Snacks4theBrain!

SNACKS4THEBRAIN! HAS MOVED!

2007-03-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hey, all, As of this posting, S4theB! shownotes will appear at a new URL. The Powers-that-be at Vanderbilt have decided it's time to host shownotes at the University server. Cool! You ready? Here it is: http://blogs.vanderbilt.edu/s4theb/ Currently, shows 51 onward are noted there, and it's possible that all the content will be moved over soon. Until then, keep this blogger site bookmarked for notes to older shows! Cheers, Scott

Snacks 54 -- Pat Levitt!

2007-03-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Episode 54 of S4theB! features a fascinating chat with Dr. Pat Levitt (photo courtesy of www.vanderbilt.edu), Director of the Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Dr. Levitt is also a member of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute Neuroscience Council and is extraordinarily active in a plethora of professional organizations, including the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, and the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Institute of Mental Health. He is the author of over 170 scientific papers and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals that include Biological Psychiatry, Cerebral Cortex, and Neuron.

Pat Levitt, as you can see, is a very busy guy.

That's why I was so pleased to be able to meet with him in his offices on the 4th floor of the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. My portable recorder was sadly out of juice so I rigged up my laptop with a headset mic (the explanation for my own comments during the interview sounding like I'm speaking with a tin bucket over my head :), but I have to say the 30 or so minutes we chatted were among the most enjoyable and enlightening I've spent in these nearly two years of interviewing some of the most interesting people in science.

Enough chatchat: Download S4theB! Episode 54 here or click the Podcast Pickle player at the top of the page to hear it right in your browser.

This episode's music hearkens back to the Podsafe Music Network for its listening-on-the-theme-of-the-brain content. 3 Feet Up's "Teflon Brain" and audio project The Fabrications' "Brain Cells" color up the show, and there's even a TechTipTidbit for you! I lead out by fudging a little with BRAIN BUCKIT's (well, there's "brain" in the band's name!) bluesy "Rocket Science." All in all, I think it's a a satisfying Snacks! and I hope you'll agree!

Links:

Dr Pat Levitt's Vanderbilt University Medical Center page

The Vanderbilt Brain Institute

BrainsRule.com -- a great site for learning about the human brain! Spoon-fed Snacks! -- Click here for Google results search returns for "Pat Levitt environment genetics blog"

Snacks 53--AIDS Outreach at Vanderbilt

2007-02-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

Hey,ya'll, This S4theB! is dedicated to the determined group of Graduate Students known as Vanderbilt AIDS Outreach, or "AIDSO." Led by the capable Brenna Simons, these students work to help make Middle School and High School students aware of the dangers of AIDS and of their options in situations where contracting the disease might be a consequence of their actions. I talked with Brenna at the Panera Bread Company and it was crowded inside so we parked ourselves at a little wrought-iron table and chatted away over green tea (Brenna) and coffee (me--their espresso maker was out of order :( ). Jenna's group is putting the finishing touches on a 30 minute video highlighting the personal experiences of folks infected with HIV and others affected by relationships with AIDS sufferers. Once it's ready it'll be available online both here and at the AIDSO website. This group is doing some amazing work, as you'll hear amidst the traffic sounds and occasional "order is ready" announcements. Think of S4theB! 53 as a soundseeing tour of sorts!!! In the show, we talk briefly about the interactive videoconferencing programs that AIDSO is planning via the CSO VSIVC program. Those dates are 04/16/07 1:00 pm and 04/23/07 1:00 pm. Teachers, if you want to sign up visit the CSO website and do so!!! Music for this show is from Magnatune.com, and features the fantastic fretwork of acoustic guitarist Jeff Wahl. Nice listening, and if you like what you hear you'll love the rest of his album, available for purchase at the Magnatune website. You'll also get an informative TechTipTidbit this show, all about how to erase your harddrive, courtesy of Dr. T. at completelyfreesoftware.com via worldstart.com's computer tips, used with permissions. About to recycle or donate or sell a computer? Better listen up to this one!!! Download S4theB!53 right here or click the Podcast Pickle Player at the top of the blog for (near) instant listening! Cheers, all

Snacks 52 -- The CSO Website!

2007-01-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hey, ya'll, I've been soooooooo busy, setting up the Spring 2007 Vanderbilt Virtual Scientist in the Classroom interactive videoconferencing programming (still under construction!), teaching my li'l folks at USN, and moving my family into a new home. So I'm a bit late but hoping that with Snacks4theBrain! episode 52 we can get back on the bi-weekly schedule. In this episode it's all moi, all Scott, all about the CSO website!

Our guy Jeff Hazelton has been completely revamping our website and this little audio tour is something you might think about following along with your computer mouse as we explore the site. While completely perverting the podcasting concept of "soundseeing," I think you might agree it functions as such, even if the place you're going is virtual instead of, for example, out on the English countryside...

As far as the music goes, it's all mandolin! Two great tunes by blues giant Johnny Nicholas, live cuts from the Podsafe Music Network at music.podshow.com and a third just me and my mando. I can't measure up to the Nicholas, but I do have fun with it and I hope you will too. We hear Johnny's "Mandolin Boogie" and his "Mandolin Moan," two cuts from his "Thrill on the Hill" CD, available at CDBaby.com, the same site I host my "Songs for Alaska" CD. You can't get my song, "Emma and Miranda are in China," anywhere but here...yet! It's part of a compilation of guitar and mandolin instrumentals I hope to release by the end of the year on CDBaby, a record called "Still Waiting." Watch for that!

Download S4theB! 52 here, or click the Podcast Pickle player at the top of the page for quick and easy playing rightcheer in your browser! Cheerio, and look for an veryyyyyyy interesting interview in the next show!!!!!!!!!!!!

Links: RIP Research Internship Program podcast Joe Lopez BEST Camp interview

Snacks 51 -- Steve Spangler!

2006-12-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, ya'll, from snowy Denver, Colorado. I flew up here from springy-weather Nashville expressly to participate in the Great Blizzard of '06. Well, not really, I flew up here to be with family for the holidays; but that certainly has been one of the highlights. There's a great slideshow of the blizzard's effects upon the airport at Denver 9News's website. FINALLY! My brother-in-law, Jim Leonard, and I drove out south to Steve Spangler Science on Federal Highway at Englewood and met the man himself. He greeted us at the door while I was on the cell phone to my wife, who was frantically talking with American Airlines about getting our tomorrow flight rebooked. We got past that and moved on in. What followed was perhaps one the most engaging hours of my podcasting life! Download S4theB! episode number 51 (or listen in the Podcast Pickle player at the top of the page) to hear just how amazingly passionate this man is about sharing the magic of science with teachers and with students. And visit YouTube to watch a 4 minute video from the visit! Don't know what this one will do, but the video posted in episode 49 has to date garnered over 40,000 views over the Internet. Sheeeeeesh! Links: Steve Spangler Science National Hands-on Science Institute Steve's 9News video archive Be Amazing Toys Music: Bill deRome from the Podsafe Music Network No Kiss for New Years from the Podsafe Music Network Barbara Leoni from Magnatune.com This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Snacks 50 -- Christmas Show!

2006-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, ya'll. In Denver now and looking forward to putting together S4theB! 51 here. Meanwhile, I'm posting a show that is all music. Holiday music. Christmas music, to be exact. Some of it's my own and some is from my old trusty standby, the Podsafe Music Network at music.podshow.com. David Spencer's work is at CDbaby.com. Here're the songs and the artist info, in order of appearance: Joy-Kinda Holiday-ish--Charlie Crowe Moose Nuggets for Christmas--Scott Merrick, from Scott Merrick's Songs for Alaska Featuring the Last Frontier Band Jingle Bells--Natalie Brown The Little Drummer Boy--David Spencer with Scott Cash The Elf Who's King of Country--Scott Merrick If Every Day Were Christmas--Podsafe for Peace Download the show here or check out the Podcast Pickle link at the top of the page!

Snacks 50! Half a Century!

2006-12-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Hey, ya'll, I'll be working on S4theB! 50 this week, but here I go again, promising you last show something I'm not gonna deliver, at least not yet--the interview with Steve Spangler at http://stevespanglerscience.com. The really GOOD news, though, is that I'll bring you that next time. I was chatting with him over the telephone Friday, and we were about to set a phone call interview time when I had to sucker-slap myself: I'm going to be in Denver with my family over Winter Break! (slap!) I could meet him at his offices, which he referred to as a 'toy factory' (heheheee) and do a better-sounding interview with him, buy him some coffee, and maybe even tour the factory! Wheeeezers! I'm thinking video, especially since the brief video in S4theB! episode 49's blognotes garnered over 30,000 (yep, all those zeros belong!) views in just over a week. Let's see if we can beat that! Meanwhile, and whilst you're awaiting S4theB! 50, read the op-ed article by my friend, colleague, and boss Dr. Virginia Shepherd, wrote in this past Thursday's Nashville Tennessean. It's about a new call for institutions of higher education to belly up to the bar and begin to do something to help out ailing public school systems. For more news about the CSO's fine work, see the CSO News page at the website. Hey, there's an article featuring an interview with me there!

Snacks49 -- Steve Spangler Science!

2006-11-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

Howdy and Happy Thanksgiving Week for all! This week we all benefit from my trip down Atlanta way last week to take in the NAEYC's annual conference. That's the National Association for the Education of Young Children, by the way. I attended the conference in my role as Lower School Technology Coordinator for University School of Nashville, my "main gig," as it were. I've been teaching K-4 computer skills for nearly 8 years now, and I did a fun presentation for those folks on my favorite little-kid website, UpToTen.com. Long story short: I spent several hours Saturday manfully wandering up and down aisle after aisle of the mammoth exhibitor hall (we're talking 20,000 teachers here, ya'll) and toward the end of the experience came upon a large booth area where things seemed 'way more active than in other portions of the hall. Steve Spangler, guru of Steve Spangler Science, was holding forth about one of his products, "insta-snow," and demonstrating it to an enraptured throng. I joined said throng (see pic from Steve's blog at http://stevespanglerscience.com). I'm glad I did, because my subsequent research into this man and his company has led me to the information that he's an Emmy winner and a tireless proselytizer for the wonders of science, not to mention a vast resource for teachers at any level of instruction to use for spicing up instruction. Steve got hung up in Thanksgiving airport traffic and we postponed our scheduled interview, but I'm scrambling to nab some wonderful audio from his website videos, created in partnership with Denver's News9. We'll do that interview soon, but in the meanwhile listen up as Steve and News9 anchors Mark Koebrich and Kim Christiansen goof around with gases in the episode "How Gases Change Your Voice." Also in this episode, hear some fabulous hammered-dulcimer music from Jamie Janover and Michael Maisley at Magnatune.com, and pick up some very edgy GrooveRock from the Amazing Sensationals at the Podsafe Music Network. As if that's not enough, groove on the tip for using Google to access your Internet bookmarks from any machine! I'm tellin' ya, it's EVERYTHING today! Download the show here, or click the Podcast Pickle link at the top of the page to listen from this very page! Additional link: Steve Spangler's great blog post about NAEYC! Here's a quick pan of the NAEYC Exhibitor Hall:

and a quick video snapshot of Steve Spangler demonstration "insta-snow":

Snacks 48--The Dyer Star Chamber!

