Science : Rosalind Franklin Centenary : Image Competition & Essay Competition

Rosalind Franklin [1920-2020]

This year, to mark 100 years since the birth of Rosalind Franklin The Rosalind Franklin Institute is looking back and celebrating on the life and work of this amazing scientist. The Rosalind Franklin Institute will be highlighting how many current discoveries and inventions would not have been possible without Rosalind Franklin’s work. 

Mys usual readers know that I published an article about Rosalind Franklin on her 93rd birthday the 25th July 2013.

The Franklin Family

via BBC

Scientist Rosalind Franklin would have been "totally amazed" that 100 years after her birth she is being commemorated, according to her sister.

She is best known for her pioneering work which guided James Crick and Francis Watson to unlock DNA's secrets.

But far more of her short career was spent unravelling the molecular structures of coal and viruses. 

Jenifer Glynn, 90, her sister, said she would have been pleased if her career "encourages girls into science".

Rosalind Franklin

https://images.nationalgeographic.com/

"I think she would be totally amazed at the fact that 100 years after her birth there's such commemorations," 

Jenifer Glynn

Mrs Glynn said before her "sadly early death" aged 37 in 1958, she worked across biology, chemistry and physics, with a "focus on research that mattered to society."

Rosalind Franklin Papers 1951-1954

https://wellcomelibrary.org/

"She would have also been amazed at the idea she has become a feminist icon - it was not in her mind at all.

"She was aware that it was harder for women, but wasn't trying to blaze a trail, although nothing would have pleased her more than the fact that perhaps it encourages girls into science."

Mrs Glynn said before her "sadly early death" aged 37 in 1958, she worked across biology, chemistry and physics, with a "focus on research that mattered to society".

Newnham College and the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, which holds her scientific papers, are marking the Centenary of her birth this 25 July 2020.

Rosalind Franklin 100 Image Competition

https://www.rfi.ac.uk/franklin-100-news/

• Rosalind Franklin 100 Image & Essay Competitions:

This year marks the Centenary of Rosalind Franklin’s birth. It's an exciting time for the institute named in her honour. 

As the institute prepares to open the new building, a four storey on the Harwell Campus which will house a world-unique technologies.

The Rosalind Franklin Institute was looking for images from member institutions to celebrate both its namesake and the interdisciplinary work she has inspired. 

• Images in three categories: fact, experience, and experiment

The Rosalind Franklin Centenary Image Competition was open on 14th April and will close on 25th July, with the winner being announced in September 2020.

Rosalind Franklin 100 Essay Competition

https://www.rfi.ac.uk/franklin-100-news/

At the same time an essay competition for undergraduate scientists at member institutions was running as well for passionate about exploring the intersection between physical and life sciences. 

• The Rosalind Franklin Centenary Essay Competition was open on 14th April and will close on 25th July, with the winner being announced in September 2020.
• 
  

Rosalind Frank

Visionary scientist

Illustration by Jody Hewgill for TIME

Time Magazine, 1953

https://time.com/

In 1953, Time published an article about Rosalind Franklin on the cover included in the well known project 100 Women of the Year.

 In 1953, Watson, who had been investigating the structure of DNA as well, was shown the image and immediately knew its significance. 

"The instant I saw the picture my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race,” he wrote in his 1968 book, The Double Helix. “The black cross of reflections which dominated the picture could only arise from a helical structure.”

As we know, at age 37, Franklin died of cancer (1958). Only now is she being appreciated. 

"In my cancer advocacy work, I’ve met female scientists who are welcomed and respected by their male colleagues. I’m sorry Rosalind Franklin wasn’t. But from now on, whenever you hear the names of the two men who discovered DNA, make it a troika: Franklin, Watson and Crick - in that order."

Katie Couric, Time, 1953

Rosalind Franklin Centenary 

https://www.rfi.ac.uk/

Well, we will be back in September with the names of the winners of the two competitions: Rosalind Franklin image competition and Rosalind Franklin essay competition.

"I think she would be totally amazed at the fact that 100 years after her birth there's such commemorations," 

Jenifer Glynn

Note: Jenifer Glynn is the sister of Rosalind Franklin

G-Souto 

23.07.2020

Copyright © 2020G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com® 

Schools : Women in Science : Rosalind Franklin, resources by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Youth Film Competition : Let's participate !

ResponSEAble

https://www.responseable.eu/video-contest

ResponSEAble is looking for creative short films about how to make tourism more sustainable.

Turning the Tide Youh Contest aims for sustainable coastal tourism in the Mediterranean and invite young people to make a personal film telling about the places around the Mediterranean Sea which are important to every participant.

Perhaps there are young people who enjoy, snorkelling, swimming, sailing or other activities which get them close to nature.

Perhaps someone knows about places where people are making more effort to balance tourism with protecting wildlife and the coastal environment. 

