I went down, down, down and the flames went higher

And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire

The ring of fire… ” – Johnny Cash

HOW TO VIEW A SOLAR ECLIPSE: 

The “ring of fire” has a lot more meaning than the popular 1963 song by Johnny Cash, repopularized by the 2005 movie, “Walk the Line”.   That’s what scientists are calling this latest full solar eclipse.  It is a full annular (ring) eclipse of the sun, that only happens every few decades or so — depending on where you live.   The hydrogen based fire of the sun is eclipsed by the shadow of the moon revolving around the Earth, such that the moon appears to be a small dark shadow with a slightly smaller diameter than the bright, radioactive sun.  This most recent eclipse happens to have “peaked” both in certain parts of Asia and certain parts of the US, separated by 12 hours or more of time zone.   It resembled a “ring of fire” because it looked just like the sun was a burning ring of fire, with a moon in the middle of it.

The moon revolves around the Earth such that it has a full rotation to the same point around Earth around every 27.3 days (a sidereal  month), in large part because it is 385,000 km away from the center of the Earth.   So, it doesn’t move as fast as the Earth can turn around one full axis (24 hrs).  Furthermore, the sun pulls at the moon with over twice the strength of the Earth.  So, the moon’s orbit around the Earth changes all the time, and as such, given all the different variables it can be very difficult to determine when a solar eclipse will occur.

At THL Asia, based in Taipei, despite relatively rainy and stormy weather, we were able to see the solar eclipse at around 6:46 AM, which was slightly after its supposed peak.  However, our view of the eclipse was not quite the same as south of us – in Vietnam or Southern Fujian Province (where the author of this blog normally lives these days); we had only a partial solar eclipse, in between the clouds due to lots of increased year over year rain activity.

Normal, cloudy view of rainy Houshanpi - same mountain as below

According to most doctors and scientists, you should not look into the sun directly, eclipse or not, because it is harmful to the eyes.  So, we at THL Asia used 3 different types of filtration methods to see the solar eclipse and document its progress along its pathway, which lasted a total of 1.5-2 hours.

An unfiltered view of the "ring of fire" -- NOTE IF YOU LOOK AT AN ECLIPSE DIRECTLY, YOU WON"T SEE ANYTHING AND YOU MIGHT GO BLIND!

The first method we tried was the pinhole method, in which you poke a 1mm diameter hole in a piece of cardboard (either solid thin cardboard like you find in the back of calendars or cereal/packaging boxes, or even corrugated cardboard, if you are careful), and shine it on a piece of white paper from a few inches away.  Generally this 1mm thickness is the thickness of a ballpoint pen tip, but can be plus or minus.

The cardboard & pinholes used for the eclipse viewing experiment, compared to a US penny and 1 New Taiwan Dollar (NTD)

So, try different objects like paperclips, clothespines etc.  Make sure you try things than generate perfect circles — and make sure you do multiple holes an inch or so apart so you can shine it on a standard piece of 8.5×11″ or equivalent white paper to see the results are all the same.  These are the results we achieved (Note the brighter ones were actually the larger pinholes — but the clear ones were the smaller pinholes.  Too small of a diameter shows nothing at all; so you should experiment to find what diameter works best for you):

Cardboard-pinhole reflections of the solar eclipse against a white piece of paper, a few inches below a piece of cardboard with various small holes

View of the pinhole cardboard against a white piece of paper underneath -- held 7-9 in apart; pictures taken from different angles will show different sizes/proportions of circles/ellipses.

The second method we tried was reflecting the sun from a high clarity mirror to a white wall, through the pinholes on the same piece of cardboard.  Multiple pinholes were made, of various diameters, ranging from needles to pen-tip-holes, to holes as large as the diameter as a regular # 2 pencil.  You can see that the different diameters resulted in different sized reflections.  Try to establish a good, bright reflection using different depths, ranging from 1inch to 1 foot away from the surface of the mirror, and reflect the light up to 6 feet away, with direct sunlight, so you can see where the position of the eclipse is.