2006-11-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

This week it's a celebration of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory's new "Star Chamber," a "land sculpture" work created by renowned artist Chris Drury and volunteers. Wow! What an amazing thing! We have an article from the Vanderbilt Register, audio from the online movie clip "The Making of the Star Chamber," a brief chat with Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory Supervisor Rocky Alvey, and new independent music for you from Jamie Janover and Michael Masley at magnatune.com, along with a little sweeper-ender by the Podsafe Music Network's Rory. Download the show here or click on the Podcast Pickle player at top to listen! Cheers to one and all, and "see ya" next show! Scott P.S., My apologies for the missed week. Computer and Life issues, but most are resolved quite well! Links: Article in the Vanderbilt Register by Erin G. Edwards VUCast video by Rocky Alvey Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory magnatune.com

Snacks 47 -- the Ig Nobel Awards!

2006-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hahahaha. I have to laugh. You do, too, after you listen up to S4theB! episode 47, all about the Ig Nobel Awards. Our very own Vanderbilt Professor Randolph Blake has garnered one of these cherished awards, one of ten annually awarded for "achievements that 'first make people laugh, and then make them think.'" (Source, Wikipedia) The fantastic Melanie Moran at the Vanderbilt Register has graciously permitted me to rob her blind by sharing audio from her great online post about Dr. Blake's accomplishment, including sound files of scraping fingernails and a terrified chimpanzee (you'll just have to listen to understand!). This show's music is our first use of the fanTAStic Magnatune website, which offers free use of its catalog for podcasters and very competitively priced purchases of a vast array of independent music in just as vast an array of genres. And I love their tagline: "We are not evil." Simply put, elegantly stated. Songs today are from hammer dulcimer virtuoso Jamie Janover and Tennessee acoustic duo Heavy Mellow (LOL). And I lead out with one of my own tunes from my "Songs for Alaska" CD. Why? Because I CAN, silly!!! Listen up here or click the Podcast Pickle player uptop! Links: Vanderbilt Register Ig Nobel article by Melanie Moran (and VUCast Audio) Wikipedia Ig Nobel entry Improbable Research Worldstart.com

Snacks 46 -- Research Internship Program!

2006-10-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

R.I.P., ya'll, and that doesn't mean "rest in peace," but rather the Vanderbilt University Center for Science Outreach "Research Internship Program," designed by our own Dr. Virginia Shepherd and Glenn McCombs and implemented by program director Dr. Christina Peterson. Episode 46 features some audio grabbed at a marvelous reception honoring the students and facilitators of the CSO's successful Research Internship Program that pairs high school juniors with Post-Doctoral and researcher mentors. Come to the party! Then, at your leisure, check out the pics of the original summer program's poster session at Picassa. Music today is from the Podsafe Music Network, a nice classical piece called "Overture, Suite from Les Fetes" by Rameau, performed by the stunning chamber group American Baroque, and a repeat from a favorite New Orleans rock band Brain Buckit, called "Rocket Science!" There's not much online about the program excepting the application and such at the CSO website, but check that out if you'd like to! Download Episode 46 here or click the Podcast Pickle Player up top to play. See the CSO website for all episodes! Cheerio, Scott

That's Vanderbilt!

2006-09-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hey. Pardon the two postings in one day (I feel like Jim Carrey: "Somebody STOP me!"). Great posting on the Vanderbilt website of a brief article about the fabulous GK12 program. Listen up!

Nice Podcasting Article in the Vanderbilt Register!

2006-09-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

I love it when we get good "ink," especially when I'm quoted correctly and the article's well written. Enter Vanderbilt Register journalist Kara Furlong, who interviewed me via email last week and did a bang-up job of featuring Snacks4theBrain! in her article today. The hardcopy version isn't out in the racks yet but you can bet your bottom bippy I'll be pickin' up a few for my mom! Cheers, and more later! Scott

Snacks 45--Kyle Butler!

2006-09-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

We're messin' with the format again and I hope you like the changes. Going briefer, going tighter, going just one or two songs per show. I promise people we're gonna do this until we get it rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright!!!! This week we're casting our interview net 'way out away from the Center for Science Outreach, on up into Ontario Canada. I was browsing podcasts at iTunes trying to see just why S4theB isn't showing up in the proper directories when I found a podcast suspiciously--and initially irritatingly--named "Brain Food." What? I thought? What? How can this be? Right hacked off, I was, until I actually gave this show a listen. It was good! And different from Snacks, and pretty tasty in its own right! I caught up with Kyle Butler on Skype on Tuesday, September 19. I hope you can listen through the static my laptop created to hear what Kyle has to say, and that you'll listen frequently to his wonderful podcast (after you listen to this one, of course!). Listen up here (or click uptop on the Podcast Pickle player!) for Snacks4theBrain! episode 45! Music today courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, a techno piece from The Fabrications, called, no pun intended, "Brain Cells!" Links from the 'cast: Brain Food Podcast! Karl Fisch's "Fischfood" podcast David Warlick's Connect Learning Ian Jukes

Snacks 44--Jeff Ray!

2006-08-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. I had a great conversation over coffee with Nashville's News2 Meteorologist extraordinaire Jeff Ray, and in doing so enlisted a valuable new resource for ongoing outreach efforts at the Vanderbilt University Center for Science Outreach (Photo from Jeff's "WeatherJeff" blog--see link below). Jeff will be participating in some upcoming CSO videoconferencing sessions, bringing his experience and understanding of just what makes the earth's weather tick to K12 students worldwide. Look to the Videoconferences page at the CSO website for times and dates once we start to post this fall's schedule. Stay tuned! We chatted amidst the predictable background noises of a busy restaurant, Panera Bread, just off Vanderbilt's campus and right down the street from my computer lab at University School of Nashville. The talk was all about Jeff's predictions for Tropical Storm Ernesto, blazing up the Caribbean toward South Florida and potentially a very dangerous storm, if not a Force 2 or 3 Hurricane. By the time you are reading this, of course, Ernesto is history. We're glad the history is not as dramatic as Jeff was predicting at the time of the interview, but the 9 U.S. deaths and 2 Haitian ones attributed are surely tragic enough. Here's a slice of Jennifer Kay's story about Florence that does attribute significant damage to our friend Ernesto: Florence follows on the heels of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which formed August 25 over the southern Caribbean and was briefly the season's first hurricane before weakening and hitting Florida and North Carolina last week as a tropical storm. At least nine deaths in the United States were blamed on Ernesto, which also killed two people in Haiti, delayed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis and blacked out thousands of homes and businesses from North Carolina to New York state (source, IOL news service in South Africa). Whatever the outcomes, you will have to agree that you can't blame the storm: A hurricane, as I now understand, thanks to Jeff's excellent explanations, is just a big planetary tool. How's that? Listen up here to download S4theB!44. Or, contrariwise, open up the Podcast Pickle Player at the top of the page and listen up right here and now!!! Today's music is courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. Check out that marvey resource for all kinds of music from the songwriters and bands who are reinventing the music business by sharing songs with poor podcasters like li'l ol' me. We start out with a nifty electro tune from (ironically, considering my above news source:) South African electronica king Ruddh a. We add a sweet acoustic instrumental from UK guitarist Jim Ronayne, then top things off with authentic Mississippi Blues from bluesman Boo Boo Davis. As if that weren't enough great music, I add a little bonus cut at the end of the show: "Weatherman," from Tampa Florida boys The Reverse Engineers! Until next time, SEE YA! Additional Links: WKRN News2 Jeff Ray's "Weather Jeff" blog

Snacks 43 -- Stephen Camarata!

2006-08-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

ESPECIALLY FOR TEACHERS!!! Hey, ya'll, Okay, I'm a bit late with this episode of S4theB!, but I promise you this show was worth the wait! Dr. Stephen Camarata, along with leading test designer Dr. Richard Wilcock, published findings (Intelligence) in May of this year that indicate, among many other things, that girls have a "significant advantage" over boys in certain tasks we regularly require of them. These tasks include many of the ones we use to assess their content knowledge and skills mastery. That's why I'm earmarking this show ESPECIALLY FOR TEACHERS!!! Listen here to the discussion I recently had with Dr. Camarata, a dedicated researcher and a truly exceptional worker in the world of teaching special needs children. Along the way, pick up a listen to three wonderful songs about summer, very different from one another in much the same ways that every child is different from one another! There's a fabulous rocker from Nashville's own Tragedy Kings, an eerily lovely electronica piece from the Ariaphonics, and a funky reggae-beat number from a San Francisco Bay Area group called Monkey. There's also a new tasty TechTipTidbit, all about all those "cards" you're already hearing about on your PC--network cards, sound cards, video cards...all that stuff! Stay around to the end, ya'll, because I'm closing the show with a beautiful piece by my new University School of Nashville teaching colleague Brandon Wilson, a song appropriately entitled, "Goodbye." Lots of extra links this show!: Studies show girls have advantages over boys on timed tests at Exploration A 2003 interview with Dr. Camarata at speechpathology.com info at Kennedy Center site Article about "Late Talking" in children Thomas Sowell's 1998 Jewish World Review article about Dr. Camarata Exploration Worldstart.com Also, a list of the nine broad abilities of intelligence, of which processing speed is one:

Fluid reasoning
Acculturation knowledge
Short-term apprehension-retention
Fluency of retrieval from long-term storage
Visual processing
Auditory processing
Processing speed
Correct decision speed
Quantitative knowledge

*source: Contemporary Intellectual Assessment: Theories, Tests, and Issues -Edited by Dawn P. Flanagan, Judy L. Genshaft, and Patti L. Harrison

Snacks 42 -- It's a GAS!!!

2006-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

S4theB! episode 42 takes you into the Girls and Science (GAS) Camp produced by the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach every summer since 1999. In line with the Center's mission, "...enhancing the classroom experience by increasing the use of technology, providing professional development opportunities to teachers, and encouraging connections between science experts and classrooms," this summer opportunity for middle and high school girls is one with a proven track record and all the promise of continuing for years to come. Listen to veteran Metro Nashville Public Schools science teacher Kathy Lee (Martin Luther King Magnet School for Health Sciences and Engineering) leads her small group through a forensic search to determine the gender and race of a human skull. When you do so, remember that this is just one activity in a full week of them. The Girls and Science Camp website will tell you more, including that the camp received the 2001 Vanderbilt University Diversity Initiative Award and that as part of the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge 2005, the 2005 Discovery Health Channel "Science Camp" Award Special Prize Winner received an all expense paid trip to Nashville to attend a week of 2006 GAS Camp 2006. Listening to what goes on will tell you even more. Listen up here or click the "Feed" link in the lefthand sidebar will let you browse all 42 of our shows! Check out these pictures, too! Just to save you a few clicks, here is a copy of the sample activities that go on in the Camp(s):

Grade 7	Grade 8	Grade 8 @ Dyer Observatory
Biology "Make Your Own Lungs" "Mystery of the Bloody Stain" "ReeBops" "Sheep Heart Dissection" Chemistry "Does Sunscreen Really Work?" "Glow Chemistry" "Kidnapping She Wrote" "Properties of Gases" "Simply Sublime" "What Causes the Heat?" Environmental Education "Acid Rain in a Bag" "Aquifers" "Building a Water Filter" "Recycled Paper" "Testing for Water Pollution" Physics "Effervescent Launchers" "Hovercrafts" "It's Electric!" "Pinhole Cameras" "Properties of Light" "Protect Your Brain" Other Activities "Bottle Rockets" "T-Shirt Chromatography"	Biology "DNA Extraction" "Firefly Bioluminescence" "Making DNA Jewelry" "Quantification of Extracted DNA" Chemistry "Flame Spectroscopy" "Pale Powers" "Polymers" "Gems" Forensics "Crime Scene" :DNA Fingerprinting" Physics "Balancing Nails" "Bed of Nails" "Crystal Radio" "Effervescent Launchers" "It's Electric!" "Solar Vehicles" "Striking it Rich!"	Environmental Education "Air Pollution" "Biology & Chemistry of Soil" "Chemical Testing of Soil" "Leaf Litter Studies" "Organic Matter in Soils" "Soil Observations" Space "Building a Comet" "Is our Solar System Unique?" "Oil Hungry Bacteria" "Planet Quest" "Where are we searching for planets?" "Why do we put telescopes in space?" Water Quality "Water Quality Lessons" "Acid Rain in a Bag" "Bacterial Pollution in Water" "Chemical Testing of Radnor Lake"

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grade 8 @ Dyer Observatory

Biology

"Make Your Own Lungs"
"Mystery of the Bloody Stain"
"ReeBops"
"Sheep Heart Dissection"

Chemistry

"Does Sunscreen Really Work?"
"Glow Chemistry"
"Kidnapping She Wrote"
"Properties of Gases"
"Simply Sublime"
"What Causes the Heat?"

