Back To School Special!
gregladen | September 7, 2011I like to pass books about science on to the teachers in my daughter's school for them to have in the classroom (or to pass on to the library, as they wish). Now that you've heard this idea, you will want to do it to!
Here's a few suggestions of recent titles that could be available used or cheap.
Galapagos Diary: A Complete Guide to the Archipelgo's Birdlife
... in our look at bird books to consider, I wanted to bring in the Galapagos Diary. I cannot tell you which is the best book for birding in the Galapagos, because, sadly, I've never done that myself. But my daughter, Julia, has,…
gregladen | September 7, 2011And if you have your own favorites, please add links to them in the comments.
Below the fold to not crash your flash.
First, this tear jerker:
gregladen | September 7, 2011A few essays. You are not alone. These are previously posted items, just follow the links to read them in their entirety.
Teachers Under Fire!!!
It is very common, across the U.S., for science teachers to dread the "evolution" unit that they teach during life science class.
As they approach the day, and start to prepare the students for what is coming, they begin to hear the sarcastic remarks from the creationist students. When the day to engage the evolution unit arrives, students may show up in the classroom with handouts from anti-science sites like Answers in Genesis, to give to their…
gregladen | September 7, 2011Here are a few books that those in the education biz should have on hand. If you are a parent with a kid in school, consider giving a copy of one or more of these books to your school's life science teacher and a key administrator or two.
A classic reference, the number one book you should have handy on your shelf if you area life science teacher or an administrator that oversees a life science department, is Evolution vs. Creationism: The Book by Genie Scott. The second edition is better (because it is more update) than the first, but if all you can manage is a used copy of the first,…
gregladen | September 6, 2011A few suggestions for books you can use at home to enhance, prepare for or catch up with various topics.
Great Physics Book: Black Bodies and Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette.
Why the Wind Blows: A History of Weather
Home Chemistry: A New Guide for Hobbyists and Home Schoolers
gregladen | September 6, 2011You have to tell your child's life science teacher (or, any science teacher for that matter) that your family does not support creationism, does not want to see anyone "teaching the controversy" and that you know that "Intelligent Design" is a form of creationism. I promise you, the creationist parents of your child's peers, and some of the creationist kids in the classroom, are not keeping their mouths shut. Why should you?
So, pursuant to this, I have composed a template for you to use as an email or letter to send to your child or ward's life science teacher:
Dear [Fill In the Blank],…
gregladen | September 29, 2010We haz 'em (9 megabyte PDF download from the National Academies of Science)
gregladen | September 25, 2010Galapagos Diary: A Complete Guide to the Archipelgo's Birdlife
... Continuing in our look at bird books to consider, I wanted to bring in the Galapagos Diary. I cannot tell you which is the best book for birding in the Galapagos, because, sadly, I've never done that myself. But my daughter, Julia, has, and she recommends this title. She brought a copy home from the Galapagos, and I am personally quite impressed by it. If you are planning a trip to the Galapagos, have a look at it.
~ A repost for Back to School Special ~
gregladen | September 24, 2010"Everyone needs to understand the basic facts of evolution as well as the essentials of the scientific method... When people are deprived of a scientific approach to reality as a whole, they are robbed of both a full appreciation of the beauty and richness of the natural world and the means to understand the dynamics of change not only in nature but in human society as well."
-Ardea Skybreak, "The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism"
~ A repost for Back to School Special ~
Ardea Skybreak's new book, "The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What's Real and…
gregladen | September 23, 2010
The Triassic is old. This book is new. That is a hard to beat combination.
~ A repost for Back to School Special ~
Let's see ... The Triassic is about here:
(You can also look it up in this PDF file supplied by the USGS.
It is situated between two major extinction events, and is especially interesting because it is during this period that modern day ecological systems and major animal groups took a recognizable form. The preceding Permian, if contrasted with modern day, would form a very stark contrast while the Triassic would be at least somewhat more recognizable.
But of course the…
gregladen | September 22, 2010 Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming I've been putting off posting my review of this book until just the right moment. Perhaps that moment is now, with the juxtaposition of a serious storm ... hurricane Gustav ... arriving in the vicinity of New Orleans and the opening day of the Republican National Convention, since both charismatic hurricanes and not so charismatic politicians play such a large role in the book at hand.
Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming, by Chris Mooney, is a well written, informative, captivating,…
gregladen | September 22, 2010NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott was invited to debate Ray Comfort, a creationist in the news recently for his plans to distribute copies of the Origin of Species with his own introduction, on the God & Country blog of U.S. News & World Report. Comfort began the debate on October 29, 2009; Scott replied on October 30, 2009; Comfort responded on November 2, 2009; and Scott replied on November 3, 2009. The debate, according to Dan Gilgoff, who maintains the blog, elicited "more feedback than any other issue on this blog has received over any similar stretch in its not-quite-…
gregladen | September 21, 2010Bill Thompson's The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of North America is a book that I highly recommend for kids around seven to 14 years of age. (The publishers suggest a narrower age range but I respectfully disagree.)
This is a new offering written by Bill Thompson III and published by the same people who give us the Peterson Field Guide to the Birds and many other fine titles. The book includes excellent illustrations by Julie Zickefoose.
A birder since childhood, Thompson says he would have loved a book like this one when he was just getting interested in birds. Now a father of two,…
gregladen | September 21, 2010It is very common, across the U.S., for science teachers to dread the "evolution" unit that they teach during life science class.
As they approach the day, and start to prepare the students for what is coming, they begin to hear the sarcastic remarks from the creationist students. When the day to engage the evolution unit arrives, students may show up in the classroom with handouts from anti-science sites like Answers in Genesis, to give to their friends. They may carry a bible to the lab station and read it instead of doing the work. If there is a parent conference night around that…
gregladen | September 20, 2010The latest issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach -- the new journal aspiring to promote accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience -- is now published. Devoted to human evolution and edited by William E. H. Harcourt Smith, the issue (volume 3, number 3) features Tom Gundling on "Human Origins Studies: A Historical Perspective"; Kieran P. McNulty on "Apes and Tricksters: The Evolution of Diversification of Humans' Closest Relatives"; Harcourt-Smith on "The First Hominins and the Origins of Bipedalism"; David S. Strait on "The Evolutionary…