Reflections of various pinhole representations of the solar eclipse on a white wall, reflected from a high clarity mirror - each one ie not terribly bright but several inches wide, and the entire room of people can view them

More reflected images of the eclipse

The last method we tried was when the sun died out a bit — and it turned out the be the best.  When the sun is completely behind a cloud and there is no direct sunglight you can use dual polarized glasses and try to look at the sun directly for a second.  Or, preferable, to avoid permanent damage to your eyes, you can take dual polarized sunglasses and angle them against a digital camera to find the appropriate angle to look at the sun.  Make sure to only look at the sun through the digital display (LCD/LED display) so that you don’t hurt your eyesight.   Although that method was a bit tricky , we got   some of the best results!

Here you see a sunglasses-filtered picture of the eclipse - the big bar to the left of the center is the edge of the sunglasses, as taken by a digital camera - right side polarized

Closeup of same picture - note how real picture is opposite of the reflection in the pinhole pictures

Here you see the same picture overlayed with a diagram of where the moon would be at the approximately correct scale (though the contrast compared to outer space, as well as the haze of the Earth atmosphere, blocks out the real outline of the moon, and all you see is a "shadow")

Sun to the left of the glasses frame - right side is polarized, left side is not

Closeup of the unfiltered pic

Try these different method, or use a professional filter or binoculars/telescopes or magnifying glasses, which are applied to a piece of white paper from several inches away.  This can be tricky though.  The methods described above are quite easy and can be figured out in a matter of minutes.  Try them all, if you have time (like a 2 hour solar eclipse window) and see what you can achieve too!!  Again this is only for solar eclipses — if there is a lunar eclipse, you can try another techniques, which are much easier than a solar eclipse– check out this NASA site here, and click around to find additional lunar eclipses in the future:   NASA eclipse link .

Here you see the cardboard with various-diameter pinholes, along with the flat mirror, and the polarized sunglasses used by Barnas Monteith when viewing the eclipse above the mountains in Houshanpi, Taipei, Taiwan.

Michael Erb, a scientist from Rutgers University, who is specifically focused on studying the orbit of the Earth around the sun and how it affects long term climate change, is a THL featured first time author.  His recent book “Kelvin McCloud and the Seaside Storm” is about weather/meteorology science and how it can be used to solve science/CSI mysteriies — it can be purchased at our online THL store: http://tumblehomelearning.com/shop .

In 2011, a sample of 122,000 students from all the states took the science section of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  Their performance was measured in physical, life, and earth and space science, using a combination of multiple choice and open-answer questions.  The NAEP is a good, thoughtful test, not narrowly pitched at a particular curriculum and not a test students can cram for.

Overall, on a 300-point scale, students in 2011 scored 2 points better than on the previous test administration in 2009. African-American and Hispanic students made the most progress, slightly narrowing the achievement gap between them and their white or Asian peers.

Science performance still strongly correlates with family income.  Students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch (45% of students) score 27 points lower on the science NAEP than their more affluent classmates.  Two years ago, the difference was 28 points. And male students on average score 5 points higher than female students.

Along with the test questions, students and teachers answer questions about their background, attitudes, and practices within the science classroom.  These answers can be correlated with student scores to see if some practices are associated with higher scores.  Of course, correlation does not prove causation, but it does raise hypotheses for further investigation.

In the 2009 science NAEP, higher student scores were strongly correlated with classrooms that spent more time on hands-on science projects.  The median 8^th grade student works on a hands-on activity or investigation in class once or twice weekly.  The more often they do, the higher their scores: students who did hands-on investigations almost daily scored 16 point higher than those who did so almost never.  Presumably the latter students were doing most of their learning from books and worksheets.

Also positive, but less strongly so, was the correlation between working together with other students on a science project and student performance.  Here the score difference between those doing so almost daily and those never doing so was 7 points.

The impact of student interest and out-of-school involvement in science activities can be discerned from another question, asking students whether they agree with the statement, “I do science–related activities that are not for school.”  29% of students agree.  Those who strongly agree perform 16 points better than those who strongly disagree.

For us at Tumblehome Learning, these findings underline our commitment to providing fun, engaging, scientifically sound stories and activities for students to pursue on their own or with friends.  Let’s bump up that 29% of students who do science even when they don’t have to.  With interest comes effort, improved learning, and opportunity.  That’s where we’re aiming.

Jeffrey Morris, speaking with children about his new THL book, Venus: Daedalus One

With over 800,000 estimated guests (according to preliminary estimates), and an increased number of exhibitors from last year’s expo event, the USSEF is expanding rapidly. It is a clear sign of the times that STEM has become a national priority and it’s not just for the formal classroom environment.

