Tag Archives: The Frog Blog

A tale of two cities and their science meetings: vibrant Dublin and sadsack Vancouver

I gnashed my teeth as I read Humphrey Jones’ description of the preview for the Euroscience Open Forum in Dublin, Ireland. Envy is a terrible sin but there is no other word to describe my feelings on seeing this (and more in his Jan. 26, 2012 posting on The Frog Blog,

The varied members of Ireland’s science community crammed in to the Convention Centre Dublin this morning to officially launch Dublin as the European City of Science 2012. Politicians, scientists, educators, science journalists, bloggers, policy makers and others were treated to a slick and inspiring launch, which genuinely created an air of excitement for the year ahead. [emphasis mine] The launch was MC’d by Irish comedian, TV presenter and science enthusiast Dara O’Briain (with whom I had a great chat to about science blogging and the nature of effective science programming), who spoke of his love of science and what it means for him to act as a science ambassador for Dublin City of Science 2012. He was joined on stage by Patrick Cunningham (Chief Science Advisor to the Government), Richard Bruton (Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation), Seán Sherlock (Junior Minister in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation), Aoibhinn Ni Shúilleabháin (Dublin City of Science 2012 Ambassador) and Andrew Montague (Lord Mayor of Dublin & former Veterinary scientist). Each spoke with passion on what the City of Science title meant to them and of the 160 events planned during the “celebration of science” to come over the next 11 months.

So what of these 160 events? …

By contrast, I offer my own experience at the recent ‘preview’ for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2012 annual meeting in Vancouver (Canada) next month.

To give you a sense of the magnitude of this event from a Canadian perspective (if you don’t already know), it’s helpful to know that there are no major Canadawide meetings for scientists outside their respective specialties. The last time we had this kind of general meeting was 30 years ago (and that too was a AAAS annual meeting) in Toronto.  Here’s my description of the launch for the 2012 meeting exactly one week ago today (Jan. 19, 2012 posting),

The preview was well organized and proceeded quite smoothly although I’m not sure about its actual purpose. Generally, a press conference of this type is called to generate excitement and interest. …

There were a few moments in the preview where excitement and interest threatened to make an appearance. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and Karen Bakker, a Canada Research Chair in Political Ecology at the University of  British Columbia, spoke with passion and fervour about their areas of expertise and for a few moments the room buzzed quietly. …

Otherwise, the preview was a bit lacklustre.

The organizers didn’t give me much to work with. I can’t fathom why the organizers, particularly the Vancouver committee,  gave up an opportunity to reach beyond the scientists, science journalists, and science enthusiasts to create some excitement about science in Canada and about science in Vancouver.

I cannot imagine a greater contrast between two press conferences launching science events. Bravo to the Irish!

I have mentioned The Frog Blog before but here’s a quick refresher anyway (from The Frog Blog About page)

The Frog Blog is a website created by Humphrey Jones and Jeremy Stone, science teachers of St. Columba’s College, Dublin, Ireland. It aims to provide an online tool for the promotion of science within our school, and across the country. While it is designed for the pupils of St. Columba’s, we hope it has wide appeal

 

Alberta’s Wonderville and Ireland’s The Frog Blog

Humphrey Jones and Jeremy Stone, science teachers at St. Columba’s College, Dublin, Ireland created and maintain The Frog Blog. And, in one of those crazy ways that the web and social media connect us all, on March 31, 2011 they posted about Wonderville (http://www.frogblog.ie/2011/03/wonderville.html?spref=tw).

Shockingly, Wonderville is a science education online website designed by the folks at the Alberta Science Council and I’d never heard about it even though I live in the province next door. It took a pair of blogging science teachers from Ireland to point me in that direction. From the March 31, 2011 posting on The Frog Blog,

Wonderville is a brilliant website containing some amazing interactive resources to support science teaching. This award-winning site aims to encourage exploration and curiosity, while helping kids discover how much fun science can be. There are over 30 interactive games covering many different science themes including “thing created using science”, “things in our world and beyond”, “things you just can’t see” and “things and how they work”. … (There is a great feature too – as you explore the site you pick up puzzle pieces along the way and a counter on top of the page records your progress – brilliant for young kids!)

As you might expect, there’s a lot of information about nanotechnology at Wonderville. I have looked at the material briefly and it seems they are trying to communicate to a range of ages. I saw one video which was encouraging kids to embark on a ‘nanotechnology’ career and an animation (highlighted by the folks at The Frog Blog) suitable for grade school.

From the Wonderville website About page (http://www.wonderville.ca/information/about-wonderville/),

Wonderville is a fun, interactive destination for kids to discover the exciting world of science. This award-winning site encourages exploration and curiosity, while helping kids discover how much fun science can be.

Who provides wonderville.ca?

Wonderville is brought to you by the Science Alberta Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to increasing science literacy and awareness. SAF develops engaging resources that bring math and science to life and foster an enthusiasm for science and technology.

Games

Adventure through the wide selection of more than 30 games at wonderville. Building science knowledge has never been so much fun! These exciting games, designed with leading learning techniques, will have kids learning challenging concepts without even knowing it.

Activities

Need a way to bring more science into your kid’s life? Look to our activities section. We have a wide selection of science crosswords, word search puzzles and printable activity sheets that will turn science into a fun adventure at home!

Videos

For kids wondering how they will ever use science, there are videos that explore real-life applications of science concepts. Many videos provide an exciting behind the scenes look at science-based careers for those kids exploring a world full of fascinating careers.

Comics

Laughing at our comics is a great way to learn engaging science facts. Kids will be able to not only better understand a topic but also see how science is present into their everyday lives.

The Science Content

While having fun with wonderville’s games, activities, videos and comics, kids will be presented with interesting science facts. Of course, all of these facts are vetted by experts to ensure accuracy.

What is the cost to use wonderville.ca?

Free! There is no cost to use all of the amazing resources available on wonderville.ca. This site is made possible by grants from SAF sponsors and donors.

As for The Frog Blog itself, they have adopted an eclectic and fun approach to science education and, if you should go there, you may want to peruse a number of the postings. To whet your appetite, here’s the Nano animation mentioned earlier,

I got curious about the name of the school, St. Columba,  so I went looking for some information about that saint. From the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04136a.htm),

He was not only a great missionary saint who won a whole kingdom to Christ, but he was a statesman, a scholar, a poet, and the founder of numerous churches and monasteries. His name is dear to Scotsmen and Irishmen alike. And because of his great and noble work even non-Catholics hold his memory in veneration.

There you have it. Irish science teachers rock!