From classroom

So Much Candy Data, Seriously

As promised, here is the candy hierarchy data for 2017. (Released Oct 25th @1:45pm PST. Will provide updated xlsx file on Oct 31st as well) . xlsx | csv | txt (d&t) | surveyQ pdf | n=2460 If you tag your work with #candyhierarchy2017 or #statscandy, I’ll do my best to aggregate efforts here (and also possibly at BoingBoing for a round up piece). Note that traditionally, we’ve plotted a figure based on a “Net Feelies” metric (=#JOY-#DESPAIR). We also have additional meta data affiliated with demographics, and some questions that link to other potential datasets (see actual survey for…

The 2020 Gairdner Award Winners: Picturing Science in the Classroom

Every year, the Gairdner Awards celebrate science and research excellence in the medical health areas. Since 1957, they have given out 395 awards – 95 of these recipients would go on to also win a Nobel Prize! In collaboration with the Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences and the Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC, these materials were produced to provide a series of articles, comics, videos and accompanying lesson ideas to celebrate the science of a selection of the 2020 Canada Gairdner Awardees. This builds on the Gairdner Foundation’s partnership with CSMB and Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC, which began last…

How To Fly

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss” With these words, Douglas Adams helpfully explained concept of flying in his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But the ground is really big, and, as the Tick so sagely noted, “Gravity is a harsh mistress.” So herein contained is my handy-dandy explanation of how you can impress your friends and family by throwing yourself at the ground and missing: Step one, throw yourself at the ground. Luckily, this is really easy thanks to gravity, which will pull you down to the ground at an acceleration…

A Serious Game on Gender Inequity and the Health Arena

It doesn’t take long to scan today’s headlines, and note the troubling incidents of #metoo, or hear word of research disparities that could potentially lead to life threatening outcomes for women. The reality is that even with the slow march of progress, there is still significant inequities in how the genders are treated in the health arena, if not society in general. This applies to both the medical research specifically (do treatments work better for men generally?), as well as the challenges that many women face in their career trajectories (how does gender affect careers?). Patriarchy, in a word, is…

Some COVID-19 Questions From a Curious and Concerned Seven Year Old

I got this letter the other day and it’s awesome! I thought I would try my best to answer these great COVID-19 questions. Thanks Alaina! 1. Where does the virus actually come from? Right now, the best answer is likely from one of these: Yup, a bat. But how it changed from a virus that infects bats to one that infects humans is still not really known. However, this sort of thing has happened before and the science word for it is zoonosis. This is where a disease which would normally only infect an animal (in this case a bat),…

Nadine Caron: Barrier Breaking Surgeon

Dr. Nadine Caron was born in Kamloops, British Columbia. In 1993, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, where she was also a star basketball player. From there, she entered medical school at the University of British Columbia, eventually graduating at the top of her class and becoming the first First Nations woman to graduate from the program. Dr. Caron proceeded to Harvard University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Public Health. She went on to the University of California, San Francisco to complete her postgraduate fellowship training in Endocrine Surgical Oncology. In…

Science Studies and its Mea Culpas

Note that this piece was written to accompany an excellent radio documentary series produced by the award winning Cited, and called “Technocracy and its Discontents.” Click here to catch the first episode, “The Science Wars”. * * * There has been something rather strange happening in a marginal corner of the humanities called science studies. Science studies is claiming itself responsible for creating our ‘post-truth’ political climate. These left-wing scholars are reckoning with the uncomfortable possibility that their sophisticated sociological investigations of science enabled climate denialism, Donald Trump, and the Brexit campaign (Fuller, 2018; Latour, 2004). What are we to make…

Introducing the Phylo Trading Card Game DIY Home School Activity.

With the pandemic being part of our daily lives, school has had to make some adjustments. Because of this, the SCQ thought it would be cool to point out one of our sister projects: one that we’re certain would be a great way to learn some science, think about the environment, and all the while, have some fun by creating your own game. It’s called the Phylo project, and read on to hear more and see how you can participate! WHAT IS PHYLO? The Phylo Trading Card Game (TCG) is a project that began as a reaction to the following…

A Child’s Primer on COVID-19

(Deutsch | Español | 中文 | 한국어) * * * Let’s start with this: This is probably a word that you keep hearing grown-ups talk about, but it’s also probably a word that is a bit of a mystery to you. There are lots of ways to explain this funny word, but let’s start by telling you that it’s the reason why so many people are staying at home right now, why your school might be closed, and why people are saying that it’s best not to play with your friends. It’s also why your loved ones keep telling you…