Curriculum Resource: Educational Video on Higgs Boson Particle

One of my favorite science educators, Science Jim, has just posted a new video explaining the Higgs Boson particle.  Watch his 7 minute summary of this new scientific discovery below:



For more humorous but enlightening videos on other science concepts, be sure to check out the Science Jim Show page on his website for other free resources.  He also has a series of very reasonably priced web classes that you can get on his website or through CurrClick, as well as live, hands-on science classes in the Triangle NC area.

Curriculum Resource: Thanksgiving Science From Science Jim

Here's a little bit of learning to sneak in for the holiday.  Our favorite online science educator, Science Jim, has posted a video of a class he did last year on Thanksgiving topics, covering topics like whether eating turkey really makes you sleepy and did Ben Franklin really try to combine turkey and electricity.  Just click below to sneak in a little science along with all the good food!



Science Jim Show: Thanksgiving and Ben Franklin! from Science Jim on Vimeo.

Curriculum Resource: Daylight Savings Time

Do readers out there have a hard time explaining daylights saving time to their children or students, or am I the only one?  Every year, my husband and go over the whole "Fall Back, Spring Forward" and have to re-decode what that means, let alone explain to our son why we are doing it.

Well, this year I can defer questions to an expert!

Science Jim is a wonderful science teacher who lives and teaches here in the Triangle NC region, but who also offers a number of online webinars. He's a really fun, lively guy who is a great teacher in person, but who has enough personality that he can hold kids' attention even online.

So the following is a short video of one of the online webinars he did in the past that he shares on his website for free.  He talks about some physical notions about time (like how it doesn't exist), theories on the historical development of time, puts in a plug for switching to a metric time system (one of my son's favorite suggestions), before discussing the rationale for Daylight Savings Time.  Then at the end, he comes up with an experiment that may help you get rid of some of that leftover Halloween candy (without you or your children having to eat it).

It's geared a little young for middle schoolers, but he's entertaining to watch anyway for a review of the whole concept of time.  But if you don't want to hear that, you can skip down to about minute 14 for the Daylight Saving Time business.

You can watch the video below, or else visit his website:

Science Jim Show: Time and Candy! from Science Jim on Vimeo.

We love Science Jim!

And enjoy your extra hour of sleep, everyone!

How to Do Science at Home

The following video is a 50 minute-long talk by science educator Jim Mueller, aka Science Jim, about how to do science with your children at home.  He talks about such things as foundational principles, what is appropriate when, sequencing, and science educational philosophies.  While it may be particularly valuable for families with younger children, because he starts with teaching children who are 8, 9, and 10, I still think it is helpful for middle school education as well.

I can also attest to Science Jim's teaching skills.  My son has taken both traditional in-person classes and online classes with Science Jim, and has enjoyed and benefitted from them both.  We did a year-long course of physics with Science Jim, and I think he had a very good approach to the topic, with excellent hands-on experiments and good sequencing and explanations.   But he is also a fun and humorous guy who relates well to young people, which can make a big difference in your child's attitudes towards doing science.  If you are interested in taking some of his classes, check out his website, which also contains resources you can purchases, such as the e-books and videos he has done, as well as some other free videos on science topics.




Help for Doing Science at Home from Science Jim on Vimeo.