Following on with an earlier posting regarding the ideal gas equation, here is a link to the ‘yteach’ website that seems to be rapidly growing in popularity.
It is a demo version but can still be easily and effectively used with your class.
Triple A Learning IB Blogs
September 30, 2011
September 28, 2011
Public Anthropology
My last three posts have focused on areas of anthropology that emphasize social action and engagement. It dawned on me that it might be useful for teachers and students to develop an awareness of ‘public anthropology’. Along with engaged and applied anthropology, these are action-oriented sub-disciplines of anthropology. Some might argue that these approaches are, or should be, at the core of our field.
Some confusion, discussion and debate exists regarding the differences between public, engaged and applied anthropology. However, all of these approaches have at their core a desire to use anthropology to solve social problems and engage in the world as active citizens. In the case of public and engaged anthropology, there is often also a desire to communicate knowledge, ideas and dialogue with the public-at-large, rather than keeping discussions within an academic sphere. To read about public anthropology in more detail, see Borofsky’s thorough discussion; the 2009 issue of Anthropology Today, which includes an article by Scheper-Hughes; or listen to a series of podcasts on applied, engaged and public anthropologies.
Tanzanite
Chances are you will not have heard of Tanzanite but it is considered to be the worlds newest precious stone. Not newest as in the age of the stone but newest as it was only discovered in 1967.
It is also rarer than diamond and is only found in an 13 square kilometre area on northern Tanzania. The stone is much sought after due to ….
September 27, 2011
Billy the Kid, Copland and El Salon Mexico
This morning a good friend of mine (Paul Clark) called my attention to a BBC podcast about Copland’s famous ballet “Billy The Kid”. The podcast provides excellent information about Copland’s style and it is certainly pertinent to the study of Copland’s work from the point of view of IB because there are many references to “El Salon Mexico” and Copland’s orchestration in general. I hope you enjoy it. The link is here. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it is usefull for you and your studnents.
Best wishes,
Ideal gases – teaching resource
The following you tube clip is a pretty good teaching resource. Personally, I have never been a big fan of this type of you tube clip but it is made by students and I would imagine that students around the world would find it useful as it helps visualise different components of the ideal gas equation.
I would probably use it as an introduction before spending more time explaining the different parts of the equation in more detail.
September 26, 2011
Vaccines in the news
Following on from last entry on Vaccines, please read below. The article is the recent editorial taken from Nature online
The wrong message on vaccines
Putting together a set of labs (practicals)
So, as a new teacher to IB you are slowly getting your head around teaching topic 1, plus you have started dipping into internal assessment.
There are in fact a number of earlier postings in this blog relating to marking students lab work using the IA criteria – just search for IA or Design or DCP, etc.
September 25, 2011
Waiting for the Paradigm Shift
“Particles found to break speed of light, challenging laws of physics“
I wonder what he would think!
September 24, 2011
Mnemonic Techniques
Students are always fascinated by those who have remarkable memories. One example is Andi Belln who is not an autistic savant, but someone who has trained his memory. In this segment from “BBC – Get Smart” Bell reveals the power of associations. The clip explains how multiple associations work to create multiple neural pathways.
What is the real issue facing policy makers?
Paul Krugman, perhaps the most famous economist in the world at the moment, has been a consistent advocate of increased government spending as a means to spur AD and decrease unemployment. He has also been highly critical of those who argue that the real issue is government debt which much be reduced. He counters by contending that a reduction in spending will have long term negative consequences. In this op-ed piece for the New York Times, The Fatal Attraction, he outlines why the obsession with government debt and reduced spending will not work :
Although you’d never know it listening to the ranters, the past year has actually been a pretty good test of the theory that slashing government spending actually creates jobs. The deficit obsession has blocked a much-needed second round of federal stimulus, and with stimulus spending, such as it was, fading out, we’re experiencing de facto fiscal austerity. State and local governments, in particular, faced with the loss of federal aid, have been sharply cutting many programs and have been laying off a lot of workers, mostly schoolteachers.
