Lab Out Loud » astronomy

BLAST from the Past

Dale — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:48:52 +0000

Last night Dr. Mark Devlin appeared on The Colbert Report to talk about BLAST the Movie. The movie is a documentary about an experiment in 2006 that involved launching a car-sized telescope in Antarctica using a balloon.

Before Lab Out Loud, we did a podcast for the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers called Periodicity. Dr. Devlin, a graduate of University of Wisconsin, spoke to us in January 2007- shortly after his return from Antarctica.

You can listen to the interview as Dr. Devlin discussed the science involved with the BLAST experiment, the struggles they encountered and the importance of basic research. As you listen to Dr. Devlin describe his experiences with such passion, it quickly becomes apparent that this experiment’s story has everything a compelling movie requires to keep you at the edge of your seat.

Our show notes also provided links to blogs that several of the graduate students maintained while they were in Antarctica. They provided a personal glimpse into the lives of scientists as their Antarctic mission unfolded. They also posted some amazing photos.

Find links to all of our old Periodicity episodes at:
http://www.wsst.org/podcasts.asp

Episode 32 – Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Literacy

Brian — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:16:05 +0000

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson joins Lab Out Loud for our season finale. Dr. Tyson is an author (most recently The Pluto Files and Death by Black Hole), has been described as the ‘Carl Sagan of the 21st Century’ and named “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” by PEOPLE magazine, appeared numerous times on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, stars in the PBS series NOVA Science Now, and is the director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. Dr. Tyson joins us to talk about scientific literacy.

As this is our last episode of the season, we remind you that you can download every episode from the website through the episode page. And we’ll also be posting items to the blog over the summer, so don’t forget to visit the website, or simply pick up our RSS feed. As we prepare for our third season (opening mid-September), make sure to give us some feedback. You can leave any comments, criticisms, suggestions for the show or for future guests by completing the form at www.laboutloud.com/contact/.

Preview from the Show:

The most important feature [of scientific literacy] is an outlook that you bring with you in your daily walk through life. It’s a lens through which you look that affects how you see the world. And the science literacy that can be promoted along those lines shows up in a lot of ways… So science literacy is not the know-it-all who’s fluent in science jargon; science literacy is the person who knows how to question the world around them, and en route to an answer that’s deeper than you would otherwise get.

Research and education has shown that field trips are remembered long into adulthood. Why?, because you’re experiencing something rather than simply reading it in a book… To experience something has a far more profound effect on your ability to remember and influence you than if you simply read it in a book. So why not figure out a way to turn a lesson plan into a living expression of that content. A living expression, so that sparks can be ignited and flames can be fanned within the students. And at that point, it doesn’t matter what grade they get on the exam because they are stimulated to want to learn more. If they didn’t learn all the “A” stuff for that exam, they’re inspired enough to go out and buy a book or spend more time on the documentary that they saw on the Discovery Channel or on PBS. And there it is. You’ve cast a learner into the world. And that’s the most powerful thing you can do as a teacher.

The enthusiastic teacher is fundamental to igniting flames of interest in any student in any subject. So that’s not a special need within the call for science literacy. That’s a need for all teachers in all subjects.

There’s this system that’s in place that promotes the standardized testing, and to get the high score, and the regurgitation of facts, and read these chapters, and these are the key words, and these are the key questions, and you’ll be tested on that. And it’s completely eviscerated the passion that could ignite a flame within student that would then go out and do learning on their own. Because at the end of the day, the student who does not learn on their own is not going to succeed.

If I had a nickel for every parent who said “how do I get my kids interested in science?”, my answer is – get outta their way. They’re born curious. Kids are not superstitious. Kids don’t read their horoscopes. Kids are not doing all the things that adults are doing, who’ve lost their curiosity… So, the adults have to get out of the way. And get out of the way as a minimum. As a maximum, further stimulate curiosity by surrounding kids with things that they can explore on their own. You don’t want to put them in a sterile environment. You want to put them in an environment that attracts their curiosity for how things work.

