tingilinde

muttering about unscientific america

There has been a lot of muttering about the new book Unscientific America by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum.

Other than sample chapters I haven't read the book yet.    It interests me because there is a great amount of innumeracy and poorly reasoned thinking about science in the US.   What bothers me about this book is what PZ Meyers blogs here and here.

I'll stay out of the atheism argument, other than noting PZ is right in his response to their incoherent rebuttal.  

The Pluto section of the book is just wrong - trying to get a reclassification that people can get behind and not be irritated at scientists for.  gad!    They clearly don't get it and they don't understand other classifications are much more meaningful - particularly if someone actually wants to learn something about the solar system rather than memorize nine words, one of which is a Disney character. 

I liked some of Mooney's work when I first encountered it.  He was basically laying out problem areas.  But he gets too hung up on framing rather than solving root problems and he tends towards preachy in a weird politically correct way.  Let science be science.  Let's get to work fixing science education in the schools.

The problem, as I see it, has nothing to do with friendly scientists who pander, but is a fundamental part of the broken education system. We need to teach critical thinking in K12.  We need to teach numeracy.  We need to teach how to do science.  

harumph!

working to make sure texan students can't compete

Barbara Cargill of the Texas Board of Education pushes for creationist astronomy. Hopefully clueful companies and parents will recognize the value of reality based education elsewhere

cosmos

Phil notes Carl Sagan's Cosmos series is online at Hulu.

It is dated, amazing things have happened in astronomy since then, but may be the best science show ever done for television.  The pace is slow enough that the audience can come away with something.  It also gives something of a sense of how science works - something that doesn't come over often.

Wonderful stuff if you have curious kids.

tyson on science education

I was listening to the Science Friday podcast on today's walk -- an interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson (very nice guy - he has been groomed as the Carl Sagan of our time and is doing a fine job as a popularizer of science). The interview turns to science education for kids, but the flavor is present throughout..... about 40 minutes

stupid ethanol move

Two primary signals to the Obama Administration's real commitment to fighting global warming are policies for coal and corn ethanol.

A troubling (but unsurprising) sign from Vilsack.

Perhaps the solution is a carbon tax and letting the states set their own ethanol mandates.

scaling down and sports

State and community governments can''t print their own money and usually have to live with balanced budgets.  Tax bases are dropping and voters probably are unlikely to add new taxes.  So things will give.  Road repairs, public services like fire and police ... schools.  

Several schools have started eliminating non-academic programs with some sports programs evaporating entirely - an example is the East San Jose district.

I've noticed that some of the companies that have sponsored kids teams are doing poorly.  From the local Dairy Queen to the Chevrolet dealership there are firms that are struggling and evaporating entirely.  The $250 to $5000 checks are going away.  A sign of the times.

At the corporate level we seem to be on the verge of a major shift in NASCAR's fortunes.  Major sponsors like the Big Three are unlikely to continue support and smaller sponsors ($20M is a small "major" sponsor) are having problems.  With softening consumer spending I wonder how people value a few square feet on a car these days?  Does it really make a difference to a sponsor's bottom line?

I've read that the other major sports - basketball, football and baseball - consider themselves immune to recessions.  My guess is they probably need to do some recalculating in the next few months.

There are undoubtedly businesses where some linkage to an athlete can be important, but the nature of advertising is changing.  Are some of the smaller sports that appeal to teens and twenty somethings showing the way?  Sponsorships are relatively inexpensive and connections with the fanbase is much more direct and often bidirectional.  

I wonder about the sport where a friend is a pro player - beach volleyball.  It was amazingly popular at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was rated fourth among sports for the US audience.  The top athletes on the pro tour do well, but not much by the standards of sport.  Very good players have been supported by car dealerships, real estate development companies and other local firms.  They have a lot of challenges, but the "minor" sports still offer great competition and may be great values to a class of sponsor.   In the case of beach volleyball the cost per square inch of space may be high, but other forms of connection can work well too.  But I suspect most of the players will be working part time jobs.

Like everything else these days, the message is probably "stay tuned and be prepared for change"

math and science education around the world

Massachusetts rules!!!

kids and forests

I was reading a friend's blog and noticed Marta commenting on game console energy use.

Part of it was a surprise - the Swedish discussion on jungle gyms vs playing in the forest.  In NJ the average kid is tightly scheduled and hyperprotected to the point where it is hard to image kids playing in the forest.  

I'm a strong believer in free range kids -- at least some of the time.  Kids need to be outside playing and discovering nature.  The Swedish argument is a much better argument than wondering if a Wii is better than a PS3 ... grumble.

The concept of a kid playing in the forest would make a helicopter mom's head explode -- probably not a bad thing.

thanks for the reality check Marta!!

mindrap

Some years ago I worked with Melanie West at Bell Labs and then AT&T Research. She had a real interest in technology, music, and a passion for kids and education. It wasn't a huge surprise (although it was a pleasant one) to see her put together an organization.

From MindRap's about page

MindRap's holistic approach to after-school learning employs music education - specifically hip-hop - to educate and build confidence in at-risk high school students. The program, which has been successfully tested with several pilot partners and student groups, includes core components of song-writing: story-telling, poetry, rhyme, beat, art/music fundamentals, performance, and multimedia.

And here is a video of some of her kids

Check her program out. Speaking with a bit of experience I note this sort of thing is very difficult to do. Melanie has vision an energy. If you or your company are looking to sponsor something that is doing the right thing, I'm sure she'd be happy to arrange sponsorships.

science literacy

noted by Greg

Representing a large segment of the US population ... sadly ...

It would be nice if this is fake (and it may be), but I've met many people like this