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The clock says, "Hoboken lost power at 9:05." Or so. City clocks are always off a bit. A Hoboken City Clock at 11th and Washington It's like a mystery novel. The detective looks down at the body on the ground, and his eyes scan to the wrist; the watch has struck some object during the fall; it's broken; the time stopped. Ah ha, that's when . . . 9:05 is about right. I was laying in bed writing an essay on the history of regulation and technological change when lights went out. It was unsettling to open my laptop right now for this blog post. All of my work was still awake and waiting for me, as it was when I put the laptop to sleep when the power died, like nothing at all has happened. But it has. We know now that the electricity systems went down when the surge hit. Just about then, water began pouring into my colleagues house. Just about then, the streets on the south end of town became lakes. And just about then, the electrical substation on the backside of tow

I am hesitant to blog about the hurricane ripping through the Mid-Atlantic, especially while I'm sitting comfortably safe and warm, six time zones away. I've read too many sad stories already and seen, electronically, too much destruction to want to drain the moment of its significance, its discomforts, and too often its tragedies. To my friends in the path, and every one else: I hope you're experiencing a speedy recovery. Sandy's Cone of Uncertainty, National Weather Service Still I think it is appropriate to notice the success of the National Weather Service and its associated forecasters. Without their efforts, and subsequent evacuations, many more people might have been been killed or injured. One key to that success, according to Nate Silver , is the NWS's embrace of uncertainty, its frank acknowledgement of error, and its skepticism of its own models. The "cone of uncertainty," above, exemplifies the NWS ethos and makes it public. Instead of simple t

Have you ever heard of the planet Oobleck?  This is one of my favorite lessons from Seeds of Science Planets and Moon unit. Here is the basic premise - a new planet has been discovered with similar temperature, atmosphere and gravity to the Earth but with a different surface feature.  A satellite has gathered a sample to return to Earth for us to study.  We need to determine what would be the best type of material to use as a lander - cork, plastic cups, spoons, paper clips, Popsicle sticks or straws.   Some materials sank and some were able to stay on top without tipping over. After testing each material, we wrote our data down to remember which ones worked the best.       After a day of exploring materials we designed a lander that would be able to land on the planet oobleck in our science journals.   The next day, I showed up with a ton of materials - plastic cups, tape, straws, paper clips, etc...and we built our own 3-D landers.   And no good design experiment would be complete

What do Newcomb, Twain, Mayr, and Crosby have in common? No, they aren't a 60s folk rock band. The answer is that they all tell us something interesting about the cultural power of the eclipse. 28 March 2006 Solar Eclipse, courtesy of NASA What is most interesting about them is the way they reflect various ideas about the capacity for scientific thinking among Americans and others, past and present.  This occurred to me while reading Matt Stanley's very interesting article , "Predicting the Past," from the second number of Isis  this year (2012). Stanley traces changing attitudes toward the role of history in astronomy and astronomy in history. His centerpiece is a disagreement between Greenwich's Astronomer Royal, George Airy, and the head of the American Nautical Almanac , Simon Newcomb. Airy turned to ancient Greek sources for data on past eclipses that could help him calculate the "secular acceleration"of the moon , a small but crucial constant neces

What's better than chocolate?  not much! Here's another experiment brought to you by Candy Experiments.   Most candy sinks in water, because sugar is denser than water.  But some candy floats. Why? This experiment is so easy...all you need is some leftover chocolate candy and water.  Drop the candy in the clear glass and observe what happens.  Here's what Loralee at Candy experiments says is happening: "Some kinds of candy, such as Kit Kats, 3 Musketeers, and marshmallows have air trapped inside. This makes them float.  " I have created another recording sheet to go along with this experiment!  Hope you can use it!    

