence. Science does not involve faith in the unknown, but faith in a process, a logical, sequential, mathematical process. 

Math is the language of the Universe. Whether you think you are "good" at math or not, you are. Your brain evolved to notice patterns. Math is patterns. 

In Galileo's time, in Newton's time, in Mendel's time, in Darwin's time, there were people trying to explain the world through the logical processes of science. We excuse the push back because "those" people didn't know. They didn't have enough exposure to knowledge. Education wasn't accessible. Information was filtered as a small group of leaders saw fit. 

How, how? How have we gone backwards? How has the citizens of the US allowed a small group of leaders to decide that science data, and access to science data should be filtered? How have we allowed this small group to decide what is "true", not based on data, but based on greed? We have allowed greed to filter how we not only see the world, but live our lives, and how we make decisions. Does this small group really think that a world with more coal is preferable to exploring how our Sun's energy can be harnessed? 

I see greed, but I don't understand greed. Homo sapiens will not survive as individuals. Homo sapiens are community organisms. We need groups, a tribe, collaboration. We are now the Divided States of America, and unless we want to be a community again, we will collapse.

And the answer is...

Sometimes I don't want to "google it"
Sometimes I just want to wonder
Toss out questions
into the fabric of space
Let Q's land on a layer
mull around.

Do dogs dream?
How would we test that?
Are the electrodes hooked
up to the
frontal lobe?
Where do dreams
originate?

Yes,
I know
Google it

But then discussion
stops

I miss
intellectual
discussions.

Whatever momentum is, wouldn't you rather be gaining?

It's just a second or third or fourth language. Science. The bigger problem is that you know all the words, they just don't mean what you think they mean. It's hard enough teaching terms like meiosis, which is just what it is, and doesn't have another meaning, but try teaching kids the physics meaning of work. You know work equals force multiplied times distance. You can sit there and push and push and push and apply a freaking enormous force, but if the object doesn't move, then you've done no work. Nope, not according to the physics definition of work.

I've just started a unit on momentum. I've been incorporating foldables into my lessons. Basically creating 3-D graphic organizers and I love it. So I was searching momentum on google images to find a nice picture to add to my lesson when this came up...

I like the quote. It's interesting and something to ponder, except that it has nothing to do with the physics concept of mass multiplied by velocity, which is momentum and measured in kg m/s. No wonder kids have such a hard time with physics. We are taking words they've used their whole lives and saying, oh, but now it means something else.

We also like to use the same word to mean two different things. Like how long is the drive to your house, could mean that I want the distance or the time. This confuses things. Isn't length a distance? Why do we use length to measure time too? Is time just a linear distance?

You see why I want to teach biology?

Protect your pennies

It's a Sunday of a three day weekend and I should be procrastinating, but I have so much school shit on my to do list that I decided to use this fine, warm afternoon to do a little grading. I've been working on projectiles with my kids. First time I've actually taught this topic so it's been fun and challenging, both qualities that I enjoy. Over the past 8 days we have done several labs observing projectiles in motion, watched mythbusters, some youtube clips and practiced our new knowledge with a series of stations that assessed both the math skills and the theory behind projectile motion (of course 2-D motion, these are freshman). One of the main skills is knowing that if you ignore air resistance, a projectile launched, and a projectile dropped from the same height will hit the ground at the same time. No shit. Jaime and Adam did the bullet fired vs. bullet dropped mythbusters and it's freaking awesome. So over the 8 days, we've done some cool crap.

Friday I gave a little quiz to see how the kids were coming along... Sounds like a good teacher idea, until you think about who is going to grade all those little quizzes. I use the grading strategy of grading all 100 page ones, and then move on to page twos and so on... I know what I'm looking for so I am usually a quick grader and can zip past the answers in no time. And believe me, it gets boring. Reading the 100th same response or at least similar response. Yes, we did a penny lab. We launched a penny (horizontally) off a table and dropped a penny simultaneously and low and behold they land at the same time. Most of my kids remembered every detail from this lab. I even used my phone to recored a video from each class and show it as a follow up. Yup, the projectiles fall at the same time. So, of course, this is a concept I want to assess. Having doubts? Watch this.

In an analysis question the kids had to explain how they knew what they knew with an example from class. Here's one of the responses...

I laughed for 3 minutes, hysterically and have continued to smile and giggle now 3 hours later. Phonics at work, I suppose. This is a 9th grader in their second semester of the year. He's probably close to 15 by now. It's funny as shit and sad as shit at the same time. The thing about my job is that if I don't laugh, I'll cry. I'm just glad that phonetically pennies is penis. 

la luna en el invierno

When the going gets rough and you're about to loose all hope, turn to science. Have you ever wondered why, well in North America, our December moon is so amazing? I walked out into my tiny dirt yard last night and saw this

The stunning, huge rock, all lit up from the reflection of the sun, but what is happening?

Winter is amazing, minus the cold, that is not so amazing.

Dino Tracks 101

Dinosaur tracks, footprints, traces, trails... the fossil evidence left behind when dinos roamed the earth millions of years ago. You need a nice sandy or muddy surface and a dinosaur to tromp across it, then you need it to get covered and stay covered, compress under pressure and turn to rock and, finally, get exposed millions of years later.

