Science teacher : flat earth society

Are you Sirious?

doyle — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:38:00 GMT

Tuesday I'll grab the clam rake for the last time this year. Late Tuesday afternoon I'll wander over to an exposed tidal flat, and pull food out of the muck. I do not know who crafted the tines of my rake, but I know how it was done. I do not know where...(read more)

Ditching digital time

doyle — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:10:00 GMT

We're in the last few weeks of the dying sun, our days defined by our shadows. I know the sun will return, but I don't believe it. The digital clock on my classroom wall leaves no shadows. It defines little. It just assigns a number to now . 9:27 , 9:27...(read more)

We had it right over a century ago....

doyle — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:10:00 GMT

"Not geography, nor nature-study, nor history, but the child; not the adult, nor adult theories, nor Froebel himself, but the child, is the center and source of the kindergarten. To see children as they really are and not according to our preconceptions;...(read more)

A Clockwork Yellow

doyle — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:12:00 GMT

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. Carl Sagan I think clocks did as much to squash our spirits as anything else, but the history of time is fascinating, and surprisingly silent given its effects on our culture....(read more)

Quakers

doyle — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:43:00 GMT

I am glad today was not a school day in New Jersey. Those of us sitting on the state's udder, the tip of Cape May county, got a nice ride for less than we'd pay at Morley's , and countless afternoon chats under the sun made the surreal feel real. Now...(read more)

No Khan Do

doyle — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:24:00 GMT

Salman Khan makes educational videos, lots of educational videos, using a simple technique--he draws out his thoughts on a "blackboard," while he thinks aloud. Much like someone unwrapping a problem on a napkin or on an old slate blackboard. Bill Gates...(read more)

Weodmonað

doyle — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:52:00 GMT

Yep, mostly the same post third time around--I like the rhythm of the year. We call it August now, for Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , a short guy with bad teeth, but this was less of an issue before television--the name was dragged over to England by...(read more)

Expecto Patronum

doyle — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 13:52:00 GMT

Horseshoe crabs and I have a long history. Theirs longer than ours. These were tossed up on a huge hill of dredge waste, peering through the gray mud. I have witnessed much, most unspoken, in my years, as I am sure you have, too. I do not understand,...(read more)

Beware the Yabby net

doyle — Sun, 08 May 2011 11:21:00 GMT

Thanks to The Violet Hour for pointing me in Michael Leunig's direction. "I [Richard Lawrence] specifically asked Leunig about the copyright implications of this and he replied that he derives great pleasure from the knowledge that people send his 'toons,...(read more)

Unintended consequences: King Ludd was right

doyle — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:26:00 GMT

Natural science has a funny way of bumping up against high tech. While we are way past the point of rationally discussing whether we'd be better off without automobiles, industrialized agriculture, or Auto-Tune (I'd vote against all three), not all high...(read more)

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!

doyle — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:43:00 GMT

"We failed to make orbit," Omar Baez, NASA's launch director, said at a news conference. "All indications are that the satellite and the rocket are in the southern Pacific Ocean somewhere ." 424 million dollars into the drink, and the best we get is it's...(read more)

On classroom technologies

doyle — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:03:00 GMT

“Young students and old thrive on the tactile experience of manipulating with their fingers. And I definitely appreciate being able to interact with the content – how could teaching and learning get any more hands-on?” Katie Morrow, Technology Integration...(read more)

Spontaneous generation?

doyle — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:45:00 GMT

Explaining the daphnia was problematic enough, then came the mosquitoes. Now I got a tank full of fish fry darting about with no adult fish in sight. Yes, of course, I do not believe in spontaneous generation. There must be a reason, and I have a hypothesis...(read more)

A February horseshoe crab

doyle — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:33:00 GMT

I love this picture. My wife has tiny feet--that is the tip of her tiny shoe. The tracks were made by a tiny horseshoe crab last February. Chances are pretty good no one else has seen this particular horseshoe crab, and chances are pretty good it is no...(read more)

Science fiction

doyle — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:52:00 GMT

13 percent of teachers explicitly endorse creationism or intelligent design, and spend at least on hour of class time presenting it in a positive light. An additional 5 percent reported that they support creationism in passing or when answering students’...(read more)