Exploration and Meaning Making in the Learning of Science
Exploration and Meaning Making in the Learning of Science

Author: Bernard Zubrowski

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 9789048124954

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Mountaineers, Rock Climbers, and Science Educators Around the 1920s, rock climbing separated from mountaineering to become a separate sport. At that time European climbers developed new equipment and techniques, enabling them to ascend mountain faces and to climb rocks, which were considered unassailable up to that time. American climbers went further by expanding and improving on the equipment. They even developed a system of quantification where points were given for the degree of difficulty of an ascent. This system focused primarily on the pitch of the mountain, and it even calculated up to de- mals to give a high degree of quantification. Rock climbing became a technical system. Csikszentmihaly (1976) observed that the sole interest of rock climbers at that time was to climb the rock. Rock climbers were known to reach the top and not even glance around at the scenery. The focus was on reaching the top of the rock. In contrast, mountaineers saw the whole mountain as a single “unit of perc- tion. ” “The ascent (to them) is a gestalt including the aesthetic, historical, personal and physical sensations” (Csikszentmihaly, 1976, p. 486). This is an example of two contrasting approaches to the same kind of landscape and of two different groups of people. Interestingly, in the US, Europe, and Japan a large segment of the early rock climbers were young mathematicians and theoretical physicists, while the mountaineers were a more varied lot.

The Value of Science in Space Exploration
The Value of Science in Space Exploration

Author: James S.J. Schwartz

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-03-02

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0190069082

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Space exploration, especially the recent push for the commercialization and militarization of space, is attracting increased attention not only from the wider public and the private sector but also from scholars in a wide range of disciplines. At this moment of uncertainty about the future direction of national spaceflight programs, The Value of Science in Space Exploration defends the idea, often overlooked, that the scientific understanding of the Solar System is both intrinsically and instrumentally valuable. Drawing on research from the physical sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, James S.J. Schwartz argues further that there is truly a compelling obligation to improve upon our scientific understanding-including our understanding of space environments-and that there exists a corresponding duty to engage in the scientific exploration of the Solar System. After outlining the underpinning epistemological debates, Schwartz tackles how this obligation affects the way we should approach some of the major questions of contemporary space science and policy: Is there a need for environmental preservation in space? Should humans try to establish settlements on the Moon, Mars, or elsewhere in the Solar System, and if so, how? In answering these questions, Schwartz parleys with recent work in science policy and social philosophy of science to characterize the instrumental value of scientific research, identifying space research as a particularly effective generator of new knowledge. Additionally, whereas planetary protection policies are currently employed to prevent biological contamination only of sites of interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, Schwartz contends that all sites of interest to space science ought to be protected. Meanwhile, both space resource exploitation, such as lunar or asteroid mining, and human space settlement would result in extensive disruption or destruction of pristine space environments. The overall ethical value of these environments in the production of new knowledge and understanding is greater than their value as commercial or real commodities, and thus confirms that the exploitation and settlement of space should be avoided until the scientific community develops an adequate understanding of these environments. At a time when it is particularly pertinent to consider the ways in which space exploration might help solve some of the world's ethical and resource-driven concerns, The Value of Science in Space Exploration is a thought-provoking and much-needed examination into the world of space.

