A Personal Question About an Organ Transplant

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Society
Culture
Health
Medicine
Edward Hessler

Vaness Weiland, a nurse practitioner at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Dr. Lena Sibulesky, a transplant surgeon at the University School of Medicine ask a question I'd not thought about.  

You need a new kidney to stay alive. Would you reject one from someone who died of a drug overdose?
 
Would you? What is your reason? Is there anything else you'd want to know before answering?

About 20,000 kidney transplants are done each year in the United States with a waiting list of some 95,000. So "getting a donor kidney is a years long wait." Would knowing this influence your answer?


In their recent study of patient's decisions, "'I don't need another problem,' fairly characterizes the mindset of transplant candidates who declined increased risk donor kidneys."

However, in this study patient education made a difference. Ninety-two percent "of patients in our study who had declined an increased risk donor kidney but, after learning more, said they would be open to accept such an organ in the future."

Weiland's and Sibulesky's column about this question is from STAT which includes more details and also a link to their study with potential transplant patients.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

Today's poem, one close enough to September 27 that I think it passes muster, is a sonnet by Jack Prelutsky.

A Wildcard in Climate Change

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Sustainability
Climate Change
Edward Hessler

One of the hard things to quantify in climate science/climate models is the role of arctic methane releases. Methane can increase the planet's warming "even more than CO2" as Paul Huttner notes in a post for September 26, 2018. What is not known is, "how much and how fast?"

A lake in northern Alaska, near the Brooks Range, has just been found "that is rapidly bubbling as it releases methane gas into the atmosphere." Huttner draws our attention to a "remarkable piece" written by Washington Post science writer, Chris Mooney.

Huttner discusses this with plenty of visual aids and comments. He also includes a link to Mooney's essay and a video showing this lake bubbling with all the fervor of a witch's cauldron.The bubbles are methane.

The lake was discovered by Dr. Katey Walter Anthony, a professor at the University of Alaska--Fairbanks. She is an ecologist who specializes in aquatic ecosystems.

For Mr. Huttner's blog entry and the video see here.

A New Pterosaur

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Geology
Earth Science
Paleontology
Biodiversity
Biological Evolution
Edward Hessler

A video on ABC news about the discovery of a very early pterosaur (aka pterodactyl)--roughly 200 million years bp (before present), led me to look for the press release announcing the find. The  Brigham Young University announcement includes the video used by ABC news.

The pterosaur has been named Caelestiventus (heavenly wind) hanseni (in honor of Bureau of land Management (BLM) geologist Robin L. Hansen). It was found by BYU's geological sciences professor Brooks Britt in a sandstone sample that he and his team collected at Saints and Sinners Quarry, on BLM land in Utah. The quarry is so fossil-rich (18,000 bones and counting) that researchers find it much more convenient to remove large blocks of the sandstone for later examination in the lab rather than chipping sandstone and bones apart in the field.

Britt was expecting to find early crocodiles--pterosaurs are rare, this one was new to paleontolgists and predates desert pterosaurs by 65 million years. Furthermore, it was in excellent condition. (bones preserved in sand cannot be compressed). The press release notes that these bones of Caelestiventus hanseni ... are uncrushed and three-dimensional because they are preserved in sand, which cannot be compressed. “Most Triassic specimens consist of just a single bone: for example, a little phalanx from a finger or one vertebra from the neck,” Britt said. “For this animal, we have the sides of the face and the complete roof of the skull, including the brain case, complete lower jaws and part of the wing.”

According to the press release C. hanseni is most closely related to a pteroaur known only from Lower Jurassic strata of Britain. This provides evidence that the family of pterosaurs originated in the latest Triassic and the lineage survived the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event.

If you are unfamiliar with geological terms, this rendition of the geological time scale should help.  BBC Nature provides information about the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction. And if you'd like to know just what a pterosaur is, see this information from the American Museum of Natural History. Large, yes! Beautiful, yes!! If you wonder about the significance of this discovery, it is nicely summarized in a map at Everything Dinosaur (scroll down) which also makes further comments on the discovery. 

