Science for the classroom and beyond
This week’s episode is a Mini-lab. Mini-lab episodes are shorter versions of the same shows you find at laboutloud.com. To close season nine, we discuss new technologies such as 3D printers, virtual reality and drones. These newer technologies have recently caught our attention and we are exploring how they might be used in the science classroom. We also talk with Benjamin Schrom, product manager at […]
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Our guest for this mini-lab episode is Dr. Tom Hart – penguinologist and lead researcher for Penguin Watch. Penguin Watch is a project that collects images of penguins and other seabirds from cameras scattered throughout the Southern Ocean. These images are shared online where citizen scientists can easily identify adult penguins, chicks and eggs. Listen to the show to hear how you and your […]
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This week’s episode is a Mini-lab. Mini-lab episodes are shorter versions of the same shows you find at laboutloud.com. As a former biology teacher and now product manager at PASCO Scientific, Mike Blasberg has witnessed a transformation in how students collect data in the science classroom. Mike joins us to talk about the evolution of sensors, how we can use a smartphone to collect and analyze […]
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At SXSWedu, we were fortunate to see littleBits founder and CEO Ayah Bdeir unveil the new littleBits STEAM set (watch here). In fact, we were quite impressed to hear about their gender neutral design and see examples of students using the sets to solve real problems. We immediately knew that we had to find out more about this invention-based learning tool, so we are proud to welcome littleBits’ […]
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From NOVA Education, we welcome outreach coordinator Ralph Bouquet to showcase NOVA Labs – a free digital platform featuring games that foster authentic scientific exploration. With engaging interactives and informative videos, NOVA Labs allows students to participate in an area of active research where they can analyze and play with the same data that scientists use. Listen to the show to see how your students can participate […]
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NOTE: This is a re-release of episode 130 – one of our most popular episodes that we did in the summer of 2015. Since they first released Good Thinking! last summer, The Smithsonian Science Education Center has been hard at work producing many more of these wonderful, short-format videos to support K-12 science educators. Listen to the episode for the first […]
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We had so much fun talking movies with Andy Howell, so we continued talking with him about his work as scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and Adjunct Faculty in physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Andy joins us (again) to talk about studying supernovae, his work with robotic telescopes, and how science really happens. Links: Andy […]
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In February, the journal Science published an article entitled “Climate Confusion Among U.S. Teachers” that has been attracting a great deal of mainstream media attention. Examining a nationwide survey of how middle school and high science teachers address climate change in their classes, the article reveals some encouraging insights and uncovers a few areas for improvement. To help us better […]
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Our guest this week is Andy Howell, scientist at Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and Adjunct Faculty in physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Besides studying supernovae and working with robotic telescopes, Andy (with James Darling) has been working on a podcast to evaluate the scientific content in movies and the portrayal of scientists in media. Called […]
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Our guest this week is Shaun Whitehead, space engineer and founder of Thumbsat. Dreaming of once becoming an astronaut, Shaun now provides the engineering reality to put experiments in space with Thumbsat – a thumbsize platform for space exploration complete with microcontroller, camera, radio, GPS and temperature sensors. Thumbsat data can be harvested through Thumbnet, a global network of monitoring stations (which can even be […]
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We love collecting data. That’s why we are happy to welcome Chrystian and Rebecca Vieyra to the show. Working as an app developer and high school physics teacher, this husband and wife team developed Physics Toolbox – a suite of apps that use the built-in sensors inside smartphones to complement the current probeware used in classrooms. Listen to the show […]
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We are proud to welcome fellow science podcaster Ainissa Ramirez to Lab Out Loud. As scientist, inventor and self-proclaimed science evangelist, Ainissa is the host of Science Underground – a new, two-minute podcast that delivers a science topic in an enjoyable and easy to understand fashion. Listen to the show to hear Ainissa discuss the importance of science communication the inspiration for her topics, and how […]
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Our guest this week is Matt Hartman, the content manager for eCYBERMISSION. Sponsored by the Army and administered by NSTA, eCYBERMISSION is a web-based STEM competition for 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade teams tasked with proposing a solution to a real problem in their community. Matt joins us to tell us about the competition and its alignment to the Next Generation Science […]
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Our guest this week is Todd L. Pittinsky, professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University. Todd and Nicole Diamante (a doctoral candidate in engineering at Stony Brook) recently wrote an article that caught our eyes. In “Going Beyond Fun in STEM,” (Phi Delta Kappan) Pittinsky and Diamante suggest that perhaps after the Mentos […]
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Do your students have a vision for the future? Then they might be motivated to enter the 23rd Annual Toshiba/NSTA annual ExploraVision competition. Through problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills, this K-12 science competition encourages students to imagine and explore a vision of a technology 20 years into the future. To help explain what ExploraVision is and how to participate, we welcome Arthur Eisenkraft (Professor of […]
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Our guests this week come from IRIS – the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. Michael Hubenthal (senior education specialist) and John Taber (Director of Education and Public Outreach) join us to talk about the educational opportunities in seismology and earth science available from IRIS. Listen to the show to learn how you can use IRIS’s recent earthquake teachable moments, earthquake browser, and how you can search […]
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Many science teachers will recognize that AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) publishes the respected peer-reviewed journal Science. As the world’s largest general scientific society, AAAS also promotes science literacy with the goal that all students receive a high-quality science education. That’s why we are delighted to welcome Suzanne Thurston and Maria Sosa (both from the AAAS Directorate […]
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As we have been talking about science videos lately, we decided to investigate what it takes to make a good science video. So we invited Derek Muller, creator and host of Veritasium: An Element of Truth to the show. Veritasium is a YouTube channel of science and engineering videos featuring experiments, interviews, demos, and other cool science topics. Derek joins us to talk […]
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To kick off season nine of Lab Out Loud, we welcome Sal Khan to the show. As founder of The Khan Academy, Sal is encouraging students age 13-18 to submit a 10-minute video to the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. Presented by The Breakthrough Prize and The Khan Academy, The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is currently seeking innovative videos from students that explain a challenging concept or theory of mathematics, life sciences, […]
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From the Smithsonian Science Education Center, we welcome Marjee Chmiel (Associate Director of Curriculum and Communications) and Jean Flanagan (Science Education Research Specialist) to showcase Good Thinking! – a new animated series that explores topics in science, cognition, and pedagogy. Using peer-reviewed research, Good Thinking! addresses common student misconceptions with short, animated episodes specifically geared towards science educators. Listen to the episode to find out more about Good […]
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