Fathoming the Ocean
Fathoming the Ocean

Author: Helen M. Rozwadowski

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2008-03-31

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0674042948

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

By the middle of the nineteenth century, as scientists explored the frontiers of polar regions and the atmosphere, the ocean remained silent and inaccessible. The history of how this changed—of how the depths became a scientific passion and a cultural obsession, an engineering challenge and a political attraction—is the story that unfolds in Fathoming the Ocean. In a history at once scientific and cultural, Helen Rozwadowski shows us how the Western imagination awoke to the ocean's possibilities—in maritime novels, in the popular hobby of marine biology, in the youthful sport of yachting, and in the laying of a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. The ocean emerged as important new territory, and scientific interests intersected with those of merchant-industrialists and politicians. Rozwadowski documents the popular crazes that coincided with these interests—from children's sailor suits to the home aquarium and the surge in ocean travel. She describes how, beginning in the 1860s, oceanography moved from yachts onto the decks of oceangoing vessels, and landlubber naturalists found themselves navigating the routines of a working ship's physical and social structures. Fathoming the Ocean offers a rare and engaging look into our fascination with the deep sea and into the origins of oceanography—origins still visible in a science that focuses the efforts of physicists, chemists, geologists, biologists, and engineers on the common enterprise of understanding a vast, three-dimensional, alien space.

Expedition Science
Expedition Science

Author: Becky Schnekser

Publisher: Dave Burgess Consulting

Published: 2021-04-15

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9781951600822

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Once a reluctant science teacher, Becky Schnekser now takes her elementary-aged scientists on virtual field trips to the Amazon, spelunking explorations right in the classroom, and all-weather research trips to the school's rainwater collection ponds. Refusing to accept the worn-out excuses about why science has become an afterthought in elementary education, in Expedition Science, Schnekser demonstrates how you can immerse young learners in authentic, exciting science and thus empower them to engage, discover, and lead. With real-life examples that put you right in the middle of the action, and specific details of hands-on classroom science and the pedagogy behind it, Expedition Science will serve as your go-to guide as you work to disrupt tired ways of teaching science and instead turn your students into enthusiastic explorers of the world all around them. "Part fearless cave-exploring field researcher and part P. T. Barnum, Becky Schnekser is every bit the science teacher that Ms. Frizzle aspired to be: colorful, vibrant, and larger-than-life. Brimming with ideas and busting with heart and humor on each page, Expedition Science is packed with all kinds of strategies to help teachers rekindle their passion and learn how to create classrooms that bring life, joy, and relevance back to all-too-stodgy science classrooms. In a word? It's magic."-John Meehan, author of EDrenaline Rush "Expedition Science is the science book I've been waiting for my entire career. Becky makes science fun, she makes it important, her ideas make it engaging, and maybe most of all, Becky makes it doable for any teacher."-Adam Welcome, author of Teachers Deserve It "Now more than ever, it's important to foster a love of learning science in students from a young age, and Expedition Science is a catalyst for that. The examples Becky presents, the connections she makes, and the resources she provides are practical and easy to implement for educators at all levels." -Becky Thal, fifth-grade math/science teacher and educational consultant

Exploring the Solar System
Exploring the Solar System

Author: R. Launius

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2012-12-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781137273161

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Beginning in the early days of the Space Age - well before the advent of manned spaceflight - the United States, followed soon by other nations, undertook an ambitious effort to study the planets of the solar system. The remarkable fruits of this research revolutionized the public's view of their celestial neighbors, capturing the imaginations of people from all backgrounds like nothing else save the Apollo lunar missions. From the first space probes to the most recent planetary rovers, they have continually delivered impressive discoveries and reshaped our understanding of the cosmos. Offering fascinating investigations into this crucial chapter in space history, this collection of specially commissioned essays from leading historians opens new vistas in our understanding of the development of planetary science.

Higher and Colder
Higher and Colder

Author: Vanessa Heggie

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2019-08-02

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 022665088X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the long twentieth century, explorers went in unprecedented numbers to the hottest, coldest, and highest points on the globe. Taking us from the Himalaya to Antarctica and beyond, Higher and Colder presents the first history of extreme physiology, the study of the human body at its physical limits. Each chapter explores a seminal question in the history of science, while also showing how the apparently exotic locations and experiments contributed to broader political and social shifts in twentieth-century scientific thinking. Unlike most books on modern biomedicine, Higher and Colder focuses on fieldwork, expeditions, and exploration, and in doing so provides a welcome alternative to laboratory-dominated accounts of the history of modern life sciences. Though centered on male-dominated practices—science and exploration—it recovers the stories of women’s contributions that were sometimes accidentally, and sometimes deliberately, erased. Engaging and provocative, this book is a history of the scientists and physiologists who face challenges that are physically demanding, frequently dangerous, and sometimes fatal, in the interest of advancing modern science and pushing the boundaries of human ability.

Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration
Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-01-30

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 0309163846

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

More than four decades have passed since a human first set foot on the Moon. Great strides have been made in our understanding of what is required to support an enduring human presence in space, as evidenced by progressively more advanced orbiting human outposts, culminating in the current International Space Station (ISS). However, of the more than 500 humans who have so far ventured into space, most have gone only as far as near-Earth orbit, and none have traveled beyond the orbit of the Moon. Achieving humans' further progress into the solar system had proved far more difficult than imagined in the heady days of the Apollo missions, but the potential rewards remain substantial. During its more than 50-year history, NASA's success in human space exploration has depended on the agency's ability to effectively address a wide range of biomedical, engineering, physical science, and related obstacles-an achievement made possible by NASA's strong and productive commitments to life and physical sciences research for human space exploration, and by its use of human space exploration infrastructures for scientific discovery. The Committee for the Decadal Survey of Biological and Physical Sciences acknowledges the many achievements of NASA, which are all the more remarkable given budgetary challenges and changing directions within the agency. In the past decade, however, a consequence of those challenges has been a life and physical sciences research program that was dramatically reduced in both scale and scope, with the result that the agency is poorly positioned to take full advantage of the scientific opportunities offered by the now fully equipped and staffed ISS laboratory, or to effectively pursue the scientific research needed to support the development of advanced human exploration capabilities. Although its review has left it deeply concerned about the current state of NASA's life and physical sciences research, the Committee for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space is nevertheless convinced that a focused science and engineering program can achieve successes that will bring the space community, the U.S. public, and policymakers to an understanding that we are ready for the next significant phase of human space exploration. The goal of this report is to lay out steps and develop a forward-looking portfolio of research that will provide the basis for recapturing the excitement and value of human spaceflight-thereby enabling the U.S. space program to deliver on new exploration initiatives that serve the nation, excite the public, and place the United States again at the forefront of space exploration for the global good.

Mankind Beyond Earth
Mankind Beyond Earth

Author: Claude A. Piantadosi

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0231531036

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Seeking to reenergize Americans' passion for the space program, the value of further exploration of the Moon, and the importance of human beings on the final frontier, Claude A. Piantadosi presents a rich history of American space exploration and its major achievements. He emphasizes the importance of reclaiming national command of our manned program and continuing our unmanned space missions, and he stresses the many adventures that still await us in the unfolding universe. Acknowledging space exploration's practical and financial obstacles, Piantadosi challenges us to revitalize American leadership in space exploration in order to reap its scientific bounty. Piantadosi explains why space exploration, a captivating story of ambition, invention, and discovery, is also increasingly difficult and why space experts always seem to disagree. He argues that the future of the space program requires merging the practicalities of exploration with the constraints of human biology. Space science deals with the unknown, and the margin (and budget) for error is small. Lethal near-vacuum conditions, deadly cosmic radiation, microgravity, vast distances, and highly scattered resources remain immense physical problems. To forge ahead, America needs to develop affordable space transportation and flexible exploration strategies based in sound science. Piantadosi closes with suggestions for accomplishing these goals, combining his healthy skepticism as a scientist with an unshakable belief in space's untapped—and wholly worthwhile—potential.

Wine
Wine

Author: Merton Sandler

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2002-12-19

Total Pages: 674

ISBN-13: 0203361385

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Interest in wine science has grown enormously over the last two decades as the health benefits of moderate wine consumption have become firmly established in preventing heart disease, stroke, cancer and dementia. The growth of molecular biology has allowed proper investigation of grapevine identity and lineage and led to improvements in the winemak