With real Lockheed Margin rockets, the “Magic School Bus,” solar cars, a mobile dinosaur museum, and even a real F-16 fighter plane, the USSEF was full of activities and displays that could rival any DC-area museum.

A real NASA spacecraft at the USSEF

THL presented its newly released books, The Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip, The Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil, Kelvin McCloud and the Seaside Storm, and Venus: Daedalus One – a Graphic Novel, which was released under a partnership between Tumblehome Learning and Morris Future Works / Future Dude Comics. In addition, THL offered its brand new activity kits for its first two Galactic Academy of Science books, developed by Dr. Peter Wong.

From left to right, THL's inaugural authors along with their new books: Barnas Monteith, Penny Noyce, Jeffrey Morris, Michael Erb and Peter Wong

As part of the launch, THL offered a series of activities for children to do, while at the fair. From make-your-own plaster trilobites to electronic circuit demonstrations to using a real TV microscope to look at man-made diamonds and fossils, THL presented activities related to nearly all of its new book offerings.

Tangrams, trilobites and diamonds on display at THL's booth

In addition, THL’s GAS series characters were promoted with live costumed characters, including Selektra Volt, the Dudette from the Future, in the Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip, and Roy Chapman Andrews, a real paleontologist who discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the world from the Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil.

Selektra Volt, the "dudette from the future," in the Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip

Penny Noyce, THL cofounder, was a featured author at the USSEF, and presented a panel discussion as well as a talk about her various new books, at events which were also attended by celebrity science people such as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from the hit TV Series the MythBusters and Mayim Bialik of The Big Bang Theory, as well as Gentleman Thief Apollo Robbins and numerous leading science authors.

THL books and kits, which were launched at the event, are now available for order through our online store.

Extra big thanks to Kristine Cheung of K2E Enrichment, based in Newton, MA for supplying materials and leading activities for the children at the THL booth.  If you live in MA, be sure to check out K2E’s after school learning offerings at http://www.k2enrichment.com .

Kristine, of K2E Enrichment, assisting children with making plaster trilobites

In a way, this increased exposure of bad science is reassuring. That’s the way science is supposed to work. Scientists publish their findings, and other scientists try to replicate those findings in the laboratory. If no one can replicate the results—if no one else can get cold fusion to work in a beaker, for example—the initial results are discarded and investigators search down another path. Science self-corrects.

Still, it’s disturbing that more faulty papers are being published in the first place. The investigators and the Times suggest a number of potential reasons:

- Grants and tenure-track positions are harder and harder to get. Young researchers need to publish impressive results to get a job.
- Being first to make a discovery is so important that young scientists may be willing to cut corners to get there.
- The need to publish more research induces labs to hire more graduate students, which in turn means more people are being trained than there are jobs for, so those students really need to publish amazing research, so… and so on.
- There’s also a more reassuring possibility. Because online journals are widely available at low cost, it may be that a much broader audience is reading articles, and that some of those readers may be in a position to detect fraud or innocent errors.

But we here at Tumblehome Learning know there’s more to it than that. There are definitely unscrupulous people and those led easily astray who would rather fudge their results than face the possibility of disfavor. But part of the reason these problems are being brought to light is – well, I’m not supposed to tell you. We have come across a file of manuscripts describing certain missions…

All right, I’ll tell you. Ever since the first days of learned scientific discussion, the confidential Galactic Academy of Science has been fighting to preserve the integrity of science. Now, in a sign of crisis, the G.A.S. is seeking out new recruits and training them on a careful selection of science mysteries. Recruits experiment with simple time travel and meet inspiring and not-so-inspiring scientific luminaries of the past. Whether finding stolen goods or uncovering fraud, GAS trainees demonstrate their boldness, quick thought, and devotion to truth.

We at Tumblehome Learning invite all readers of this notice to consider whether they or their children have the curiosity and sense of fair play and truth to merit consideration for membership in the Galactic Academy of Science. The best way to learn more about the Academy is by reading books in the Tumblehome Learning GAS series. The Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip will be ready for order by clicking on our Store page on Wednesday, April 25, 2012. GAS book #2, The Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil, will be available in July, with more to follow soon.