Last fall I stumbled across a great website devoted to Candy Experiments.   This website has the motherload of great experiments using candy.  Many of them have links to a YouTube video that shows how to do it, too.  I have emailed the webmaster and asked permission to use their experiments and create some follow up sheets for the classroom.  I can't wait to use them in my classroom! What happens when you put Skittles or M&M's in water? Do they float or sink??  This one is a very easy and inexpensive one.  Have students bring in left over Halloween Candy or buy it on sale.  All you need to do is drop the candy in the water and watch what happens.... The white letters on M&Ms and Skittles are printed with edible ink that doesn't dissolve in water. When the rest of the candy shell dissolves, the letters peel off and float. Some of the letters break into pieces, but a few should survive intact. It's pretty cool to see the floating letters in the water.  I recom

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought NOW would be a great time to blog about some Candy Science activities.  Here is the famous ACID CANDY TEST...   I orginially found this activity on the web and modified it to meet the needs of a classroom of 4th graders. To do this test, you need clear cups, wonka candy, water and baking soda. You will put the candy in the water and then add a tsp of baking soda. If there is citric acid in the candy, it will bubble. Fun huh? I bought a huge pack of Wonka candy .... with Nerds, BottleCaps, Sweet Tarts and Laffy Taffy in it. We were able to see a reaction with all of the candy types except for the banana flavored Laffy Taffy. I wonder if it wasn't sour enough? The reason for the reaction? Sour candy is made with citric acid from fruits like lime/lemons. When you mix the candy diluted in water with baking soda, it emits a gas. It only emits the gas if it encounters an acid. We made a lot of observations - we noticed that a

Autumnal forest in Charlevoix, Quebec.  From the series The Earth from Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The painter and experimental filmmaker Jeff Scher has a wonderful video in today's NY Times entitled Leaf and Death . Scher collected fallen leaves from around his neighborhood, dried them, and placed them on a light table to photograph. The result is stunningly beautiful, no less because there is something haunting and melancholy about its subject matter.  As the summer begins to wane, leaves turn to brilliant colors before they are shed and fall to the ground. “Entire landscapes are transformed into a state of agitated Technicolor,” Scher writes in a statement that accompanies his piece. “It’s nature’s color-coded warning of the approaching longer nights and colder days sneaking up the calendar.” But why do autumn leaves really change their color? It turns out that this question has become something of a controversy among botanists. (For a review of the relevant arguments, chec

Do you let your students "argue"????  Real scientists argue quite often...but not a drop down fight, more like a sharing of ideas. One of my favorite books for introducing this concept is Why do Scientist Disagree ? This book ties in nicely to my space unit because it is a tale of two stories.  On the left side is a story about Galileo and his argumentation with scientists about light from the moon and the other side is a modern story of scientists diagreeing.    I try to set up these discussions based on misconceptions I hear in the classroom.  For example, I have heard "the moon causes day and night" quite often in my fourth grade class.  Rather than saying, no - that is not correct, I set up the situation with the kids and say...."What do you think? and Why do you think that?" I set it up by introducing these question frames to guide the discussions: What do you think? What is your claim? Why do you think that? What is your evidence? Do you agree? Why?

They stalk. They scurry. They haunt the night! New York is one of the most heavily urbanized places in the world. And yet . . . alongside the human metropolis—in the parks, beneath the rivers, among hidden groves of trees—is a clawing, crawling, creeping creature-filled world. Evolutionary biologist Jason Munshi-South of CUNY has tracked elephants in Central Africa and proboscis monkeys in Borneo . Now he is on the trail of elusive animals living right under our noses and rarely glimpsed by unsuspecting humans . Employing the tools of landscape genetics, population genomics, and field studies, he asks: --What ecosystems survive in the city, and how are NYC’s parks like the Galápagos Islands ? --What impacts do human activities have on wild populations? Have  urban-dwelling species  evolved? --What might studying the genetic adaptations of urban wildlife tell us about human disease? Just as mice are used as models in laboratories , might wild mice be used as models to study how huma

 I have just returned from a STEM education conference and have become rejuvenated with my thinking about how we approach learning in the classroom.   I have always been an advocate of integrating math and science since my early teaching days....but the implications of technology have always made me a little weary.  I mean....let's be honest....sometimes I feel like all kids do these days are sit in front of video games.  Why should we continue this at school??? After this conference, my ideas have....FLIPPED.....It's not about mindless video games and instruction...not skill and drill computer games....but instead using technology to enhance our understanding of problem based learning. I have a million ideas running through my head...but the first BIG idea I walked away with is the idea of "Flipping" our classroom.  Have you heard of this concept? It is not new...but it is not really being used....YET. This idea is all about introducing content AT HOME through the us