Backyard Safaris: 52 Year-Round Science Adventures

Backyard Safaris: 52 Year-Round Science Adventures, by Phyllis S. Busch. Simon & Schuster Books, 1995.

The book starts in winter and goes on to summer.

The author suggests, in language that 8 to 10 year-olds can understand (and thus, anyone older than that) things to do in one's backyard (presuming one lives somewhere where they have a backyard, or greenery somewhere!), in a way to interest them in biology.

Sample "safaris" include:

1) Find the hunter in the skt (Oriom)
2) Catch a falling snowflake
3) Owl pellets
4) housecleaning ant
5) return of the robins
6) spittlebugs

There's one activity a week for the year, which makes it easy for parents to arrange these safaris. So go for it.

Marta Bohn Meyer - a profile

Marta Bohn-Meyer was an aerospace project engineer.

From NASA Quest:
Marta Bohn Meyer hailed from Long Island New York. Since February 1999, she was the Director of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Prior positions held included the Deputy Director of Flight Operations, the Deputy Director of Aerospace Projects, Aerospace Project Manager, and Operations Engineer; all at Dryden Flight Research Center.

Outside of the workplace, Marta enjoyed building and flying aerobatic airplanes. She stated that she enjoyed building and constructing things - and sewing - because she considers building and constructing intellectually challenging. Besides loving to fly and building things, Marta liked to run, read and write in her spare time. She also enjoyed giving back to the community and her profession by speaking to local schools and interested groups about her unique experiences in her aerospace career.

She died on September 25, 2005.

NASA DRYDEN CHIEF ENGINEER MARTA BOHN-MEYER DIES IN AIRPLANE CRASH

The crash of an aerobatic plane in Oklahoma has claimed the life of Marta Bohn-Meyer. Bohn-Meyer was chief engineer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and a widely known precision aerobatic pilot.

Bohn-Meyer, 48, died Sunday morning when the Giles G-300 she was flying crashed as she was beginning an aerobatic practice routine near the C.E. Page Airport in Yukon, Okla. Yukon is a suburb of Oklahoma City.

The crash is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In a message to Dryden staff this morning, center director Kevin Petersen said he was "deeply saddened" upon hearing of Bohn-Meyer's tragic death.

"Marta Bohn-Meyer was an extraordinarily talented individual and a most trusted technical expert and manager at NASA Dryden," Petersen said. "She committed her life and career to aviation and the advancement of aeronautics and space in the United States. We at Dryden will miss her tremendously. All the hearts and prayers of NASA Dryden go out to her husband Bob and Marta's family," he added.

Bohn-Meyer had been employed as an aeronautical research and operations engineer at Dryden since 1979 following her graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering. She was appointed chief engineer at Dryden in October 2001 after serving in a series of increasingly responsible positions. These included director of flight operations, director of safety and mission assurance, deputy director of flight operations, deputy director of aerospace projects and project manager for the F-16 XL Supersonic Laminar Flow Control project.

From 1976 to 1979 she was a student in a cooperative education program at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. There she participated in rotorcraft research, and wind tunnel and flight safety projects associated with small civil aircraft.

During her career at Dryden, Bohn-Meyer worked on a variety of research projects, specializing in flight test operations, developing test techniques, and laminar flow research. Among these projects were flight tests of space shuttle thermal protection tiles with a NASA F-104, B-57 gust gradient evaluations, and the F-14 aileron-rudder interconnect and variable sweep transition laminar-flow programs, in addition to her work on the F-16XL laminar flow project before becoming project manager.

Bohn-Meyer was the author of several publications and reports on sailplane performance, laminar flow experiments and composite construction.

Bohn-Meyer was one of two flight engineers assigned to fly in the SR-71 high-speed flight research program at Dryden. She was the first female crewmember from NASA or the Air Force -- and the second woman -- to fly in one of the triple-sonic SR-71s. NASA used the SR-71s to obtain high speed, high altitude data that can be applied to improve the designs of future civil and military aircraft.

Bohn-Meyer was an FAA-certified flight instructor and listed competitive aerobatic flying, aircraft building, and classic car restoration among her hobbies.

Among other honors, in 1996 she received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal "for exceptional service in flight operations and project management in support of several national flight research programs." She was also awarded the Aerospace Educator Award in 1998 from Women in Aerospace and in 1992 received the Arthur C. Fleming Award in the Scientific Category.

A frequent participant in education programs, particularly for girls, she was a role model for young women interested in entering into technical fields.

Jobs for the Scientist: Astronomy - Aeronatical drafter

Aeronautical drafters

If you like to draw, and not just stick figures (my speed), think about a career in aeronatical drafting.

Drafters make mechanical drawings of aircraft, spacecraft, submarine craft and more. More than the overall craft, also its components. What's fun about this is you can draft prototype equipment - machines straight out of your imagination.

Although you can draw manually, most likely you'll be working with CADD software (computer aided design and drafting.)

