Well Deserved Praise for Ralph Coppola's "Wanderings"

Editor,

"Wanderings" is one of the most interesting and useful columns in The Citizen Scientist. Thanks to Ralph Coppola for pulling it together.

All the best,

Richard Haynes

Richard, thanks for sending this well deserved note. Ralph has an uncanny ability to find topics with a strong amateur science connection. Editor.

Rotifer Microphotos Commended

Editor,

William Dembowski's rotifer photos in The Citizen Scientist are fantastic! These amazing creatures are exceptionally distracting as they wander among my (mostly supine) euglenoids. I've done many line drawings of their internal structure and unusual movement patterns, but, with my pre-digital imaging equipment, I have been unable to capture the detail in W. Dembowski's pictures. I wonder if any readers have video files of Rotifers?

Paul B. Curtin

Readers, good microphotos of rotifers and their kin are welcome. Please send JPEGs and a narrative description to "Gallery." Editor.

George Hrabovsky Commends TCA Cycle Computer Model

Editor,

I wish to congratulate Marty Carlson for a very nice computer model ("Computer Simulation of Complex Chemical Systems: Reflections On The TCA Cycle," The Citizen Scientist, 10 February 2006). One suggestion to make his model even more accurate is to perform an error analysis on the system and then keep a running total of the propagation of error through the system.

Here is a nice site with relevant information: http://www.math.pitt.edu/~anitescu/TEACHING/ATKINSON/m2070.html

Again, I like your model. Good job!

George E. Hrabovsky
President, MAST

James Farr's Turtle Question

Editor,

This concerns James Farr's turtle question ("A Turtle Question," Backscatter, The Citizen Scientist, 10 February 2006).

Why don't you find out some answers for yourself, have a whale of an amount of fun, learn a bunch, and maybe wind up publishing the results of your studies in your locale!

Way back in a previous life, I designed some VERY simple (20 bucks worth of Radio Shack parts) EKG (electrocardiogram) and temperature transmitters for use on turtles and rabbits here in Rochester, New York, during my undergraduate research days at Rochester Institute of Technology working with a then renowned Texas herpetologist, E. Norbert Smith. All you would need is a cheap tracking transmitter to safely and painlessly attach to some of those turtles and track them with a homemade antenna and a common VHF radio.

I can share some of my simple designs with you if you wish.

Larry Hill
Assistant Professor
Networking, Security, and Systems Administration Department
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Rochester Institute of Technology

Dr. E. Norbert Smith, who is cited in Larry Hill's letter, is very well known for his animal telemetry expertise. I know him well via e-mail. Readers who are interested in this topic can send a note here. I will forward your note. Editor.

More About Fahrenheit-Celsius Conversions

Editor,

I'd like to make an addition to "Algorithms for Mental Conversion between the Fahrenheit and Celsius Scales" by Robert A. Warren in The Citizen Scientist (9 December 2006).

If you take Robert A Warren's two final formulas one step further, you get only one formula to remember:

9(C + 40) = 5(F + 40)

And what makes it easier still, both five and Fahrenheit begin with an "f". No 5/9 or 9/5 to worry about and with the "f" device, you know which side the numbers go on.

My formula, unlike Mr. Warren's, is not exactly a mental process. His has that advantage. The formula was given to me by a friend decades ago and, unfortunately I don't remember his name.

Tom Gartner

Calculators and Math Achievement

Editor,

You raise a very significant and current topic Does calculator use affect students' ability to perform well in the world? (Forrest M. Mims III, "Can You do the Math?" The Citizen Scientist, 10 February 2006.)

My perspective is that of one educated in the 40's and 50's and so is biased by pencil and paper and by (in college) slide rules. In those days, the nerdier of us revealed in the ability to perform mental calculations for estimation of various things like the number of electrons in the Earth.

I still believe that numeracy is a valuable tool to have in one's mental tool box. You won't get it from a calculator. Yes, doing square roots out the long way is probably obsolete. However, addition and multiplication tables are not. More especially, the use of basic arithmetic operations, of fractions and percents and of graphs are all critical to evaluating and participating in the world today. When an ad
trumpets, "Twice as effective," you should understand exactly what is meant. Similarly (and less obviously) claims of "100% improvement," etc. also should be clearly understood.