Environmental Education

"Acid Rain in a Bag"
"Aquifers"
"Building a Water Filter"
"Recycled Paper"
"Testing for Water Pollution"

Physics

"Effervescent Launchers"
"Hovercrafts"
"It's Electric!"
"Pinhole Cameras"
"Properties of Light"
"Protect Your Brain"

Other Activities

"Bottle Rockets"
"T-Shirt Chromatography"

Biology

"DNA Extraction"
"Firefly Bioluminescence"
"Making DNA Jewelry"
"Quantification of Extracted DNA"

Chemistry

"Flame Spectroscopy"
"Pale Powers"
"Polymers"
"Gems"

Forensics

"Crime Scene"
:DNA Fingerprinting"

Physics

"Balancing Nails"
"Bed of Nails"
"Crystal Radio"
"Effervescent Launchers"
"It's Electric!"
"Solar Vehicles"
"Striking it Rich!"

Environmental Education

"Air Pollution"
"Biology & Chemistry of Soil"
"Chemical Testing of Soil"
"Leaf Litter Studies"
"Organic Matter in Soils"
"Soil Observations"

Space

"Building a Comet"
"Is our Solar System Unique?"
"Oil Hungry Bacteria"
"Planet Quest"
"Where are we searching for planets?"
"Why do we put telescopes in space?"

Water Quality

"Water Quality Lessons"
"Acid Rain in a Bag"
"Bacterial Pollution in Water"
"Chemical Testing of Radnor Lake"

Whew. That's a lot of science. Good, solid, student-centered, hands-on science. If you know a student who would love to be in a real university lab and doing real science, don't hesitate to visit the GAS Camp website to learn more and apply! Music today is compliments of my dear old pal Scott H. Miller, who just last month released his own independent CD entitled "Letters to Myself." Each and every song on the CD is worth a listen and a relisten--Visit cdbaby.com to hear more and to purchase this excellent CD, on which, by the way, I have a little piece of the writer's credit on one song, "The Complexion of My Love." Our TechTipTidbit feature today benefits from the gracious loan of information from digital media guru Jake Luddington's MediaBlab website. Jake's tips will continue to be heard on Snacks4theBrain! as long as he will continue to share with us! The opening sound clip is as I mention courtesy of the fantastically funny movie from Sony Pictures, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. I'm not kidding (though the movie most often is): Run out and get this movie! Finally, thanks to Kathy Lee and all the girls at GAS Camp. It's a G-G-G-GAS!!! And boys? Check out our Boys Exploring Science and Technology (BEST) Camp for you!!!

Snacks 41 -- Educational Change Advocate Ian Jukes!!!

2006-07-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, ya'll. Scott again with S4theB! episode 41! As an example of the way the world is flattening, I've gotten to know Ian a bit after only attending one of his dynamic workshops this past spring, a get-together of teachers and administrators at Harpeth Hall Academy here in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of my fellow technology staff and teachers attended, along with several classroom teachers with an interest in understanding the effects that ongoing exponential change in all areas of our lives, especially those technological, will have upon the way students learn and teachers "teach." This is of primary importance to our science teachers (not to mention all teachers) as students are increasingly lost to our formal teaching institutions because in large part the work they are asked to do in school--in the ways they are asked to do it--is pretty meaningless to them. Disagree? Listen to some of the numbers in our chat about the percentages of students leaving schools in droves. As Ian says, "They're voting with their feet." Listen here as Ian Jukes, host of "The Committed Sardine" blog (an immensely popular online resource for teachers) chats about the future of the future. If you like what you're hearing, feel free to browse at the "Feed" link in the left-hand sidebar to hear other episodes. Shareshare as you will! Songs today are from both garageband.com and music.podshow.com. I like 'em and I hope you will. If you do, run on over to the former website for Joe Turley's music and the latter for both Happy Rhodes's and Causeway's. There's more where that came from!!!

More NECC Info for All Teachers!

2006-07-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Next week I do believe I'll be posting the fascinating interview I held (over Skype--he in British Columbia and me home in Nashville, Tennessee) with forefront educational technology spokesperson (sort of that, not really, he defies definition--listen next week to understand more) Ian Jukes. In this "in-betweener" week I want to take the opportunity to share some exciting and rejuvenating resources for all you teachers who are--as we all know you do in the summer--laying around eating bon-bons and watching soaps all day until mid-to-late August when you'll be gearing up for the 9 months of teaching once the kids are all finished their summer work of bringing in the crops. Just Kidding. One big thing I took home to Nashville from NECC in San Diego was a dedication to spreading the word about how Web 2.0 resources can and will, ineluctably, inform the future of education. Will Richardson's stirring session on the topic has me on it like a pit bull on a stranger in the house. With permission from Richardson, I've cut a 5 minute listen from his NECC presentation and mounted it on my school's server, which hopefully will drive you to listen to the whole thing. See the "Podcasting" entry below for more info on how to find the whole presentation. If you teach, you at least need to be aware of the development (or set of developments bunched into a broad concept to enhance its digestibility). Some examples: Blogging: Nature Magazine recently published the top 50 Science blogs, based on Technorati rankings. You don't have to know what any of that means; just visit the site and browse the blogs until you find one you might want to visit regularly. Email me (link in sidebar) if you need help setting up automatic (RSS) delivery... Open Source Software: The NECC podcast by David Thornburg entitled "March of the Penguins: Linux Comes to Student Desktops" is a must-listen. Unfortunately or otherwise, in order to listen ISTE is driving you to iTunes to subscribe to the NECC 2006 set of podcasts. I suggest you bow to that strategic move and do so. Here's a direct link. Podcasting: Assuming you take my advice above, there are a number of other good listens at the NECC 2006 podcast reservoir that you might discover by capriciously downloading and hearing them. I suggest Will Richardson's "A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything" and "One Laptop Per Child" (Keynote by Nicholas Negroponte) at the very least. For a quick and dirty definition of "Web 2.0," see Wikipedia's posting.

Snacks 40 -- NECC 2006 San Diego--Explore, Dream, Discover

2006-07-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

Heavy sigh...'K, ya'll. Finally sitting in the Los Angeles airport sipping on a tall iced tea and making some time to hammer out a blogpost I can put S4theB! episode 40 into. Here are the (essential) shownotes. I've been woefully remiss in posting the show. It was simply too busy, too fun, and too social at NECC 2006. The time I spent not in sessions, on the exhibitor floor, in meetings, or out networking with my growing group of educator pals was spent walking to one place or the other or completely knocked out in my hotel room. I didn't even get to the beach, ya'll, I was workin' so hard for you! Then, as you'll read below, I tagged on a couple days in L.A. with my godson. The show today is an amalgam of these things, and I hope you'll agree with me that even if it's hard to hear sometimes it's worth the effort. It is hard to hear sometimes when you're there in person, too, at least in the the poster sessions ("A Noob in Second Life") or at the exhibitor hall (David Macquart of Global Nomads Group) at the Polycom Booth. The audio in the spotlight sessions ("Telling the New Story: Promoting Visions for 21st Century Classrooms") is much better, and I have to commend the ISTE tech folks for the outstanding technical quality of every presentation I witnessed this year. If you check the attendance report at NECC, you'll see that over 12,000 teachers, technologists, and administrators registered and attended and that doesn't even count the vast numbers of people in town for exhibiting their wares to these folks. If you want a notion of how many that might be, take a gander at the interactive exhibition floor plan! Float your mouse over that and the exhibitor names pop up. Wow. To make the ride easier this show, I've added superb new music from Bill deRome, Amy Ayers, and Slackstring--maintaining a consistent theme of mellow intelligence this show. Please check out their individual links here and also visit the Podsafe Music Network, source for these great singers' great songs, to see you you can explore the rich but underdistributed store of fabulous independent music the world has to offer (but the "powers-that-be" in the music biz often fail to celebrate). There's also a Tech Tip Tidbit, as you've come to expect :). Thanks to Joan Roehre, Jan Zanetis, Elaine Shuck, and especially to all my peeps at the IVC (Interactive Videoconferencing) support desk. I don't feature my own work in this podcast, but if you want a notion of how that went (fantastically, what else with such great support?) take a peep at my Desktop IVC blog and at the results for a search for "Merrick" at NECC. And finally, a great big thank you to all the folks who faithfully attended my three presentations and who may have gotten here to S4theB! as a result. Okay, I have to add a personal aside, and only because I'm so proud of my brother. We're related by soul, not by birth, and the hospitality he and his beautiful wife Riad showed me as I visited them after NECC in order to spend some quality time with my godson, Seamus, was (as I told Riad when I was leaving) "positively Southern," ya'll. Said brother is James Morrison, who has a very nice little gig on the immensely popular Fox Network series, "24." I'm a "24" addict, I readily admit, and not only because Jimmy is on the show. But here's the thing: If you are interested in acting, or writing, or movie production, or poetry, check out my favorite male earthling's official website, and especially his "Media Productions" page, for details of his work--his webmaster recently made two of his (and his incredibly talented wife's) independently produced movies available for free download at that page. Wow. I got a personal viewing of Riad's new short, Crossing, which is so moving and well written, acted, and directed that I can't help but expect very big things from it. If you have any money you'd like to donate or invest, contact these folks from James's website. Their new project is amazing, and its details are available upon request. I can't talk about it here or he'd have to kill me. That would be sad. Listen up to S4theB! episode number 40 here! Additional Links: Auburn University's Second Life project poster session description David Warlick's Connect-Learning Global Nomads Group

WELCOME NECC2006 FOLKS!

2006-07-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, ya'll! Welcome to all of you and I hope you enjoy this morning's session, "Truly Engaging Content from the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach." If you're waiting for Snacks! episode 40, we're workin' on it here in San Diego. It's on the way, so patience, pilgrim!!! I apologize for the slight tardiness, but I know you;re going to like it when you hear the highlights from the nation's largest educational technology conference that I have in store for you!!! Cheers! Scott

Snacks 39--David Salisbury and "Exploration!"

