Nearing the Tree Tops

My virtual plane was fueled, ready for me to fly across the ocean to the great Vatican City this week. And as my tour continued around the world, I saw The Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier and my childhood home. And the best part: I didn't use a single vomit bag!

The journey through Google Earth was interesting, because it gave me a new way of looking at the world around us. And although the tool was cool, it wasn't as focused as I hoped it would be as I zoomed in. My husband prefers another tool called Flash Earth. This one seemed to provide clearer views at closer ranges.

What I hope is that in conjuction with applications like Google Earth students continue to go outside and explore the outdoors. For Google Earth doesn't provide sounds or smells or a connection to nature. Have you read Last Child in the Woods? If not, I encourage it.

Me at an absolutely secret blueberry-picking spot.

What I'm also wondering is if there are any ethic violation cases regarding the use/misuse of this application. Because not only could Google Earth be used in the classroom to explore the use of technology to benefit scientific study, but also to debate issues with technology. (A discussion scientists are having right now concerns data collection on a database. Idea: scientists share their data on a database to get to solutions quicker. Concern: Scientists collect data differently, so how do you sort and calibrate it? Therefore, a potential classroom debate could be: What are the pros and cons of using technology to advance science discovery.)

Simulations are booming! I immensely enjoy the educational benefit of simulations. They clarify science concepts through magnification. Brilliant. A new one I came across through my search was Gamequarium. Check it out on the class simulation wiki. (The one through my PLN on viruses is there too!)

So, to conclude, my flight pattern was varied this week, and as usual, I am in awe of the volume of resources available on the Web. But what I am also realizing is that I am nearing my tree top.

And I can't wait to reach the top and fly!

Branch to Branch

From age to age, branch to branch, wisdom is passed down from generation to generation. Some of it sticks with you, and other pieces slip away. What has stuck with me is the wisdom of my high school chemistry teacher. Over and over he would say, "you're the best of the best, but you're not that good." A phrase that has come to personally mean: never stop learning and exploring the world of science.

This wisdom couldn't be more appropriate in this day and age when the opportunities to learn science seem endless. But what should you learn? How should you learn? And who should learn from? All fundamental questions in building a personal learning network.

And that's why I've chosen to build my network to focus on science (research and findings) from an academic institutes (Penn State through Twitter) with real people (Mr. Wanek, a fantastic teacher of 35 years, corporate education directors and science education program coordinators). With these types of connections, I will find valuable, wise and cutting-edge information.

(Pictured left) Mr. Wanek, best chemistry teacher ever, and scientist Jacquelyn pointing to her 100% qualitative analysis score on a chemistry lab cabinet door. The cabinet door was rescued by Mr. Wanek recently as the old high school will soon be torn down.

In fact, while staying in my fort up north, I had some very wise visitors. Mr. Wanek, best high school chemistry teacher of all time, and I visited about science education in the fort. First, we walked down memory lane and talked about the Qualitative Analysis project - best high school Honors Chemistry project ever! (Mr. Wanek made up mixtures with different elements and put them in the vials. Our job was to figure out what was in the vial. It was self-guided, but we could ask the opinion of our peers. Mr. Wanek knew it was a formidable project, but truly saw the value in allowing us to do science in a hands-on way.) And then, we analyzed the current state of science education (some teachers have gone to doing only demonstrations because of room spacing in the classroom). And what were great Mr. Wanek's thoughts on this? Basically, how are you to learn science, if you're not allowed to do science? Scientists are scientists because they experiment and try things. And furthermore, in his great words, "are given the opportunity to do things wrong."

It's this kind of wisdom that I want to branch out to, even though it's not the normal horizontal branch-to-branch network. We must remember in networking to not only look around, but also up and down. Vertical branching is key to passing down meaningful science education knowledge.

I will never be able to thank Mr. Wanek enough for inspiring me to become a chemist, and for always making sure I got the chance to get my hands on science.

He will always be the strongest branch on my science-learning tree.