Of course, my bias is toward using science classes to provide for learning these concepts in a real world context. I also like science as a means to develop and improve language skills. Once the basics are out of the way (learning the alphabet, addition tables, etc.), more time should be provided for an expanded science curriculum that investigates that world, engages students and empowers them to learn and to discover and to know the power of literacy and numeracy.

Harry Keller
President
ParaComp, Inc.
www.smartscience.net

OK to Submit Articles as PDFs?

Editor,

Each week I see the request for submissions, but I have so much work to do that I don't get around to responding. Well, today I decided to just make a little time.

Perhaps some other people have the same issue that I have with submissions. My papers usually contain some sort of graphics or equations that are difficult to produce in HTML. For example, my series of two papers in The Citizen Scientist about the Coriolis force had equations that did not get formatted properly and seemed inscrutable as a result ("One More Round with the Coriolis Force, Part 1. Odd and Humorous Beliefs," 20 May 2005, and "Part 2. Challenging the Alleged Effects," 3 June 2005).

These articles were much more clear in PDF, and I'll probably eventually set it on my own web-site just that way.

I would really like to submit in PDF or PostScript format because so much formatting of technical content is under better control. Maybe you and your board could discuss the possibility of including other formats. For example, have an HTML abstract page which will fit well with TCS format, but with a link to the full article in PDF or PS. This way you could mix articles of various formats.

Sincerely,

Kevin Kilty

Kevin, You've brought up an important topic. It's difficult to format some of our articles in HTML, especially with a tight production schedule. Unfortunately, we can't publish PDFs as-is, because they are produced solely by the author and almost certainly do not resemble the TCS style. Nor can they be edited for typos and spelling. However, if you sent an article that linked to a PDF on a completely independent web site (like yours), that's fine. That would also help with the equation problem, which can be a problem. Also, including animations in TCS can be troublesome. So an external link would be fine for that. Thanks for being a part of The Citizen Scientist. Editor.

1890 High School Admission Test for Eighth Grade Students

Editor,

I read your article about the vintage 1890 test for eighth graders in British Columbia (Forrest M. Mims III, "So You Think You Have an Eighth Grade Education?" The Citizen Scientist, 27 January 2006 and "Can You do the Math?" TCS, 10 February 2006). I found a similar test on snopes.com for Salina, Kansas in 1895. Snopes says that one is false, and I wonder about the the authenticity of the one you published.

Jeffrey Bledsoe

The snopes.com web site does not claim that the 1895 test is false. Instead, it claims as false the assertion that, "An 1895 graduation examination for public school students demonstrates a shocking decline in educational standards." While it is correct that some of the questions on old tests may no longer be relevant, the fact remains that students in the United States score near the bottom of industrialized countries in international academic achievement tests. Editor.

Addressing the Education Crisis

Editor,

My work takes me regularly to some of the least advantaged schools and classrooms in the country. I also have the opportunity to review work from various education levels from sixth grade through college. We do have a problem.

I am very pleased that the Society for Amateur Scientists (SAS) has chosen to become involved in the discussion of education, especially of science education because I have left science and software to devote myself to science education and have designed and created a new technology to support that work (Forrest M. Mims III, "So You Think You Have an Eighth Grade Education?" The Citizen Scientist, 27 January 2006).

Let's face the issues head on. Money can help, but won't solve the problem. More teacher training also doesn't help much because it doesn't change teacher behavior much and can't affect the infrastructure in which they must operate. Blaming parents won't help either; realize that many students effectively have no parents. Our culture should take much of the blame, but I see no easy way to fix it. There's far too much emphasis on a big "score" as an athlete, rock star, etc.

I find Sheldon Greaves's observation that there's no modern day living equivalent of Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Simon Newcomb, or Richard Feynman to be accurate, at least in my eyes. Still I find some solace in surrogates like William Petersen, the nerd in charge of the LV CSI (TV show) crew, who has helped that show to such overwhelming ratings. There's a glimmer of hope that intellectual pursuits may again gain ascendancy.