Or they have great ideas about how they could do things better when it comes to holidays that do not cause damage to the natural environment?

Whichever approach every participant chooses, ResponSEAble wants young participants use their creative, storytelling skills to address some of the questions and issues:

Mediterranean coast

credits: The Slow Pace

http://theslowpace.com/

• How can we enjoy the Mediterranean Sea and its beautiful coast and wildlife without destroying it?

• Do they know of examples where tourism has caused problems with over use of resources and harm to the natural environment?

• Do they know of examples of ‘eco-tourism’, where people can enjoy holidays but without having a negative impact on nature and cultural heritage?

• How can more sustainable tourism bring jobs and economic benefits to coastal communities while at the same time protecting nature and wildlife?

https://www.responseable.eu/video-contest

How to participate:

• Participants will produce a short film (3-5 minutes long);

• They can make the short film in any language but they must add English subtitles;

• Previous films if it had been made within 12 months may be submitted;

• Participants can work alone or with a group, but you must all be in the same age group;

If they are entering from a school or group they can give that information;

Important: Do not forget!

• Young participants should use only music which is free or licensed;

• They should ask permission from people that you will film;

• Each film should be in English or have English subtitles;

• The films should be 3-5 minutes long;

• Participants must live in the European Union (UE).

Ages:

There are two different age groups:  13-17 or 18-25.

To enter:

Complete the entry form giving contact details of the participants. And send the films to filmcompetition@responseable.eu using We Tranfer.

Medtierranean coast 

credits: Unknown

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/

Judging:

The judging team will review all the films and select a shortlist which will then go online for the public vote: from January 15, 2018 to March 9, 2018.

Winners 

Winners will be announced on March 19, 2018.

Prizes:

ResponSEAble has got some fantastic prizes, great for using on a outdoor holiday, while also being sustainable and protected the environment!

The top 3 films in each age group will get a Re-Kanken rucksack from Fjall Raven made recycled plastic bottles.

ResponSEAble also has a judges prize of a pair of fairtrade vegan and sustainable flip-flops from Ethletic.

Education:

The group 13-17 years old will be studying at elementary and high-school. So, teachers can invite their students to participate.

Interesting activity for students who love filming (YouTube generation!) and are taking part at Multimedia clubs at schools or even are studying Arts (group 18-25) at college.

Young people love participate in contests. They get excited to show off their skills no matter the contest. But a contest about making a short film? Nature? They are a generation who preserve the environment. No doubt!

It will be awesome to participate in this short film contest about nature and sustainable tourism, sending a film youth made at a lovely place, whatever the European country (EU). Don't forget!

G-Souto

29.11.2017

Copyright © 2017G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Youth Film Competition : Let's participate ! by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Talking about Maths Education

As I early wrote, in those last days before holiday time, I am sharing some simple ideas, suggestions or digital resources for teachers.

Mathematics curriculum is one of the most difficult to students in school. Virtually everyone 'hates' maths. Students feel incapable or incompetent in maths.

So, teachers are experiencing new ways to captivate the attention and interest for the discipline and helping make learning maths engaging for their students! A great number is using games in maths class. 

Here three videos about teaching Maths in different school levels or contexts:

Credits video: Edutopia

The first one, a teacher teaches Maths as a social activity. It is in Anchorage, Alaska. The master teacher established a cooperative-learning environment in an upper-elementary classroom. 

The second one, at University of Washington | Bothell, students work with a professor to develop a teaching tool for Mathematics by using the Microsoft Kinect. 

Credits video: David Ryder Pictures

Easy to use and instantly fun, Kinect gets students’ whole body—and attention—into learning fun. Students use their arms as the hands on a technological resource that seems like a game.

The last one, Dan Meyer on TED Talks asks, "How can we design the ideal learning experience for students?" 

Credits video: TED videos

"Dan Meyer is a full-time high-school math teacher, his perspective on curriculum design, teacher education and teacher retention is informed by tech trends and online discourse as much as front-line experience with students."

Meyer has spun off his enlightening message - that teachers be less  "be less helpful" and push their students to formulate the steps to solve math problems -- into a nationwide tour-of-duty on the speaking circuit.

The debate between abstract and contextualized, “pure” or “applied” math belie the real problem: one that Dan Meyer makes so clear in this TED Talk: students simply aren’t engaged. 

And what about girls in maths curriculum? A study by University of Toronto researchers, published in the journal Psychological Science founds  "that playing an action video game can virtually eliminate this gender difference in spatial attention and simultaneously decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability, a higher-level process in spatial cognition."

Conclusion:

Games are a great resource for every school curriculum. The educational benefits of digital games to a 'digital generation' is quite proved.

Teachers must not be afraid to introduce games in the classroom. But before, they must learn  how to use them as educational and motivational resources.


"We’re no longer intimidated by math, because we’re slowly redefining what math is.”