2006-06-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

Hellohellohello, ya'll, Episode number 39 of S4theB! brings us the second of our new longer shows. I'm officially going to stop explaining our change in format because you know what? Once there's three of something new it just ding-danged isn't news anymore! Want news? Here's news for ya!: For today's interview I chatted with Vanderbilt University Assistant Director of Science and Research Communications David Salisbury. His extensive personal profile at the VU website begins: "David F. Salisbury, the assistant director of science and research communications, received a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Washington. He learned how to write about science for the general public while working for The Christian Science Monitor. As a science and technology editor and reporter for the paper he covered a number of major science and technology stories, including Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab, the Pioneer and Voyager missions to Jupiter and the outer planets, the Viking mission to Mars, and the accident at Three Mile Island. He received a number of awards for his reporting, including the National Association of Science Writer's Science in Society award..." There's much more at that profile, but I hope I've provided enough to suggest that David is doing very very interesting work, about which we talk. We also describe the amazing and deliciously concocted website he manages, Exploration, which is dedicated to promoting and celebrating the work done on the cutting edges of science research at Vanderbilt University. Whether you're a science teacher, a student or--for that matter--a web designer, there's something of interest in our conversation. Download the show here or visit the "Feed" link at the left-hand sidebar to listen. There's also a new TechTipTidbit (originally from worldstart.com by way of completelyfreesoftware.com--ah, the shareshare that the Internet essentially is...) all about why you should turn off your printer whilst you're not using it, or at least overnight. And this episode also features an article from the Nashville Tennessean about the newly upgraded prediction that in the too-near future we'll see a national shortage of medical doctors unless we begin addressing the reasons for the shortage. Our three songs this week include a rocker, a haunting ode to "Mother Sea," and a poppin' swing tune from a local boy gone big band wild! Visit Aerosol Halo, Happy Rhodes, and Joe Turley's websites and the Podsafe Music Network and GarageBand.com (a first use of this great indie music source!) for the straight skimmy on their music and to support their amazing creativity the way we know you reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to--by buying some of their music! More links:

Exploration (again, to be sure you do visit it!)
A great example of David's writing at Eurekalert, a website he helped conceive, "Marsh-dwelling mole gives new meaning to the term 'fast food'"
completelyfreesoftware.com
worldstart.com

Snacks 38 -- I promised it: Here it is!!!

2006-06-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here it is, ya'll, Snacks4theBrain! in its new form. Nearly an hour long with great music (jazz, adult alternative, and folk this episode--it'll be different every show), a fascinating interview with cancer researcher Dr. Albert Reynolds, and a juicy new feature called TechTipTidbits--little Snacks that are so good for you that you'll wonder why they aren't fattening! Picture: the "Belly Dancer." Click for the fotki photo set! Listen to understand what the heck it is! Our interview this week is actually a virtual lab tour, along with an engaging chat with noted cancer researcher Dr. Albert Reynolds. No, he's not eighth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, Albert Reynolds, but our very own Dr. Al Reynolds, noted research scientist and prolific publisher (I count 73 publishing credits at his Vanderbilt Medical Center staff profile page. I met Al in his lab at the Vanderbilt Cancer Center and boy did we talk. I learned alot in one afternoon's chatting with him and I hope that you do the same when you listen up here. The last portion of our interview is a walking tour of his extensive lab facility. Visit this fokti.com photo set to see pictures I snapped whilst we were walking and talking! Our new feature, TechTipTidbit, is the child of my TechTipTuesday project that drew to an end at the end of the academic school year 2005-6. That project will live on here, drawing from a number of different sources to help you make the most of your technology: Today's TTT is from the fine folks at worldstart.com. If that's not great bang for your buck, I don't know a bargain when I see one! Music for today's podcast all hails from the Podsafe Music Network and features, in order of appearance, independent artists the Monika Herzig Acoustic Project, Happy Rhodes, and Amy MacClain. Enjoy, and please leave comments using the link below if you have any input about the new format! We'll be back atcha next week with another science interview, another TechTipTidbit, more great independent music, and who knows what all else??? Cheers!

Snacks 37--Dr. Glenn McCombs!

2006-05-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

My erstwhile Center for Science Outreach Associate Director Dr. Glenn McCombs has been working with teachers, students, and scientists for years in a personal mission to connect all parties to their mutual benefit and advancement. He's an outdoorsman par excellence, a gifted teacher, and a really good guy. Listen to our chat as we touch on several ongoing programs--the GAS (Girls and Science) summer camp, its corollary for boys, the BEST (Boys Exploring Science and Technology) camp, and the GK12 Program--and then listen up as he describes a couple of our new programs that we haven't featured yet on S4theB!, the RIP program and the RET program. Dontcha just love acronyms? These are research experiences programs, one for high school students and one for classroom teachers. I'm not even going to tell you what these are--you have to listen up here to find out! Pic from Glenn's 4th Grade Trail Guides website. The CSO is putting creative staff members and teacher and student collaborators to work in an all-out effort to improve the future. Download the show here, enjoy, and spread the word! ANNOUNCEMENT: If you don't see a show next week, be patient, dear pilgrim. Snacks4theBrain! is going bi-weekly and longer--somewhere between 30 minutes but not longer than an hour, every other week! The format is still being fleshed out, but I really want to provide more music, some soundseeing tours of Nashville, and some interviews of educational technology movers and shakers. There's so much going on out there and the future of technology is so intensely interwoven with the future of science and science education that I feel it's the thing to do. Dont' you? Plus, dear listener, it'll be even more fun!!!! So, starting with show number 38, it's a bigger, funner Snacks!!! As mentioned, today's music is courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, a tasty, summery reggae tune by Austrian electronica wizard "Dreamweaver" called "Summerfeeling." Oh, yeah... Other links: Read about Glenn's Radnor Lake waterfowl study Glenn's Yosemite pictures will be here soon

Snacks 36--Overview Two!

2006-05-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

S4theB! 36 features me (with a special guest star--my old pal "Homer") summarizing the rest of the programs the CSO produces and supports. It's quite a little list, ya'll; and as I mention frequently, go check out the CSO website for more detailed information, especially if you are a parent, a student, or a teacher interested in science. In my other role as Lower School Tech Coordinator for University School of Nashville, we're in the end of the year crunch. Seems like there's some school-related function every day of the week from now 'til June. Sheesh! It's hectic. Music today is provided by the Podsafe Music Network by a band(?) called Homens do Pantano from Brazil, a song called "Verdadeiro_MC." Gracias, ya'll! Download S4theB! episode number 36 here!

Snacks 35 -- The Overview Show!

2006-05-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

S4theB! 35 brings you brief descriptions of the programs created and maintained by the fine folks at the Vanderbilt University Center for Science Outreach. I'm hoping my lovely wife listens to this show and to the next, because even after my having served 5 years as the CSO's "Teacher-in-residence" I'm still pretty certain she has no idea what we really do. In many of the 34 preceding shows, I interviewed working research scientists and we sort of danced all around the goals and formats the various programs at CSO manifest. These two shows should clear things up significantly! I'm shopping for fun podsafe music to help keep things rolling, and I hope you, dear listener, find the show both informative and interesting. Download the show here! Music today from the Podsafe Music Network is a dance-trance piece called "Bang," from a band called "six six nine." Is that a California area code, ya'll?

Snacks 34 -- Dr. Arnie Heiser!

2006-05-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

This week I'm back to basics with an old friend, Dr. Arnold Heiser, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Vanderbilt University's Dyer Observatory. Dr. Heiser, former director of the observatory, may be retired; but he still hauls himself up to the quiet, arboreal environs of Dyer every workday to continue his research into stellar clusters and their associations and pulsating variable stars. In addition, Arnie regularly creates and delivers IVC (interactive videoconferencing) sessions with K12 classrooms worldwide, via the Center for Science Outreach's "Virtual Scientists in the Classroom" program. We had a nice chat and recorded it using Skype's "call in" feature and HotRecorder, a third-party program that does a nice job of audio capture. The resulting audio is a little noisy, but in an interesting way, I think: I for one sorta like the telephone-like sound quality. Hope you do, too. Feel free to comment here if you have your own opinion... Listen to Arnie's chat here, or click on the "Feeds" button in the left-hand sidebar to browse all past episodes of our li'l show. Music today fea!tures Israeli musician Guy David's composition, "Airwaves." Check out his work at the Podsafe Music Network! I like this piece so much I just let it play on out at the end. Fun stuff!!!

Snacks 33 -- Randy Reiserer!

2006-04-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Episode 33 of S4theB! finds your stalwart science seeker interviewing Dr. Randall Reiserer, evolutionary biologist and biological behavioralist. Dr. Reiserer (pronounced "riser") is investigating the behavior of mice in a search for a cure for Alzheimer's Disease, and he is also a presenter of interactive videoconferences for the Virtual Scientist program at the Center for Science Outreach. We talk about what it was like for Randy to put this presention together and how he felt the interaction went, and we'll delve into some of his content--"What is Evolution," anyway, really?!! Our conversation evolved into a discussion of the incredible new discovery of Tiktaalik, the new "incredibly cool fossil" recently discovered in Arctic Canada. Read more about it in the links below! Finally, the big question--listen up here to discover what question I might ask of an evolutionary biologist, considering, of course that I'm an educator of young children and a science proponent. Music for today's podcast provided by the Podsafe Music Network, a trance piece from a South African group called Ruddha. The song is entitled "R-evolution Club Dub." One last note, in the interview I mention that the name Tiktaalik "must be a Upik word." Well, I was nearly right. The word is actually Inuktitut. Good near-miss, Scotty-me-lad! Links: Dr. Randy Reiserer's home page Nature Magazine's Tiktaalik article Tiktaalik roseae website Vanderbilt Researchers and Scientists sign up for your own IVC presentation!

Snacks 32--The "Revisit" Show!

2006-04-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hey, ya'll, Just finished producing this week's S4theB! and I had such a fun time doing it. Both my scheduled interviews failed to materialize (did you know I only do this one day a week? Monday?), which is an indicator of just how busy these research folks are. Look for Randy Reiserer (promised long ago) on Evolutionary Biology next week and Albert Reynolds on cutting-edge cancer research the following week. Meanwhile, I slapped my forehead when I had the notion (SLAP): Why don't I go back and randomly pick some episodes, then more or less randomly snipsnip some samples of the marvelous conversations I've had with premier discoverers and explorers to share with our recent subscribers. Maybe the long-term folk would like the walk down memory lane as well. I sure did! I'm hoping you love the Revisit Show as much as I did putting it together. Download it here or click on the "Feed" link to the left and browse 'em all to your heart's delight. Music today is a fun electronica piece from the Podsafe Music Network called "Bongo Booty," from "the Vincent Van Go Go" group. Thanks, ya'll! Here are links to the full shows I snipsnipped for this one. There are more relevant links and resources at each show: S4theB! Louise Rollins-Smith, 13 and 14 S4theB! 17, William Schaffner S4theB! 11, Vickie Metzgar S4theB! 16--Keivan Stassu n! Cheers, ya'll!!!

Snacks 31--David Warlick!