Climate Change for Children

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Climate Change
Children
Edward Hessler

Well-known climate scientist, Michael Mann (Pennsylvania State University) and Australian illustrator/writer, Megan Hubert have written a children's book on climate change titled The Tantrum that Changed the World.

The National Center for Science Education's Stephanie Keep discussed the book with Mann and Herbert after reading the book to her two daughters. It includes a review by a 5th grade teacher and her students. Seven climate refugees are included in the book, some non-human animals and some human animals.

Megan Herbert described the purpose of the book in these words. "When people feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the climate change issue, they tend to shut off their empathy valves. “This isn’t happening to me; it’s too big a problem; I’m powerless to help.” My goal, in writing this book, was to help people—both children and adults—to reengage with their empathy. Because when we feel empathy, we are moved to act." 

It is hard for me to pick a quote from Kottie Christie-Blick, the teacher who with her class reviewed the book. She wrote "This book is an appropriate read-aloud for children ages 7–11. There are quite a few difficult words for young readers, such as “condescension” and “conviction,” but when they experience the book as a read-aloud, supplemented with a bit of explanation, children will get the drift. The delightful pictures also provide good support to help children understand the story line."

Both authors have great comments on "wishful thinking" and imagination, important for both children and adults.

Grist asked a class of first graders on whether a tantrum can save the world. Here is a video of the class in action.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Children
Early Childhood
Culture
Society
Edward Hessler


Google Doodle celebrates the 51st anniversary of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

Today's poem is by A. E. Stallings.

You will find a short biography of Ms. Stallings on the same page as the poem as well as some notes about the poem by the poet.

What a deal!

Anna Comstock

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Nature
Edward Hessler

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, nature study was a part of the elementary school curriculum. It was an important component of a child-centered educational reform that aimed to replace passive rote learning with active learning. The subject matter--plant, animal, geology, weather, astronomy--was never intended to be standardized but adapted to take advantage of local natural conditions.

One of the pioneers and leaders of the so-called nature study movement was Anna Botsford Comstock (1854 - 1930) who received her degree in natural history at Cornell University (1885) and to which she returned in 1891 to teach natural history. She was known for taking her students outdoors to study nature. While at Cornell she wrote what was to become a standard textbook for teachers, The Handbook of Nature Study. 

According to Comstock this is what nature-study is.

Nature-study is a study of nature; it consists of simple truthful observations that may, like beads in a string, finally be threaded upon the understanding and thus held together as a logical and harmonious whole. Therefore, the object of the nature-study teacher should be to cultivate in the children processes of accurate observation and to build up...understanding. (p.1)

On teaching nature-study.

In nature-study any teacher can with honor say, "I do not know"; for perhaps the question asked is as yet unanswered by the great scientists. But she should not let lack of knowledge be a wet blanket thrown over her pupil's interest. She should say frankly, "I do not know; let us see if we cannot together find out this mysterious thing. Maybe no one knows it as yet, and I wonder if you will discover it before I do." (p. 3)

The relationship of nature-study to elementary science.

Nature-study is not elementary science as so taught, because its point of attack is not the same; error in this respect has caused many a teacher to abandon nature-study and many a pupil to hate it. ... In nature-study the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the pupil. It begins with the robin when it comes back to us in March, promising spring. ... Nature-study is for the comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect or plant that is nearest at hand. (p. 3)

A picture book biography about Anna Comstock by Susanne Slade (illustrated by Jessica Lanan) titled Out of School and Into Nature is listed as a summer STEM read in the American Scientist. The book is for elementary school students (and others!). The link to the book provides several reviews.

Nathaniel Wheelwright, an emeritus professor at Bowdoin College, is one of many modern day nature study enthusiasts and practitioners. On his bookshelf is found a copy of the Slade-Lanan biography. With Bernd Heinrich*, he is the co-author of The Naturalists Notebook: An Observation Guide and 5-Year Calendar Journal for Tracking Changes in the Natural World Around You. 

I include Wheelwright's Ten Tips for Becoming an Observant Naturalist. In these tips you will find a sample of Heinrich's wonderful watercolors.

