Science for the classroom and beyond
Our guest this week is Neal Manegold, director of Minecraft Education. Many listeners are probably familiar with Minecraft, and a few might even know about Minecraft Education Edition, which builds on the open-world game while promoting creativity, collaboration and problem solving in a teacher supervised environment. Now students can learn some science in the Minecraft world with the recent Chemistry update of […]
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How do you address controversial science issues in your classroom instruction? Our guests this week are the co-authors of a recent Phi Delta Kappan publication (read below) that might give you some insight in how to help prepare students to become scientifically literate citizens by incorporating socioscientific issues in the classroom. David Owens (College of Education, University of Missouri), Troy Sadler […]
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Our guest this week is Sabari Raja, co-Founder & CEO of Nepris. Acting as matchmaker for classrooms to scientists (and other professionals), Nepris tackles the heavy lifting of finding professionals eager to provide educational outreach in their field of expertise. Sabari joins us to talk about the history of Nepris, its goal of creating equity of access, and how you […]
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A few years ago, we showcased Clifton Roozeboom’s PocketLab – a small, rugged wireless sensor platform that could easily collect a suite of common measurements while simultaneously reporting to a device for data visualization and analysis. A few years later, with newer and less expensive sensors, PocketLab has developed a novel product that can now measure air quality. Called PocketLab Air, this wireless […]
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With the growing implementation of engineering principles and Makerspaces in our schools, we decided to reach out to science fiction writer Cory Doctorow to chat about his most recent novel Walkaway. Set in a near future ruined by ecological and technological catastrophe, Walkaway is a story about scarcity and surviving outside the default limits of societal norms. But Walkaway also […]
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Hakhamanesh Mostafavi, PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University and co-author of a recent paper, Identifying genetic variants that affect viability in large cohorts, joins us to talk about the evidence for and examples of continuing human evolution. Links: Hakhamanesh Mostafavi, Columbia University Mostafavi H, Berisa T, Day FR, Perry JRB, Przeworski M, Pickrell JK (2017) Identifying genetic variants […]
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We have had many different guests on Lab Out Loud, from scientists to teachers, authors to celebrities, Nobel Laureates, and even a couple Knights! But this week we are proud to introduce our youngest guest ever on the show. Ten year old Elaina Garg and her younger sister Kaylie wrote The Organic Coloring Book with the help of their father Neil, […]
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Making his third appearance on Lab Out Loud, we welcome science storyteller Sam Kean back to the show. As author of The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist’s Thumb, Sam has a new book out called Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us. Sam joins us to talk about how a chemistry thought problem lead to the title of […]
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It’s Mole Day! Celebrated on October 23, Mole Day recognizes Avogadro’s number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic unit of measurement in chemistry. We discuss mole day, reminisce on how we have celebrated it, and celebrate the founder of the National Mole Day Foundation: Maurice Oehler (a Wisconsin Science Teacher). How do you celebrate Mole Day? Leave a comment, […]
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Science degrees can be found in the most intriguing careers. This week we talk with Becca Ransohoff, an analytical chemist for MadTree Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio. In June, MadTree released Entropic Theory (a hoppy, juicy IPA) with a special can launch party whereby a portion of the proceeds were donated to iSPACE, a local non-profit that promotes education of science, engineering, technology […]
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Continuing with a theme of teacher created content, we are proud to share Matt Blackman’s physics games and apps. As physics teacher and adjunct instructor at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, Matt founded The Universe & More where he creates educational games and apps such as Crack the Circuit and Action Graphing. Matt joins us to talk about his games, […]
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As the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) takes full effect this fall, educators might be curious to know how this new legislation affects STEM education. To help us navigate through ESSA, we welcome James Brown to the show. As executive director of the STEM Education Coalition, James works with the Coalition to raise awareness in Congress, the Administration, and other organizations about […]
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From Math for America, we welcome John Ewing (President) and Megan Roberts (Executive Director) to the show. With a goal of making teaching a viable, rewarding and respected career, MƒA provides a mechanism that encourages professional STEM educators to engage in their subject matter while working in a collaborative and supportive environment. In practice, MƒA’s fellowship program engages New York City teachers to engage in professional growth […]
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To kickoff season 11, we welcome Christopher Preece to the show. As a high school chemistry teacher, Chris recently created Che[M]ystery – a graphic novel that teaches chemistry concepts. Written by Preece and illustrated by Josh Reynolds, Che[M]ystery follows the adventures of two kids as they gain superpowers, fight a radioactive monster and learn some science along the way. Chris joins us to discuss […]
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To close season 10, we welcome back Dr. Sean B. Carroll – award-winning scientist, writer, and educator. Dr. Carroll’s new book, The Serengeti Rules, examines the fundamental question of how life works as he uncovers the rules that determine the what controls the number of species in an environment and the diversity within that community. What this molecular biologist learns […]
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Our guest this week is Darlene Cavalier. In addition to her position as Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Center for Engagement and Training, Darlene is the founder of SciStarter – an online community to designed to help people find, join and contribute to science through both formal and informal research projects and events. Darlene joins us to help promote Citizen Science Day […]
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Our guest this week is Matt Brady. Along with his wife Shari, these two high school science teachers have been working to bring pop culture into the classroom to increase student engagement and understanding of science. Their website The Science Of helps broadcast these ideas and strategies with the goal of providing a place for popular culture to act as a springboard to […]
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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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