Got a Hankerin to Learn Some Biology? Check Out BIO 230!

(Is this scary creature the killer rabbit from Monty Python lurking in your backyard, or one of those mutant rabbits from Australia?)

Who says scientists have no funny bone? Professor Singleton’s Blog, BIO 230, dishes out science with a dose of humor. The blog includes weekly reviews of the show House analyzing the plausibility of the science. I’m particularly fond of the section entitled Topics Singleton Likes To Rant. I’m even considering a gift of a gold-leafed soap box for Christmas. One of my favorite postings from the archives is called Kill the Wabbitt. (The things that Bugs Bunny left imprinted upon our brains!) Ah that Dr. Singleton is a master of wit! If only he could use some of that creativity to improve his blog title… I’ve known Professor Singleton since the day mom brought me home and he asked if she couldn’t return me for a dog. He has serious potential for knee slappin' jokes. He's the inventor of the Yeasty Boys Brewing Company. He can do better than the boring academic BIO 230 title that does not begin to describe the contents of this terrific blog. One final rant, and this for the students; please, please, please don’t use Wikipedia as a cited resource! You have a myriad of rich quality scientific resources at your fingertips -- just ask a librarian!

(See my blog listing below to link to BIO 230.)

Become Ruler of Your Own Private Ocean Realm

One of my favorite apps for my iPhone is an app called Fantastic Fish. It’s an app that appeals to a wide age range from my elementary –aged children to adults. It allows you to build oceans and populate them with fish. It’s on the Plus+ network, so you can join up with friends to view their oceans and breed fish. As a teacher, there are several things that I like about this app. It inspires creativity as individuals create their own little oceans. On the surface, you’d think it would be somewhat limited, but I am amazed at how different everyone’s oceans look given the few items there are to work with in the palette of backdrops, floorings, decorations, and fish. Add to that the ability to name fish anything you wish and you end up with quite a wide range of creative oceans from fairly realistic seas to completely fantastical ones.

My oceans are fairly realistic because I am a diver and am inspired by the real deal, but the names of my fish are mostly names of authors or literary characters reflecting my gamer name, mrslibrarian. I also like the way that the app introduces various marine life like sharks, rays, clownfish, sea otters, manatees, sea horses, and lion fish – even if many of them are fantastical in the colors they morph into when bred with friends’ fish. Like many other apps, there is an element of business acumen to be learned from playing with Fantastic Fish as well. If you buy and sell fish well, you’ll be successful and build up prosperous oceans quickly.

One final thing that I am finding very interesting is the social behavior that follows as your oceans grow and become more prosperous. I’m finding that I’ve gained more and more followers and am able to breed more fish. Each week I continue to gain popularity. I looked at the leaderboards and added two or three of the top names to my friends list to see if the social behavior followed for them as well and indeed, their oceans are packed with followers seeking to breed with their fish. So if you like fish and want to have some fun playing Neptune, check out Fantastic Fish. It’s good clean fun that you can enjoy with your friends, your children, and your children's friends at the same time!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fantastic-fish/id407337846?mt=8

The Birds & The Bees

Spring has sprung and the song of mating is in the air. There are babies everywhere we turn it seems. It’s only natural I suppose that his is often the time of year that children often bring up those questions that many parents often dread facing … “Mommy and Daddy, where did I come from?” My friend and I were just having this very conversation over the weekend. She was troubled over how much and what kind of information to give her children, aged 10 and 8.

I have always followed my own parents’ advice in respect to discussing sexuality with children. I was a child of the 70’s and my parents were always factual, honest, and direct. They used a book called Where Did I Come From written by Peter Mayle and illustrated by Arthur Robins that came out in the early 70’s. We read it together when I was a Kindergartener and my brothers were in Pre-school and 1st or 2nd grade. I don’t know of any book written since that is nearly as good. It is the perfect mix of humor and fact that captures the attention of kids and gives them the information they need to understand their bodies as well as the basics of sexuality. It places intimacy, love, and emotions into the context of sexual relations too, a message that parents often are concerned their teens aren’t grasping. It is actually more effective if the message about intimacy, love, emotions, responsibility, as well as communication about sexuality with you, begins long before children are teens.

So if you are challenged with questions about the birds & bees this spring by a young one who is under the age of 10, go on the Internet and track down a copy of Mayle’s classic – or check a copy out from your local library. You won’t be sorry!

An Apple For The Teacher

I have been an Apple fanatic since the fall of Eve. Only unlike Eve, my temptation has moved well beyond those sweet dangly fruits hanging from trees, much as I do love a good trip to the orchard for some Stayman Winesaps, and on toward Apples of the high falutin’ techy type. I do believe my Dad still has one of the very first generation Apple computers still sitting in the old computer graveyard of his basement, an Apple IIe from the early 80’s. Ah the days of floppy disks! I’m pretty sure I still have a circa 1995 PowerMac Classic in my own computer graveyard, housed in my barn. When the iPad first came out, I saw a great picture of the Classic used as a trendy retro desk stand for the iPad – recycling at its best. http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/06/09/excellent-mac-classic-converted-to-ipad-stand/

Needless to say, when I left the corporate world in 2001 to stay home for a while, I decided to migrate away from the PC world and over to my true favorite, the world of Apple. I started with an iMac, added peripheral hardrives, bought a MacBook when I started grad school, added an AirPad, and finally when Verizon was able to provide service for iPhone bought my coveted iPhone. I am completely embarrassed by admit the number of apps I have on my iPhone…but they are well organized!

One of the things that I am going to start talking about on The Suburban Barnyard is use of technology. Some of the apps really have my wheels spinning with ideas. I REALLY want that iPad now! As far as I am concerned, forget the Kindles, Nooks, etc. and invest in an iPad. You will get so much more bang for your buck. Why buy one platform when you can buy a multiplatform library you can carry in your hand? And the iPad goes even further by serving as a travelling desktop and remote presentation tool. I could go on and on, but I’ll save that for another day. There is good reason for the love affair we all seem to have with iPads and the new surge of copycats. They are here to stay. Apps will continue to develop at an even faster rate and I am excited to see what lies ahead.