* Heinrich is an extraordinarily talented field naturalist, renowned at turning observations into clever, experimental studies. It is hard to know where to start on recommending one of his books. He has written very readable and accessible books about ravens, Canada geese, trees, bumblebees, the homing instinct, a personal reflection on living with an owl, long-distance running, nesting, thermoregulation, strategies of insect survival, essays, etc. Several of his books show how he goes about his work. I especially like Ravens in Winter and his book of essays, In a Patch of Fireweeds (Perhaps because it has a local example, lovely work on diving beetles, done at the Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories, University of Minnesota .) Here is a listing of his books.

Amily "Emmy" Noether

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Math
History of Science
Women in Science
Edward Hessler


In a blog post, October 24, 2005, theoretical physicist Sean Carroll (CalTech) notes that "a 'symmetry'," in physics, "is a situation where you can rearrange things a bit (values of quantum fields, positions in space, any of the characteristics of some physical state) and get the same answer to any physical question you may want to ask. An obvious example is, in fact, position in space: it doesn’t matter where in the world you set up your experiment to measure the charge of the electron, you should get the same answer. Of course, if your experiment is to measure the Earth’s gravitational field, you might think that you do get a different answer by moving somewhere else in space. But the rules of the game are that everything has to move — you, the experiment, and even the Earth! If you do that, the gravitational field should indeed be the same."

After developing his general theory of relativity, Albert Einstein asked mathematician Amily ("Emmy") Noether for her help in understanding how energy fitted into his equations. In my cartoon summary, the linkage of time and energy. This request resulted into "a rare foray into physics, a discipline in which she was not particularly interested." This resulted in a theorem which has become known as Noether's theorem. This year is the centenary of this publication. It was a fortunate move for physicists and the significance of her contributions cannot be overstated.

Noether's theorem continues "to be font of inspiration." A conference, The Philosophy and Physics of Noether's Theorems, October 5 & 6, will be an occasion for physicists and philosophers of science to discuss the enduring impact of Noether's breakthrough work.

The journal Nature has an editorial about Noether about whom not as much is known as should be. There is a link to her 1918 paper. A quote from an obituary of her former student, Bartel van der Waerden comments on her general approach to mathematics. “All of us like to rely on figures and formulas. She was concerned with concepts only, not with visualization or calculation.”

Noether was born in Erlanger, Germany on March 23, 1882 and died in Byrn Mawr, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1935. The cause of death was a post-operative infection following surgery for an ovarian cyst.  What a loss.







 

Waiting for the Yellow School Bus

Environmental & Science Education
Society
Children
Art & Environment
Schooling
Edward Hessler

The American fine art photographer Greg Miller began his career photographing for newspapers and magazines. He is dedicated to the use of a particular format, an 8X10 view camera. His most recent project--Morning Bus--is reported by NPR's Emily Sullivan.

Here he tells Sullivan about the project who intersperses her story with some of his photographs. Sullivan quotes Miller on his aim: "My hope is that there is a little bit of the magic of the early morning present in my pictures. Like in C.S. Lewis' Narnia, by photographing children who are really waiting for the bus, there is a mixture of vulnerability, childhood wonder and real-life anxiety." 

Check those hopes for yourself.  For me the scorecard on magic is yes; on vulnerability, yes; on childhood wonder, yes and on real-life anxiety, yes.

And here is Greg Miller's website which includes the photographs. There may be a new one in it. I didn't check carefully.l

Evolution of Science Kits

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
History of Science
Edward Hessler

In the Distillation series, produced by the Science History Institute, four short animated videos provide a glimpse of science kits and their evolution. The kits were once used at home to do "experiments" and demonstrations. 

You may be familiar with chemistry sets, a great source of stinks, flashes and bangs. Most of these were marketed before there was any concern about the safety of some of the chemicals or some of the techniques (e.g., an alcohol burner) or from occasional (hoped for!) results (explosions). I had one made by the A. C. Gilbert toy company and loved playing with it.

Science Kits at Play shows four time periods and the nature of the kits.

