ScIC "Science is Cool" Unplugged

In today's episode we talk to the voice of science for Canada and the world, Bob McDonald. Bob and Dave discuss growing up in the space age, learning about fundamental science as a child and ultimately going on to host Canada's popular science radio program, "Quirks and Quarks". We hear fun stories about Bob's efforts to educate the masses about science. This man even has an asteroid named after him that may or may not be headed for Earth!

Bob shares about the similarities between looking at the vastness of space through a telescope and looking at the infinite detail of the tiny building blocks of the universe through a microscope.

Bob just celebrated his 30th year as host of his show and is passionate about keeping kids curious about science. "Science isn't complicated!" Hear him tell how to make gravity wells, fire extinguishers, and black holes out of kitchen supplies!

His latest book has been on the bestseller list since it was published - The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today's Technology. Check it out on Amazon or in most bookstores.

Find Bob's radio show here: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks

You can find the CBC social media channels here:

https://twitter.com/cbcquirks

https://www.facebook.com/CBCQuirks

Bob McDonald has been bringing science to the public for more than 40 years. In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program that is heard by 500,000 people each week, McDonald is also the science correspondent for CBC TV's The National and host of the children's series Head's Up. He was also the host of the CBC Children's series Wonderstruck. He has written and hosted numerous television documentaries and more than 100 educational videos in Canada and the United States.

As a writer, he has authored six bestselling science books and contributed to numerous textbooks, magazines, and newspapers (including The Globe and Mail). His latest book is The Future is Now: Solving the climate crisis with current technology. McDonald has been honored for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science within Canada. He has been awarded the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the "Sir Sanford Fleming Medal" from the Royal Canadian Institute, and the "McNeil Medal" from The Royal Society of Canada. He also won a 2008 Gemini Award for "Best Host in a Pre-School, Children's or Youth Program or Series."

He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal.

In 2015, asteroid 332324 was officially named Bobmcdonald in his honor.

He holds twelve honorary doctorates from Canadian universities.

In today's episode, we talk with Dr. Temple Grandin and hear about her passion for hands-on learning and preparing students to enter the workforce with the practical skills that are essential for the sustainability of our world. Dave and Dr. Grandin discuss the need to add "shop" and other skills-based classes back into public schools. Dr. Grandin shares personal anecdotes about her colleagues whose career aspirations began in hands-on, practical classrooms like shop classes.

Dr. Grandin believes that early exposure is vital. She was exposed to the cattle industry at an early age and attributes that exposure to her long career and the success she found designing facilities for half of the cattle industry in the United States.

Dr. Grandin also gives us insight into the way she and many other individuals think and learn. She believes that understanding how others think is vital to society and shares insights from her latest book, Visual Thinking.

Find Dr. Grandin's books here: https://www.templegrandin.com/templegrandinbooks.html

Temple Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed for handling livestock are used by many companies around the world. She has also been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonalds, Wendy's, Whole Foods, and other corporations. She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) and a BBC Special – "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow". She has also appeared on National TV shows such as Larry King Live, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Fox and Friends, and she has a 2010 TED talk. Articles about Dr. Grandin have appeared in Time Magazine, New York Times, Discover Magazine, Forbes and USA Today. HBO made an Emmy Award-winning movie about her life and she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

Connect with Dr. Grandin at https://www.templegrandin.com/

In today's episode, Dave talks with Kari Byron, a professional curiosity communicator. Kari tells us about her career, her many diverse projects, and her mission to help people become good critical thinkers and "find the hope" in the world!

They also discuss how to sell the Eiffel tower, how to do flood control with diapers, and how many mentos you can eat while drinking diet coke before it becomes a big problem for you.

Kari has an art background that evolved into a science career. She was the first female host on the Discovery Channel, is a perpetually curious and adept question asker, and she is an expert at guerilla engineering. Listen in to hear her amazing perspective on life on using the scientific method, curiosity, representation, and inspiration to make excellent educational video content and lesson plans with her co-founder of EXPLR Media, Jenny Buccos.

Watch Kari's session with Jenny Buccos and Justin Shaifer from Science is Cool 9: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic9/explr-media

Find Explr Classroom: https://explr-classroom.com/

For nearly two decades Kari Byron has been a strong presence in the world of science television. She is best known as a host on Discovery Channel's Mythbusters but has gone on to host and produce shows spanning several networks; Head Rush, Punkin Chunkin, LDRS, Thrill Factor, Strange Trips, America Declassified, The White Rabbit Project, Positive Energy and Crash Test World.