With no easy single solution in sight, I hope that each and every one of us will do what we do best to put the worth of a great science education into the public view. In particular, we should emphasize, as did Carl Sagan, that learning science is not just for scientists. It has great value in everyday life.

Because of my training as a professional scientist and as a professional software engineer as well as my experience in education and in business, I have chosen to make my contribution through an innovative software program for teaching science -- not the boring list of facts and words, but inquiry and discovery and discipline and careful data collection and analysis. I'd be pleased to correspond with SAS members on this topic. My contact information is on my web site.

Finally, I'd like to provide a few quotes. The government may be cutting money for science and education, but read what it's saying online.

“America's schools are not producing the science excellence required for global economic leadership and homeland security in the 21st century.” ed.gov/nclb/methods/science/science.html

“Eighty-two percent of our nation's twelfth graders performed below the proficient level on the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test.” ed.gov/nclb/methods/science/science.html

“As the U.S. Commission on National Security in the Twenty-First Century Reports, 'More Americans will have to understand and work competently with science and math on a daily basis ... the inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater threat to U.S. national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war that we might imagine.'” ed.gov/nclb/methods/science/science.html

I have much more on how to teach science properly and how to create science labs that are meaningful that I've put into my software. The point here is clear. Science is crucial to our national existence; excellent science education is crucial to doing science. I'm doing what I can to make technology that supports great science education. The SAS is doing great PR to support science. Instead of moaning about this situation, let's "see things as the might be and ask, 'Why not.'"

Please write to the editor and make your suggestions for how individuals like yourself can make a difference in any aspect of U.S. science education. Could the SAS become the nucleus for a movement?

Harry Keller
President
ParaComp, Inc.
www.smartscience.net

Exasperated Parent to Shawn Carlson on Excessive Science Fair Rules

24 February 2006

My daughter is participating in this years school science fair. Her name is [deleted] and she is in 3rd grade. We have been working on a project for a long time now. [She] wanted to do something no one else was doing so we did her project on "Brain Freezes" also known as "Ice Cream Headaches." She went all out. Over 100 pages of research. She has completed a report that is interesting and factual, starting with her own theory as to why people get these headaches, her way to get rid of them, her thoughts on if kids get them more than adults, if they are more common to get in warm weather and her ideas on the main other foods that would give you these headaches besides ice cream.

Then she researched so much and wrote a comparison to her theory to the factual information she found on on the above listed subject. Questions she asked and wrote her theory before research. She has a wonderful display poster board and a model brain showing in blue the area that the "brain freeze" occurs.

I got a phone call from the school saying that we have to test different theories she found on ways to get rid of the headaches. The catch is human testing is not allowed. We are trying to get consent forms so that if that is a vital part of the project, myself, her dad, aunt and uncle can test the theories.

What do you think about this. I really feel she did a great job. Where did we go wrong? Do you think that the project is not good enough for a fair? Please contact me via e-mail and let me know your thoughts.

Thank you so very much!

Name deleted

Shawn Carlson Replies

Dear [name deleted],

In my view this "human testing" rule is just plain nuts.

Reasonable people can make reasonable judgments about risks. You don't want experiments to expose people to true hazards. But tests of, say, how people perceive sounds or optical illusions? Please! It's ridiculous restrictions that have nothing to do with safety that make people disrespect the rules. Once they gain that disrespect they are more likely to break the rules, even those that have a good but not obvious purpose. I've seen this happen time and again. We need people to respect safety rules, and that means those rules must be worthy of respect. A blanket ban on human testing for instance in the end
teaches people that safety rules can be disregarded. Worse, its hurts young people like your daughter. Educators need to keep in mind that LEARNING FOLLOWS INTEREST! And there is no faster way to throw cold water on a person's interest than to have them work hard on a project that then gets disqualified for a silly silly reason.

I haven't read the protocols for your daughter's experiment. If she wants people to ingest unsafe amounts of pain relievers or something like that to ward off the brain-freeze, then sure, one could take issue with it. I could imagine a few other things that would clearly be unsafe. But if no chemicals are to be ingested, and people are willing to undergo whatever she has in mind of their own free will, then in all
likelihood there should be no problem whatsoever.