And above all, remember the GAS motto: “Defending Scientific Integrity through the Centuries.”

[Featured picture is a scientist being arrested for fraud in the The Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil - one of the most recent releases in THL's G.A.S. series]

Lightning can heat air to 54,000°F and can melt sand into hollow glass tubes known as fulgurites. Despite this, a Virginia park ranger named Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning on seven separate occasions over the course of 35 years without dying. After the fourth strike, he acquired a fear of storms and began carrying a can of water with him at all times, to extinguish his hair or any other fires if he should be struck again. Learn more: http://geology.utah.gov/surveynotes/gladasked/gladfulgurites.htm

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZLYwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=afoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7466%2C354557

Hurricanes are incredibly powerful. NOAA states that “A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20×1013 watts… The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes.” People sometimes ask why we don’t simply nuke any hurricanes that approach the U.S. The answer is simple: because of the sheer power of hurricanes, a nuclear bomb may not completely disrupt it, and the last thing we want headed our way is a radioactive hurricane. Read more: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html

During the last ice age, glaciers nearly a mile thick covered much of the Northern Hemisphere high-latitude continents. Evidence of these massive sheets of ice can be found in many places. For instance, if you live in New York City, look at the exposed bedrock in Central Park. The grooves visible in the bedrock were made as moving glaciers dragged rubble across the rocks’ surface. Over the past three million years, the Earth has gone in and out of ice ages dozens of times, with warm periods such as today being rare occurrences between long periods of cold. Farther back in time, the Earth went through periods much, much warmer and much, much colder than today. Evidence suggests that, at several points in the past, the entire Earth was covered by ice. Scientists call these events “snowball Earth.”
Learn more: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch6s6-4.htm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100304-snowball-earth-ice-global-warming/

About 40-95 kilometers above the surface of the Earth, high above the tops of storm clouds during thunderstorms, there are huge electrical discharges known as “sprites.” They can be red or blue, and images of them can be captured with highly sensitive cameras. Despite occasional sightings by pilots, however, they were not given much attention by most scientists until 1989, when Dr. John Winckler captured some on film. The fact that such phenomena can go relatively unnoticed for so long hints at all of the mysteries still out there in our wonderful world.
Find out more:  http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/essd10jun99_1/

How can informal science education –- learning that happens outside of school — help increase girls’ interest and participation in science? The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) has summarized a number of research studies to pull out common findings.

One key is to help girls try on identities as people who do science. This is easer when girls work side by side with scientists, often on a common problem. Such an experience can help a girl see herself as an environmentalist, a contributor to knowledge, or a savvy consumer of health care—all of which can be science identities.

Many girls also benefit particularly from collaborative projects, especially if they have a fair chance to participate and communicate. When science is a social activity, girls remember what they learn and also associate the learning with positive feelings.

The importance of collaboration and mentors are two of seven research-based strategies for engaging girls in science and engineering. Other principles are:

* Help girls find projects that are personally relevant and meaningful.

* Let girls do hands-on, open-ended projects.

* Let them approach projects in their own way, using their own creativity and talents.

* Specific, positive feedback improves girls’ confidence and performance.

* Encourage girls to think critically; that, too, increases their confidence.

Tumblehome Learning wants to encourage girls to participate as enthusiastically as boys in all fields of science, from biology to engineering. For that reason, we present girls and women who are brave, determined, and curious. In our books, girls as well as boys try on the identity of scientists as they question, investigate, and solve mysteries. Our girl characters rely on their strengths, whether those be in problem-solving (Mae in The Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip) or drawing (Rachel in Kelvin McCloud and the Seaside Storm).

We believe that girls as well as boys can benefit from trying on the identity of scientists. We also believe that characters in books can provide a kind of peer group, encouraging kids to pursue their interests with a positive sense of fun and comradeship in the enterprise of science.

Barnas Monteith, Penny Noyce and Yu Yi Ling, arriving to the new THL office location in Taipei

Tumblehome Learning’s Asia presence (藏寶家), headquartered on Zhongxiao Dong Lu (忠孝東路)  in downtown Taipei, Taiwan, is officially open for business.  THL’s office in Taipei is intended to serve as a regional sales/marketing office, for Asia-Pacific, in addition to low volume sample manufacturing.

