Tardigrade is the Word of the Day!

by Anne

Tardigrade was the word of the day on Sunday on dictionary.com! Thank you, Karen K. for bringing these lovable, microscopic “animalcules” into our botany demo! Here’s an image of one (from the net, not from our own scope):

(Reposted from dictionary.com)

Word of the Day Archive
Sunday October 7, 2012

tardigrade \TAHR-di-greyd\ , adjective:
1. Slow in pace or movement.
2. Belonging or pertaining to the phylum Tardigrada.

noun:
1. Also called bear animalcule, water bear. Any microscopic, chiefly herbivorous invertebrate of the phylum Tardigrada, living in water, on mosses, lichens, etc.

The days were long and boring as we walked a continuous almost tardigrade pace around several large buildings, again with empty carbines.
– Stafford O. Chenevert, Amber Waves of Grain

…the soldiers were struggling and fighting their way after them, in such tardigrade fashion as their hoof-shaped shoes would allow—impeded, but not very resolutely attacked, by the people.
– George Eliot, Romola

He rolls tardigrade, to a stop on a shoulder, stooped in sand, in its pretense as it doesn’t exist and there’s only desert…
– Joshua Cohen, Witz

Related to the common word tardy, tardigrade comes from the Latin word tardigradus meaning “slow-paced.”

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for tardigrade

Hands-On Consciousness

by Anne

Explainers, monks, and Exploratorium teachers exploring sensory exhibits in small groups in preparation for co-facilitating the monks’ World of Your Senses exhibit for Exploratorium visitors.

Explainers and monks working out a problem about mirrors during a morning training session.

Explainers and monks sharing magic tricks with each other and the Exploratorium visitors.

Explainer and monk dissecting a cow eye together for Exploratorium visitors.

What is the purpose of science museums? Is it the democratization of science learning, increasing public science literacy, inspiring people to explore the natural world, instilling compassion for other living things, empowering critical thinking, inspiring the next generation of scientists, something else? I think it’s all of those things… but what is really behind all of those intentions?

This month, we are hosting a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns who are science leaders in their home monasteries and nunneries in India.  What they care most about is peace and happiness for all people.

With this as our starting point, the Exploratorium Explainers are partnering with the monastics to co-facilitate their World of Your Senses exhibition, created as a part of the Science for Monks program. The monks and Explainers spend an hour each morning before the museum opens to the public learning together (and from each other). During the day, we are partnering on all aspects of facilitation–interacting with visitors at exhibits, dissecting eyes and flowers, and hosting philosophical discussions. As well as just getting to know one another, we are exploring Buddhist and scientific ideas about consciousness and how we come to know and understand the world around us.

What we’re discovering is that approaching our work with the intentionality of  peace and happiness brings a mindfulness to “Explaining” that feels right. We’re also discovering that Explainers and monks have much more in common that that we all wear brightly-colored uniforms. We share a love of curiosity and openness to new ideas and experiences. Buddhism may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of science museums, but opening up this exchange of ideas and processes is a great way to get at the heart of what we care about.

Jars of Stars

by Anne

This morning when I walked into the Explainer lounge, I was delighted to hear everyone talking about the very thing that has been putting me in a good mood: Last week, Diane W. introduced us to something super magical–sea sparkles (bioluminescent algae)!  We each got to take home a splash of them in test tubes, and are experimenting with keeping them alive on our windowsills. I’m completely enamored with my sea sparkles; it’s a lot like catching fire flies, except they actually have a chance of making it through the night.  There’s just something about a sea of tiny, living beings that glow like stars inside of a jar that captures my attention.

With some insights from the instructables website, I (and many Explainers!) set out to try to sustain this life.  Just like everything else we do, this is an experiment that may need some revision.

Here’s what I did, and how it’s going so far:

1. Kept the sparkles in their original test tube for a few days (while waiting for a trip to the beach to capture some ocean water), and they did just fine.

2. Scooped up a jar of bay water from near Planet Granite. Since this spot is near the Golden Gate Bridge, I’m assuming that the salinity is similar to ocean water. (If I’d gone to Fort Mason first to check out “Tasting the Tides”, I might actually know whether that’s the case…)

3. Boiled the bay water for several minutes to kill any critters that might compete with or eat my algae.

4. Boiled another jar in tap water to sterilize it.

5. Let everything cool to room temperature.

6. Poured the sparkles (the “starter culture”) into the jar of boiled bay water.

7. Placed the jar in my windowsill–it’s a spot that gets indirect sunlight, so it doesn’t get hot.

8. Swirl the water around in the dark at night to watch the tiny stars!

9. After one day in the jar of bay water, the sparkles are alive but seem tired. It could be the new water, or it could be that there wasn’t much sunlight today.

