Born to Do Science

Brain Science This Saturday!!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:51:51 PST

Howdy, Science Fans!

Our next BTDS program is about studying the brain! How does your brain work?? You might know that it's separated into two halves - the left brain and the right brain, and that the two halves generally specialize in different types of thinking. The two halves are connected by a thick cord of neurons called the corpus callosum.

Most of what we know about which half does what we've figured out from brains that aren't functioning normally. For example if a person's brain is injured and they lose the ability to speak, then we know that the part of the brain that was injured must have something to do with speaking. Studies on people whose corpa callosa has been severed (for other reasons) can tell us a lot about how the left brain functions without the right and how the right brain functions without the left.

But it's a lot harder to find out anything about how the brain works when it's whole and healthy and functioning properly. We can't just watch it do its thing! How and when and why do the two halves "talk" to one another? What does each half contribute when they are working properly together?

Our guest scientist this month has an ingenious way of studying these aspects of our brains!

Dr. Shelia Kennison is a psychologist who uses glitches in language as windows into how our brains function. By carefully studying how people make meaning out of written words, she can reveal communication between the two sides of the brain!

We will get to experience what it's like to be one of Dr. Kennison's subjects, and as always we'll get to "think like a scientist" and explore other ways the mysterious workings of the brain might be understood.

The program starts Saturday morning at 10:00 at the Stillwater Public Library, room 119.
I hope to see you there!!

In the meantime, check out these related websites!

- For a quick overview of left and right brain functions check out this chart from funderstanding.com

- The Split Brian Game - you become a researcher studying "Mr. Split Brainy." See if you can figure out what's going on in his head!

- To find out how left or right brained you are, take this test!

Here are my results - please post yours!

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being:

Left Brain	Right Brain
53%	47%

Popular Teens, Friendly or Mean?

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:08:26 PST

This past Saturday Dr. Lara Mayeau, a developmental psychologist, came in from Norman to speak to us about her research on teenage popularity.

Dr. Mayeau explains that being popular is not the same thing as being well-liked.

We had a smaller than usual group - maybe the last weekend before Christmas Break people are busy? - BUT, it was a great group of kids and parents, full of really good questions and insights, as usual!

Dr. Mayeau's research has verified what many of us observed in school - that the popular kids are not necessarily well-liked. She also uses the mathematics of statistics to uncover some unexpected patterns, or correlations in teen popularity.

For example, popular boys have an easier time staying well-liked than popular girls. Also, popular kids sometimes use physical or social aggression against other kids. These behaviors seem mostly to come about after popularity is achieved. Perhaps it's part of how they stay popular - or perhaps being popular, they can just get away with it more than other kids. (More studies are needed to really understand this!)

Yours truly, pontificating about something.

How does Dr. Mayeau uncover these patterns of teenage life? By asking! We all got to fill out a survey similar to the one she used in a longitudinal study of kids as they went from fifth grade through 9th. The survey includes a roster of names attached to codes. For each question we listed the codes of the kids who fit. The questions included: Who do you like? Who is popular? Who do you not like? Who pushes other kids? Who excludes other kids?

The difference with our survey was that the names on our roster were not fellow students, but famous actors, characters, athletes, musicians, etc - just for fun. Guess who was most often selected as popular but not well-liked? Justin Bieber. Ouch.

My usual photographer and lovely wife Lisa couldn't be with us on Saturday, so my daughter Evalyn stepped into the role. Thank you Evalyn, for taking photos!!

Really, Evalyn? Really?

Popular Teens This Saturday

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:52:22 PST

Dr. Lara Mayeux

Howdy Friends!

You do not want to miss our next Born to Do Science program, because it's all about you! This Saturday the 17th, 10:00 am at the Stillwater Public Library: "Popular Teens, Friendly or Mean?"

Our guest scientist is coming all the way from Norman. She is Dr. Lara Mayeux, a developmental psychologist from the department of psychology at OU.

Dr. Mayeux will speak about her research on social status among teens. We'll discuss a study she ran following students from 5th through 9th grades to determine what kinds of kids become popular.

Her research explores many questions, including: Is there a difference between being popular and being well-liked? What are the benefits and risks to being popular? How do teens' social status change over time? What role does aggression play in gaining and keeping popularity? Does all this work differently for boys than it does for girls?

We'll be asking what methods Dr. Mayeux uses to study teens, and what further questions might she explore. We'll take a survey similar to the kind used in actual research, and with Dr. Mayeux's guidance we'll design our own research on teenage popularity.

As always, I'll kick things off with a brand new song, and I've been having a lot of fun writing this one. It's called "I Wanna Be Popular!"

Please register with the library if you plan to come. Even if you've registered before - they want to know how many to expect. The program is open to kids in 3rd-7th grade and their adults. It's a rare opportunity to enjoy something with your tween-ager! We hope to see you there!

For more information about Dr. Mayeux you can check out her blog: Mayeux Research: Conversations about Peer Relations, Popularity, Developmental Psychology, and Aggression.

Second Podcast Episode Recorded

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:56:33 PST

Many thanks to everyone who has downloaded BTDS Podcast Episode One - more than twelve hundred so far! And extra thanks to those who let me know they liked it! We are off to a great start!