藏寶家, pronounced “tsang bao jia”, means hidden treasure home, meaning that our organization intends to offer its audience a treasure trove of knowledge, hidden amidst a capitvating storyline filled with adventure and fun.

THL’s founders share a common philosophy that education should not be proprietary.  Knowledge does not and should not have borders or boundaries.  At its core, THL is a truly international organization in scope, and we believe that in order to truly understand the world, and for the betterment of humanity, ideas should be shared globally.  Beyond Asia, THL intends to set up regional offices in all corners of the world, not only to spread knowledge, and inspire the children of other nations, but to learn from the discoveries and successes of others, no matter who they are, or where they are from.  This philosophy is central to our books and other materials.

For instance in our flagship series, the Galactic Academy of Science (GAS) Series, students are taken on an adventure through time, to visit scientists from throughout history, and in all nations.  New ideas come from everywhere and can come from any one.  Did you know, for instance, that while most people think that the concept of evolution came from Charles Darwin after his trip to the Galapagos Islands, it may have actually originated from a young female paleontologist who discovered sea reptiles much earlier, named Mary Anning?  Or did you know that geology’s most integral concepts of stratigraphy and sedimentology, which are often credited to Scottish physician James Hutton of the mid 1700′s, were previously described by a Chinese scientist named Shen Kuo, in the Sung dynasty (just a shade after 1,000 AD)?  These concepts and more are explored in THL/藏寶家’s upcoming GAS book The Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil. 

THL Asia's office, located in a building on Zhongxiao Dong Lu

THL/藏寶家 is collaborating with a variety of educational organizations, corporations and government groups in Taiwan and throughout Asia, to develop materials that are:

• Best-in-class – taking advantage of the most effective methods of teaching from the East and the West, based on research of existing practices, and field testing of THL-developed materials
• Unique in concept and storyline, with novel supplemental hands-on learning materials (kits, software, educational toys)
• Aligned with curriculum standards, and/or otherwise appropriately grade-leveled for content and language, with content that is challenging for students
• Based on current, up-to-date scientific facts and leading edge technologies, along with historical context about how those technologies or scientific theories were developed
• Culturally adapted, to ensure maximum appeal, and “interest factor” as our primary mission is to inspire children to want to learn more and consider STEM careers
• Extensible: tools for either self-guided discovery at home or use in an after school enrichment class / “bushiban” setting, that can serve as a fun alternative to video games or other less educational activities
• Useful not only for STEM content and history learning, but also bilingual education (for instance, Chinese language and culture education in the West, and English learning in the East)
• Most of all – fun!

THL-Asia / 藏寶家 will be releasing new traditional Chinese language based products in May of 2012, following the April release of English-language materials at the USSEF in Washington, DC.

View of Taipei's world-famous 101 building from the new THL office building

New generation, new power — that’s the slogan of the 2012 TISF, or Taiwan International Science Fair.  It is a year of change for the TISF, as well as a year of growth.  Hundreds of students, from 17 countries have participated in this year’s TISF, including representatives from Intel ISEF (the International Science & Engineering Fair), displaying projects in the following subject areas:  mathematical sciences, physics & astronomy, chemistry, earth & planetary sciences, animal sciences, plant sciences, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine & health, engineering, computer science and environmental science.

THL’s Barnas Monteith and Penny Noyce, while visiting Taiwan, had the opportunity to attend several events of the TISF, which is a week long event, held in the Shihlin district of Taipei.  Many of you may know Shilin as the Tourist Night Market area, where you can get such famous Taiwan street snacks as “tso doufu” (stinky tofu), oajen (fried oyster omelets), xiangchang (Taiwanese sausage on a stick), not to mention various parts of chickens, ducks and other animals grilled, broiled, fried or otherwise cooked on a stick (which the author of this blog loves by the way).   However, Shilin district is also home to various educational science museums such the National Taiwan Space Museum , and the National Taiwan Science Education Center (NTSEC), which is the host organization of TISF.

