Changing Tides

I’ve been having a lot of fun recently collaborating with Eleanor Gates-Stuart and Barry Moon. We’ve setup a website for our project -  m o o n s t u a r t   - at moonstuart.net.

We’re showing an installation called boidSong in the “Inspired” art exhibition at The Front Gallery in Lyneham from the 20th-25th August as part of National Science Week.  

The opening is at 8pm on Wednesday 20th August. 

I’ve spent some time today adding links into del.icio.us that I think are useful for early high school science, although a lot of them are good for much wider age range.

• Back to basics
  The sites listed below provide an excellent introduction to several basic science concepts. You can visit the links in sequence or use the annotations to select those that contain information most relevant to your interests.
  (tags: education science yr7-10)
• Art of Science Competition / 2006 Gallery
  In the spring of 2006 we again asked the Princeton University community to submit images—and, for the first time, videos and sounds—produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science.
  (tags: science art yr7-10)
• Welcome - Science by Doing
  Welcome to the pilot program of  Science by Doing. This is where you can learn lots of science and have fun at the same time. Early secondary.
  (tags: science education yr7-10)
• A Photo Gallery of Meteorwrongs
  We have, over the years, been sent many rocks and photographs of rocks that finders suspect to be meteorites. The tongue-in-cheak term for a rock that is not a meteorite is a meteorwrong.
  (tags: science yr7-10)
• Rader’s BIOLOGY 4 KIDS.COM
  Basic biology information. It’s not just biology for kids, it’s for everyone. We have information on cell structure, cell function, scientific studies, plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, and other life science topics.
  (tags: science biology yr7-10)
• Rader’s GEOGRAPHY 4 KIDS.COM
  Physical geography and earth science basics. It’s not just for geography for kids, it’s for everyone. This site has an introduction to the earth sciences that includes topics on the Earth’s structure, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
  (tags: science geography earth_science education yr7-10)
• Rader’s COSMOS4KIDS.COM
  Astronomy basics and the science of the stars
  (tags: science astronomy education yr7-10)
• Rader’s PHYSICS 4 KIDS.COM
  Basic physics information. It’s not just physics for kids, it’s for everyone. We have information on motion, heat and thermodynamics, electricity & magnetism, light, and modern physics.
  (tags: science physics education yr7-10)
• Rader’s NUMBERNUT.COM
  We now have three big sections on the site:
  (tags: science maths education yr7-10)
• Portal:Science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The Wikipedia science portal allows you to browse the science topics on wikipedia.
  (tags: science yr7-10)
• Questacon
  Welcome to Questacon, Australia’s National Science & Technology Centre!
  (tags: science education yr7-10)
• The Lab
  Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Gateway to Science
  (tags: science yr7-10)

The Public Library of Science (PLoS), National Science Foundation and the San Diego Supercomputer Center have released a new website where scientists can post videos. At this stage it allows the upload of videos related to articles published in PLoS journals. From their FAQ:

What is SciVee?

SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science. To learn more about SciVee link to our About Page.

SciVee is operated in partnership with the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). Please see our Partners page to learn more about them.

PLoS is a group of online peer reviewed journals using a new approach - the journals are free to access but charge a fee if you want to publish an article in them.  This fee covers the costs of publication and peer review - but the articles still need to pass peer review in order to be published.

I found this book very easy to read despite the complicated ideas it covers. The author has succeeded in making it an entertaining and accessible book.

It gives a good overview of quantum physics both from a historical perspective and the implications quantum physics has for our understanding of the world.

It doesn’t attempt to cover any of the mathematics or complexity. It explains any specialist terms at they are introduced, and uses good analogies to give you a feel for the topic.

If you are interested in physics then this is a great way to start looking at Quantum Physics.

If you are interested in Physics, then these Public Lectures are very
good.

I’m not sure why, but they always seem to be the best lectures we go to during the year. I think it may be because they go for longer than the 1 hour that most public lectures run for. The are scheduled to be from 8pm to 10pm but usually go for about 1.5 hours. So they can cover more detail on the selected topic.

http://kiosk.ph.unimelb.edu.au/news_events/july_lectures

The first one was last Friday night, and it was excellent. One every
Friday night at 8pm during July.

A list of all the events at Melbourne Uni is available here: http://events.unimelb.edu.au/ (tip: search for “Public Lectures”)

This is a very interesting book which takes a very different look at Economics.

“Freakonomics is a book that will change the way you look at the world. It is not like an ordinary non-fiction book, it’s full of quirky facts and seemingly illogical truths. For example; which is more dangerous, a house with a pool or a house with a gun? In Freakonomics you’ll for everything from what schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common to why drug dealers still live with their mums.”

The authors have a website http://www.freakonomics.com/ which has some updated information, reviews and a link to a student guide. The student guide provides an interesting way to have a second look at the book. There is also a teachers guide available if you apply for a userid/password from the Harper Academic website.

An interesting article on physicsweb:

Planetary scientists have developed a theory that can explain three outstanding puzzles about our solar system: Why do the giant planets have eccentric and tilted orbits? How did Jupiter get its Trojan asteroids? And what caused the Late Heavy Bombardment some 700 million years after the Earth and Moon were formed? The answer seems to be that all three phenomena seem to be a direct result of Saturn and Jupiter shifting their orbits in the early solar system.

Read the full article.

The Australian Synchrotron site includes a lot of information about what synchrotrons are and what they are used for. It also includes resources for Teachers section that has VCE physics material.

• http://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/
• Synchrotron Science
• Resources for Teachers