How do Scientists Communicate? Presented by Kristin Majda

Introduction This presentation intends to: Describe the roles of primary and secondary sources in the classroom Demonstrate how to incorporate primary and secondary sources into K-12 and higher education curricula Give teachers an opportunity to examine examples of primary and secondary sources and reflect on how to best incorporate them into their curricula How do Scientists Communicate?

Introduction The foundation of technology is the ability to communicate learned information from one generation to the next How do Scientists Communicate? 30,000 years ago 15,000 years ago 5,000 years ago

Introduction The foundation of technology is the ability to communicate learned information from one generation to the next How do Scientists Communicate? 3,000 years ago 600 years ago 1,500 years ago

Introduction The foundation of technology is the ability to communicate learned information from one generation to the next How do Scientists Communicate? Today

Introduction Scientists communicate in writing: Lab notebooks / journals Peer-reviewed articles Posters Databases Scientists communicate verbally: Lectures, colloquia, conferences Interviews Collaboration How do Scientists Communicate? Modern Primary Sources

Introduction Secondary Sources News stories and articles Essays and editorials Reviews Text books Science literature How do Scientists Communicate? Convert complex technical information into “user-friendly” resources Primary Secondary Source Source Combine information from multiple sources Primary Source Secondary Source Primary Source

In the Classroom Classroom Resources Textbooks and guidebooks Editorials, essays, reviews Fiction Literature Nonfiction Literature Peer reviewed journal articles Online databases and bioinformatics tools How do Scientists Communicate? Primary Sources Develop technical reading and writing skills Develop critical thinking skills Promote a true understanding of the process of scientific research and discovery Secondary Sources Summarize and integrate science concepts Engage learners Apply science to real life

Editorials, Essays, Reviews Use to supplement textbooks Extend and enhance learning More in-depth applications to real life Often more difficult to understand than the textbook Provide a scaffold for Bloom’s Taxonomy How do Scientists Communicate? The role of the teacher is to use leading questions to: Help students compare and contrast what they learned from their textbook and in class to what they learned in the article Address the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Fiction and Nonfiction Literature Use in place of or to supplement textbooks Often easier to understand Better engages reader More in-depth applications to real life How do Scientists Communicate? The role of the teacher is to use leading questions to: Help students identify and scaffold science concepts Help students identify parts of the story that are not scientifically accurate Build on story background knowledge to teach new concepts and address the progressive levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Fiction Literature Let’s look at some examples Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (elementary) There’s a Hair in My Dirt by Gary Larson (K-12) Other Good Resources “Sid the Science Kid” books and programs (early elementary) “The Cat in the Hat” science series (early elementary) “The Magic School Bus” series (elementary) “Magic Treehouse” series (elementary and middle school) How do Scientists Communicate?

Nonfiction Literature Let’s look at some examples Build It! By Linda Ward Beech (early elementary) (from The National Geographic Experience) Here is the Coral Reef by Madeleine Dunphy (elementary) Genome by Matt Ridley (high school) The Secret Life of Germs by Philip Tierno (high school) Other Good Resources The National Geographic Experience (K-5 curriculum) – gets kids journaling starting in kindergarten Magic Tree House Field Guides (elementary and middle school) Biographies of scientists (written for your grade level) See examples of books on table for high school students How do Scientists Communicate?

Nonfiction Literature Leading Questions for The Secret Life of Germs Help students identify and scaffold science concepts Help students identify parts of the story that are not scientifically accurate Build on story background knowledge to teach new concepts and address the progressive levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions are posted on CSTA website I created PowerPoint presentations that provided the answers in lecture format building on the concepts learned in the book How do Scientists Communicate?

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Incorporate new discoveries into the curriculum Develop technical reading skills –Chunk material into “bite sized” pieces –Use context clues to learn new vocabulary –Clarify unclear information –Summarize and connect major ideas Develop technical writing skills –Student-written summaries, essays, and reports How do Scientists Communicate? Reciprocal Reading Strategies

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Promote a true understanding of experimental design and scientific research, and develop critical thinking skills –What is the problem/question being investigated? Why is it important? What previous research does this investigation rely on? –What is the hypothesis? What were other possible hypotheses? –What lab methods were used? How did each contribute to the experiment? What kind of data did each produce? –What were the controls and variables? Are there factors that were not controlled for? How could the experiment have been improved? –Is the data statistically significant? Is the conclusion supported by the data? In what other ways could the data be interpreted? –How do the results advance scientific understanding in this field? What future experiments should be conducted? How do Scientists Communicate?

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles I hand pick less complex articles to ease students into reading and interacting with these –Insulin Activity (Preproinsulin journal article and activity instructions have been uploaded to CSTA website) Science magazine has some resources for high school teachers to use journal articles in the classroom –Members can download all previous content How do Scientists Communicate?

Online Databases and Bioinformatic Tools Enhance student understanding of genetics, biotechnology, bioinformatics, evolution, and other related disciplines Enable student to interact with real life data and tools Enable students to develop animations for their reports Instructions are posted on CSTA for building: Phylogenetic Trees 3D Protein Models How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees Molecular phylogenetics attempts to determine the rates and patterns of change occurring in DNA and proteins and to reconstruct the evolutionary history of genes and organisms A Phylogenetic Tree is an illustration that shows the evolutionary relationship among groups of organisms Many proteins are conserved across species with differing degrees of variation Good for linking genetics and cell biology with evolution How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 1) Go to 2) Enter the protein you want to find in the search box and click “Go” How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 3) Find the set of proteins you are interested in and record their accession numbers IBP1_Human (PO8833) accession number How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 5) Select the FASTA button 4) Go back to How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 6) Enter the accession numbers for each gene/protein, one per line 7) Click the “Create FTP file” button How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 8) Select all of the resulting FASTA sequences and paste them into a word processor document 9) Rename the sequences to match the animals they came from How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 10) Go to 11) Cut the renamed sequences from the word processor document and paste them into the window at the bottom of the page, then click “Run” How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 12) Click “Start Jalview” How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 13) Remove gap-rich regions if necessary (using the mouse to select and delete them) How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees 14) Generate the tree by selecting the menus and commands shown How do Scientists Communicate?

Creating Phylogenetic Trees How do Scientists Communicate?