Connect with Kari at https://twitter.com/KariByron

In this episode, Dave sits down with Hall Davidson from Discovery Education. Listen in to hear Hall tell us about his long career in education and about his current passion, the free Media Festival challenge for students worldwide and learn how to get involved as a judge. They also discuss the differences in autonomy that classrooms can have over a district but are still limited by rigid assessments that don't end up serving the student's futures. Hall goes on to discuss the importance of "getting out of the text book", grabbing the attention of your students and turning them into thinkers that can problem solve and not just do well on the tests! He is excited and passionate about the fact that he sees students every day taking ownership of the planet and coming up with real solutions to some of this worlds biggest challenges!

Hall's session from ScIC9: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic9/discovery-education

Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips: https://tinyurl.com/symposiumft

Venture Valley Game: https://venturevalleygame.com/

Media Festival: https://www.mediafestival.org/

Discovery Education: https://discoveryeducation.com/

Hall's document of resources link: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceFreeDE and https://tinyurl.com/hdhandouts

Hall Davidson has worked from think tanks in Turkey to classrooms in Tennessee. He has collaborated with thought leaders including teachers, superintendents, and departments of education. A former K-12 bilingual math teacher and college faculty member, he left the classroom to became part of an Emmy-winning team, creating math and technology integration programs. For forty years, he has been an educational innovator in important waves of change, first in broadcasting, then computers, and now digital learning. His talks blend humor, deep insight, and data from both education and industry and illustrate the big picture with nuts and bolts examples. He has worked with transformational industry groups, education ministries, and with thousands of students through guidance of the nation's oldest student media festival. Across four decades of work with education, he identifies right now as the most transformative and important time for teaching and learning.

As the Senior Director Global Learning Initiatives for Discovery Education, Hall uses his passion to work with students and teachers to create effective and engaging curriculum. Hall holds the deep belief that both students and teachers learn best by being content creators, not consumers. Hall's esteemed career in education has led him to work with resources, award programming, technologies, and experiences that help learners gain insight by reflecting and becoming creators.

Get in contact with Hall at https://twitter.com/HallDavidson

In this episode, we hear about the many world travels and projects of the one and only Jenny Buccos aka the real Dora the explorer. Listen in to hear Dave and Jenny discuss growing up in small-town America, traveling, visiting the Parthenon, and how much growth students can experience when they are taught to have a global worldview. They talk about involving students in the discussion of how education should be structured, how to highlight young innovators, and how to ensure representation in educational media.

Jenny and her business partner Kari Byron, aka the Crash Test Girl, are using their content to help shape students into the innovators of tomorrow.

Watch Jenny's session with Kari Byron and Justin Shaifer from Science is Cool 9: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic9/explr-media

Find Explr Classroom: https://explr-classroom.com/

Jenny is a multi-award winning director & producer. In 2003, before the existence of YouTube, she founded a multimedia website designed to educate primary and secondary school students about global cultures and histories. Over the last 20 years, she has directed and produced nearly 500 educational videos working with leaders and world-renowned organizations including Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the British Museum, and UN.

Connect with Jenny at https://twitter.com/jennybuccos

On today's episode, we sit down with award-winning journalist, Miles O'Brien. Listen in to hear Dave and Miles discuss the death of the newspaper and how news has transformed thanks to technology. They discuss the importance of science communication and why teachers must empower their students with critical thinking skills. Don't have a degree in science? That's ok - Miles' doesn't either! Hear Miles explain why having a degree in science is not a requirement to be an effective science communicator.

Learning that are no 'final answers' in science is an important part of science education for students. Miles believes that science simply is the adventure of investigating a problem and that scientific investigation should never end.

Find out what Miles and PBS are up to and how you can use his amazing work in your classroom.

Learn more about Miles on his website: https://milesobrien.com/

Watch Mile's conference session from Science is Cool 8: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic8/miles-obrien

Miles O'Brien is a veteran, award-winning journalist who focuses on science, technology, aerospace, and the environment.

