Tweetal Lunar Eclipse
NASA
There’s a total lunar eclipse tonight (15-16 June 2011), or very early tomorrow morning for Australia and SE Asia. Click here for a chart from NASA on when and where it will be visible and how much of it you can expect to see.
……….o0O0o……….
I also finally caved in and got Twitter. @iBiologyStephen, if you will. There’s a little Twitter widget up on the top right of the blog that will take you to my profile. Beyond the basics of leaving messages, getting into PD and checking out updates, what novel – and effective – ways are you putting Twitter to work in class? Add your ideas in the comments below or tweet me. That’s how I roll now.
Extreme Biology: Student Blogging
Visit ExtremeBiology!
I’ve posted about this before, and have ExtremeBiology featured as an RSS Feed at the bottom of this page. For those who have yet to visit though, check out Stacy Baker’s Extreme Biology website. Clearly an inspirational Biology teacher, her students have been blogging and podcasting about Biology. Some are now featured bloggers on Nature’s Scitable learning resource. Way to go!
It looks like Stacy is taking a break from teaching (it is an exhausting career!) – but hopefully not the blog. Thank-you for your work and congratulations and good luck to your graduating students.
How We’ll Stop Polio for Good
This TED Talk by Bruce Aylward is amazing – watch it! Particularly important for HL Biology students.
Find out more about the work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. You can donate through Rotary International or click on the map below to track their progress.
2006 Map of Global Polio, from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Top Ten New Species of 2011
(Some fruiting bodies of Mycena luxaeterna growing on a rotten branch. © Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil) Embedded from: http://species.asu.edu/2011_species02
This bioluminescent mushroom is just one of the top ten new species discovered in 2010 and shortlisted by the Arizona State University International Institute for Species Exploration. The list also includes a bacterium which was discovered feeding on the iron oxide of the hull of the Titanic. Visit their site to find out more about taxonomy and species discovery in action, as well as how their nominated ‘new species’ made the top ten.
Remember however, that event though new species are discovered all the time (15,000 a year!), we are in the midst of a global extinction crisis. What use is discovery without the will to take affirmative action to protect our planet’s biodiversity?
Perhaps you too could follow a career in biological exploration!
i-Biology: Illuminating Science!
Here’s a cool little TED video of bioluminescence in action.
https://ted.com/talks/view/id/1149In case you forgot, bioluminescence is the end-result of transcription and translation, with enzymes being produced to catalyse light-emitting reactions. Try it here at Learn.Genetics (What makes a firefly glow?). A beautiful real-world example of this semester’s content in action.
i-Biology.net Domain upgrade
You might have noticed a new domain name and shorter URLs here – I got a new domain! It is domain-mapped through WordPress.com, so you shouldn’t need to update your bookmarks (but you might). Four years ago, this site started out as ‘Science Teachers’ Video Resources‘ but has evolved into something much more focused.
So here it is: i-Biology.net. Short and easy to remember.
The main focus of the site is IB Biology, but there will continue to be lots of videos and interactives linked for other sciences – especially as I will be moving soon to teach MYP science in Japan.
The “i-” could be “international” or even “I-love-” Biology. It’s up to you. I quite like “illuminate”.
With all the resources here now, “i-” should really mean “independent“. If you can support your own learning as a student by using this site, then great! What I really hope is that it will keep you “inspired” to continue Science beyond school.
As always, constructive comments and charity donations via Biology4Good are welcome.
Biology4Good – please help make a difference.
What a week – over 20,000 visitors around the IB Biology exams! I hope it went well for you all, especially my awesome BIS kids!
If you’re a student or teacher who has been using these resources and they have helped you, please consider making a charity donation through my Biology4Good gifts list. Donations are secure and 100% of the value is given to charity.
Please take a couple of minutes to look through this presentation. Pass it on to your friends and teachers and please make these efforts worthwhile. There is more information about Biology4Good here:
Check out this for a post-exam stat-slump:
Apologies for two very similar posts in a week – I wanted to catch you before you left and perhaps never came back to the site now that IB exam stress is done!
MrT
Well Done, Grade 12.
Grade 12 and MrT on their last day of school - The Earth Day celebrations! Thanks Mrs Schlaadt for the photo.
It’s all over for most of you today, and I was encouraged to see some smiles down by your social area. Was it because you thought it went well, or is it because you anticipate your freedom, graduation and the new adventures of university? Perhaps I’ll never know.
You’ve been a ton of fun and I am fortunate to have been your teacher – even if you have at times accelerated the premature greying of my hair. I hope your efforts are rewarded in July and that you keep in touch. I really do hope that at least some of what you have learned sticks with you – especially issues related to the environment and health.
Now you guys have some relaxing to do (or studying, French B students), and I have a commencement address and your reports to write.
You’ve been awesome.
MrT
The Symphony of Science
Thanks to Bing (the encyclopedic student, not the search engine) for showing me this. The perfect post-exam chillout!
The Symphony of Science is a musical project headed by John Boswell, designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.
It mashes TED Talks, Carl Sagan and autotune into quite the experience. Let The Ode to the Brain mess with your grey matter:
Pay It Forwards – Please!
I hope Paper 1 and 2 went well for all you May-sessioners today. I can see from the stats that many have been busy on this site, and I’ve had three record-breaking days in a row. Many of you may never come here again once IB is done, so I wanted to catch you before you left!
Please take a couple of minutes to look through this presentation. Pass it on to your friends and teachers and please make these efforts worthwhile. There is more information about Biology4Good here:
Good luck for tomorrow. Put today out of your brain and look only at your Options work. Pay attention to command terms and don’t foolishly think you can do an Option that you didn’t do in school.
For many of you, tomorrow marks the end of the IB Diploma Programme. I sincerely hope that it has helped you grow into decent human beings – compassionate, knowledgeable and motivated to make a positive impact on the world.
BIS students – I am proud to have been your teacher.
Everyone else – thanks for the comments!
MrT
i-Biology 