Science for the classroom and beyond
Fredi Lavjardi teaches marine science at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, where he is also coach of Falcon Robotics – an extracurricular high school STEM program that won the 2004 MATE National Underwater ROV championships with their robot “Stinky”, besting juggernaut teams such as MIT. This inspiring story was originally covered by Wired Magazine, expanded by the same author into a book, and graced […]
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We recently discovered EO Kids – a web publication that brings engaging science stories from NASA’s Earth Observatory to a younger audience. Published with support from NASA’s Landsat, Terra, and Aqua missions, EO Kids provides kid-friendly content in a PDF that can be easily downloaded or printed. Each issue of EO Kids also features hands-on activities, experiments and opportunities for students to […]
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Valerie Bayes joins Lab Out Loud this week to talk about modern agriculture. As the K-12 STEM Outreach Lead for Monsanto, Valerie is busy engaging educators in modern agriculture where cross-cutting concepts like engineering, math, and biology are used to solve important problems in our world today. Through Monsanto’s STEM page, Valerie assists educators in finding powerful classroom resources and even helps teachers […]
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Lab Out Loud’s guest this week is Gary Weimberg, co-director of the PBS documentary “My Love Affair With The Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond.” Produced and released in collaboration with AAAS and Scientific American, and narrated by The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik, this upcoming documentary showcases the life and work of engaging professor, inquisitive learner and […]
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Our guest this week is David Pogue – tech critic for Yahoo Tech, correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning, columnist for Scientific American and host of many NOVA science specials. In 2012, Pogue shared his exploration of the periodic table with the wildly popular NOVA special Hunting the Elements. He’d like to continue that story with Beyond the Elements, where he will explore […]
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Our guest this week is Zach Kaplan. As founder and CEO of Inventables, Kaplan hopes to inspire and enlist a new wave of makers with tools like Carvey (a desktop 3D carving machine) and Easel (a simple and free cloud-based app for 3D design to carving). In schools, with an increased focus on engineering and a push to include more STEAM classes and Makerspaces, these tools […]
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Our guest this week is ecologist & author Caren Cooper. As an Associate Professor at North Carolina State university, Dr. Cooper also works with the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program on Leadership in Public Science. She is an advocate of citizen science, believing that anyone, anywhere at any time, can help conduct genuine scientific research. In her new book, Citizen Science: How Ordinary People are […]
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In this installment of On the Lookout, we explore another device in the world of desktop fabrication. Recently, we were able to test out Carvey – a tabletop 3D carving machine from Inventables. Right out of the box, we discovered Carvey to be a remarkably easy to use tool appropriate for younger learners. Solidly built, Carvey’s small footprint can easily sit […]
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Dr. William Romine and Dr. Amber Todd are co-leading a project to study teachers’ attitudes and emotions surrounding evolution. They are looking for current and former teachers who have taught biology at the K-college level. If you would like to participate in our study, please click the following link to complete the survey. This study has been reviewed by the […]
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Our guest this week is Sonia Epstein, the Executive Editor of the Museum of the Moving Image’s online publication Science & Film. Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Science & Film is devoted to exploring the intersection of science and film and enhancing the public’s understanding of science and technology. Sonia joins us to talk about Sloan films and the […]
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Making his third appearance on Lab Out Loud, we welcome Rhett Allain back to the show. As an Associate Professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University, Rhett is also an avid blogger for Wired Science. In addition to his consultant work for MythBusters, Rhett has recently added another impressive accolade to his resume: Technical Consultant for the TV show MacGyver (2106). Rhett joins […]
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Two science teachers call the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line! To prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to consult with a professionally trained expert who could answer all of our important turkey questions. This isn’t our first turkey-related post… Dale shares his Thanksgiving lesson plans Hear guest from National Wild Turkey Federation Do you like the show? Please rate us and leave a comment […]
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The Pocketlab is back on Kickstarter with two new products. PocketLab Voyager and PocketLab Weather are rugged science labs that you can take anywhere to explore the world around you. Check out the new features: You may remember the original PocketLab from episode 129: Easy, Mobile Measurement with @ThePocketLab. Stay tuned – when we get a chance, Lab Out Loud is going […]
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Making his third appearance on Lab Out Loud, we welcome Dr. Ken Roy back to discuss safety in science classrooms and other potentially harmful areas (such as makerspaces). This fall, Ken launched the NSTA Safety Blog to share commentaries on the latest safety issues, legal standards and better professional practices. Ken reminds us about important science safety practices such as yearly safety training, […]
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Have you ever relied upon a lab or resource so much that you don’t know what you would do without it? This mini-lab episode discusses such a tool that was lost and then found again – Mihara Naoki’s Ramp and Roll. Originally developed in 1995 to assist introductory physics students understand the simple motion of ball rolling on a ramp, […]
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Making his fourth appearance with Lab Out Loud, we welcome Fred Ende back to the show. As the Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services for a cooperative educational service in New York, Fred regularly designs, takes part in, observes, evaluates, and delivers professional development. Most recently, Fred has written a book on professional development entitled Professional Development That Sticks, […]
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Our guest this week is former astronaut Stephen Frick, Director of Strategic Planning and Operations at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center. Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education have partnered to launch the next phase of Generation Beyond – an initiative to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to prepare today’s middle school students for deep space […]
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Sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education, middle school students from around the World are are invited to explore STEM Careers in Deep Space Exploration with this Inaugural Virtual Event on October 4, 2016. WHAT: Global Virtual Field Trip for Middle School Classrooms, which features unique access to: Orion crew module and the test lab team simulating and testing Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) […]
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This week we talk sex with Dr. Carin Bondar (specifically, we discuss how science teachers can use sex to teach biological concepts). As biologist, writer and presenter, Dr. Carin Bondar hosts an independent web series called Wild Sex and has just released her second book, also titled Wild Sex. Listen to the show to hear ideas on how you might utilize biological sex to teach […]
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As students are returning to school, they might be hunting for Pokémon with the wildly popular PokémonGo app. Part of the game allows students students to evolve their Pokémon into other pocket monsters. But is this an accurate portrayal of biological evolution? Can science educators actually use PokémonGo to teach evolution or other scientific concepts? To help answer some of these questions, we are happy to welcome Dr. […]
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