He is the science correspondent for PBS NewsHour, a producer and director for the PBS science documentary series NOVA, and a correspondent for the PBS documentary series FRONTLINE and the National Science Foundation Science Nation series.

For nearly seventeen of his thirty-two years in the news business, he worked for CNN as the science, environment and aerospace correspondent and the anchor of various programs, including American Morning.

While at CNN, he secured a deal with NASA to become the first journalist to fly on the space shuttle. The project ended with the loss of Columbia and her crew in 2003 – a story he told to the world in a critically acclaimed sixteen-hour marathon of live coverage.

Prior to joining CNN, he worked as a reporter at television stations in Boston, Tampa, Albany, NY and St. Joseph, MO. He began his television career as a desk assistant at WRC-TV in Washington, DC.

O'Brien is an accomplished pilot and is frequently called upon to explain the world of aviation to a mass audience. He has won numerous awards over the years, including a half-dozen Emmys, and a Peabody and DuPont for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

In February of 2014, a heavy equipment case fell on his forearm while he was on assignment. He developed Acute Compartment Syndrome, which necessitated the emergency amputation of his left arm above the elbow.

Born in Detroit and raised in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, he is based in Washington, DC. He has a son at the US Naval Academy and a daughter at Davidson College in North Carolina. He was a history major at Georgetown University.

Connect with Miles on Twitter at https://twitter.com/milesobrien

Tune in to hear Gary Curts from Activate Learning swap travel stories with Dave including what happens when you drive a rental car over the saddle road in Hawaii and Gary's adventures in volcanoes! Then, Dave and Gary talk about the state of science education today and the importance of the paper textbook in the digital age. Gary is a passionate science educator who also shares about his passion for project-based lessons to help students learning more effectively.

Watch Gary's passionate conference presentation at Science is Cool 5: https://activatelearning.com/gary-curts-scic5/

Retired High School Science Teacher

High School Science Curriculum Specialist

Gary Curts is a 40-year veteran teacher of Physics, Chemistry, Earth, and Life Science. He was a teacher in Dublin, Ohio, and retired in 2015. While teaching, he was concurrently on a special assignment with Dublin Schools Curriculum Department, his specialty being student-centered classrooms and metacognition. Gary has been instrumental in supporting and helping teachers around the world implement Project-based Learning.

Gary is also an avid skydiver (4 continents) and is currently taking lessons on driving Ferrari race cars. He is an amateur ornithologist and astronomer, provocateur of physical fitness, and a wine collector. He was in New Zealand on White Island (Whakaari) with 3 geologists a few months before it erupted.

Connect with Gary at [email protected]

In today's episode, we are privileged to speak with Dr. Eugene Cordero a.k.a. Dr. Burrito 🌯. Eugene is a climate scientist, professor, and founder of Green Ninja, The only environmentally-focused science curriculum in the country. He is on a mission to turn more children into good science thinkers. He also knows a lot about the carbon footprint of a burrito!

Listen in to hear about his love for climate solutions and veggie burritos. Dave and Eugene discuss the importance of being a good thinker but also about being able to be a good science communicator. Eugene uses storytelling and local action to make science approachable and relatable. Eugene explains how leveraging the drive for exploration in children and adult brains increases science comprehension!

Pop Quiz - What do 280 elephants have to do with the mail? 😀

Fair warning - by the time you are done listening to this episode, you will be hungry for a burrito 🌯.

Green Ninja's website is https://web.greenninja.org/

Find Green Ninja's professional training services: https://web.greenninja.org/professional-training-services

Find the Green Ninja film festival: https://web.greenninja.org/resources-gnff

The role of education on individual lifetime carbon emissions https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206266

Making an Impact on Earth Day and Beyond: A Conversation with Climate Scientist Eugene Cordero: https://blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/2021/making-an-impact-on-earth-day-and-beyond-a-conversation-with-climate-scientist-eugene-cordero/

Find the Science is Cool recordings featuring Eugene-

Panel recording on local phenomena at Science is Cool 6: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic6-summit/local-phenomena

Eugene and Green Ninja at Science is Cool 4 session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3fAVoRCG-I

Eugene and Green Ninja at Science is Cool 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocrl6KBlMmo

Eugene's Twitter: https://twitter.com/eugeneccordero

Green Ninja's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourgreenninja

Founder of Green Ninja, Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science, and burrito connoisseur.