Unfortunately, all that said, there probably isn't anything that you can do about this. There is no way these people are going to back down. They are terrified of lawsuits, and their unreasonable fears of such suits cause them to adopt positions that unreasonably kill kids interest.

I wish I could do more to help you. You certainly have my moral support, but that isn't going to get your daughter into the science fair.

Best of luck,

Dr. Shawn

Readers, stay tuned for more about nutty science fair rules in a future issue of The Citizen Scientist. Editor.

Learning Languages

Editor,

I've been doing a bit of research on language learning recently while setting up a web site for selling CDs for learning languages. Incidentally, my new site is located at http://www.learnaforeignlanguagefast.com/. In the course of that research I’ve discovered some very interesting things. For one thing, you are quite correct; aptitude is needed for learning languages IF you're learning it from a book the way I learned all those dead languages.

Learning to speak another language, however, is another matter entirely. One of the great advances of 20th century linguistics was the discovery of "logic circuits" in the speech centers of the human brain to which every known language maps itself in some way. These "deep structures" as they are called are what make it possible for humans to learn to speak their first language and any subsequent language thereafter. This was discovered in the late 50’s by Noam Chomsky when he studied people learning a second language and observed people correctly inferring grammatical structures in their new language when there was no logical basis for them to do so. Later research has borne out the fact that we all have a sort of generic language map in our heads, however, by far the most effective way to leverage it is through learning based on a listening and oral response method. Reading isn't a "natural" ability for humans, so learning a new language structure that way is very, very difficult for most people.

I've seen this first-hand; as you may know the Mormon Church has a language school for training missionaries located in Provo, UT. I know some people who have taught there, and they use an immersion approach based almost entirely on listen and response training augmented with some lectures in grammar. They have it down to where just about anyone can learn any language in about eight weeks if they’re willing to stick it out. Seriously, very very few drop out because they just can't handle it intellectually. I’ve seen C-student footballer types who didn't even take high school Spanish go into the program and come out two months later speaking anything from Japanese to Polish to Icelandic quite passably.

So if you still want to learn Spanish, you should try a set of CDs or tapes, preferably using the Pimsleur method. This method also takes into account how short-term memory moves to long-term memory and paces the introduction of new material and review of old material accordingly. Last November after Thanksgiving I started going through the Pimsleur Comprehensive Mandarin, Level 1 just to see how good it was. I'm now nearly finished with Level 1 and I can carry on simple conversations, ask and take directions, etc. It works better than anything I've every tried. I'm going to begin doing Level 2 next month and hopefully finish Level 3 by April or early May, which should give me enough fluency for most purposes. Granted, I'm not your average student, but from all I've been able to find out, my experience is not all that atypical. You just have to do it every day for about 30 minutes.

What's really cool about this, however, is that those deep structures don't go away as you get older. They are hard-wired and short of injury or dementia they'll be there till you die. There is a growing body of research and anecdotal evidence that shows adults are actually much faster than children when it comes to learning to speak languages IF they use a good listen-and-respond method. A good learning method can have an adult speaking in six months what it takes an average child as long as five years to accomplish.

Anyway, that's two long treatises in one night. Enough!

Take care,

Sheldon

From the Twilight Zone

Dear Sirs/Madam:

I am a United States citizen who has never left the country. Therefore, I should not be used for any research purposes, including brain scanning or monitoring.

I am receiving neuro signals to my ears, and should not be able to hear myself think, nor should I hear other individuals' conversations who are not present nor on the telephone with me. As a psychology majoring student, I am aware that brain monitoring is illegal in the United States. I feel like a human jukebox.

I expect to be removed immediately, and to be compensated for my pain and suffering that this illegal procedure has caused. Please guide me to whom may be involved so that I may be properly compensated if it is not your company.

Please feel free to contact me via my e-mail address or United States Postal address listed above. Should this continue, I will have to report this issue to the International Police. A photo is attached for identification purposes. Please stop illegally surveillancing me as well.

Thank you!

Ms. [name deleted]
Victim

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