2006-04-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Wow. This S4theB! is one worth waiting for, and though I heartily apologize for the lack of an actual podcast last week I have to admit that the chance to meet Ian Jukes and benefit from his presentations greatly inspired me. Further, I hope that the little movie I did post went some distance towards satisfying your hunger for Snacks!. Let's get right to the heart of the matter, ya'll, and the heart of the matter, dead-center, at the core, is self-described "serial educator" David Warlick. Long a fan of his work and his blog, I emailed David a couple weeks ago and asked if he'd be willing to chat with a fellow educator and podcaster and he graciously agreed. As a top-level keynote speaker and thinker, David is on the road a LOT. He was going to be enjoying a brief respite from his travels at home in North Carolina on April 10 and we made a date to meet over Skype, the free Voice Over IP program so many people are now using for free long-distance calling. I paired that program with a 3rd party program called "HotRecorder" to record our conversation. What resulted is Snacks4theBrain! episode 31, which you may download here, or get it and all 30 earlier episodes via the "Feed" link in the left-hand sidebar. Mid-conversation, we had a nice personal chat about making music and publishing it for sale, referencing both David's books and mine at lulu.com, cdbaby.com, the Alaska Podshow, and the Podsafe Music Network. I was so happy that I was able to teach David Warlick anything: That should go on my resume, methinks!!! But I've not included that conversation for this podcast because our podcast here is all about David's work. He shares his thoughts on self-publishing, on blogging versus podcasting, on science education, and on MySpace.com and social networking in general. I conclude by sharing David Warlick's excellent and succinct Skype profile statement. Enjoy! Music today is two separate songs from the Podsafe Music Network, Guy David's Dance of Electricity (Slow Down mix) and OJO's "Bright Future," which I consider a fitting title for this, episode 31 of Snacks4theBrain! Thanks, ya'll, for listenin'! Links: Connect-Learning MacWorldExpo bio Podcasting Palooza Education Podcast Network Landmark Project

Hold Tight!

2006-04-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

Hold tight to what you hold dearly, fellow Snackers! We'll be back next week with something I can't announce but know you'll enjoy! My Monday, usually dedicated to interviewing and producing episodes of S4theB!, was spent this week at the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools' Technology Institute, this year held at Harpeth Hall School here in Nashville. I sat in on several sessions led by educational technology maven Ian Jukes. What the hey, I'll reproduce my classroom blog post right heah!: A stimulating day at Harpeth Hall. It's the 2006 Tennessee Association of Independent Schools' Technology Institute, New Visions for Teaching and Learning. I attended along with a number of other USN educators, including Mackey Luffman, Kathy Weiczerza, Penny Phillips, MaryAnn Lentz, Jake Wilson, David MacLean and Karen Knox. Our stalwart director, Vince Durnan, was also in attendance for some of the conference. After a thought-provoking keynote address by educational curriculum maven Ian Jukes, I walked across the beautiful campus to a new lecture hall in order to sit in on another hour of Ian's dynamic infoshare, this one entitled "Understanding Digital Kids: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape." I slapped together a quick .wmv video (taken with a webcam, so it's a bit grainy, but "GE"--Good Enough. Firefox users right-click and "Open Link Target in IE") that briefly describes my impressions of Ian, who graciously granted permission for audio/video usage with the comment I love to hear, "Use whatever you want to use," and he frequently commented--during his long day of back-to-back presentations--"Creativity is just plagarism from several sources." Hmmmmmm. Sounds alot like folk music! Caution: Jukes warned us at the outset that he would be aiming to unsettle us. The video exemplifies his energetic plea for change. Jukes's website features dozens of comprehensive downloads (see "Handouts") and links that support his call for a radical new approach to teaching and learning. While his comments and entreaties during the keynote and the two workshop sessions I attended generally fell under the heading "projects-based learning," he went a few steps further than other presenters I've witnessed, by sharing several websites that offer vast resources for the PBL educator, including the George Lucas Foundation and Analyze-Apply.com. His blog is also quite impressive, regularly featuring his top 10 Internet articles for like-minded educators. Does this guy ever sleep!? Comment here if you wish!

Snacks 30--Vickie Hannig and Melinda Cohen!

2006-03-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

Genetic counseling is a field that is currently limited to a fairly exclusive range of professionals.

According to the website of the National Association of Genetics Counselors, "Genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease.

This process integrates:

Collection and interpretation of family and medical histories to assess the chance of disease occurrence or recurrence
Education about inheritance, testing, management, prevention, resources and research
Counseling to promote informed choices and adaptation to the risk or condition."

I met with working Genetic Counselors Vickie Hannig and Melinda Cohen at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to talk with them about DNA, the ethics of genetic testing, and their work introducing the concept of genetics counseling to K12 students worldwide, utilizing IVC technology. We had a fun and interesting dialogue; and this, the 30th episode of S4theB!, is its record. It's my first double interview, too! Download S4theB!30 here. Music today is from the Podsafe Music Network and me, I'm Scott Merrick. Thank you, gentle listener, for tuning into our modest share-share. More Links: National Association of Genetics Counselors FAQ DNA from the Beginning--a rich online resource that's "an animated primer on the basics of DNA, genes, and heredity."

Spring Break Time, Ya'll!

2006-03-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hey, ya'll, Just wanted to say hi from sunny Florida. I'm taking a break from the world this week, Spring Breaking down on the panhandle with my family. Have a grrrrreeat week and we'll be back next week with an interview with Dr. Randy Reiserer, an expert on evolution and a biomedical researcher! Cheers!

Snacks 29 -- Highlights from Ginny Shepherd's "Thinking Out of the Lunchbox" Talk, March 1, 2006

2006-03-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

I did, I know, post a special BLAST last week when the entire audio file of Dr. Ginny Shepherd's Nashville Public Library lunchtime talk (part of the "Thinking Outside the Lunchbox" series-- jointly sponsored by the library and the Vanderbilt Office of Public Affairs) became available on the Vanderbilt Media site; but I'm well aware that many of us might not have the time to click on over, download, and listen to the entire presentation. That said, this special Snacks! episode will share some excerpts from that talk, in which Dr. Shepherd reiterates alarms repeatedly raised (by prominent scientists, educators, politicians, and others) which calls attention to America's lagging production of scientists, researchers, and science educators. Those who know me must know that I'm not a jingoist, by any means. But I do have a great pride in our national history of creativity, innovation, and invention. What I offer "hear" is some indication of that, hopefully. I know of no other earthling more dedicated to promoting the reclamation of our national scientific leadership role that is Dr. Ginny Shepherd. Listen to her and you will agree. The PowerPoint presentation accompanying Dr. S's remarks can be downloaded here and will make a very tidy accompaniment to your listening to this S4theB! Download the show here, gather some teaching buddies around you, pull out your brown-bagged lunches, and enjoy! Music provided by the Podsafe Music Network, a song called "Intro-Song of LoveODub...," from a wonderfully quirky Pennsylvania band called Trap Door. Thanks, Trappies!!! You can pick up Dr. Shepherd's entire talk from the Vanderbilt Media website! I highly recommend listening to the whole thing!!! Links: A Nation at Risk Rising Above the Gathering Storm Before It's Too Late--The Glenn Report PACE Act now before Congress

Special Snacks4theBrain! BLAST--Dr. Ginny Shepherd Addresses Nashville Community

2006-03-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

"Science Education in the 21st Century" was the topic of discussion between Virginia Shepherd, Vanderbilt professor of pathology and medicine, and approximately 300 members of the Nashville community at the Nashville Public Library March 1, 2006. The lecture/conversation was part of the popular "Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box" lecture series co-hosted by the library and Vanderbilt University. Our friends at the Vanderbilt University News and Media Office have posted the entire presentation for download. It's big, ya'll, approximately 56 Mb, but it's sooooooo well worth the download time and the time to listen. Dr. Shepherd succinctly states everything we are about at the Center for Science Outreach. Don't be shy! Pick it up here! And also read and listen to other Vanderbilt News at the Vanderbilt News Service webpage, today and anytime you like! Dr. Shepherd, CSO Director and Professor of Pathology and Medicine, was the guest on Snacks4theBrain! episode number 7. Check that out here!

Snacks 28 -- Podcasting in Education!

2006-03-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I'm a rep from the Dark Side. The reason I use Windows machines isn't because Bill Gates has done anything more for me than has Steve Job--it's just what I'm used to. I whip out a Dell Axim x50v to record my interviews and I do all my post-production on my trusty Dell Inspiron 600m laptop using Adobe Audition. That said, I'm posting this entry on a yummy-tasty PowerBook G4 at a table in the Faye and Ed Wyatt Education Center at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. This week's S4theB!, an intentional departure from the weekly interviews with scientists that I so love doing, will feature audio from the workshop I'm attending today, March 2, 2006. My intention is to fuel, perhaps, the imaginations of some of my educator/listeners toward investigating the use of podcasting in their own settings. Check the links at the end of the post for relevant resources, including some not mentioned at the workshop! Photo by moi, Dr. James Kelly, Apple I'm eternally indebted to Apple for my iPod and iTunes and, one could effortlessly argue, the very phenomenon of podcasting. And at this conference I ran into a number of like minded educators and friends--Ralph Knapp, Brian Smokler, Julene Reed, Brandon Herrenbruck, Amy Dortch, and Diane Bennett, to name a few. We were all aboard for the "Podcasting in Education: iTunes, GarageBand, iWeb & iPod" professional development workshop. 'K. Nice stuff, I must say. The iLife interfaces appear to work reallyreally nicely, and I do like (make that love!) the Garage Band podcasting interface. That said, I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired, so very tired, of the constant battle-to-dominate-market-share which keeps good programs from, as an elementary teacher might say, "playing well with others." Why can't Garage Band marry Adobe Audition and offer end users one really good program everyone can use to create easily accessible and readily listenable audio editing programs for students (as well as for the rest of us)? Why? Why? Because our economic system favors competition over collaboration. I don't think that's the way we will hope to survive and thrive in the long run, ya'll, but I've been wrong before. Hmmmmmm...This post is rapidly disintegrating into the realm of political economics, now, isn't it? That's not my job, now, is it? At any rate, there's a lot going on with educational podcasting, and I only serve up a few examples here. They're fun ones, though! Listen up to S4theB! 28, right here! Music for today's podcast is courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, a groovy little techno-ditty called "New Millenium" from a group called "Xenotoxin." Enjoy. One other note: NASA has turned some already existing digital video into "podcasts," using these Apple tools--not strictly true to the original intentions of the media, but with very interesting results. See their "Ask an Astronomer" video podcast for that, and ask yourself, pilgrim, "do I have any good digital video laying around that would serve educational purposes?" Hmmmm...... And a final, final note: I recently found the very best video for introducing potential podcasters to how it all is done. This is really much more for those of us on the PC side of the fence. Amy Dortch just opined in the hallway that "with Garage Band anyone can do it," which is true. For the PC user, at least so far, it's not at all that difficult if you approach it with a learn-by-doing attitude, and the video to watch is from the good folks at system. A 40 minute watch, you'll want to save it for future viewings and also bookmark it to share it with your friends. Really. It's located here. More Links: mabryonline.org student and faculty podcasts University of Nebraska admissions podcasts Stanford iTunes U Radio WillowWeb David Warlick's Education Podcast Network RECAP student-safe education podcasts

Snacks 27 -- Jerry Wilmink!