I recorded Episode Two on Saturday with kid host, Evalyn, and guest scientist, Dr. Jennifer Byrd Craven, a developmental psychologist. I'm editing now and I will post the new episode here sometime this week! Please tell your friends!

Kid Host, Evalyn

Dr. Jennifer Byrd-Craven

Evalyn, Monty, Jennifer - photo by Eli

Podcast Episode 1: "My Molecular Eye"

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:37:55 PST

Dr. Wouter Hoff shares his research into how bacteria sense light, with kid host Liza, featuring the song "My Molecular Eye."

Listen / Download the Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes

Feedback, please!
Please post comments below or write to btds at montyharper.com - What worked for you? What didn't?
I will incorporate your feedback as I tweak the format over the next few episodes.

Also, please post your questions about the science!! They will be answered!

Get the song:
<a href="http://montyharper.bandcamp.com/track/my-molecular-eye">My Molecular Eye by Monty Harper</a>

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:32:04 PST

Podcast Launch - 11/28!
The first episode of the Born to Do Science Podcast has been recorded!

I will post it here on Monday, November 28, for free download.

I want to gather the biggest audience possible for Episode 1.

Please Help!

These are my goals for November 28, updated every day:

- 100 supporters on Causes.com (need 46 more!)

- 52 subscribers to the podcast email list (need 43 more!)

- 100 likes on the BTDS facebook page (need 59 more!)

- 75 followers on Twitter (need 54 more!)

Please share with your friends:

Rewards For All!

If we reach any of the above goals by November 28, then along with the podcast I will also post the featured song, "My Molecular Eye," as a FREE download for one day!

But wait there's more! If we double any one of these goals, OR if we reach all four goals - I will post the entire Songs From the Science Frontier CD as a free download for one day!!!

Please tell your friends! Thanks!!

Guest Scientist, Dr. Wouter Hoff, Host Monty Harper, Kid Host Liza

Discussing the "script."

Setting up microphones.

Muons, Electrons, and Quarks, Oh My!!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:03:14 PST

We had a great program Saturday! (I always say that, but it's true.)

My song was called "Quarks and Electrons." Everything we can touch or see in the universe is made of quarks and electrons. Yet that represents only 4% of what we know is out there!

For the first hour Dr. Flera Rizatdinova spoke with us about the Large Hadron Collider - the world's largest machine! - and the Atlas Detector. We also explored the Standard Model of particle physics and learned about some mysteries of the universe such as: What is dark matter? and How do particles get their mass? These are questions the LHC was designed to help answer.

Dr. Rizatdinova describes the superconducting magnets inside the ATLAS detector.

Then we took a break to look for muons! Muons are elementary particles similar to electrons, but heavier. They are formed when high energy protons (cosmic rays) smash into the Earth's upper atmosphere. A shower of particles are created. This is basically the same thing that happens inside the ATLAS detector! Muons happen to live a relatively long time, so they are the ones that make it all the way down to the Earth's surface. There are thousands of muons passing through your body every second. They are way to small for us to see or feel them.

Peering into the cloud chamber looking for muon trails!

So if they are too small to see, how were we looking for them? With a detector of our own - a cloud chamber. This is a tank filled with alcohol vapor. The vapor is cooled at the bottom of the tank by dry ice until it's almost ready to condense. The cooled vapor is so unstable that a muon passing through it triggers the condensation. What you see then is a cloud of alcohol droplets. Each cloud appears spontaneously, taking the shape of the path of the muon that triggered it - usually a straight line - then drifting to the bottom of the tank.

It takes a while for your eyes to adjust their focus to the right area of the tank, near the bottom.

We could see two or three events happening every second or so!

It isn't hard to make your own cloud chamber. You can find instructions on YouTube.

After our break, for those who were interested in learning more, Dr. Rizatdinova spoke about her particular role in the LHC and the research that's being done there. The ATLAS detector is like a giant camera that records each proton collision, tracking all the hundreds of particles that fly out. There are about six hundred million collisions per second to record, and the data fills 15 million gigs of hard drive space every year!

Dr. Rizatdinova's team designed a piece of electronics that converts electric signals from passing particles into light, which is piped out of the detector in fiber optic cables and then converted back to electric signals. Why is this necessary? There are 80 million channels of data coming out of each pixel module! If these were each carried out by wire, well you can imagine the mess - there isn't room for it!

Dr. Rizatdinova's team also wrote the software to interpret these signals, determining whether top quarks are present. Top quarks are heavy particles that might indicate the presence of a Higg's Boson.

The Higg's Boson is one of the reasons the LHC was built. It's the last of the fundamental particles in our Standard Model of the universe that hasn't actually been observed yet. If it really exists, as we think it does, the LHC will find it. The Higg's is important because it is thought to explain how particles get their particular masses.

Here's how the searching works. The LHC accelerates protons to very close to the speed of light and then smashes the together and records all the particles that come out. Even though protons are relatively lightweight, much heavier particles can pop out when you collide them at such high energies. This is due to the conversion of that energy into mass.