Dan Meyer

G-Souto

29.07.2017

Copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com® 


Talking about Maths Education by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

RoboParty 2013: live pedagogical resource

RoboPary 2013

http://www.roboparty.org/

Mais uma vez o mote está dado para atrair centenas de jovens das escolas portuguesas. 

A 7ª edição do RoboParty que vai decorrer de 14 a 16 Março 2013 já excedeu as expectiativas dos organizadores. Cem equipas inscritas e umas tantas em lista de espera, embora o prazo de inscrições já tenha encerrado.

No entanto, na página do Facebook, a organização esclarece que vai reunir para deliberar aumentar o número de equipas participantes, de acordo com a logística.

Este evento que terá lugar no pavilhão desportivo da Universidade do Minho, em Guimarães é organizado pela Universidade do Minho (Grupo de Automação Controlo e Robótica do Dep. de Electrónica Industrial, da Escola de Engenharia) e pela empresa SAR - Soluções de Automação e Robótica, Lda., que é uma Spin-Off da Universidade do Minho.

Roboparty consiste num evento pedagógico que reúne equipas de 4 pessoas (três jovens e um adulto) durante 3 dias e duas noites.

  

Ensina a construir robôs móveis autónomos, de uma forma simples, divertida e com acompanhamento por pessoas qualificadas.

Componentes do kit 2011

http://www.roboparty.org/

É dada uma curta formação prévia para aprender a dar os primeiros passos em Electrónica, programação de robôs, e construção mecânica, e depois é entregue um KIT robótico desenvolvido pela empresa SAR - Soluções de Automação e Robótica e pela Universidade do Minho, para ser montado pelos participantes (Mecânica, electrónica, e programação).

Todas as equipas têm acompanhamento de pessoas com conhecimento para ajudar na construção e programação dos robôs.

A RoboParty® é um evento pedagógico e educacional. de 3 dias e duas noites, non-stop, onde os jovens, trazendo um saco cama e um computador, passam o tempo a construir um robô com os suas próprias mãos. 

São ainda dadas a conhecer as regras das competições nacionais e internacionais de robótica mais importantes, para poderes participar.

Para consultar a programação e actividades, ver aqui e descarregar o panfleto detalhado aqui

Panfleto | Flyer

http://www.roboparty.org/

As provas, como já sabem, são três: Prova de Obstáculos, Prova de Perseguição e Prova de Dança. 

Em paralelo com toda esta dinâmica de aquisição de conhecimento, decorrem várias actividades lúdicas e desportivas tais como desporto, música, jogos, festas, nas quais todos podem participar.

The 7th RoboParty takes place in Guimarães, Portugal, March 14-16, 2013 at the Pavilhão Desportivo (Sports Hall) of the University of Minho.

RoboPary 2013

http://www.roboparty.org/

The RoboParty 2013 as RoboParty 2012 aims to immerse students from the 1st grade to college studies, as well among the general public in the exciting world of Science and Technology (Electronics, Robot Programming, and Mechanics).

Find out in 2 minutes what is RoboParty in this informative leaflet.

Education:

"Use the motivational effects of robotics to excite students about science and technology." 

As you know, I write a lot about the increasingly important role of Robotics in Education. For boys and girls, of course.

Robotics has aroused great curiosity among young people. There are more groups and robotics clubs throughout Portugal concentrated in universities, secondary and vocational schools.

Remember my posts: Robotics in Education (April 12, 2011) about robot competition, or assistive robotics, whose goal was to aid gifted young students, improving the quality of their lives.

And Robotics in Education Seminar (January 12, 2011), whose aim was to promote Technology among young girls to increase gender equality in their future career.

RoboParty 2012

https://www.facebook.com/pg/RoboParty/

As practitioners, we know that we must teach to students in different levels in the same class. Let us teach whatever we have to (or like to), but using different educational tools and resources.

Robotic experiences may be exploited in many more contexts and for other educational purposes.  So the importance of those events are very important and a fantastic live pedagogical resource.

The result of events like this it is a fun, exciting and stimulating environment in which students discover the important connection between classroom lessons and real-world applications.

RoboPary 2013

https://www.facebook.com/pg/RoboParty/

Robotics is used in education in a variety of ways and for a multitude of purposes. However, one can probably classify the way such use is motivated into one of the following two (fortunately overlapping to a large extent) classes:

• “Robotics in education”: Robotics, besides being engineering and science, is fun. Let us convince our students that indeed it is so and, besidesthat, teach them something useful.

• “Robotics for education”: Robotics is useful in the educational process. Let us teach whatever we have to (or like to), but using robotics as one of theeducational tools.

Dr Jacek Malec, Department of Computer Science Lund University (Sweden)

RobyParty 2013 is on Facebook. And later, on March 14-16 there will be live stream.

G-Souto

17.02.2013

Copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

RoboParty 2013: live pedagogical resource by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.