2006-02-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

Helloooo, ya'll! S4theB! number 27, our first show in the second half of a year's worth of podcasts. Wow. Who woulda thunk it. Get set again for a rich mix of ambient noise. Last week's great chat with Dr. Charles Brau led me to schedule this Snacks! interview at the same location--though I think we'll go for the earlier timeslot if we do another one there: This one's got a lot of ambience! Bear with it, though, because my subject has a commensurate amount of great information to share! Think busy coffee shop, imagine you're out in the world with us, grab a cup of joe, pull up a chair and listen up here! I met with Jerry Wilmink, doctoral student in BME ("Biomedical Engineering") at Vanderbilt University , at Fido (Fido again!? Yep. It's relatively quiet, they serve great caffeinated beverage and a killer scrambled eggs on a bagel, and it's close to campus) for a chat about his work with the CSO in the GK12 program, as well as about his research into laser cell damage (can you say "weapons defense?") and we had a marvelous talk. Jerry, BTW ("By The Way," of course), was a presenter at the Adventure Science Center CSO presentation on BME that was the topic of S4theB! episode 22--check that out if you haven't yet heard it. Music today is from the Podsafe Music Network and is only part of a fun electronic tune--called "Jungle Tip Toe"--by songcrafter Larry Seyer ("...rhymes with 'Fire' and sounds like 'Sire'"), a "9 time Grammy-award-winning producer, engineer, and musician" who utilizes PMN to promote his thriving production work out of his studio in Texas. Ah, the Internet...Ah, music! Enjoy!!! And if you do enjoy, please copy the URL for this page and email it to a friend or colleague. The more the merrier!!!

Snacks 26 -- Dr. Charles Brau!

2006-02-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

This past Monday morning, I met with Dr. Charles Brau, Professor of Physics at Vanderbilt University's Physics and Astronomy Department at the wonderful Fido's in Nashville's Hillsboro Village, just off campus, to chat about a bunch of things. Dr. Brau, co-inventor of the "eximer laser," was honored with the FEL (Free Electron Laser) Award in 1996. Along with teaching his classes at Vanderbilt and conducting ongoing research to push the limits of physical science, he regularly hosts Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach IVC interactions with K12 students worldwide (visit this link to see upcoming offerings, then just for fun use the simple drop-down menu to refilter the page by viewing "past conferences"--wow, the CSO has done some great work over the past several years!). For these interactions, Dr. B. often dons a frizzy white wig in the guise of Dr. Albert Einstein to get his points across, always thoroughly engaging his virtual audience. Questions and answers from a couple of those fun sessions were the topic of S4theB! episode 6, so check that out, too! Listen up here!!! I asked Dr. B. what style of music he likes to listen to, and since he responded that he enjoys classical music most of all, our music today--again from the Podsafe Music Network--is Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, mvt. 3 by Joseph Haydn, performed by Mario Ajero Enjoy! And for more information about the cozy, hospitable, fabulous Fido, see their website! When in Nashville, "think globally, drink locally!!!"

Snacks 25 -- Dr. Glenn McCombs and the Heart!

2006-02-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's week ya'll. As I mention in S4theB!25, I don't much subscribe to Valentine's Day as a holiday. I'm sure if I had stock in Hallmark I might feel differently, but it just seems there's too much else in the world more important than finding a commercial means to express one's love to those one loves. I'm also a teacher, you know, of young children, and I must confess that my opinion is informed by years of watching students get hopped up on sugar and trade paper artifacts that beyond a question of a doubt lay around for a few weeks before getting thrown in a wastebasket destined for landfill. Why can't the image used as the universal symbol for a heart be more realistic (clipart from clipartheaven.com)??? Ooooooh, I don't rant often, do I? Alrighty then, to the meat of the matter: the Heart!!! Dr. Glenn McCombs, one of my many bosses-- and a cherished colleague--delivers several interactive videoconferences (IVCs) at the Center for Science Outreach, and this week we get to sit in on the tail end of one of them as he answers some very perceptive questions by middle schoolers who have partaken of Dr. McM's description of how the heart works. I am struck by the conversational tone of the exchange: Here's an educator who not only knows his subject(s) but also knows his students and their schema for understanding. Hear what I mean by downloading the show here! Visit the videoconferencing pages at the CSO website to peruse the offerings and see if one fits the needs of your science curriculum or those of your own children (it's perfectly okay for you to suggest CSO resources to your own kids' science teachers, ya know!). Music for today's podcast courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, a song called "Uptempo 14" from an artist named "Gary," an electronica wizard out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sheesh, I would like to be hanging out with him down there instead of chillin' my toes here in Nashville today (37 degrees with a dusting of snow on the ground!).

Snacks 24 -- Bob O'Dell and Arnie Heiser!

2006-02-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

Episode 24 of S4theB! finds me gleefully digging through our audio archives of interactive videoconferences from the long-running VIADyer program. Hear Q and A sessions from two of these stellar sessions, featuring VU astronomers Bob O'Dell and Arnie Heiser! It's true, ya'll: The kids are engaged and learning takes place each and every time a dedicated scientist, one concerned with the future of our world at the hands of its citizens-to-be, holds a conversation with a classroom full of kids. The kids can be Middle Schoolers in New Jersey, High Schoolers in Texas, or elementary school kids in rural Tennessee. As long as they gather together to spend a half-hour or so with a brilliant research scientist, learning will transpire and good questions will be asked and answered. Even when the questions might not seem so "good," a seasoned educator/scientist can turn a question asked for the sake of asking a question into a teachable moment from which everyone gains. Listen up here. Bob O'dell was leader of the team that initially designed and set the course for the Hubble Space Telescope project. And Arnie Heiser, Professor Emeritus (that means retired--though great men never really retire, don'tcha know) is a leader in the field of the birth of stars and their life cycles. Both men regularly donate their time to interact with students in K12 via "VIADyer," (Virtual Interactions with Astronomers at Dyer Observatory). The videoconferences themselves really must be seen to be appreciated. Any school anywhere in the world with a dedicated videoconference unit and an IP or ISDN connection may participate in the programs offered by the Center for Science Outreach by visiting our signup webpage and following the directions to schedule a free program. More information on Interactive Videoconferencing may be found at the CSO site's link pages. Music for today's podcasts provided by the Podsafe Music Network and an amazingly talented 15 year-old Dutch guitarist named Rory. Thanks, Rory, and keep 'em Rockin' in Rodderdam! Cheerio!

Other Good Listening!

2006-01-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hey, ya'll, I'm flat on my back this week recouperating from a bout with bronchitis with the help of telithromycin, Deconex, and codeine. Ah. Sleep. I'll return with another great interview with another fascinating scientist next week; but in the meantime if you're Jonesin' for a great listen head on over to my pal Scott Slone's "Alaska Podshow" podcast, my old friend Richard Vobes' "Richard Vobes Radio Show" (recently marking a full year of daily shows!) and David Warlick's "Connect Learning" podcast. If they're not enough to keep you groovin', laughin', and learnin', drop me a line. You probably just need someone to talk with, though perhaps someone with more letters after their name than I have. Just kidding! For still more great listening, visit the Vanderbilt News podcast webpage for any number of excellent listens!!! It's all good, ya'll!

Snacks 23--Rick Chappell!

2006-01-23T08:26:00.000-08:00

"If, by habit, we come to prefer and demand simple constructions to complex questions, eventually we are bound to get incomplete and ultimately incorrect answers."

...Rick Chappell and Jim Hartz

Dr. Rick Chappell is research professor of physics at Vanderbilt University and director of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, as well as serving as a special adviser to the vice-chancellor on science and research communication. In the former role, he designed and instituted a unique undergraduate degree program that is dedicated to communicating about science not just to other scientists, but to the general public as well. The co-author of the 1998 book Worlds Apart: How the Distance Between Science and Journalism Threatens America's Future along with journalist and former NBC Today Show co-host Jim Hartz, Dr. Chappell is also former Chief Scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as being a trained space shuttle astronaut. In one small but important facet of his role as director of Dyer Observatory, Dr. Chappell regularly goes before a Center for Science Outreach videoconferencing unit and interacts with students all over the world to help them understand and to hopefully become actively involved in science and science careers. I sat down with him in the library of Dyer Observatory, which you really must visit sometime. In lieu of that, check out these virtual tours of the observatory's talented staff and their programs and facilities. To learn more about this fascinating advocate for technology and exploration, download the show right here. Also visit the "Feed" link to the left to subscribe to the podcast and/or to browse through other episodes of Snacks4theBrain! Music for today's S4theB! is a little somethin' I whipped up that I call "All This Stuff." If you like Snacks4theBrain! I have two requests (little ones!) of you: 1) Take a few seconds to click here and vote at Podcast Alley, then reply to the resulting email to verify your vote. This helps others find S4theB! and 2) Click here and take a few moments to add yourself to the Frappr S4theB! map! Alternatively, you can 3) send money (just kidding!)

Snacks 22--Biomedical Engineering Forum!

2006-01-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

Wow. After teaching for ten years at my wonderful school, University School of Nashville, I finally got to see talented HS teacher (and biomedical engineer, and Vanderbilt professor) Dr. Stacey Klein at work. It frequently amazes me how I can be in such close daily proximity with such talent and yet not avail myself of the opportunity to learn from it. Thanks to the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach and the Adventure Science Center I was able to witness my colleague at work as she shared her love of science with a small audience of teachers and students at Nashville's wonderful Adventure Science Center. All in the service of carrying out the missions of both agencies, the open forum on Biomedical Engineering was held on Thursday evening, January 12, 2006. The audience was comprised of CSO and ASC members, teachers, and students all interested in exploring the many connections between medicine and engineering. They were treated to demonstrations of devices from heart monitors to lasers, along with detailed descriptions of just how medical imaging devices make diagnosing and treating health problems easier and quicker! This S4theB! features brief audio from that night, and I'll post some video and pics at a location I'll link to here when they're up. Episode 22 of Snacks4theBrain is right here. Also help yourself to all the previous shows available at the "Feed" link! Cheers! Links: Josh Beckham Stacey Klein Jerry Wilmink The Adventure Science Center The Alaska Podshow Podcast! Thanks, Scott (and "Alaska Bob!") The Podsafe Music Network Thanks, Jim Fidler! Note: The CSO encourages students to use every possible means to learn about careers in science and math. We do not at this time offer one-on-one interviews with working researchers, excepting as they appear in Snacks4theBrain! episodes.

Snacks 21--Bill Snyder!

2006-01-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

"Vanderbilt...a 'thought leader,'" "collateral discovery," "unfettered science..." "little bleeds in the brain..." Ah, communication: Science Communication! Listen up! This S4theB! features a talk with Vanderbilt University science communications wizard Bill Snyder. It's another lunchcast, ya'll, recorded at a very hot lunch spot called Bosco's, in Hillsboro Village, a quaint and bustling commercial district at the edge of the Vanderbilt campus...so be prepared for some seriously wild background "ambiance" as we talk about all kinds of things: what science communication is all about, why it's important to nurture communication about science, what it's like to work in a big organization like Vanderbilt, what it took in the way of preparation for him to get to the point where he could help facilitate communication about science...and who knows what else!? I can tell ya that the new website for Snyder's Lens Magazine (designed by scientist JP Cartailler) is just totally awesome and something that science educators, students, and anyone interested in science should bookmark just as soon as it's released! I'll be sure to publish its location as soon as it's out of beta! Wow! I successfully used two correctly punctuated "its/it's" iterations in one sentence! Bill Snyder's expertise must be infectious! Also present for lunch was another wizard, Jeff Hazelton, Tech Coordinator for the CSO. Really talented, really good at what he does, and really good company at lunch. Look for a future S4theB! featuring him talking about the upcoming release of his newly designed (but uhuhuhhhh, not yet released) Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach website. Download S4theB!21 here, and check out the "Feed" link in the sidebar for past S4theB! episodes! Show links: Bill Snyder bio email Lens Magazine for a free subscription The Spring 2004 Lens Magazine courtesy of the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and we can't forget: Bosco's Nashville! Music in today's podcast by moi, custom-created on my "sweeper generator," a little Casio electronic keyboard, and modified with the help of Adobe Audition software

Taking another pass, but...