The heavy particles that are formed don't stay around very long at all - nearly instantly they decay into a shower of smaller particles, which also decay into showers and on down the line. The detector isn't fast enough to actually "see" a Higg's Boson before it decays, but it can see the top quarks and other particles that it decays into. If the right pattern is detected, we'll know the Higg's was there!

As I said, it was a great program! Everybody's head got stretched a bit, and many great questions were asked. As I reminded the audience several times, it's natural to have trouble picturing all this! Sub-atomic particles are unlike anything in our human-scale experience. Even particle physicists have trouble visualizing what's going on down there in the quantum world! I sure enjoy trying, though, and I think the kids yesterday did as well.

Our next program is about something almost as difficult to fathom: Teenager Psychology!! Please join us December 17!

Pieces of Protons - Coming Saturday 11/19/11

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:53:16 PST

The proton-accelerating tube underground
at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Howdy friends! I've been looking forward to this coming Saturday's program for a long time! Here is the official description, then I'll tell you more about why I'm so excited...

Ramping Up the World's Greatest Physics Experiment

Dr. Flera Rizatdinova from the Oklahoma State University Department of Physics will speak about her work on the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The ATLAS is a marvel of technology built to explore dark matter, gravity, the standard model, and other deep mysteries of the universe!

We will be talking about the fundamental building blocks of the universe! Did you know that everything you see and feel around you is basically made out of super tiny particles called quarks and electrons? Those are two of the fundamental particles that make up our Standard Model of the universe.

Dr. Rizatdinova was kind enough to drive all the way to Texas and back to pick up a piece of equipment called a cloud chamber that detects other fundamental particles called muons. Muons are similar to electrons. They are generated by cosmic rays and they are zipping around us all the time - we just can't see them.

But when they zip through the cloud chamber - we will see their trails!

That's one reason I'm so excited. Another is that the ATLAS detector and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are FAMOUS!! If you listen to any science news then you will hear them mentioned a lot.

The ATLAS is like a gigantic microscope, for looking at the tiniest things! And it's the world's largest physics experiment!

There are several new things physicists might discover with the ATLAS. One of them is the famed Higg's Boson, which is the last missing piece in our Standard Model of the universe. If they find it, we'll have a complete understanding of how the universe is put together. If they don't, then our Standard Model is wrong, and we'll have to come up with a new one to explain how things work.

Either way is exciting! And the Higg's could literally be discovered any day now. So we are witnessing history in the making!

I've been studying particle physics to get ready for this program, and let me tell you, it's weird! If you don't understand everything on Saturday, don't feel bad. Even the physicists who study this stuff don't really quite understand it. But that's what makes it so much fun!

If you want to prepare for Saturday, here are some websites to visit. In fact PLEASE visit these sites and learn all you can! I think you'll enjoy them...

CERN

The Particle Adventure

Have fun exploring and I'll see you Saturday, 10:00 AM at the Stillwater Public Library!

The Intrepid White-Footed Mouse

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:05:41 PST

Dr. Karen McBee is an environmental toxicologist at OSU. She and her students study the area of Northeast Oklahoma known as Tar Creek, a superfund site where 100 years or so of mining left huge piles of chat everywhere. (See the previous post!)

The basic question she asks is, how does this affect the wildlife?

We began the program with a new song, as usual - "What Goes On?" which asks:

What goes on - after we’ve left such a mess?

What goes on - how does nature handle stress?

Humans come to alter every corner of the land

Yet we rarely come to understand

Once we're gone, what goes on?

Then we learned some background about the Tar Creek site and the animals that live there, and animals that live in nearby less altered habitats. We talked about different tools and methods scientists use to study populations in the wild. Then I asked the kids to think about what kind of research questions they might ask.

We had so many great questions and ideas that the conversation went long beyond our usual ending time. I think everyone enjoyed speculating about why the white-footed mouse is so adept at living in the affected area, while other small rodents have disappeared, and thinking of ways to try to figure it out.

Photos below...

Dr. Karen McBee, Curator of Vertebrates with the Department of Zoology at Oklahoma State University.

Voucher specimens from the collection.

Thinking!

Gathering round to see the mice!

Hands on!

The Intrepid White-Footed Mouse

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:16:34 PDT

Coming this Saturday, October 15!

The Intrepid White-footed Mouse

How Toxic Waste Affects Animal Populations and Diversity

Dr. Karen McBee, Curator of Vertebrates with the Department of Zoology at Oklahoma State University, will speak about her research into what makes some animal species more resilient than others at the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

Here's a view of Picher, OK from the air - all those white blotches are mounds of chat left over from 100 years of lead and zinc mining! During our program you'll get to think like a scientist and help design a study to try and understand how area wildlife is affected by this.

See you Saturday!

Dr. Karen McBee

The White-Footed Mouse

These voucher specimens are a research tool that allows biologists to compare populations in the wild with animals from different times and places.

The mammal collection is getting a new home! The mice were still packed away when I visited, but Dr. McBee will bring some samples for us to look at on Saturday.

This was one huge armadillo - see the pen by its tail? That gives you an idea of its size!

Vaccination Innovation

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:50:55 PDT

This Saturday was our first Born to Do Science program of the season! We had a good turnout with 28 people to see Abbie Smith, a graduate student (of ERV blog fame) at the OU Health Services Center speak about viruses, vaccines, why there is no HIV vaccine, and how we might be able to make one.