You can see from part A that an indentation is made by the dinosaur foot in soft sediment (deepness can depend on not only the size of the dino, but how soft the mud is as well). In the underlying layers there can be undertracks, which are just parts of the lower sediment layers that receive an indent, but are not the exact surface the dino was walking on. Usually these undertracks will not be as distinct or have claw marks. The layer above fills in the track itself, and forms a natural cast, if this consists of different sediment it can form a unique cast of the print itself.

In an area with the right aged rocks you can search under overhang layers and find tracks... which is exactly what I did on my drive from Cochabamba to Torotoro, Bolivia. 

We stopped for lunch at a site of a newly built bridge. The river was trickling down the almost dry bed and snaking its way through the canyons...

The bridge itself was the only shade around, so we headed under to find a cool lunch spot. The distinct layers of sediment weather and erode differently, depending on the resistance of the sediment. Shale (ancient mud deposits) erode faster than sandstone. These shale layers break apart, fall out of the outcrop and the more resistant sandstone is left. Under that bridge last week is where I looked up and exclaimed, "Hey, those are dinosaur tracks!" Natural casts actually.

How does this happen? What is going on?

Imagine: A quick, three toed carnivore is running across a section of mud near a lake... as he runs he leaves behind footprints and in the really mucky areas he sinks deeper than in the drier areas. He's off to another spot, when the rains start. This time it's a heavy rain. Pouring. Flash floods bring sediment from the higher areas onto the mud flat and all those three toed tracks are filled with a fine sand. The storm lasts for days and the original layer is being covered by meters of sandy flow. The rains stop, the area dries out and in a few months the rains repeat and repeat and that footprint layer is buried forever. Well, not really forever, because then the continent crashes into an ocean plate and the earth rises into the air and forms mountains. These mountains are high up and this time the rains cause erosion. Chunks of rocks break off and make their way down river for more layer building, but that original layer has now resurfaced and we are ready to see it. Voila the tracks that were left 100 million years ago are now back on the surface!

If you are lucky the original surface was nice and flat and the dino left a long trail of tracks... Here you see a trackway left by an Ankylosaur type dinosaur.

Notice that the ankylosaur was not "turtle like" nor did it walk like an alligator. Dinosaurs had and upright stance with legs under the body instead of sprawled out.

Do you want another look at those tracks?

This photo was taken from outside our room at our hostel in Torotoro, Bolivia.

Notice that I said that these tracks were left by an ankylosaur type dinosaur. Tracks have their own classification system that is NOT the name of the dinosaur. Unless you find the skeleton still stuck in the footprint there is not enough evidence to say exactly which dino made the track. Instead tracks are divided into their own categories...

Can you identify the type of track from the photos?

Notice the claw mark on the middle toe. Can you see the pad impressions on the right toe? Imagine the soft mud as this therapod races across the surface.

Using my foot for scale, this is an obviously big track. Huge, roundish tracks, with a bit of overlapping between the back foot and the front foot.

Sauropods are my favorite dinos...

Whoa...

This is actually a close up of one of the tracks on a huge slab near the El Vergel waterfall in Torotoro.

Ye-haw I love dino tracks!

24 July - Day 50 : Lions (sea), iguanas (marine), and birds (boobies) - OH MY

Another really pleasant day. I left my hostel in search of some breakfast and ran into one of the volunteers from Jatun Satcha. She´s close to my age, from Germany, and I didn´t really get a chance to talk to her at the reserve... we decided to get breakfast together. After we ate she mentioned going to La Loberia - the beach about 40 minutes walk that everyone went to yesterday. She wanted to go back and enjoy it without so many people, so we ended up hanging out all day. It was great.

La Loberia (oh wait for the photos) is known for lots of sea lions, marine iguanas and birds - oh good - I like all of those things! Of course the weather wouldn´t cooperate and we almost turned around because of the rain, but at that point we were already soaked and kept going. I am so glad because we, of course, saw tons of sea lions, but sea turtles as well! the infamous turquoise water was surrounded by black igneous rocks and the white beaches composed of broken sea shells and purple urchin spines. Who doesn´t love frolicking sea lions? It was too cold to swim, but I did have my bathing suit on for the 2nd time this ENTIRE summer!

We hiked up to a cliff, winding our way across the sharp lava. At the top of the cliff we saw birds - a few Nazca boobys, but mostly swallow-tailed gulls with their red eye circle and red feet.

It´s true, when you travel alone you can meet some really cool people. I deserved this - after babysitting - and the reserve "camp".

We took photos, talked and hiked. My stomach was digesting itself by the time we got back into town.

I really needed this type of day. Full of exercise, but relaxing at the same time, good company, along the coast and cool animals to observe. Now this is that I was expecting!

Tomorrow I´m off bright and early to catch the 7 am boat to Santa Cruz, then to the 2 pm boat to Isabella... My last week...

Fascinating

I was wrong... the pronghorn has been clocked at sprints up to 70 mph. Now that is freaking cool, and something that North Americans should brag about!

You know what else is cool? The land in central Yellowstone has been rising at approximately the same rate as your fingernails grow.

I hope not to experience this one, but there are around 2,000 small earthquake tremors picked up by seismographs in a typical year in Yellowstone.

A bear may spend 20 out of 24 hours in a day - eating! They eat 35 pounds of food in a day.

Did you know that the feathers of a bald eagle weigh more than its skeleton?


A fully developed rack of elk antlers weighs as much as a 5 year old child.

This cute little rodent is living in a hole in a park in the center of town.

Some crazy fool thinks they can get $85,000 for this wolf pack sculpture.