I’ll update this post in about a week with their progress. I’m hoping that they’ll multiply… if they do, then my friends will each get a jar of their own:)

Sal shared this website with a story and photos about a bioluminescent algae occurrence  in nature. If anyone manages to get a good video of their algae, please post!

Bicycle Exhibits Floor Walk

by Anne

Today, Ken Finn led us in a floorwalk of bicycle exhibits, connecting the art and science of bicycles with practical tips for boosting our confidence as bike owners and riders.  We now know that we can maintain our own bikes… and if all else fails, we can use them to teach science or make art!

We visited:

Downhill Races: wheel speed and mass

Lariat Chain: the fluidity of chains and the reminder that bicycles are fun

Bicycle Wheel Gyro: what wheels are made of

Spoke Sounds: (What’s that one called?) Spoke tension, the shape of wheels, and music

Animal Cell Model: heart rates and exercise

Pulley Table: how gears work

 

 

Here are Ken’s resources:

My Favorite Bicycle Book is
Effective Cycling by John Forester ISBN: 0262560704

Try it from the library first, the guy is opinionated and can go on
and on about the bike/car share the rode thing (the book is almost 600
pages!).  That said, he is an engineer, wicked smart, and a monster on
a bike (read chapter 37 about all the alpine passes in the Sierra
Nevada).

My Favorite Website is
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

Place for Tires –
http://www.biketiresdirect.com

Place for Tools and Parts
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/

Again, I realize I am suggesting on-line shopping but these places are run by
real people (both in Oregon) who actually care about bicycles and bike
riding (and riders).  If you have a local bike shop that works for
you, please throw them your business – it is one of the best things
you can do for cycling besides getting on the bike.

Explainers in Egypt

by Anne

This weekend, Aiona and I went to a new museum in Qanater, Egypt to lead Explainer training.  This is the first time that they’ve used hands-on exhibits, and they’re expecting it to be the first time for their visiting school groups as well.  They are are extremely excited about this new museum and are looking forward to bringing some fun and excitement into science learning.  Here’s a peek at what we did:

Explainers discussing strategies for helping students make careful observations at Turbulent Orb

Explainers racing various balls down gravity well and explaining their questions and discoveries to each other

Exploring lenses and prisms outside in the sunlight

Using the "Tools for Exploration" from Exploratopia to investigate bubble shapes

Planet Gazing

by Anne

On the retreat last weekend, a bunch of us were trying to identify which of the stars were actually planets. Nobody knew, but we did come up with some questions:

Do the planets appear to be in a straight line? Do the planets twinkle or not? Can you tell by the color?

I haven’t figured it all out, but I did find some resources online.  What it looks like so far is that the planets do roughly follow the path of the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the sun across the sky over the course of one year.  So I think this means that it would look like the planets are almost in a line, which the three that we were looking at were.  This is because the orbits of the planets around the sun are all almost on the same plane (with just a few degrees of variation), so the solar system is sort of flat. To really make sense out of all of this, I think I’d need to act it out…

I also found out that stars twinkle, and planets do not (not sure why though).  We should go to a Mt. Tam star night!

Some websites I liked:

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Secliptc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic

http://www.nightskyinfo.com/

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mjpowell/Astro/Naked-Eye-Planets/Naked-Eye-Planets.htm

Pilots Hub

by Anne

Hey Explainers,

I just invited you (over email) to the Pilots Hub, an online international Explainer community. It’s like a facebook for Explainers. Whether you decide to join or not, it’s a cool place to check out- there are discussions on demos, photos, and videos from Explainers all over the world (mostly Europe right now).  If you want to, you can make your own profile and you can blog there.

http://pilots-hub.ning.com/

Nano Rap

by Anne

Here’s another fun science rap for you!

DNA Rap

by Anne

I just got an email from a teacher who has gotten into making rap videos with his middle and high school students about the science topics they’re learning. Given our DNA musical and all of the great sound box recordings you’ve done, I have a feeling that you’ll appreciate this!

More Sky Sightings

by Anne

Our trip to the top of Mauna Kea on our vacation was full of science geek fun, but was diminished by the absence of the rest of the Explainers and Paul D.

Because of its height and clear skies, this is apparently one of the best places in the world for astronomical observatories. We didn’t get to go into the research telescopes, but the park guides set up scopes and showed us Saturn and the stars in the Milky Way.

As we were driving down, I think we saw the green flash.

The sky looked much more green than it does in this photo. But to be honest, I’m really not sure whether we saw it or not. According to my guide book (Hawaii the Big Island Revealed), the green flash occurs in super clear skies just after the sun goes down. The light is bent through the thickest part of the atmosphere, splitting into the colors of the rainbow. The green and blue are bent the most, and so you see green in the sky for a few moments. Anyway, I thought of all of you!