The flaw in the educational system, as far as I see it, is that you live your life – the teacher and student – in quest of A’s. Yet later in life, the A is irrelevant. So then what is the point of the school system? It’s missing something. It is not identifying to people who actually succeed in life, because they’re not showing up as the straight A’s. So somewhere in there, the educational system needs to reflect on what it takes to succeed in life, and get some of that back into the classroom.

Links:

Books

Direct download: LOL32.mp3

Episode 24 – The Bad Astronomer Returns

Brian — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:16:09 +0000

The Bad Astonomer

We welcome Phil Plait (aka The Bad Astronomer) back to the show. Phil talks to us about the International Year of Astronomy and highlights a few events planned for the IYA. As President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, Phil also discusses the role of skepticism in education.

Links:

Skeptic
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
PZ Myers Pharyngula
Stop Jenny McCarthy – post from the BA
Stop Jenny
Amanda Peet supports the science with vaccinateyourbaby.org
Dale uses viral videos to promote skepticism in the classroom

Direct download: LOL24.mp3

Bad Astronomer helps MythBusters go to the Moon

Dale — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:06:29 +0000

First a Lab Out Loud guest, then president of James Randi Educational Foundation and now he joins the MythBusters! It’s a great time to be the Bad Astronomer. (sorry PZ, but this round goes to Phil)

Catch skeptic Phil Plait help the MythBusters battle those pesky moon landing “hoaxes” on Wednesday August 27th.

Episode 12 – Skepticism and the Bad Astronomer

Brian — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:43:48 +0000

Bad Astronomer

Today’s guest calls himself the Bad Astronomer. Phil Plait is an astronomer, an author, and a well-known blogger at www.badastronomy.com. Phil talks to us about myths and skepticism in the science classroom.

Preview from the show:
Plait: I am in fact a skeptic. In the public mind – if you ask somebody “what’s a skeptic” – most people think it’s a cynic or a denier, somebody who just doesn’t believe in anything. And that’s not strictly true. All a skeptic is, is someone who demands evidence for a claim. If you come up to me and say the sky is pink, I’m going to say “what is your evidence for this?”. Or I’ll say, “that’s an interesting claim, but here’s the evidence against it.” It’s someone who applies critical thinking, logic, evidence, observation, the scientific method to any sort of claim.
Science is all about skepticism. They are hardly different – I mean skepticism is a tool of science. Richard Feynman (the physicist) said “science is a way of not fooling ourselves. It’s a way of figuring what’s out what’s really going on”. And skepticism is just a way of looking at things. It’s making sure that if you’re thinking about something, if there’s a claim that’s being made – whether it’s by a person or even yourself, there’s a way of examining it so that you can test its reality or not. And the problem is, it’s not something we teach our kids. In fact, we teach them exactly the opposite. We teach them to believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. We go to movies where the skeptic is always a jerk, and the end is always the supenatural cause or trust in humanity or whatever.”

Plait: Scooby Doo was a great cartoon because in the end, it really wasn’t a ghost or whatever, it was always old man Marley wearing a mask, who didn’t want the developers to come in and destroy his farm or whatever.”

Plait: When you’re teaching kids to the test, and you’re saying “here’s how you do the math” without explaining why, “here’s what you’re supposed to get in the results in the lab” without explaining why, we’re not teaching our kids science. We’re teaching them nothing, we’re teaching them belief, faith – and that’s not what science is about. Science is not about belief, science is about evidence.

Follow the Bad Astronomer:

Posts from badastronomy.com discussed on the show:

Books:

Skepticism on the Internet:

Direct download: nstalol12.mp3

Periodicity 30: BLAST– Balloon-borne Telescope

Dale — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:48:16 +0000

A Weekly Podcast from the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
Find more Periodicity Episodes

Today we talk with Dr. Mark Devlin (Department of Physics and Astronomy at UPenn) about BLAST (Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope).

Running Time: 23:50

Show Notes:

Today we talk with Dr. Mark Devlin (Department of Physics and Astronomy at UPenn) about BLAST (Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope).

BLAST Public Page
BLAST at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (a weblog)
BLAST on Ice (a weblog)
BLAST Telescope (Wikipedia)
BLAST the Movie (a documentary by Paul Devlin)

Direct download: periodicity3001182007.mp3