Basically vaccines work because they mimic actual pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc - anything that makes us sick). These fake pathogens fool our immune systems into making antibodies, which we can use to fight off the real germs if they ever show up.

Normally when we get sick it takes about two weeks of trial and error for our systems to evolve effective antibodies against the disease. But if we've been immunized so that we've already made those antibodies once, or immune systems remember how to make them again, and we can fight off the disease right away.

All of this works because our bodies can recognize a particular virus and call up the proper antibody to fight it off.

The problem with a virus like HIV is that it keeps changing. If you have HIV virus in your body, and it takes two weeks to come up with an antibody, by the end of that time you'll have hundreds of new HIV variations and the new antibody will not be able to fight them off. Basically your immune system can never catch up with all that rapid change!

Abbie's idea for getting around this seems pretty simple on the surface. Just put lots of variations of fake HIV into a vaccine, so that our systems will learn how to make lots of different HIV antibodies!

But here's the rub: in order to cover all the possible HIV variations in one vaccine, you would need to put in a mind-boggling number of different fake viruses. That number is something like a one with 61 zeros after it! (And that's only one way of counting them - other types of variation are possible too!)

If you were to get a vaccine shot containing just one of each possible variation of fake HIV in it, you would need to use a gallon-sized syringe!

Luckily if you can make an antibody for one type of HIV, your system can quickly come up with antibodies for similar types. That means we don't need ALL the possibilities to go into one vaccine, just a relatively small portion of them.

Abbie is working on how to create a mixture of fake HIV types that might work as a vaccine. She has been testing her methods to make sure that all the different variations she put in actually work to produce different antibodies. She is just about ready to start testing the vaccine on mice to find out if it really provides protection against HIV.

Maybe we'll be able to get her to visit again one day and let us know how that turned out!

Since Abbie's work involves a lot of time spent manipulating DNA (to create and test all those different fake HIVs!), we ended the program with a hands-on activity that lets you actually see your own DNA in a test tube!!

You can do this yourself at home - it's really easy. Here are instructions (thanks to the Science Museum of Minnesota).

And here are photos from our program. We hope to see YOU at the next one!

Abbie Smith explains how viruses work.

Me swishing water vigorously to dislodge cheek cells. This is the first step in our activity, which allowed each participant to extract and view their own DNA!

Second step - add soap and mix gently. This bursts open the cells and sets the DNA free.

The third step is to add some chilled alcohol. This forces the DNA out of solution.

See that cloudy bit dangling beneath the cap? That's a glob of my very own DNA!

Show us your DNA! Cheers!

Abbie is extracting the DNA from the top of the test tube to put it in a small capsule for safekeeping. It lasts longer if you freeze it.

Our next program:

October 15

The Intrepid White-footed Mouse

How Toxic Waste Affects Animal Populations and Diversity

See you then!

Vaccination Innovation - This Saturday!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:00:21 PDT

I'm getting excited and I hope you are too - our first program for the new school year is coming up this Saturday, 9/12/11, at the Stillwater Public Library at 10:00 AM!

Our guest scientist is Abbie Smith, a brilliant young virologist. I've seen her speak, and she's a lot of fun. She'll be talking about a new approach to vaccines that may lead to protection against viruses that evolve rapidly, such as HIV (parents, don't worry - we won't really talk about the disease, just the virus itself) and the flu virus. (Imagine only having to get the flu shot once and you're good for life!)

I'm working on a new song, so hopefully we'll get to kick things off with that. Then after a bit of background information we'll give the kids a chance to think like scientists and share their ideas. All the programs are very interactive, so you get some real face-time with a real scientist!

The library has provided me with an awesome flyer to help with promotion. If you are planning to participate, please print a flyer and stick it on the fridge to help you remember. (Plus maybe your friends and neighbors will see it too!) Feel free to print extra copies and post them anywhere people might see them. Thanks!! Here it is:

Announcing the 2011/2012 Season of Born to Do Science!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:06:11 PDT

Born to Do Science brings kids face to face with scientists to learn about their research. Programs begin at 10:00 AM usually on the third Saturday of each month, and run about one hour. They are located at the Stillwater Public Library. Attendance is free and open to kids in 3rd-7th grade and their parents. Participants should register ahead of time with the library when possible.

The program is hosted by children's songwriter Monty Harper, who introduces each topic with a brand-new song. Guest scientists include zoologists, physicists, psychologists, and biologists from OSU and OU. The line-up for 2011/2012 includes nine programs with topics ranging from teenage behavior to the nature of the universe.

Born to Do Science 2011/2012 Schedule

September 17
Vaccination Innovation
Helping Our Bodies Combat Quickly Changing Viruses
Abbie Smith, doctoral student in immunology at the University of Oklahoma, will speak about her work on a new approach to vaccination that may provide protection against unpredictable viruses such as seasonal flu and HIV.

