On this third day of our research project in the Mojave Desert, we did a series of tests on the biological soil crusts and soil samples we collected yesterday at three sites along Kelbaker Road near Baker, CA. The laboratory building at the Desert Research Station is set up with standard equipment for chemical and [...]
Archive for the ‘Weekly Post’ Category
In the Lab at Zzyzx Road
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged atp extraction, baker ca, biological soil crust, desert research station, dna extraction, mojave desert, polymerase chain reaction, soil analysis, zzyzx road on April 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The Crusty Cusp
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged astrobiology, biological soil crust, chris mckay. rakesh mogul, JPL, macrobiotic soil, mojave national preserve, nasa ames research center, soil chemistry, spaceward bound, symbiotic life forms, zzyzx road on March 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’m in the Mojave Desert with a group of astrobiologists from NASA Ames, JPL, and the California State University system, along with student teachers in the Spaceward Bound program. Today, March 19, 2012 we officially began the main activity of this field research: collecting samples of biological soil crusts. We hope our research is on [...]
Plans for 2012
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged anaxagoras, arabic alchemy, atomic theory, early chemistry, empedocles, european alchemy, greek matter theories, history of chemistry, medieval crafts, nucleogenesis, nuremburg chronicles, science education, tintic mining district, van helmont on January 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In my last post, I showed the statistics of what this blog has accomplished so far. I feel very good about where we’ve been, but now it’s time to describe where I plan on going this coming year. Given that I am not teaching chemistry this school year, my work on the Elements Unearthed project [...]
Progress Report January 2012
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged beryllium, blog statistics, Chemical Heritage Foundation, history of chemistry, periodic table history, science education, societe de chimie industrielle on January 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Once each year I like to go over the statistics for this blog in detail to see what posts have been the most popular, which search terms are finding this blog, which videos are most watched, etc. I’m not doing this just for an ego trip, but to be able to report the impact this [...]
Naming the Stars
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged astronomy, constellations, flamsteed, johann bayer, podcasting, star names, student created content, student podcasts, student research projects, uranometria, virgo on November 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I realize the last three blogs I’ve posted here have been about astronomy instead of the elements (although the elements are mentioned here and there). I tend to write about what’s been on my mind, and since I’m not teaching chemistry this year, but I am teaching astrobiology, you’ve been getting quite a bit about [...]
Modeling the Moon and Mars
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged 3d models of the moon, animation of the moon, apollo landing sites, center for lunar origin and evolution, cloe, explore mars, lunar, lunar features, mars 3d data, mars education challenge, moon, moon 3d data, selenography on November 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
We’ve made it to the end of first term and are starting in to second term at Walden School. In our astrobiology class, the students have studied in detail the formation and evolution of the Moon according to best evidence as well as the history of lunar exploration and the Apollo program. The students have [...]
The Evolution of Our Moon
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged apollo missions, argon 40, luna, lunar basalt, lunar geology, lunar highlands, lunar maria, lunar rocks, moon, moon evolution, potassium 40, radiometric dating on September 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I wrote about the leading theories for how our moon formed. This week, I’d like to write about what’s happened to the Moon since then and what lunar rocks and element isotopes tell us about the Moon’s evolution. You would expect that once most of the material in Earth orbit was swept up [...]
What Lunar Elements Tell Us
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged apollo astronauts, apollo missions, composition of moon rocks, early solar system, elements on moon, giant impact theory, giant impactor theory, lunar evolution, lunar origin, moon, moon formation, moon origin, moon rocks on September 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
We’re back in session at Walden School of Liberal Arts and this year I’m teaching courses in astrobiology, forensic science, multimedia, 3D animation, and computer literacy. We alternate chemistry every other year, since we are a small school, and therefore I’m able to teach some unusual science classes. Because my focus is on astrobiology this [...]
The Walden Science Showcase
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged hands-on science, public participation in science, science activities, science education, science fair, science night, science showcase, student presentations, students as teachers on August 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Yes, I know this is late. The new school year is about to start and I am only just finishing up the last school year. This post will describe the Grand Finale of the school year for my science classes, which was our First Annual Science Showcase at Walden School. We had been working toward [...]
