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 [...]
Archive for the ‘Weekly Post’ Category
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 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
A Trip to Moab
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged arches national park, charles steen, charlie steen, delicate arch, double arches, geology of arches national park, landscape arch, mi vida mine, moab utah, paradox basin, pitchblende, salt dome, uncompaghre uplift, uranium, uranium processing, vanadium, windows section on June 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Between third and fourth terms, Walden School holds a two-week Intersession that includes high interest classes (such as the CSI class I reported on last post) and often also includes a field trip. This year we traveled to Moab, Utah which is the gateway for some of the most incredible scenery, geology, and adventure activities [...]
Dead Men Do Tell Tales
Posted in Weekly Post, tagged chain of custody, chain of evidence, crime scene investigation, criminology, csi, forensic science, forensics in education, group communication, hands-on activities on May 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
My trip to the NSTA conference in San Francisco came right in the middle of our Intersession period at Walden School of Liberal Arts. The most difficult time of the school year is the stretch from Presidents’ Day through Spring Break. The weather is still too nasty in Utah to do very much outside, and [...]