2006-01-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

So here's the deal, ya'll: I posted a show last week even though it was the day after Christmas and I was sneakin' out to my study to work at dawn's crack whist everyone else in the house was asleep. This week I'm takin' a holiday break, but let me send you over to my new endeavor (which will not detract from but will immeasurably enrich this one), TechTipTuesday. Listen and learn, and as always be thankful for what you have. Life is good.

Snacks 20! -- Rocky Alvey, Take 2!

2005-12-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

In this episode of S4theB!, recorded live in Chez Jose in Brentwood, just a mile or so from Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, I share the remaider of the interview I held with Rocky Alvey, Dyer Superintendent (photo above from http://www.wro.org/share/terry/deepimpact.html, which shares information from the Dyer-hosted "Deep Impact" asteroid impact session July 4, 2004), who tells me a little about the upcoming astronomy radio show the observatory is planning. He also describes the work he is doing to create and configure an Internet-accessible robotic telescope on the roof of the observatory so that students and astronomy enthusiasts from all over the world can submit their imaging requests and program the device themselves to take pictures of anything the telescope can train itself upon. NEAT! I know myself that efforts to make a workable Internet-controlable telescope have historically been unsatisfactory, at least when it comes to functioning intuitively and consistently in the long haul. We hope that Rocky's adoption of Astronomer's Control Panel software and his hands-on technical skill with hardware and Internet programming will make this new Dyer project one that will remain useful to students for years to come. For more information, email Rocky at the observatory, or email sciencehotline@vanderbilt.edu. Download the show here. Warning: Muffled buritto-chewing and explicit laughter involved! The episode ends with a replay of Rocky's original tune, "It's All in the Way that We Lean," about the reasons for the seasons!

Elf!

2005-12-21T04:56:00.000-08:00

I'm a teacher, ya'll: Hence I'm holidaying with my family these two weeks. It's a joy and a blessing to be so unscheduled for a week or two, and I'm enjoying it to the maximum. However, ever-aware of the needs of S4theB! subscribers, I feel you might need a little extra Christmas cheer. Completely non-PC, and hopefully not overly offensive to those of slight stature, it was created in the early 80's in the vain hopes of engendering a follow-up Christmas novelty tunes album and was originally released as a 45 rpm record by Sun/Plantation Records."Elf" is as far as I know royally out-of-print, though it did appear on a Billboard Magazine listing of holiday releases for that one season. Audiophile trivia: I recently fixed a mid-song left-channel volume dropout using the one 45 I own and my Adobe Audition software. It'll be available to listen or download at this URL for a limited time, after which this post will most likely disappear into the digital vapor. For now, I hope you enjoy "The Elf Who's King of Country!"

Frappr Map First Member! Welcome CDubya!

2005-12-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

Frappr Maps help bloggers and podcasters know where their readers and listeners are. It's also, well, just cool! I posted the S4theB! map (see it at the bottom of the lefthand sidebar) a couple weeks ago in the hopes that someone would find it and so far it's just me and CDubya in Bountiful, Utah. Go ahead, be brave! Add yourself! I have a suspicion that the map's gonna be extraordinarily Nashville-heavy, but I honestly don't know. Prove me wrong, ya'll! (Or, somewhat uncharacteristically, right!)

Snacks 19--Bonus Geek Gift Top 3!

2005-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe these are not my top top 3 suggestions for that lucky geek in your life, but this bonus (by which one means "not really having to do with anything serious") episode of S4theB! lays out three suggestions for holiday giving or buying. So many gadgets; so little time! A special, ~5 minute, S4theB! Bonus! Download the show here just in time for holiday shopping!

" Mary" reads, please

Links: ThinkGeek.com "Pi By Numbers" Shirt ReadPlease text-to-voice freeware Wired Magazine's "Gear Factor" blog Museum of Modern Art's site (look in the online store for the cardboard speakers) Make Magazine's Holiday Gift Guide Griffin Technology

Snacks 18--Science Songs!

2005-12-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

Wired Magazine's article on Dr. Greg Crowther's Science Songs got me thinking: Isn't there someone close to me who's doing something similar? This S4theB! shares one song about science from Dr. Crowther's site, and then takes us to Chez Jose in Brentwood, Tennessee for a burrito feast and an informal interview with friend, songwriter, and research observatory superintendent Rocky Alvey. Rocky shares two as yet unpublished songs with us! Wow! Scoooooooooop! I highly encourage you to check out the links below to find all manner of science songs that can help your students internalize facts, figgers, and findings. A periodic Google search for Science Songs will yield more results, indubitably. Download the show here or browse the page that results from the "Feed" link in the lefthand sidebar. Links: Get it whilst you can: "Singing Science Records" brings 4 vintage LPs to .mp3 format. A cursory listen tells me that a little work with Garage Band, Audacity, or Adobe Audition would be a good thing, if just for filtering out the scratches and clicks time has dealt the webmaster's collection. The Science Songwriters' Association has a score or so CDs available for purchase. Mileage, of course, varies (a loose metaphor hinting that some songs, and some CDs, are better than others). Teachers, check out their "Pedaogy" page for research supporting why you should be using science songs in your teaching! Dr. Crowther is an integral member of the SSA. His songs are all available in their complete forms at his Science Songs site. He graciously allows S4theB! to use any of them, and believe me, we will! A Day in the Life of Rocky Alvey at Vanderbilt University's site is a really fun, if somewhat cheesy (in Rocky's overmodest appraisal) documentation of some of the thing this ultimate Renaissance Man does in the course of his work days. It does not address many aspects of his creativity, of which songwriting is only one. Dyer Observatory is a marvelous place. Check out the Virtual Tours of the observatory! And Rocky's contributions to the videoconferencing program at the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach are seminal. Look for more of them in 2006. The burrito lunch left me with more interview than I can conscionably include in this week's Snacks4theBrain!. Look for more later, maybe as early as next week! Thanks again to David Kiefer for background music from the entrancing song, "The Summer Pump," downloaded from Cagey House and used in this podcast with his permission! Ah, dontcha love the share!

Snacks 17!--William Schaffner

2005-12-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

No, silly, it's not Captain Kirk from Star Trek and Boston Legal (one of my favorite actors, BTW), it is a really interesting 'nother guy, Dr. Bill Schaffner, Chair of the Department of Preventative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He's prolifically published, copiously quoted(CNN, PBS, and CBS, to name a few), and repeatedly referenced. I met up with him in his office at the Medical Center to discuss the media buzz about the bird flu (a redundant term--listen to hear why), vaccine shortages, and good ol' influenza. The occasional car swipes by outside the window overlooking busy 21st Avenue South. This one is a must listen (aren't they all, ya'll!?)!!! Available right here. Or, contrariwise, click on the "Feed" link to the left of this text and browse for this and all other S4theB! episodes. Background music (surgically culled from the beautiful "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists") once again courtesy of Dave Keifer at Cagey House. Thanks, Dave! And thank you, again, Dr. Schaffner. Ya'll, share the joy! Send the link to this page to all your friends and neighbors! And we'd be mucho grateful if you would click the link in the lefthand sidebar to vote for S4theB! at podcastalley.com. Every li'l bit helps!!!

Break Week!

2005-11-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hello, ya'll! I'm takin' a brief break this week, actually working on a couple promo spots for some folks who want to feature S4theB! on other shows. That's really exciting, and I hope those of you who listen will bear with me whilst I do that and also prep for an exciting interview next week with epidemiologist Bill Schaffner, a guaran-durn-tee'd home run Snacks4theBrain! Bird Flu, anyone? Cheers! Scott

Snacks 16! -- Keivan Stassun

2005-11-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

This week's Snacks4theBrain! features a brief talk with dynamic astronomer Dr. Keivan Stassun, whose work to encourage students of minority descent to pursue careers in the sciences, particularly in physics and astronomy, is positively inspirational. We'll talk about his "Scopes for Schools" project and about what got him into science in the first place; and we'll learn what he is currently up to in his ongoing research. Come share a listen. Download the show here or click on the "Feed" in the left sidebar to browse this and all past shows. Podsafe music once again courtesy of Dave Keifer, at Cagey House. This song is one of my favorites, entitled "Outside After Bedtime." Thanks, Dave! And thank you, Dr. Stassun. You're a new hero of mine! That's the best part of my job here, dontcha know--getting to meet so many new heroes! Clear skies, and Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

Snacks 15!--Keystone Conference

2005-11-14T18:34:00.000-08:00

This edition of S4theB! makes good on a promise I made several episodes back that we'd visit some audio I grabbed during the three days I spent up at the Keystone Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana the first week of October. See the "Bonus Canal Jogging" episode , S4theB!9, for some local color. The meat of this show is the online-accessible archives of all the workshops and sessions, available at http://vbrick.net/keystone. Take a few minutes and check these out for some really insightful presentations from some cutting edge educators. I feature some verbiage from my friend Joan Roehre, a fellow blogger and extraspecialneatperson. I take famed educator Chris Dede's last few minutes of his keynote and a few minutes of motivator extraordinaire David Thornburg's talk (yes, they're both professors, but I dropped the "Dr." monikers for the casual approach, dontcha know) and share them herein. Download and listen here. Links follow: Keystone video archives Joan Roehre's blog Chris Dede and "Environmental Detective" at the Harvard Graduate School of Education David Thornburg's Thornburg Center Podsafe background music provided courtesy of composer Dave Keifer at Cagey House. Thanks, Dave! ReadPlease Text-to-Speech software

Snacks Awarded 5 Stars from Podspider.com!

2005-11-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

Just to brag, er, note: For "consistency and usefulness" as an example of a working podcast (according to the email announcement), this li'l thang has been awarded 5 stars out of 5 at the podcast directory Podspider.com! Yay us! This has been an entirely self-serving private service announcement. Or as Richard Vobes of the Richard Vobes Radio Show podcast often says, "for a complete transcript of today's show, write down everything you hear." Cheers from Nashville!

Snacks 14! -- Dr. Louise Rollins-Smith Part 2!

2005-11-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

Cheers, ya'll. This episode of S4theB! concludes an interview with Dr. Louise Rollins-Smith about her fascinating research seeking a cure for HIV in the bodily secretions of endangered frogs. It's a joy to chat with someone who so genuinely loves her work and so fully respects the contributions of others with whom she works. Give it a listen here or click on the "Feed" link in the left-hand sidebar to browse all our episodes. Cheers! The picture accompanying this post is straight from the recent Vanderbilt University Reporter article about Dr. Rollins-Smith and her team and was taken by Post-doctorate Fellow Dr. Douglas Woodhams, one of the researchers involved in the project!

Snacks 13--Louise Rollins-Smith: The Frogs-HIV Connection!

