Lab Out Loud®

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Dr. Theo Gray

Our guest this week has some serious accolades that would make any geek proud: he has won an Ig Nobel prize (2002), been referenced in a Foxtrot comic, and owns the domain name periodictable.com.  Dr. Theo Gray talks to us this week about his tables, science experiments and safety, Wolfram Alpha, and even answers some student questions.

Links:

• TheodoreGray.com
• PeriodicTable.com
• Wooden Periodic Table
• Gray Matter (Popular Science Column)
• Wolfram Alpha – Computational Knowledge Engine
• Wolfram Research
• 2002 Ig Nobel Winner
• Interview on NPR

Books:

• The Elements (get it from Amazon.com)
• Mad Science (get it from Amazon.com)

Making Salt the Hard Way




Bacon: The Other White Heat




Direct download: LOL37.mp3

Using video clips in the classroom is nothing new – a couple companies have even made a business model for this educational niche.  But Hollywood movies can also have educational value, especially when trying to find errors and discrepancies within them.  To assess some basic properties in matter in my chemistry class, I have been utilizing movie clips for help.

How Dense is Indiana?

When teaching density, I use a clip from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark [You Tube Clip] whereby Indiana tries to swap a gold idol with an equivalent VOLUME of sand.  Obviously, Indiana gets the mass wrong, as sand and gold have quite different densities.  A similar exercise can be found at Glencoe Science, but I originally got this idea from Chem Matters.

I’m Melting?

Moving on to chemical versus physical change, I get a little help from the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz [You Tube Clip].  In the movie, the witch clearly claims that she is melting.  Using clear evidence in the film, I ask the students to defend if she is really melting, or if she is chemically reacting, sublimating or vaporizing.

Others

Of course, movie clips can be used in many other areas of science (see below).  How do you use movie clips in class?

• Nuking the Fridge
• Blick on Flicks: NSTA
• Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics
• Cringe Worthy Movie Science Mistakes
• Hollywood Blockbusters: Unlimited Fun but Limited Science Literacy
• Science of the Movies

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Dr. Bonnie Bassler

With the upcoming 2009 HHMI Holiday Lecture on Science in December (Exploring Biodiversity), we decided to talk with one of the presenters – Dr. Bonnie Bassler.  The focus of Dr. Bassler’s research is on how bacteria communicate with each other in a process called quorum sensing.  This research has earned her a MacArthur fellowship in 2002, and her work is being carefully watched for the development of new antimicrobial drugs.  Dr. Bassler inspires us with her curiosity, her research, and science education.

Links:

• Profile from the Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
• The Bassler Lab at Princeton
• Wikipedia Entry
• HHMI Investigator Bio
• 2009 HHMI Holiday Lectures on Science: Exploring Biodiversity
• Request Past HHMI Holiday Lectures on DVD
• TED Talks Video, Profile
• NOVA Science Now Profile & Video
• NPR All Things Considered: A Biologist’s Listening Guide to Bacteria
• Review: “The languages of bacteria” (Genes & Development)
• iBioSeminars: Cell-to-Cell Communication in Bacteria
• Wikipedia entry for Lewis Thomas
• Appleton College Avenue Bridge Opens

Direct download: LOL36.mp3