Health NewsScience Fairs – Independent Project-based Learning
I recently participated in a Genome Alberta challenge to put forward a short video explaining Where Bio began for me. It was a lot of fun putting that little video together and it made me think about what influenced my interest in science. Many young students get their first real start in the sciences through independent project-based learning we know as Science Fair. For almost 50 years, Science Fairs have been organized across Canada. Science Fairs are held in elementary and secondary schools, outstanding projects are entered in regional fairs, and approximately 500 students meet (this year in Peterborough) at a Canada-Wide Science Fair. Past Science Fair participants and winners probably represent a Who’s Who among scientists in North America. I expect this to be documented in the next year or two.
Where Bio Began – How I did my first video
There are still 2 days left to enter a short video and get a chance to win iPod Shuffle. Yes, Genome Alberta is giving away 2 iPod Shuffles and all you have to do to have a chance at winning is submit a less than 2 minute video telling Where Bio Began for you or your friends.
Here is my example.
Genetically Engineered Olympians
Years ago, I remember seeing a parody on what to expect in future Olympic athletes. There were cartoon drawings of swimmers with webbed feet and high jumpers with gigantic legs. We all had a good chuckle over this article. Well here we are, it is 2010, and we are getting ready for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. What are we reading about in the media? Warnings about gene doping in Olympic athletes.
Three tweets to tweak your attention
I was told years ago that if you do something once, it is an event; if you do it twice it is a tradition. Using that kind of logic I will tell you I have noticed a new trend from the science bloggers I follow. Many science bloggers are now active on Twitter, and the micro-blog is now as important, it seems, as the full blessay. Twitter can be used for making quick announcements, and many science bloggers also use it as a way to link to their full blog. The trend I was alluding to earlier is that some bloggers are now blogging their weekly tweets and other bloggers are listing all their re-tweets as a quick blog entry.
I’m not going to blog just a review of the tweets. If you want that, you can follow me directly on Twitter. I pointed out in an earlier blog that if you wish to keep up with the latest genomics information, you can go directly to Genome Alberta’s Facebook application ‘GenOmics’. Today, I am highlighting a few recent tweets that have caught my attention as being of more general interest. My hope is that this can become a kind of tradition for you educators talking to your students about fun and exciting developments in the field.
The Omics of Avatar
The science in the science fiction movie Avatar is in my opinion – excellent! Let me tell you what I’m thinking. Science fiction can be so off the wall that many of the basic laws of science must be broken for the plot to work. This is not the case in Avatar. Avatar is one of those science fiction movies in which the science seems to be very probable because it is either currently real science, or certainly technologies which are predictable based on current science. I personally find it much easier to have suspended disbelief in science fiction movies if the science is believable.
After a few brief trailers, a sign came on the screen saying put your 3-D glasses on now.
Giant Viruses, borrowed Cat Genes and Jingjing’s Genome
This past week’s science readings on the web look like they might well have come from the tabloid magazines. Besides all the jokes about changing a tiger into a lion or a cheetah, we have stories of giant viruses driving the evolution of microorganisms. We note that cat DNA has been found in the HIV/AIDS virus and pandas are genetically like dogs.
Genomics: Zoom Zoom
The Knights of the Round Table, an organization that has served Calgarians for more than 80 years, invited me to enlighten them about genomics. I was joining an impressive list of previous speakers and I wanted to make sure I did a good job. I indicated to them at the beginning of my presentation that I was covering at least 150 years of knowledge in a mere 20 minutes. I called the talk Genomics: Zoom Zoom. With apologies to Mazda, I told the audience that it was going to be like them driving in a sports car rally around the Roman ruins of Verona with me sitting in the back seat and telling them what I was seeing out the window.
