by Bram de Veer
This week, we have a guest blogger! Bram de Veer looks at signs we can use (or can’t use?) to tell if we will have a long, snowy winter.
Can Caterpillars Forecast the Weather?
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Category Archives: Evolution
Lesson Plans
by James Morris
Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is frequently cited, often celebrated, sometimes debated, occasionally rejected, but seldom read. I decided to do something about that.
Balancing Act
by James Morris
William Happer, a retired Princeton University physicist and Deputy Assistant for Emerging Technologies on the National Security Council, recently stated that carbon dioxide is beneficial to humanity and therefore should not be regulated in any way. In biology, however, the idea that things are “good” or “bad” is simply a lot of hot air. Continue reading
It’s Not About You
by James Morris
Last week, the United Nations reported that one million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction. The high rate of extinction we are currently experiencing is a result of all kinds of human activities, notably climate change, pollution, hunting, over-harvesting, deforestation, land use changes, and the like. Continue reading
It Takes Two
by James Morris
Photograph by Randy Phillis
Great fleas have little fleas,
Upon their backs to bite ‘em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
and so, ad infinitum.
~ Augustus De Morgan, A Budget of Paradoxes
You are not alone. Certainly, you have family and friends to help, support, and encourage you. But you have even more intimate partnerships.
Something Fishy
We Are Family
by James Morris
In light of recent events, I think it’s important to remind ourselves how similar we are to each other, not how different.
On Time
by James Morris
When I was a teenager and young adult, I always looked forward to reading Chet Raymo’s column called “Science Musings” in The Boston Globe. Chet Raymo is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts, and a well-known science writer. His short essays are reflections on science, education, and the natural world.
One of these essays, from the mid-1990s, made such an impression on me that I clipped it out and filed it in my “Science Education” folder, where I keep articles related to science and teaching. The essay is titled “Teaching a Sense of Wonder.” Here, Raymo makes a plea to 6th-grade science teachers, asking them not to emphasize terms and facts, but instead to stand back and think about what every middle school student should learn in a science class.
He boils it down to five important concepts, one of which is the history of life on Earth.
Zero Percent Proof
by James Morris
Ads for medicines or cosmetics often make the claim that a result is “clinically proven.” Proof, however, isn’t possible in science and medicine. That can be a strength, and it requires frequent reminding so we understand how science and medicine really work.
A Double-Edged Sword
by James Morris
Vegetables from Russo’s in Watertown, Massachusetts
What do cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi all have in common?