2005-10-31T06:49:00.000-08:00

The first part (of 2) of a brief conversation with Dr. Louise Rollins-Smith, Co-principle investigator for a new National Science Foundation grant to study amphibian population declines in Central and South America. Why, one might ask? Well, Dr. Rollins-Smith and her team are hard at work investigating the medicinal powers of frog-secreted "antimicrobial peptides" that our little green friends use to fight off bacteria, fungi and viruses. Already findings indicate that these might be highly effective against the AIDS pandemic's manifestation, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). If the team's efforts on both fronts converge just right, there may be developments on the horizon that will bring hope to the previously hopeless. Listen to Dr. Rollins-Smith describe the paths and enjoy a visit with this charming and highly motivated scientific pioneer! Download the first 8 minute show here! And look forward to the conclusion next week, as Dr. Rollins-Smith describes how she got into this "bizness" in the first place! Links: Environment News Service 9/30/05 Vanderbilt Reporter 9/30/05 Nashville Tennessean 10/21/05 Frog Sounds used in the show courtesy of Frogsonice

ipodder.org Adds S4theB! to Its "Science" List--WooHoo!

2005-10-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

After a very long delay we are finally listed in the original-very-first directory for podcasts, ipodder.org . It's amazing to be in such good company, and I'd heartily recommend ya'll checking out any and all of the listening programs on that list. Good timing: I'm happy to announce that this week's offering will be an interview with Louise Rollins-Smith, whose recent Tennessean article detailed (in layman's terms) her team's efforts to discover a cure for HIV utilizing the secretions of Aussie frogs. Yep, I said frogs. From Australia. Cool!

Snacks 12--Jerry Wilmink, Bioengineer!

2005-10-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

You are a fly! Okay, there really aren't any flies in the lab of dynamic Biomedical Engineer Jerry Wilmink; but if there were, you would be one (as in, "a fly on the wall") as we sit in on a prep session for the CSO's Tuesday IVC with schools all over the country. These Glenn McCombs-designed "virtual lab tours" are definitely bringing students into the exciting and fascinating environment of a cutting-edge scientist's workspace. This S4theB! paints a quick sketch of the work it takes to make the interaction valuable, concise, and effective. Download the podcast here and enjoy a few pics from the recording session right heah!

And whilst we're at it, here's the program description from the CSO Videoconferences page:

Jerry Wilmink, a Biomedical Engineer at Vanderbilt University presents Science Rocks.This first program will cover the following topics: introduction to cells, growing cells in a petri dish, incubating cells, putting cells to sleep with liquid nitrogen, and how to make human skin!!!!Jerry plans to offer a second and third program to cover the basics of light and bioluminescent light. Lasers will also be introduced and medical laser applications will be demonstrated.

Snacks 11--Associate Director Vicki Metzgar!

2005-10-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

This S4theB! engages CSO Associate Director Vicki Metzgar in a conversation about what it is she does at this teeming hotbed of Science Outreach. She discusses the summer camps and the GK12 Program we touched upon previously in our conversation with Jeannie Tuschl. Amongst her many other services of excellence in her educational career, Vicki has served as chair for the Tennessee State Department of Education's Science Standards Writing Committee and as Coordinator of Science for Metro Nashville Public Schools. She's fun and interesting and always excited about helping students learn science. Download the conversation here. Listen, ya'll. We're runnin' out of staff! Staff profiles will be ending soon and I have it on good authority (yeah, I talked to the guy who records these things!) that scientist interviews--and they WILL be fantabulous!--will be coming soon. Just today, I recorded some fine audio whilst Associate Director Glenn McCombs and Technology Coordinator Jeff Hazelton went through the paces to set up Biomedical Engineer Gerry Wilmink for a mind-blowing virtual lab tour. See the signups page at CSO for more info. And expect the goods, here, next time, on Snacks4theBrain!

Snacks 10--"...The State of the Art!"

2005-10-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I know I said we'd visit some Keystone Conference audio this week, but in the service of timeliness I instead offer a brief intro to my recently/currently published article, Videoconferencing K-12: The State of the Art." Innovate journal of online education has been kind enough to welcome me into its community of academics and others interested in using technology to further the education of students worldwide. Hear what the article's about here and then go read the durned thing! Heck, I worked a year and a half on this, my first peer-reviewed paper; and the least you can do is to go dedicate 20 minutes reading it (smiley face goes here). To further the cause, this S4theB! installment is less than 5 minutes long and it features my guitar work! 'Til next time!

Snacks9--Live from Indianapolis, the Keystone Conference!

2005-10-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

The last morning of the Keystone Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana I took another short jog around the Indianapolis Canal, carrying my Dell Axim handheld in my hand (of all things!) and narrating my first little soundseeing tour. Though the narration is somewhat short of breath, I hope you enjoy it! Listen here. The Keystone Conference is a small gathering locally, only around a hundred and twenty souls, but heavy-hitters they are--the leaders and advocates for Interactive Videoconferencing. AND please take a look at "Videoconferencing K-12: The State of the Art," a peer-reviewed article just published at Innovate journal of online education. Just to prove that I was really running, here's a very small and brief Quicktime movie. He hee, he hee, he hee.

Snacks4theBrain! 8 -- Jeannie Tuschl!

2005-09-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

This episode of S4theB! features GK12 Program Coordinator Jeannie Tuschl, a veteran teacher and facilitator extraordinaire. Jeannie heads Vanderbilt's arm of this innovative and nationally recognized CSO, Meharry Medical College, and Tennessee State University program (funded, thank-you-very-much, by the National Science Foundation) that matches motivated graduate fellows with Metro Nashville Public Schools Middle School science teachers, then builds a strong teaching team utilizing an intensive (but fun!) 4 week workshop in the summer followed by a year-long ongoing partnership. Jeannie formerly worked with various local National Science Foundation projects providing teacher training in science instruction. She is the recipient of many awards, including 2003 Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year and Tennessee Science Teachers Association Innovative Science Teacher of the Year. Previously, Jeannie wrote and produced the fourth grade science series, Changes All Around, for the Nashville PBS affiliate television station. And it's clear from the photo that accompanies this entry that Jeannie is still a busy woman. Have you ever seen so many post-it notes??? Download the podcast here. I promised to add a few links mentioned in the program, so here goes: the Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, the CSO GK12 program, and Metro Nashville Public Schools. Oops, and I almost fergot: The Adventure Science Center!

Snacks4theBrain! 7--The Boss!!!

2005-09-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

In this episode of the mini-podcast I wanted to find out just what inspired our fair leader, Dr. Virginia L. Shepherd, to spearhead the set of programs that make up the work of the Center for Science Outreach. There's a great background article about her from the Vanderbilt Medical Center Reporter that will give you the long story (and a lot has transpired in the years past that publication--visit the CSO website to see all of it!); but the short story is that Ginny is just a wonderful, caring human being who is appalled at the "Great Divide" between science education in many of our nation's high schools and in the institutions of higher learning that often find they've lost their potential science students before they've even had a chance to hook them on exploration, research, and discovery. This episode also features a micro-soundseeing tour (of the south elevator in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Light Hall, which houses the busy offices of the CSO). Download the podcast here! Or add our feed (from the sidebar to your left) to your favorite handy-dandy aggregator!

Taking a break, ya'll

2005-09-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

Next week we'll add another Snacks4theBrain! to the growing archive. This week I'm ironing out issues with the MultiConferenceUnit at Vanderbilt and prepping our folks for a new "season" of offerings. Patience, Grasshopper...

Snacks4theBrain 6--Einstein!

2005-08-31T03:58:00.000-07:00

While previous S4theB! shows about IVC (Interactive Videoconferencing) have focused largely on the dynamic question and answer sessions that these presentation-and-dialogue interactions generate, this one takes you smack-dab into the content of one of the most fascinating ones I've seen. Don't worry if you don't really get it, though Dr. Charles Brau, a physicist whose own field is primarily lasers, does a fantastic job of explaining the fine points of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. He wears that wig nicely, too, I might add... Listen to the show here. Visit CSO's streaming archive site to see the whole she-bang here. If you do that DON'T view the "Afternoon" one with relativity in the title: That's misnamed--ah, I love technology!!! And be sure to choose the Quicktime video option. Finally (is there really such a thing, relatively speaking?) Here is a graphic aid to, well, to aid your comprehension whilst you listen:

Snacks4theBrain5! -- WORMS!!!

2005-08-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

On April 12, 2005, Dr. Todd Lamitina held an interactive videoconference with several classrooms all over the country--Texas, New York, and here in Tennessee--to share his work researching genetic mutations in microscopic worms. This S4theB shares a series of questions and answers that hint at just how effective this sort of outreach can be. You can bet none of those kids will forget that conversation for quite some time!!! Download the show here. Access the full streaming archive here. Hint: Select the Quicktime Video option--the streaming server doesn't play well with the Windows Media codecs...

Kathy Schrock Interview! Episode 4!!!

2005-07-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

It was my extreme pleasure on July 26 to present a full-day workshop for teachers at Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison New Jersey, an offering of the Grace M. Hopper Teacher Institute. Famed educational technology pioneer Kathy Schrock was the other featured presenter, and Kathy agreed to be the focus of an S4theB ("Snacks4theBrain," of course!)interview geared toward sharing some of her expertise and a smidgin of her vast online resources with science teachers. Her interview, conducted asynchronously via email and sound attachments, comprises our show number 4. Download the show here! View a flickr photo set from the workshop here. To augment the whole experience (mustn't ignore alternative learning styles!), below are links to the sites Kathy discusses in the show, as well as a link (mentioned early on) to my Desktop Interactive Videoconferencing blog: Google Advanced Search Page AltaVista Advanced Search Page Google News DiscoverySchool: Lesson Plans ScienceNet Links: Lesson Plans North Harris College (TX): Science Animations, Movies, and Interactive Tutorial Links Physlets Blue Web’n: Science Tutorials How Stuff Works Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Science Links Scott's Desktop IVC site

Keystone PSA Announcement

2005-07-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, Educators and Scientists and just plain folks who want to learn more about how higher education is reaching out into K12 classrooms to help nurture the learning lives of America's much needed future scientists. This S4theB delivers a brief section of a public service announcement created last year for the Keystone Conference. Just listen to learn more! The show is here.

Snacks4theBrain Introduction

2005-07-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an intro that proposes how Snacks4theBrain! hopes to present interesting and informative content via its "occasional" podcasts, featuring audio from three different interactive videoconferences (IVCs). Download the show here! There's a link to our main RSS feed at the Center for Science Outreach Podcast Page and I'm adding that (as well as the feed link!) to our links sidebar today. Yippeeee!

Snacks070605: BEST Camp Interview with Joe Lopez

2005-07-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Snacks4theBrain will be a series of 5-10 minute podcasts dedicated to the work of the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach and is guaranteed to be enlightening, especially for parents of school-age children, K12 teachers, professional research scientists, and K12 and university school administrators. The first episode was recorded on July 6, 2005 and features, Joe Lopez, facilitator of the newly instigated Boys Exploring Science and Technology (BEST) summer camp, held now every summer at Vanderbilt University's campus. Learn a little about what goes on and why such a camp was deemed necessary! The rss feed for subscription is in the sidebar to the left and here's where to download the individual show. Enjoy!!!

S4theB Promo---a minute and a half (or a minute, if you will) of fast talkin'

2005-06-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just under 60 seconds of fast-talkin' flim-flam about the Snacks4theBrain! podcast. Please share freely! Download the promo here.