Lab Out Loud » scientific method

Episode 79 – Vernier’s Game-Changer

Brian — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:30:07 +0000

David Vernier

Our guest this week is the co-founder of Vernier Software & Technology, David Vernier. David talks to us about the history of the company, his popular software and data collection hardware, and the release of two new products that are part of Vernier’s Connected Science System – the LabQuest2 and Graphical Analysis iOS app.

Links:

To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below.

Episode 76 – Not Another Lab Report

Brian — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:30:25 +0000

Fred Ende

Our guest this week is Fred Ende. As a middle-school science teacher, Fred quickly became frustrated with cookie-cutter, partial inquiry and simple scientific method lab reports that rarely engaged students in the content. Deciding to change this mode, Fred created open-ended lab experiences where students investigated their own questions, became interested in sharing their work, and ultimately improved their scientific writing. Fred talks to Lab Out Loud about his experience in making scientific writing more relevant and student-centered.

Links:

Download the article (provided courtesy of NSTA): “Not Another Lab Report“, by Fred Ende in NSTA’s Science Scope)
Fred’s Blog
Follow Fred on Twitter
SCIENCE 21
Follow SCIENCE 21 on Twitter
“A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas” (from the National Academies Press)

To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below.

Episode 75 – Superbowl of the Mind

Dale — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:30:00 +0000

This week we talk with Jon Dudas, president of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Dudas talks to Lab Out Loud about their upcomingrobotics competitions, how they teach kids how to try, fail and succeed, and how hands-on robotic lessons can enhance the classroom experience and spark interest in science education and careers.

Links:

To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below.

Episode 61 – Google’s Global Science Fair

Brian — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:30:24 +0000

Cristin Frodella, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Google

For episode 61, we talk with Google’s Cristin Frodella about the Google Global Science Fair 2011. In partnership with CERN, the LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American, Google has created an exciting new global science competition to help celebrate young scientific talent and engage students in science. Learn how to submit a project, then later to see and vote for some of the best projects.

Links:

14-year-old Tesca Fitzgerald offers her sample project:

Direct download: LOL61.mp3

Episode 57 – Preventing Bad Science in the Classroom

Dale — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:30:26 +0000

Dr. Ben Goldacre

Finishing our UK tour, we talk with Dr. Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks and Big Pharma Flacks. Dr. Goldacre talks to us about interpreting scientific results, the tricks used to deceive us, and how science teachers might combat bad science in the classroom.

badscience.net
Bad Science Column at guardian.co.uk
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks and Big Pharma Flacks (from Amazon.com)
Ben Goldacre’s Twitter Feed
Review of Bad Science by Cory Doctorow on boingboing.net
Ben Goldacre videos on YouTube
Ben Goldacre Talks Bad Science from PopTech on Vimeo (below)

Direct download: LOL57.mp3

Episode 43 – Mythbusters’ Adam Savage

Dale — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:15:18 +0000

Adam Savage

We first met Adam Savage (from the Mythbusters) at The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 last summer, where he gave a talk about the creative process and failure that comes with ‘making’. Of course, we knew that we had to get Adam on the show. A few months later, we were lucky to talk with Adam about the Mythbusters, science education, and how he uses both experimentation and learning from mistakes in his work both on and off the show.

Links:

Direct download: LOL43.mp3

Episode 27 – Questions with Skeptoid

Brian — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:16:03 +0000

Brian Dunning

For this episode, we took a suggestion from one of our listeners. Nathan from Western Maine writes:

For almost a year now I have been listening to the podcast called “Skeptoid,” recorded and published by a good skeptic fellow named Brian Dunning. He researches and reports on subjects like alternative medicine and paranormal occurrences in a weekly podcast that lasts about ten minutes, and attacks them with good science. I’ve learned a lot about the scientific method, clinical testing, fishy reporting, and just plain common sense from listening to this, and I really enjoy it. I also use the episodes in my class from time to time, and there’s a lot of educational value in them. I thought Brian would make an interesting guest for the Lab Out Loud, and I suggest you try to contact him.

So we welcome Brian Dunning to the show – the man behind Skeptoid. Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena “is a weekly pro-science, anti-pseudoscience podcast.” Brian talks to us about Skeptoid, using the scientific method, and using skepticism in the science classroom.

Preview from the Show:

One thing that I like to do is try to apply the scientific method to things that you generally don’t do in school, which is stuff that’s in popular culture… Things that are on television, things that are on the Discovery channel, Sci Fi channel, National Geographic channel – all of the paranormal channels, for example. There’s so much that’s being promoted in the media these days, and nobody ever takes a critical look at it, and nobody ever tries to apply the scientific method to that. So I like to find interesting things from history, interesting things that a lot of people generally know about – and not only explain those phenomena in an interesting way, but also use the scientific method to explain what’s actually going on.

They are hijacking scientific-sounding terms and terminology, and words that impress people. So many things are sold today with the claim that “quantum physics supports this.” And of course, who understands quantum theory? Who is qualified? What Joe-blow on the street is qualified to understand quantum theory, and why that’s an implausible theory for that explanation for the claim… It’s a serious, serious threat to scientific literacy because it works. It works so much of the time – I mean look at the book “The Secret”. Complete nonsense, and it’s sold because it’s got a “chapter in there that says “quantum theory explains how this works.” And I’m sorry – no matter how critical or scientific most people think they are, very few people know enough to refute that claim.

[What might be some examples that educators might use in the classroom?]
Here’s one. There’s a lot of paranoia about mercury poisoning that you can get from the fillings in your teeth. Most dentists use – and historically have used – what’s called an amalgam filling in teeth, and mercury is one of the ingredients. Of course when we say “mercury”, you think “oh my gosh, mercury is a horrible neurotoxin,” and that’s true – it is. But you can say the same thing of chlorine, but of course that’s one of the main examples of salt – which is not harmful at all. Almost every element, when it’s in the right combination with other elements, is not dangerous, it’s not poisonous. And this is the case with the mercury found in amalgam fillings. So there’s one group of anti-science nuts – I’m not sure what their motivation is, because a lot of them are dentists. They put out this video – it’s called the infamous “Smoking Teeth” video. …They’ve taken a tooth that’s been extracted, so they’re holding it with tweezers, and they dip it in water, and they put it under a light in front of a fluorescent screen, and you can see this vapor rising off of the tooth. And they say: “That’s mercury.” That’s mercury that, everyone in the world who has mercury fillings in their teeth – they’ve got mercury that’s being constantly released out of their fillings into their body… The smoking teeth video is so fun, because it touches on so many aspects of science. You just mentioned the health one, well what is it that mercury does to the body? And in what forms is mercury a neurotoxin? In what form can if cause neurological damage? And then what I found was most fascinating – it’s the most obvious point about this little smoking teeth video is – what’s the relative weight of mercury vapor, compared to air?” It’s heavier. It’s much heavier. Mercury vapor would never rise – it would fall to the floor like carbon dioxide.

Links:

Direct download: LOL27.mp3