http://www.stevespangler.com Making Science Education Fun Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:00:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en © alyssa@stevespangler.com () alyssa@stevespangler.com() 1440 Making Science Education Fun alyssa@stevespangler.com No no http://www.stevespangler.com/stevespangler/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.stevespangler.com 144 144 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/09/06/when-the-tie-dyed-lab-coat-comes-out-it%e2%80%99s-time-for-science/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/09/06/when-the-tie-dyed-lab-coat-comes-out-it%e2%80%99s-time-for-science/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2005 08:27:30 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/?p=144 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/09/06/when-the-tie-dyed-lab-coat-comes-out-it%e2%80%99s-time-for-science/feed/ 00:01:01 You're in for a treat today, because I'm posting my very first podcast interview. Listen in on my discussion with Julie Gintzler, kindergarten teacher extraordinaire and ... You're in for a treat today, because I'm posting my very first podcast interview. Listen in on my discussion with Julie Gintzler, kindergarten teacher extraordinaire and instructor at the Hands-on Science Boot Camp as she shares one of her secrets to teaching science. Julie doesn't do diagrams on the board or long dissertations. Her secret is her lab coat. After 18 years of teaching, Julie has finally found something that sparks the kids' imagination right off. The first time she introduces a science experiment, she wears her tie dyed lab coat. From it she pulls out a gem of the day. It might be a test tube. It might be a magnifying glass. It's a great way to introduce the tools in a fun and exciting way. The kids know the minute her lab coat goes on, science is just around the corner. Most lab coats are white. One of my teachers in high school had one with burns all over it. Julie tried a plain white one and the kids were frightened. They thought "doctor"? or "nurse"?. So Julie's is tie dyed from head to toe in primary colors. Not only is it a cue that it is time to talk about science, but the children get excited about science. Get them excited when they are young and while their minds are open. Listen to my podcast interview of science teacher superstar Julie Gintzler (File size is 1.2 MB) (Show length 5 minutes) What's your secret? Is there something you use like Julie's lab coat to let your students know that they're in for something special? Click on the comment button to share your ideas. Educating,,Podcasts alyssa@stevespangler.com no No http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/07/07/scientist-of-the-week-great-idea/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/07/07/scientist-of-the-week-great-idea/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2005 17:35:58 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/07/07/scientist-of-the-week-great-idea/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/07/07/scientist-of-the-week-great-idea/feed/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/06/21/potato-gun-fun/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/06/21/potato-gun-fun/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2005 21:20:26 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/06/21/potato-gun-fun/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/06/21/potato-gun-fun/feed/ 00:01:01 I just completed a segment for television on the "power of air". How else to better demonstrate "power" than to have a little fun with ... I just completed a segment for television on the "power of air". How else to better demonstrate "power" than to have a little fun with a potato gun. Now before anyone gets bent out of shape because I'm doing something so "unsafe", take a look at the video to see how this potato launcher works. The original design was actually created by a great chemistry teacher from Naperville, Illinois by the name of Lee Marek. It's really a great way to demonstrate Boyle's Law. Behind the scenes... Remember that most of the work I do on television is live. There's no retakes or editing - what you see is what you get, and rarely do I ever get a chance to practice with any of the other news anchors. If you watched the video, you saw that Mark Koebrich and I had a blast on camera, but that's all you saw "on camera". What you didn't see was the camera man, director, audio technician and the security guard all shooting potato plugs in the 9NEWS backyard. Funny how a simple little device can bring the kid out in all of us. But I never would have guessed that the volume of email response would have been this great. My inbox was overflowing with emails from viewers who each had their on "version" of a potato gun... which were dangerous to say the least!!! How could my relatively harmless version of a spud launcher be in any way related to these monster potato cannons? However, I did receive one email with a link to a website with great potato gun stories. If you're a potato gun enthusiast, you'll love the stories. General alyssa@stevespangler.com no No http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2004/08/22/corporate-training-needs-an-overhaul/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2004/08/22/corporate-training-needs-an-overhaul/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2004 23:27:11 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2004/08/22/corporate-training-needs-an-overhaul/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2004/08/22/corporate-training-needs-an-overhaul/feed/