October 15
The Intrepid White-footed Mouse
How Toxic Waste Affects Animal Populations and Diversity
Dr. Karen McBee, Curator of Vertebrates with the Department of Zoology at Oklahoma State University, will speak about her research into what makes some animal species more resilient than others at the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

November 19
Pieces of Protons
Ramping Up the World's Greatest Physics Experiment
Dr. Flera Rizatdinova from the Oklahoma State University Department of Physics speaks about her work testing the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The ATLAS is a marvel of technology built to explore dark matter, gravity, the standard model, and other deep mysteries of the universe!

December 17
Popular Teens - Friendly or Mean?
The Role of Aggression in Teen Popularity
Developmental psychologist Lara Mayeux PhD from the Department of Psychology at the University of Oklahoma will speak about her research into the underpinnings of social status among teenagers.

January 21
This Is Your Brain On Words!
How We Pull Meaning Out of Written Language
Do you understand this sentence? How? Shelia Kennison, PhD, from the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University will speak about her research into how our left and right brain hemispheres work together to create meaning while we're reading.

February 18
Digesting Sunshine
How Mother Nature Converts Light Into Chemical Energy
Dr. Robert L. Burnap from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Oklahoma State University will speak about his study of the enzyme plants use to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and how a better understanding of photosynthesis may lead to more efficient production of biofuels.

March 10
My One and Only Vole
Pair Bonding in Monogamous Prairie Voles
Tomica Blocker, master's student in Zoology at Oklahoma State University and recent recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship grant, will speak about her investigations into the mating habits of these amorous rodents and how they may be affected by human industrial activity.

April 21
Predators, Prey, and the Games They Play!
Computer Models Reflect Real-World Animal Behavior
Dr. Barney Luttbeg from the Oklahoma State University Department of Zoology will speak about his research using tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, and computer simulations to understand the complex interactions between predators and their prey.

May 19
The Fungus Among Us!
When Fungi Attack, Science Fights Back
Stephen M. Marek PhD from the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University will speak about his use of molecular tools to investigate "who done it" and how to stop it when important crops suffer damage from pathogenic fungi.

Calling all scientists! Please help connect kids with science!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:36:44 PDT

Are you a scientist in or near Stillwater, Oklahoma?

Would you like to share your research with a curious and appreciative audience?

Would you like your work to inspire a new generation of scientists and science supporters?

Would you like your work to inspire a brand new song?

If so, please participate in "Born to Do Science!"

*** Our 2011/2012 season is scheduled!! But you can still respond to this post to participate in the 2012/2013 season. Thanks! ***

This is a program for kids (3rd-6th grade) and families which I present at the Stillwater Public Library. Each month I bring in a volunteer guest scientist to share their research with the kids. I think it's important for kids to meet scientists face to face, find out what they do, and learn something about the process of scientific investigation!

If you haven't presented your work to kids before, don't worry. It's my job as host to learn about your research and figure out how to present it to our audience. I have a Master's degree in mathematics, a deep interest in science, and more than 20 years experience communicating to kids as a children's musician. My past guests and I have successfully presented some very sophisticated topics, including bacterial biofilms, wheat genomics, x-ray crystallography, luminescence dating, stress hormones, phototaxic bacteria - you get the idea!

You can see photos and descriptions of past programs on the website: http://www.borntodoscience.com/

I will also write and perform a brand new song inspired by your research to help introduce the topic. You can check out some past songs here: http://montyharper.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-the-science-frontier

If you aren't sure that your research topic will work for kids, please don't rule yourself out. Talk to me first, and maybe we can find a way to present it.

Your time commitment would include the following:

1. A 30-45 minute phone conversation with me sometime soon to help decide the focus of our program, title, and description, for publicity purposes.

2. A one to two hour interview with me about your research, one month before the program date. This is to get me started on a song and a plan for the program.

3. As much time as you choose to spend preparing hands-on materials and/or visuals and answering follow-up questions between the interview and the program.

4. About 90 minutes for the program itself.

Below is the schedule for our fourth season. Please contact me if you'd like to participate in season five!

Programs will be held the following Saturdays at 10:00 AM at the Stillwater Public Library.

(tentative titles)

September 17 - Vaccination Innovation

October 15 - The Intrepid White-Footed Mouse

November 19 - Secrets of the Universe

December 17 - Popular Teens - Friendly or Mean?

January 21 - This is Your Brain on Words

February 18 - Digesting Sunshine

March 10 - My One and Only Vole

April 21 - Predators, Prey, and the Games They Play!

May 19 - The Fungus Among Us!

If you are interested, please contact me! I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have, hear about your research and help you decide if it would make a good "Born to Do Science" program.

Thank you!!

Contact:

Monty Harper

(405) 624-3805

monty@montyharper.com

Citizen Science and "Bee Buffet"

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 11:39:44 PDT

Our last program of the Spring 2011 season, May 21, was "Bee Buffet," with Dr. Janette Steets from the OSU Botany Department. She spoke about her research on pollinators in vegetable gardens.

Dr. Steets is interested in finding out how gardens are effected when food plants (like tomatoes and okra) are intermixed with ornamentals (flowers). The hypothesis is that ornamental plants will attract a greater variety of insects, including pollinator and predator species, and that this will result in more healthy food plants with higher yields, and will reduce the need for pesticides.

Dr. Steets has run a couple of preliminary studies that showed promising results. We talked about how one would go about designing a larger study that might help verify the higher yields she saw in her mixed gardens. Dr. Steets is preparing a study now that will incorporate help collecting data from "citizen scientist" volunteers.