The week-long international science fair started off with a welcoming event at the Grand Hotel, which is only  a short distance away from the NTSEC.  The Director General of the NTSEC, Dr. Chu Nyan Shan, welcomed all to the event with inspiring words of encouragement, on behalf of the 56 year old institute, and home to the ever-expanding TISF.   Following the welcoming speeches and flag event, was a  “Meet the Scientist” lecture and panel discussion featuring:  Academician (meaning, a fellow of Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s premier Academic council, similar to the US AAAS)  Dr. C. Y. Cyrus Chu (朱敬一院士) , economist and newly appointed head of the Taiwan National Science Council, Academician Dr. “Frank” Hsia-San Shu  (徐遐生院士), energy researcher and head of the Taiwan Central Normal University, and Academician Dr. Chao Han Liu (劉兆漢院士), a climate scientist and one of the key innovators behind Taiwan’s Formosat weather satellite array, and its 12 satellite array successor, COSMIC, partly funded by the US/NOAA.   Ambassadors and other delegates from various countries were in attendance, not to mention honored guests Penny Noyce of the Noyce Foundation and Barnas Monteith of the MA State Science & Engineering Fair.

Left to Right: Dr. Chao Han Liu (劉兆漢院士), Dr. “Frank” Hsia-San Shu (徐遐生院士), and Dr. C. Y. Cyrus Chu (朱敬一院士)

Students at TISF face a rigorous week of educational workshops, lectures at local universities, cultural events, not to mention multiple rounds of judging, followed by press events and public viewing days, prior to the final grand award ceremony, in which the top award (a full scholarship to anywhere in the world) is presented by Taiwan President Ma Ying Jiu.  THL’s Penny Noyce and Barnas Monteith attended one of the public viewing days and had a chance to meet with a few inspiring students and see their projects.

Observing Sudden Stratosphere Warming by Using data from Formosat III, a team project by several students at an all-girls school in central Taiwan, looks at data from one of Taiwan NSPO’s (the equivalent of NASA in the US) active high resolution weather satellites.   The data was used to demonstrate that there are substantially more dramatic seasonal warming trends observed in the upper atmosphere, as altitude increases.

Employing GPS to Observe Tsunami-Ionospheric Disturbances, another team project by students from an all boys school in central Taiwan, takes a look at NOAA oceanic data trends to determine subtle weather patterns surrounding Tsunami events, in order to attempt to create a predictive model.

Seeing With Your Tongue, is a part-biology, part-engineering project by an enthusiastic international student from Romania, who provided a lengthy explanation of a novel method to aid the blind in seeing, through the use of a camera which can recognize written characters such a street signs and convert them to tactile (touch) signals on the tongue.  Because the human tongue contains a large number of nerves (more than most other areas of the body), it is an ideal location to provide high resolution “touch response” information to a person, and a small tongue sensor device is a portable way to be able to see on the go, in a pinch.  The device also operates like a visual aid, warning the user of any impending danger or nearby objects, through vibrations.

The projects at TISF were mind blowing, some clearly worth of patents, and certainly all would be competitive at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair, perhaps even a select few may someday lead to Nobel prizes in the not-too-distant future.

TISF has been a recognized and highlighted success for Intel Taiwan, as well – the fair’s primary corporate sponsor, with TISF winners placing extremely well at ISEF, and spreading the adoption of inquiry learning into classrooms across Taiwan.   As mentioned above, it is also a year of change for TISF.  At the helm of the fair is new Executive Director Christina Huang, taking over for Marianna Fung, who was instrumental in consolidating a national science fair for the country of Taiwan, and then expanding it into a grand multi-nation event at Taiwan’s premier science education center.  Christina is also accompanied by various new staff who will assist in leading TISF moving forward, as well as a commitment from Intel to fund TISF well into the future.

Left to right: Dr. Chu Nyan Shan, Director-General of NTSEC, MSSEF's Barnas Monteith, Noyce Foundation's Penny Noyce, and Rachel Liu, Head of Intel Education, Taiwan

