Corals - May 27th, 2008

Are you aware of Corals?
They are easily confused with plants bytheir appearance, but these animals display a wide variety of beautiful colors and shapes, that magnify the appeal of seawater.
You can experience a little bit of that with this application from Mapwing.

Do you believe in Resurrection? - May 25th, 2008

Until a few days ago, resurrection to me only brought memories from my childhood when learning about religious concepts, and more recently from blockbuster science fiction movies, like Jurassic Park. However, this week a report came out from real scientists announcing that they had been able to resurrect the function of a gene from an extinct animal's genome, the Tasmanian Tiger. Despite its name, this animal was a quiet hunter of a small size, that resembled a striped dog. Officially declared extinct in 1986, but its disappearance was a reality several years before that.

On May 21st, an article appeared in the journal PLoS One, a free-access journal, the report became available.

Take a look at the article, who knows maybe in a few years science fiction will become a reality.

Is there Life on Mars? - May 24th, 2008

That is a question that has been in many of scientists for a very long time. Why is it important to know that there is water on Mars?

Mars is one of the few terrestrial planets in our Solar System, others are Venus and Mercury.
Mars has a thin atmosphere and surface features (peaks, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps) that resemble those in our planet.
It is specifically to the Polar Ice Caps where NASA has focused its attention. In August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Lander was launched with the purpose of digging the surface of the martian polar ice caps and find water and other molecules that could prove the existence of life in the red planet.
On Sunday, May 25th after 10 months, Phoenix will land (hopefully safe!) on the Martian Arctic. Follow this remarkable event through NASA's tv channel.

Universal Grammar - May 20th, 2008

This is one of those theories that are truly universal. The ability for all human beings to acquire language whatever this is, has been one of the most solid scientific basics in Neuroscience for the last decades. This was proposed by a brilliant scientist, Mr. Noam Chomsky. Here we can see one of his last interviews.

Internet and Education - May 18th, 2008

Are you familiar with the Internet? That sounds like a rhetorical question nowadays. Regardless of their age, children are becoming more and more familiar with the use of computers in the world wide web. The level of interaction and the amount of current information is practically unlimited.
We have to be careful though to control that the reight information is delivered to the right person, at all times.
But the internet doesn´t only "help" you finish yoiur homework providing the information and or pictures for your assignment. There is an in creasing tendency to do classes online. E-learning, 0nline classes or webeducation are a few of terms used to indicate that your classes are carried out online. Why not? It is cheap, reliable, affordable and interesting. The graphic and audiovisual interface helps capturing the attention of students.
Take a look at this article that indicates that in a few years, up to 50% of classes will be online.
Report: Half of High School Classes Could Be Online by 2019

Charles Darwin - Natural Selection - May 14th, 2008

HMS Beagle, Galapagos Islands, Finches, Tortoises, Natural Selection and the Origin of Species are all words that we immediately recognize as part of Charles Darwin's life. But we think of him and his theory of evolution, we mainly think of it in animal terms. But surprisingly, Charles Darwin was highly trained in the area of botany.
Let´s hear this podcast from Scientific Talk from Scientific American to know a little bit more about Darwin's garden affinities. You should also take a look at the fine New York Botanical Garden exhibit.

Evolution Enclaves: Darwin the Botanist and Origins of Life Research

News - Wednesday May 14th, 2008

Bacteria killing

Misuse of antibiotics has well-known consequences, all resumed into one, antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that are challenging the medical expertise of today's physicians when facing a patient with one of these strains.

Creating resistance is like going back to the 19th century from a medical point of view, because youa re at the microorganisms' disposal.

Pharmaceutical research to create new drugs and the clearance from clinical trials are not fast-enough to cope with the bacterial mutation capacity. Other alternatives are always an option, although scarcely found.

However as we will see in the next report the situation might change in our favor.

Self-Sterilizing Plastics Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria

A biotech company is developing polymers and medicines that attack microorganisms.

Despite the proliferation of antibiotics and assorted antibacterial hand lotions and wipes, bacteria remain a moving target for hospitals and clinics seeking to protect their patients from infections. One approach gaining traction in the effort to banish bacteria is to mimic the way the human body attacks these microorganisms by punching holes in bacterial cell membranes and hobbling their ability to morph into antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

PolyMedix is, with the help of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, developing drugs and polymers that behave much like the body's own defenses. Among those in the works: medications that can kill bacteria without the need to actually enter the cells themselves as well as new polymers that the company hopes will be used in paints, plastics and textiles to create self-sterilizing products and surfaces. The polymer is not a coating like silver, ammonium salts or phenols. "Our compounds become part of the surface," he says, and can kill bacteria in a matter of seconds. "If you make the antibiotic part of the material, the effect is long lasting."

Technology Use increases Social Skills in Students - May 5th, 2008

Tech encourages students' social skills Studies illustrate how some classroom technology can lead to student collaboration

Well-integrated technology opens social networks for students and allows children to develop key social skills, according to two recent studies conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Tutorials for Teachers - May 5th, 2008

This information was obtained through one of my feeds from Bloglines. It's very interesting for those of us who use Microsoft Office intensively. Check it out!
These tutorials for Microsoft's Office 2007 are designed to help pre-service and in-service teachers learn the set of applications included in Microsoft Office 2007. Bernie also has sets of tutorials for Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003. The tutorials, with skill consolidation exercises, are designed to teach Word (including mail merge), Excel (including graphing and charting and Lookup Tables), Access (including searching, sorting, and reporting), and PowerPoint in the context of the K-12 classroom. They also include a lesson on the Office 2007 drawing and diagramming tools.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/poole/office_tutorials/

Blogging - May 5th, 2008

Blogs, or Weblogs, are one of the fascinating tools of the Web 2.0 generation of tools from the Internet. These tools are totally interactive tools that allow layman people communicate, edit, and publish injformation of all types. Blogs are used for many purposes. this blog, for example, is the tool for science students and curious people to learn about current and interesting news about Science.
In San Jorge School we try to use blogs and other technology tools to reach out to students and parents so we can create a community of wisdom, shared from all points of view.
Here is a sample video about why blogging is beneficial:

SMART Board use in San Jorge School - May 1st, 2008

San Jorge School ac quired 5 SMART Boards for this year. Our experience as teachers with that technolopgy has been certainly gratifying, despite the fact that we're just starting to know how to use it.

The use of its vurtues and flexibility in terms of using images, sounds, videos, flash animations, and all the resources that can be acquired from the company's website are so big that you need a lot of time to start learning and interacting with all these tools.

At San Jorge the use of the SMART Board is becoming more and more4 popular, either during regular classes or for lectures and speeches given by teachers.

There is no recommended age for this technology, anybody can use it, even the little ones from Nursery up to the older students in the Upper secondary level.

We are very enthusiastic that coupling this new technology with the use of the Wiki pages and Blogs will have a strong and promising future in the use of Innovative Technologies for the Education of students at San Jorge School.

This technology is everywhere as we will know after reading the following link:

The Whiteboard Revolution