I debuted a new song, "Citizen Scientist" - see below for lyrics.

Studying bees and flowers close up, to see how pollen gets moved around when plants are pollenated.

Dr. Steets brought seeds and planters so we could plant our own samples to grow at home.

Planting seeds.

Me, Dr. Steets, and Brook Bonner. Brook is a PHD student who works with Dr. Steets. She came along to help with the presentation.

The "citizen scientist" aspect of Dr. Steets work is part of what makes her excited to be doing what she's doing. She loves the idea of involving regular folks like you and me in the scientific process. So do I! There are lots of citizen scientist projects out there that you can take part in! That's why I chose "Citizen Scientist" as the title and focus for my song this time around.

Citizen Scientist

My garden this year is a jumbled-up kind

My cow peas and daisies are all inter-twined

My botanist friend had me plant 'em just so

She's collecting the data that may help her show

How a good mix of plants brings more insects afield

And maybe more bugs means a healthier yield

And I jumped at the chance to take part in her plan

Cause I'm happy to help when I can

I'm a citizen scientist

Citizen scientist

Joining the planet-wide dance

That helps human knowledge advance

I've weighed my tomatoes and measured the plants

I've counted the cutworms and spiders and ants

My botanist friend takes the data all down

She'll compare it with gardens from all over town

And maybe the numbers will show us the way

Toward gardening well without pesticide spray

But whether or not her study bares any fruit

It has still been a worthwhile pursuit

repeat chorus

And when the garden has been tilled,

What new project will I do?

I can help explore the cosmos

For the Galaxy Zoo

I can sift through tiny fossils from mastodon times

I can try to fold some proteins with Fold.it online

In the Great Backyard Bird Count I can help keep track of birds

I’ll download SETI@home and search for alien words

And for more exotic projects I don't know about yet

I'll visit science for citizens dot net

repeat chorus

Here are links to the projects I mention in the song:

Galaxy Zoo
Mastodon Matrix Project
Fold.It
The Great Backyard Bird Count
SETI@home
Science For Citizens

Psychology

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:49:09 PDT

Dr. Lack took this video at his January 15, 2011 Born to Do Science program, "Tangling With Twisters," and I thought I'd share it here.

Psychology

song lyrics by Monty Harper

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

I see eyes looking at me and I get distressed
I feel uptight and anxious, mad and depressed
I hear voices behind me that whisper and mock
No one smiles when I smile; no one listens when I talk
I don’t sleep well at all cause I think of my job
And I dream I’m attacked by an unruly mob
Is there some kind of name for the trouble I’ve got?
Can science explain? Am I crazy or what?

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?
Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

I’ve been looking in books for some self-diagnosis
I’ve read about phobias, fears, and neurosis
Obsession, repression, fixation, and trauma
Was it nature or nurture that caused all this drama?
I set out to measure the person I am
And I filled out a long psychometric exam
I wanna understand but I’m losing my nerve
I’m afraid I won’t land on the bell of the curve

Oh, yes the human mind is acutely arcane
Couched in the convoluted human brain
It comes without a manual or a guarantee
So we study that puzzle with Psychology

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?
Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

Gotta go now - my day is about to begin
My seventh grade students are jostling in
I see eyes looking at me and I get distressed
I feel uptight and anxious, mad and depressed
I hear voices behind me that whisper and mock
No one smiles when I smile; no one listens when I talk
I’ll be teaching all day with this chalk in my hand
And tonight two more lessons will need to be planned
But with every spare moment I happen to find
I will ponder the question that’s still on my mind

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

Head Boppin Lizard Talkin

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:22:14 PDT

Continuing my retroactive posting on past programs...

On March 19 we had what may have been our most popular program to date. Dr. Matt Lovern from the OSU Zoology Department spoke about his research on green anoles in "Head Boppin Lizard Talkin!"

The anoles communicate to one another by nodding their heads in particular patterns. Dr. Lovern has identified three distinct head bobs, which he calls A B and C. One might think this would give the lizards a three-word vocabulary. But careful observation shows that the lizards' use of the patterns is more subtle than that. Males and females use the same pattern to mean different things in different contexts. And, when it comes right down to it there are only two things the lizards need to say to one another; "This is my territory. Go away," or "Hey, baby! Come over here!"

So why has nature preserved three different signals when it seems like only one or two would do? Maybe there is more to this than meets the eye! Dr. Lovern will likely continue watching lizards bob their heads for as long as it takes to decode the true motivation behind this unique animal behavior.

Dr. Lovern and one of his anoles (I'm not saying which is which) in front of a bank of lizard tanks in the biology building. I took this photo after our interview, preparing for the program.

We started the program by watching films of lizards to see what we could observe.

After the program kids gathered around Dr. Lovern for an up-close and personal lizard encounter.

Since the anoles use head-bopping to indicate interest in - shall we say "hooking up," I decided to look to the early Beatles love songs for inspiration. The result was a super-fun song, which my wife, Lisa, and daughter, Evalyn, helped perform with backing vocals, egg shakers, hand claps - the works!