1850s

1900s

1950s

2000s

NSTA Position Statement on Climate Change

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Climate Change
Society
Culture
Edward Hessler

A September 13, 2018 press release from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) announced the release, one long awaited, of an NSTA position paper on climate change.

Here is the press release and the position statement, The Teaching of Climate Science.

The position statement includes a list of recommendations, calls attention to necessary support structures, includes a link to an NSTA web page on climate resources and an important section on background information on teaching climate science. The position statement also includes a list of references.

The background information on teaching climate science includes sections on the nature of science, controversy and personal beliefs, the nature of deep-seated beliefs, the time needed for learning and responses to climate change. 

The introduction notes the importance of learning progressions which the National Research Council's publication, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas uses throughout. This calls attention to the time it takes to learn, K-12. In the following links, you will find a short paragraph on learning progressions on p. 26 and in the section which includes global climate change, the learning progression for K-12, on pp. 196-198.

I chose to link to the read on-line option. There is also a PDF option if you are interested in downloading. Both are provided free.

I was interested in the words used to begin each of the recommendations or declarations as they are referred to in the document. The list includes recognize (3 times), emphasize, deliver, expand, advocate, teach, plan, help, provide,  highlight, analyze (2 times) and seek.  Here is the advocacy statement and it is important: Advocate for integrating climate and climate change science across the K–12 curriculum beyond STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classes.

There is much to like, applaud and appreciate in this statement from NSTA.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

In his autobiography, written shortly before his death, Charles Darwin wrote "and if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week...."

Today's poem (two translations) was written by Tomas Tronstromer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Society
Culture
Edward Hessler 

The Nobel Prize physicist Richard Feynman was well known for being quotable. One of his most famous is from his 1974 California Institute of Technology commencement address. 

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.

Feynman followed this statement with these words. "So you have to be very careful about that.  After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.

"I would like to add something that’s not essential to the science, but something I kind of believe, which is that you should not fool the layman when you’re talking as a scientist."

Here is the full 1974 CalTech address in the event you are interested in reading it.

I thought of this Feynman quote when I viewed the September 11, 2018 PBS News Hour's "In My Humble Opinion." It featured McGill University professor emeritus in neuroscience Daniel Levitin.

"If you think you know everything, you can't learn anything" is just plain good advice and stated nicely. Words and actions to live by and beautifully expressed.

h/t: Lynne

Here is the full text.

Daniel Levitin:

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

You may be familiar with this Mark Twain quote. It was used in the film “The Big Short” and in Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Twain is saying that, if you’re sure you know something, you act on it with the strength of conviction, never considering that you might be wrong. If you’re sure that this alternative treatment will help cure you better than Western medicine, you will forego the traditional treatment.

Two-thirds of cancer patients think this way, that alternative medicine will prolong their lives. But, in fact, patients who turn to it are twice as likely to die of their cancers, and they die earlier.

If you’re sure that your choice of political candidate is right, you’re not going to be open-minded about any new evidence that might come in that could or should cause you to change your mind.

I’m a college professor, and I train Ph.D. students for careers as neuroscientists. They come into my laboratory full of confidence. They have been at the top of every class they have been in their entire lives.

I spend most of my time trying to teach them that they don’t know everything they think they do. My job as a teacher really is to unteach them. I’m always asking, why do you think that? What’s the evidence?

These lessons can take four to eight years. Knowledge can only be created in an environment where we’re open to the possibility that we’re wrong.

You may recognize the Zen connection, the wisdom of insecurity. If you think you know everything, you can’t learn anything.

I think that all of us are capable of this kind of critical thinking. Every 4-year-old asks a series of incessant why questions. We have this beaten out of us early on by worn-down parents and teachers. But this why mode is the key to critical thinking.

Think like a 4-year-old. Ask why and how. Ask them often.

This attitude allows us to navigate the world more effectively, choosing among options or political candidates or medical treatments that are more likely to maximize our success and our well-being.

By the way, Mark Twain is widely cited for the quote we began with, but there’s no evidence that he ever said it or anything like it. The source of it is unknown.

Sometimes, you don’t know what you think you do.