Lab Out Loud

In February, the journal Science published an article entitled “Climate Confusion Among U.S. Teachers” that has been attracting a great deal of mainstream media attention. Examining a nationwide survey of how middle school and high science teachers address climate change in their classes, the article reveals some encouraging insights and uncovers a few areas for improvement. To better understand the impact of this article, Lab Out Loud welcomes Dr. David Evans, Executive Director of NSTA, to the show. Dr. Evans joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the results of the survey, suggest how recent implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards play a role in this conversation, and offer some suggestions on how to better support science educators in teaching climate change. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2016/02/episode-142-climate-change-survey/

Co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler discuss movies and science with scientist, writer and podcaster Andy Howell. Besides studying supernovae and working with robotic telescopes (at Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and the University of California, Santa Barbara, Andy has been working on a podcast to evaluate the scientific content in movies and the portrayal of scientists in media. Called Science vs. Cinema, the pilot episode examines a Lab Out Loud favorite: The Martian. Andy joins Lab Out Loud to discuss Science vs. Cinema and shares how he evaluates scientific content in popular media (we also get to geek out over some of our favorite science movies). Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2016/02/episode-141-science-vs-media/

Lab Out Loud's guest this week is Shaun Whitehead, space engineer and founder of Thumbsat. Dreaming of once becoming an astronaut, Shaun now provides the engineering reality to put experiments in space with Thumbsat - a thumbsize platform for space exploration complete with microcontroller, camera, radio, GPS and temperature sensors. Thumbsat data can be harvested through Thumbnet, a global network of monitoring stations - which can even be built by schools. Listen to Lab Out Loud to hear Shaun explain what a space engineer is and how you might inspire your students to put an experiment into space. show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2016/01/episode-140-thumbsat/

At Lab Out Loud, we love data collection. That's why we are happy to welcome Chrystian and Rebecca Vieyra to the show.  Working as an app developer and high school physics teacher, this husband and wife team developed Physics Toolbox - a suite of apps that use the built-in sensors inside smartphones to complement the current probeware used in classrooms. Listen to the show to hear more about Physics Toolbox and how it can be used to easily collect data in your classroom.   Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2016/01/episode-139-physics-toolbox/

Co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler are proud to welcome fellow science podcaster Ainissa Ramirez to Lab Out Loud. As scientist, inventor and self-proclaimed science evangelist, Ainissa is the host of Science Underground - a new, two-minute podcast that delivers a science topic in an enjoyable and easy to understand fashion. Listen to the show to hear Ainissa discuss the importance of science communication, the inspiration for her topics, and how you might use these audio nuggets in your science classroom. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2016/01/episode-138-science-underground/

Lab Out Loud welcomes Matt Hartman, the content coordinator for eCYBERMISSION, to the show. Sponsored by the Army and administered by NSTA, eCYBERMISSION is a web-based STEM competition for 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade teams tasked with proposing a solution to a real problem in their community. Matt joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk us about the competition and its alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards. In addition, Lab Out Loud even gets a special opportunity to talk with a coach and some of her students who have participated in eCYBERMISSION. show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/12/episode-137-ecybermission/  

Our guest this week is Todd L. Pittinsky, professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University.  Todd and Nicole Diamante (a doctoral candidate in engineering at Stony Brook) recently wrote an article that caught our eyes. In "Going Beyond Fun in STEM" (Phi Delta Kappan) Pittinsky and Diamante suggest that perhaps after the Mentos geyser demonstration, science teachers might only get "a bottle of flat Pepsi and too many students who still arrive at college academically unprepared for STEM majors or — perhaps more important — emotionally unprepared to stick it out when the subjects inevitably get tough."  Todd joins us to remind us that fun isn't enough in science, and suggests what intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are actually needed to get students more interested in math and science, and ultimately succeed in these fields.

Do your students have a vision for the future? Then they might be motivated to enter the 23rd Annual Toshiba/NSTA annual ExploraVision competition. Through problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills, this K-12 science competition encourages students to imagine and explore a vision of a technology 20 years into the future. To help explain what ExploraVision is and how to participate, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome Arthur Eisenkraft (Professor of Science Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston and ExploraVision judge) and Acacia McKenna (Director of Science Education Competitions at the National Science Teachers Association) to the show. Listen now to find out how you can help communicate this opportunity and inspire your students to participate in ExploraVision today! Show Notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/11/episode-135-exploravision

This week, Lab Out Loud welcomes IRIS (the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) to the show. Michael Hubenthal (senior education specialist) and John Taber (Director of Education and Public Outreach) join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about the educational opportunities in seismology and earth science available from IRIS. Listen to Lab Out Loud to learn how you can use IRIS's recent earthquake teachable moments, earthquake browser, and how you can search for seismology lessons and demonstrations. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/11/episode-134-iris

Many science teachers will recognize that AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) publishes the respected peer-reviewed journal Science. As the world's largest general scientific society, AAAS also promotes science literacy with the goal that all students receive a high-quality science education. That's why co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler are delighted to welcome Suzanne Thurston and Maria Sosa (both from the AAAS Directorate for Education and Human Resources Program) to the show. Listen to Lab Out Loud to hear Suzanne and Maria discuss how AAAS is working to enhance science education with such initiatives as Science NetLinks, the Active Explorer App, and other resources for science education. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/10/episode-133-aaas