Anole in Love

When I put my dewlap out

I’m hoping you will see

How my head bobs up and down

To make you think of me

I’m an anole in love with you

Why don’t you show you love me too?

My head nods so fervently

When I see you there

Won’t you nod yours back to me

Show me that you care

I’m an anole in love with you

Why don’t you show you love me too?

I’m a green anole

You’re a green anole

We both know the language of love

Little things you said

With your bobbing head

Let me know that I’m the green anole you’re dreaming of

So I will approach you now

My dewlap is on fire

We will be together now

As long as I desire

doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doot

Repeat bridge

Well I’ve got to go for now

Lovely as it’s been

In about a week or so

Why don’t you come around again

I’m an anole in love with you

Mysterious Algae of the Great Salt Plains

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:36:10 PDT

Well, here we are in the middle of summer, and I'm just now getting around to posting about February's program! Better late than never, right? I've got to bring this blog up to speed because I'm planning an exciting new season starting in September... more on that soon.

February 26, 2011 we had Dr. Bill Henley from the OSU Botany Department talking about the "Mysterious Algae of the Great Salt Plains." This algae is able to grow where nothing else would want to; out on the salt plains near Jet, Oklahoma. The water there gets as salty as it is possible to be, and the summer sun heats the ground like an oven. Yet these algae are able to survive and thrive!

Dr. Henley hopes the unique abilities of these algae will eventually prove useful in the manufacture of biofuels. But first he needs to understand how they work. He is trying to find out what elements are essential to this algae's survival. Do they need the heat to survive the salt? Do they need the salt to survive the heat? He hasn't yet worked out the right combination to allow them to thrive in the lab under similar conditions to those found on the salt plains. That's how science goes sometimes - you just have to keep trying different strategies until you hit on the right one.

As usual, I started things off with a song. See below for lyrics...

Dr. Henley shows us that algae are a wildly diverse group of organisms.

Each kid got to take home a vial with algae in it to see if it would grow. Anybody have results to report?

My new song for this program was inspired by Dr. Henley's story about the day he discovered there were algae growing on the salt plains. His footsteps were breaking through the surface crust of salt, and he turned around to see green stuff in the water seeping in to fill the prints. This unexpected discovery lead to years of study and research!

Mysterious Algae of the Great Salt Plane (Green Footprint)

Leaning into the wind in the Oklahoma heat

Salt crust crunching beneath his feet

The biologist walked the flat white land

Shading his eyes from the sun with his hand

No grass no brush no bramble no tree

Sparkling salt was all the life he could see

Little did he know that something lay concealed

Until he took a look back at what his boot had revealed!

He’d left a green footprint

Where the surface of salt gave way

He’d left a green footprint

And out of the blue dawned a red letter day

For he could hardly contain the buzz in his brain

Having found a living algae on lifeless terrain!

He’d left a green footprint

In the middle of the Great Salt Plain!

He peered through his lens at a microscope slide

The algae he was growing in salt had died

So how could it live in its natural brine?

Perhaps it needed salt and searing sun combined?

First heat then salt. First salt then heat.

He tested every stressor the algae might meet

To discover how it weathered salty water intact

He knew the answer would come thanks to one funny fact

Repeat Chorus

And there are many people studying algae

Working on a way to make bio-fuel

So now he’s hoping to find that his salt resistant kind

Will do its part to help the planet cool

He'll leave a green footprint

On his journey of a thousand trials

He'll leave a green footprint

Using algae energy for low-carbon miles

Yeah, if the oil he can drain from that salt-loving strain

Can become a cheaper cleaner kind of high-octane

He'll leave a green footprint

Using algae from the great salt plain

Nano Day

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:36:12 PDT

The April Born to Do Science was canceled due to scheduling problems, however...

I'll be performing this Saturday (April 9) for Nano Day. Come learn all about nano-technology at this event put on by the Wondertorium and the Library! It's in the same room as BTDS, 1:00 - 4:00. I'll be there to sing a few songs at 1:15.

Find out more.

I'll catch up on posting photos from recent events soon!

Program Postponed

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:49:33 PST

This Saturday's program (2/19) has been postponed until next Saturday (2/26) at 2:00 PM.

Join us then for "Mystery Algae of the Great Salt Plains" with Dr. Bill Henley of the OSU Botany Department!

Just for a teaser, check out these photos I took at Dr. Henley's lab. Here are various bottles and vials containing algae cultures.

Below is an experiment Dr. Henley is running. All the tubes are an automated system of delivering nutrients to the algae, then drawing off cells automatically as the grow, which keeps the culture in a state of balance, always with about the same amount of algae growing. In this set-up the cells from the first culture (on the left) go into a second culture (on the right) which is relatively nutrient starved. Dr. Henley is trying different configurations to figure out what might work well to grow algae commercially. Why would you want to do that? Algae can produce oils that may turn out to be a great alternative fuel source, if we can figure out how to harvest them efficiently.

And here is a Google satellite image looking down on the Great Salt Plains, which is where the mysterious algae we'll be talking about was found. All that white - not snow! Salt!

View Larger Map

Tangling With Twisters Program

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:10:15 PST

This morning's Born to Do Science program at the Stillwater library went very well. We had about 33 people, which is a great turnout for the season opener!

