I'm excited to report that the first of three awesome short science videos produced by Cal Academy teens has just been released online. Entitled "Phelps vs. Fish," this video explores what makes Michael Phelps one of the fastest humans in the water, and how he compares to the fastest marine animal, the sailfish. (HINT: not…
Category: Education
Putting on My Boss Pants
For the past couple of days I have been in a professional development training on a supervision skills. I recently got a little promotion at work, and now have staff and volunteers who are my direct reports. So I appreciated the opportunity to get to work on my supervision skills. This blog post is kind…
“Call of the Sea”: Learning Science and Seamanship on a Schooner
Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to take a group of ten teenagers on an incredible educational sailing trip in the San Francisco Bay courtesy of the "Call of the Sea" educational nonprofit. For three glorious hours, our teens and chaperones got to voyage out into the beautiful Bay on an 82' schooner called the…
“Built for Speed” Exhibit at the Cal Academy Opens Tomorrow!
What marine animals swim the fastest? How many bones does an orca have? What does a squid and an F-16 plane have in common? Find out at the new "Built for Speed" exhibit at the Cal Academy! Today is the member's preview of the new "Built for Speed" exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. I…
“Making” as a Learning Methodology: Flow States and Risk
I'm participating in a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) put on by Mozilla called "Teach the Web" for the next couple of months. It seems like a good way to get exposed to new tools and new approaches to teaching digital literacies to our youth at the Academy and beyond. This week's assignment is to…
What I Did Over Spring Break: 3D Marine Animal Design Camp at the Cal Academy
I worked with ten awesome middle schoolers at the California Academy of Sciences who made their own models of marine animals like this one. More soon…
“Maelstrom II”: An Independent Scifi Film Project Based on Real Science (video)
Yesterday, a group of our science teens at the Cal Academy of Sciences got to talk with Jeroen Lapre, senior technical leader in the Morrison Planetarium here. Before Jeroen came to the Academy, he spent many years working in digital effects for the film industry, specifically Industrial Light and Magic. He worked on such tiny,…
Human Odyssey: Learn about Humanity’s Evolutionary Journey at the Cal Academy
Today is the official launch of our newest exhibit at the Cal Academy of Sciences: Human Odyssey. I've only spent about 30 minutes in the exhibit, and I've already learned a lot more about human evolution. If you thought you understood humanity's evolutionary journey, consider these questions: What is the different between a "hominid" and…
New “Connect the Continents” Digital Game at the Cal Academy Tells the Earth’s Long Story
The Earth only seems static and immovable because we live such pathetically short lives. In geologic time, the Earth is always in motion: continents skate and twist, collide and separate, split and suture over millions of years. It's a beautiful, imperceptible dance that never ends. Starting about 500-550 million years ago, Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian…
Biking to the Cal Academy, the World’s Greenest Museum
Yesterday, I finally got assigned a much-coveted bike locker from the office lottery here at the California Academy of Sciences. The fact that we have so much demand for these bike lockers, even with ample standard bike parking, shows our staff's commitment to green transportation. Reportedly, about 75% of the Academy's roughly 500 staff people…