As Lab Out Loud has been showcasing science videos lately, they decided to investigate what it takes to make a good science video. To that end, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler invited Derek Muller, creator and host of Veritasium: An Element of Truth to the show. Veritasium is a YouTube channel of science and engineering videos featuring experiments, interviews, demos, and other cool science topics. Listen to Lab Out Loud to hear Derek discuss his work with Veritasium, what he has learned from the experience, and learn a few hints at how to make a good science video. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/10/episode-132-veritasium

To kick off season nine of Lab Out Loud, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome Sal Khan to Lab Out Loud.  As founder of The Khan Academy, Sal is encouraging students age 13-18 to submit a 10-minute video to the Breakthrough Junior Challenge.  Presented by The Breakthrough Prize and The Khan Academy, The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is currently seeking innovative videos from students that explain a challenging concept or theory of mathematics, life sciences, or physics.  The winner will earn a $250,000 scholarship, a $50,000 education grant for the winner's teacher, and a $100,000 cutting-edge science lab designed for the winner’s school.  Do you have an idea for a submission?  Listen to the show to hear more about the competition and how students might create a video to open up everyone's mind.  But hurry - video submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 7!   Show notes: http://laboutloud.com/2015/09/episode-131-breakthrough-jr-challenge

From the Smithsonian Science Education Center, Lab Out Loud welcomes Marjee Chmiel (Associate Director of Curriculum and Communications) and Jean Flanagan (Science Education Research Specialist) to showcase Good Thinking!  - a new animated series that explores topics in science, cognition, and pedagogy.  Using peer-reviewed research, Good Thinking! addresses common student misconceptions with short, animated episodes specifically geared towards science educators. Listen to the Lab Out Loud to find out more about Good Thinking!, and discover a fantastic (and fun) professional development resource. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/08/episode-130-good-thinking  

To close their eighth season at Lab Out Loud, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome Clifton Roozeboom to the show.  Lab Out Loud first met Clifton at the NSTA 2015 Conference in Chicago, where they noticed The PocketLab in the exhibit hall.  Built to be a small, rugged wireless sensor platform, the PocketLab can measure acceleration, force, angular velocity, magnetic field, pressure, altitude, and temperature while simultaneously reporting to a device for data visualization and analysis.  Clifton joins Lab Out Loud to talk about sensors, the PocketLab (and the app), and how your students can use it to build science experiments for exploring their world. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/05/episode-129-thepocketlab

Inspired by a session at the NSTA 2015 Conference in Chicago, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler talk with Plot.ly founder and COO Matt Sundquist.  As a relatively young graphing program, Plot.ly makes it easy to collaboratively analyze and visualize data.  Matt talks to Lab Out Loud about Plot.ly, how it can be used in the science classroom, and how you can even import real data into this powerful online tool. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/04/episode-128-plotly

Prompted from listener feedback, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome Dr. Kate McNeill and Dr. Joe Krajcik to Lab Out Loud.  As authors of Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing, Kate and Joe talk about using the claim, evidence and reasoning (CER) framework as a method to guide students towards explanations in science. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/04/episode-127-claim-evidence-reasoning

Co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome John Timmer to Lab Out Loud.  As senior science editor for Ars Technica, John has been paying particular attention to state legislatures that, in the first few month of each year, tend to propose bills that attempt to dictate how science is taught in their schools.  Listen to the Lab Out Loud to hear what bills might affect teaching science in your state. Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/03/episode-125-ngsschat/

Have you wanted to reach out to other science teachers with your questions about NGSS?  Lab Out Loud guests Fred Ende and Tricia Shelton can help.  Using Twitter, Fred and Tricia moderate #NGSSchat - an online forum to learn and share around the Next Generation Science Standards and great science teaching.  Listen to the Lab Out Loud this week to find out how you can "lurk", learn and contribute to #NGSSchat.   Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/03/episode-125-ngsschat/

Continuing an exploration of art in science, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler invite author, illustrator and math/science teacher Dale Debakcsy to the show.  Every two weeks, Debakcsy writes and illustrates about important women in science.  Now that he has now completed half of his two-year project, Debakcsy has compiled the first 26 portraits into a book called The Illustrated Women in Science: Year One.  Listen to Lab Out Loud to hear about how Debakcsy started making science comics, the importance of showcasing women in science, and how you can use his art in your classroom.   Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/2015/02/episode124/

Artist and Scientist Dr. David Goodsell join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler on Lab Out Loud this week.  As Associate Professor at the Scripps Research Institute, Dr. Goodsell splits his time on research and science outreach.  His science outreach includes artwork featured online, in a variety of media and even in science museums.  Listen to the show to learn how Dr. Goodsell makes his art, how accurate science is reflected in this art, and how you can use it to teach molecular structure and function. art, biology, books, online resources Show notes at: http://laboutloud.com/?p=2980