Dr. Caleb Lack

Our guest scientist was Dr. Caleb Lack, a clinical psychologist from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. He spoke about his research into why some kids have a harder time than others recovering from the psychological effects of being in a natural disaster such as a tornado.

Getting Ready to Sing "Psychology"

I started off as always with a new song. I took a light approach with this one. The singer thinks maybe there's something wrong with him but I'm sure you can figure out what's going on...

Psychology

song lyrics by Monty Harper

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

I see eyes looking at me and I get distressed
I feel uptight and anxious, mad and depressed
I hear voices behind me that whisper and mock
No one smiles when I smile; no one listens when I talk
I don’t sleep well at all cause I think of my job
And I dream I’m attacked by an unruly mob
Is there some kind of name for the trouble I’ve got?
Can science explain? Am I crazy or what?

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?
Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

I’ve been looking in books for some self-diagnosis
I’ve read about phobias, fears, and neurosis
Obsession, repression, fixation, and trauma
Was it nature or nurture that caused all this drama?
I set out to measure the person I am
And I filled out a long psychometric exam
I wanna understand but I’m losing my nerve
I’m afraid I won’t land on the bell of the curve

Oh, yes the human mind is acutely arcane
Couched in the convoluted human brain
It comes without a manual or a guarantee
So we study that puzzle with Psychology

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?
Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

Gotta go now - my day is about to begin
My seventh grade students are jostling in
I see eyes looking at me and I get distressed
I feel uptight and anxious, mad and depressed
I hear voices behind me that whisper and mock
No one smiles when I smile; no one listens when I talk
I’ll be teaching all day with this chalk in my hand
And tonight two more lessons will need to be planned
But with every spare moment I happen to find
I will ponder the question that’s still on my mind

Psychology, can you tell me what’s wrong with me?

Because Dr. Lack studies what's happening in kids' minds, it was a bit of a challenge to come up with visuals and "hands-on" activities to keep everyone engaged. We can't exactly put our hands on a mind, or experience a tornado in the classroom to see what happens. But we did get to fill out actual "measures," or psychometric exams, that Dr. Lack's research subjects fill out.

Filling Out Measures

We talked about three variables that might have something to do with which kids develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a tornado and which don't: How much exposure they had to the tornado, how they coped with it afterwards, and attributions, which means how they explained it to themselves.

Thinking About Variables

It turns out all three are important, but attributions are the most important by far. Those kids who say the tornado is just something that happened - no reason - fared the best. Those who blamed themselves fared the worst.

Dr. Lack's Results
Attributions correlate strongest with PTSD

I'm working on a more detailed write-up of Dr. Lack's presentation, and I'll post it here in a day or two for those who missed the program, or for those who were there, but might want to shore up their understanding.

Next month: "Mysterious Algae of the Great Salt Plains!" with Dr. Bill Henley of the OSU Botany Department. That's on February 19, 10:00 AM at the Stillwater Public Library. See you then!!

Chatting Afterwards

Tangling With Twisters

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:34:41 PDT

Born to Do Science is starting up again for the Spring semester! Our first program is "Tangling With Twisters" with Dr. Caleb Lack.

Why do some children recover from a natural disaster in good shape while others suffer ongoing anxiety? Clinical psychologist Dr. Caleb Lack from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond will present his research connecting emotional resilience with explanatory style.

We'll meet on Saturday January 15, 10:00 AM at the Stillwater Public Library, room 119.

I spoke with Dr. Lack last night about his research and he'll have some pretty surprising findings to share. He works with kids the same age as our audience, so we'll get to find out what it's like to be a subject in a scientific study!

Kids in 3rd - 6th grade and parents are invited to attend. See you then!!

P.S. Here's a poster; feel free to download, print, and post this anywhere in Stillwater you think kids might see it! (Click to load in the hi-res version, then drag that to your desktop.)

Mark Your Calendar!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 11:44:00 PDT

I'm putting together a new season of Born to Do Science! Starting in January, we'll be meeting mostly on third Saturdays at 10:00 AM at the Stillwater Public Library in Room 119 (same as before).

These are the dates:

Jan 15, Feb 19, Mar 19, Apr 23, May 21

I do not have specific speakers lined up yet, though I'm working on that, and I'll let you know soon...

(If you are a scientist and would like to talk about your research with kids, please let me know!)

Songs From the Science Frontier is Here!

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:42:32 PST

The new CD is now available! Songs From the Science Frontier contains 12 songs for learners age 8 and up. Most of the songs are based on research of the scientists who have been "Born to Do Science" guest speakers. If you've attended the program, then you've heard me perform them, but you haven't heard them like this! I worked with producer Chris Wiser of the Sugar Free Allstars, and he helped make the songs sound fantastic!

You can sample the songs and purchase CDs and/or downloads via these links:

iTunes
CD Baby
Order a signed copy

Happy listening!

Pre-Order Songs From the Science Frontier

btds@montyharper.com (Monty Harper) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:46:45 PDT

Now taking pre-orders for the new Songs From the Science Frontier CD at www.montyharper.com!

CDs will ship in November. We're working hard on the recording process right now, and the songs are sounding fantastic!