Eugene is a climate scientist and professor in the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at San José State University. Eugene is also the founder and director of Green Ninja, a science publisher that uses solutions to climate and environmental problems as a lens for teaching science.

In this episode, Dave chats with Mary Ford from Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots. Mary is a passionate advocate for science education and has had an extraordinary career. Listen in to hear about her work with primates in Borneo, making toast on a clothes iron with Jane Goodall, starting your own Roots and Shoots club, and how to get involved with more citizen science!

Mary and Dave also discuss her belief that teachers should be empowered to teach science in whatever way best suits an individual student. Teachers have one of the toughest jobs in the world. They have to be 100% planned and prepared, but also ready at a moment's notice to toss all of that out the window and pivot to what is best suited for their classroom. We hear Mary's take on how teachers of the world can feel empowered to do just that!

Links mentioned:

https://nhm.org/becoming-jane

https://twitter.com/RootsandShoots/status/1546888139293298688

Find Mary's ScIC session here: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic5/national-geographic-society

Find Roots and Shoots: https://www.rootsandshoots.org/

Here's a good article about the "Black in..." hashtags on Twitter that Mary mentioned: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02223-0

Mary Ford is the Senior Director of Roots & Shoots USA, the youth program of the Jane Goodall Institute, where she supports young people making a difference in their communities for other people, other animals and the environment we share. This work builds on over a decade of experience in the education division of the National Geographic Society, serving K-12 students and educators globally. She has a bachelor's degree in environmental science and a master's degree in environmental management, but her love of children, teaching, and learning led her quickly to a career focused on environmental education, citizen science and youth empowerment. She has also worked as Program Leader for Youth and Educators at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, and Manager of Education at the national headquarters of the World Wildlife Fund and the National Audubon Society in Washington, DC. Mary has served on advisory boards at the San Diego Natural History Museum, BSCS Science Learning, and Project Learning Tree. She is the chair of the board of the North American Association for Environmental Education and co-chair of the Education Working Group of the Citizen Science Association. Mary is a longtime resident of Washington, DC and also loves to spend time in her hometown of Minneapolis, MN.

In this episode of Science is Cool Unplugged, Dave talks to Dr. Joy Kiano, a lifelong scientist and educator, and is one of the busiest people we know! We first met Joy because she helped create a children's television program called N*Gen TV Africa (pronounced "engine") featuring students and teachers from pan Africa. This show served as a way for kids to stay engaged in their science education while they were stuck at home during the pandemic.

Today, N*Gen TV Africa is a next-generation science TV show for young learners in Africa, designed to encourage a culture of curiosity and discovery, model holistic ways of learning, and promote positive gender norms. The program is a compilation of educational segments, delivered by charismatic teachers, exciting animations, fun quizzes, and experiments, as well as tips for healthy living. It has been picked up for multiple seasons and is featured through Discovery Education!

Joy also shares her journey to science growing up as a female in Africa and how she is working to make that path easier for those that want to follow in her footsteps.

Find Joy's Science is Cool session here: https://www.thepocketlab.com/video/scic5/ngen-tv-africa

Africa's first science tv show for kids and families. - NPR Story

N*Gen TV Africa's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/NgenTVAfrica/videos

The Bones Episode

NOVA The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers

See our kid explorers in the field The Wetlands Episode

See the poop experiment - Food Episode

N*GenTV on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ngentvafrica/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ngentvafrica

Dr. Joy Kiano has been the Educational Advisor and Global Ambassador for N*Gen TV Africa since 2020. Joy is a passionate educator, school leader, and teacher of science, She is deeply committed to enriching the learning experience of young people, in order to prepare them for the 21st Century workplace. Trained at Oxford, she has worked as an educator in the UK and Kenya, with teaching and leadership experience that focuses on teacher-facilitated, student-centered learning. She is a seasoned teacher and has taught in a variety of education systems and created engaging curriculums and programs of study from Prep to A-level. She is also the Founding Principal of Nova Pioneer Girls High School in Kenya, where she recruited, coached, and mentored teachers for a new educational movement that adapted the Kenyan national curriculum for an innovative, student-centered approach to 21st Century learning.

She is a published scientist, with a doctorate in molecular biology and biochemistry, and has been recognized by governments as a lead expert in the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).