This is one of those fields which is currently dominated by men, but good drafters are always needed, so if you like to draw, imagine, and have a good spatial memory, this might be the job for you.

Women failing to maintain their appliance of science

Halifax Courier, England: Women failing to maintain their appliance of science

an op ed piece:
Cutting Edge - the Courier's science page. Today Dr Laura Waters, Division of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Huddersfield University

A career as a research scientist is not an easy path to follow, requiring dedication and devotion to the chosen scientific discipline.

For a woman, statistics show such a career is an unlikely choice but is this right and should it be changed?

Many people currently think so, including the Royal Society of Chemistry, which has conducted studies to try and find out why so few women choose science as a career.
Comparing the number of male and female pupils studying science A levels and continuing on to a degree the numbers are fairly balanced with a 50:50 mix.
It is after this stage that the differences soon become apparent. As scientists progress through postgraduate to postdoctoral to lecturer and all the way up to professorial level, fewer women choose to remain in science - but why?
There are many reasons why women decide to leave the world of scientific research but some general trends have been found that could help shed light on the current problem.

For example, working in a research laboratory requires long hours and uncompromising dedication, not necessarily suited to those seeking flexible or part-time work with a family to consider.

Added to this, the world of academic research is incredibly competitive and only those with a strong personality will succeed. So, even if someone is a talented scientist but too shy to tell others about their strengths it is unlikely they will progress as a research scientist.

It is hard to name a famous female scientist, especially one still living, even in this age of media fame with television and the internet all around us. Probably the most recognisable of them all is Baroness Susan Greenfield, a role model for those who follow her success as a neuroscientist. However, the former Director of the Royal Institution has spoken out of her unhappiness as she has recently been controversially removed from her role, which has been seen by some as an indication that the appointment made others feel uneasy.

Baroness Greenfield is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford researching and promoting awareness of neurological diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Her position as Director of the prestigious Royal Institution appeared to many to make her the ultimate role model for many female scientists. For this to then be taken from her has shocked many and feels to some as a step back from encouraging other female scientists to follow her career path.

My personal career as a research scientist has been comparatively straightforward as luckily I work at a university that supports female scientists. Naturally, with a family and a career, compromises must be made but this could equally be said for any parent who also pursues a career.

In the world of scientific research are we losing anything by not having more female scientists and should we be doing anything to change this? The Royal Society of Chemistry certainly feels that something should be done to reverse this trend.
Limiting the number of female research scientists we have now will limit those we have in the future as every profession needs role models. And how can we expect to cure diseases such as Alzheimers if we can't convince half of our scientists to stay in science?

There is no simple answer to solve this problem but I believe there are some simple steps we can take. Future generations of potential scientists are out there and it is in all of our interests to encourage them to continue their chosen path, regardless of their sex.

Promotion of role models for female research scientists is essential and something I feel passionately about.

Teacher accountability schemes let teens off the hook -- Willingham

An editorial from the Washington Post:
Teacher accountability schemes let teens off the hook -- Willingham
My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”

By Daniel Willingham

Not long ago a student told me a story about taking the SAT. Students were to bring a photo I.D., and the girl in front of her in line had not brought one. When she was told that she couldn’t take the test without the i.d., she was incredulous. She literally did not believe that there would be a consequence for her forgetfulness. She assumed that there would be a Plan B for people like her. When it became clear that plan B was “go home and next time, bring your I.D.,” she was angry and scornful.

I see this attitude not infrequently in freshmen I teach. They are unaccustomed to the idea that they are fully responsible for their actions, at least in the academic arena.
In contrast, professors at most colleges very much think of students as 100% responsible for their own learning. Professors may not notice or care whether students come to class, study, or learn. Most professors figure that their job is to teach well. Whether the student learns or not is up to him or her.

This attitude may seem uncaring, but I believe it’s no different than the attitude 18-year olds would find in the military or in the workplace.

Setting aside the issue of whether college freshmen should carry 100% responsibility for their learning, consider this question. Given that that is the state of the world, what happens during K-12 education to prepare students for this responsibility?

It seems to me that almost nothing is done. But shouldn’t students become increasingly aware of this responsibility as they get older?

I can see telling a first grade teacher: “You can’t expect the kids to come to you. You’ve got to reach them.” But if we say the same thing to a high school teacher, we’re failing to teach students something important.

Yet all of the formulations of teacher accountability that use student performance data fail to take this factor into account. Student learning is used to evaluate high school teachers and lower elementary teachers in the same way. But if you believe that students should become more responsible for their learning as they age, shouldn’t teachers become less responsible?

I’m not discussing parental responsibilities here, but that doesn’t mean I think that they should be off the hook.

A quality we prize in adults is the ability to learn something from everyone. Being able to learn from different teachers is an important life skill, one that we should build into our students’ education. To my knowledge, it’s not done.

Naturally, the danger is that teachers will be only too glad for students to assume responsibility for their learning. My suggestion is predicated on a different model of teacher accountability, one in which teachers are accountable for teaching well. Students are responsible to do their part.