While TISF is an amazing success story, evolving from a central science fair for a handful of regional fairs throughout the country to a globally recognized event in a span of not much more than a decade, it also faces challenges.  The issues facing the TISF, and science fairs throughout Taiwan are many, and not dissimilar to ones faced in the US and even in states with considerable academic talent and scientific/engineering resources such as Massachusetts.  Funding for science fair / inquiry related materials and learning time in public schools and private schools alike, throughout the country, is relatively meager.  Schools are faced with increased focus on tested curriculum, and accountability of teachers.  Not to mention, while schools in Taiwan spend considerably more time on science & engineering than US schools, they also face a shortage of resources (related both to learning time and physical facilities), and often parents with means supplement their child’s education with after-school “bushiban” courses, and standardized testing prep “cram” courses.   Resource inequality continues to be a problem, where cities and private schools have access to considerably more resources than the public schools in remote or “high needs” regions.  Sometimes, students and teachers are left discouraged, feeling like sometimes the science fair, can actually be a “science unfair”.  These are the very problems that face the MA State Science & Engineering Fair, which is now a 63 year old organization, as well as regional and state fairs across America.  However, take it from a kid who grew up in a lower middle class suburb who won ISEF and other major fairs – a few times… hands on learning is not just for the rich, and as the cliché goes, where there’s a will there’s a way.  Competitive science fair projects can indeed be done on a shoestring budget – and so can inquiry hands-on learning.  I discuss ways to get really expensive science experiments done for almost no money, in my upcoming book about science fairs: Dinosaur Eggs & Blue Ribbons.   Like our other initial release books, DE&BR will be translated into complex/traditional Mandarin and offered in English in the US and in English & Mandarin in Taiwan (as well as other languages in other countries, in the future).  Getting to my next point…one more very big problem facing TISF students from Taiwan as well as other international students in general is language barrier: students in Taiwan and other developed countries are faced with a deluge of increased assessments over time, and most of them require more and more scientific/technical English.  In the US, while we do have secondary language requirements in most schools, we do not require students to conduct significant amounts of testing in other languages (or at least not as it relates to anything but a test of the language itself).  It would be difficult for me to imagine having conducted my science fair judging sessions in Mandarin Chinese when I was just 14 years old, so I can only imagine how difficult it must be for others to not only learn conversational English, but to learn technical vocabulary at such a young age.  It goes well above and beyond just learning a subject matter, and devising a novel experiment or designing a new engineering concept – it is learning a whole other culture, and I have great respect for students who are able to do this effectively.  The students we saw at TISF are truly talented and amazing individuals (and teams)!

Student at TISF showing his SEM micrographs of insect specimen

One of our primary goals in founding Tumblehome Learning was to offer parents and teachers supplemental out-of-school learning materials at a low cost, that are actually fun — not just the boring day to day classroom lessons that tend not to inspire children to want to become scientists, engineers or educators in these fields.   Whether kids choose to become scientists or not, THL’s learning materials are an easy investment for most parents/teachers to offer young ones a look into a different world, and to provide an opportunity for critical thinking and inquiry learning that might not otherwise exist in the formal learning environment.   Our goal is not only to encourage the next MSSEF/Intel winners and TISF winners, but to inspire a life of constant exploration and learning.

A View of Hall1 inside the Taipei International Book Expo

Tumblehome Learning had a busy and exciting first day at the Taiwan International Book Exhibition.  The exhibition lasts five days, hosts nearly a thousand exhibitors, and attracts more than 500,000 visitors. Yesterday, those visitors included Taiwan’s President Ma, who spoke about the number of authors and love of books in Taiwan. TIBE is the largest book fair in Asia and fourth largest in the world.

Tumblehome Learning's Booth A 907 at the T'ibE

But size isn’t the only reason we came to this fair.  Taiwan is a highly literate nation of 23 million and supports over 40,000 new titles a year.  There’s a 24-hour bookstore in Taipei, and parents are intimately concerned with their children’s education.  Taipei is sister city to Boston, where Tumblehome Learning was founded, and Taiwan and Massachusetts are close competitors in TIMSS, a periodic international study of students’ math and science understanding.  Tumblehome Learning considers Taiwan a sister spirit and a doorway to the Asian market, which is why we decided to establish a branch in this country.

President Ma Ying Jiu of Taiwan speaks to the 2012 Taiwan International Book Exhibition

We are showing three different sets of products in our booth.

1.  We present four of our first Tumblehome Learning books, including an elementary science mystery, a biography, and a graphic novel.

2.  We are representing the National Center for Technological Literacy at Boston’s Museum of Science, one of the top science museums in the US.  The NCTL’s  Engineering is Elementary series introduces the engineering design cycle through twenty engaging stories of children from around the world solving problems in their communities.  These books are now in use in all fifty US states, where they have been shown to increase children’s understanding of what engineering is – the first step to building interest.  We are introducing these books, along with other NCTL texts at the middle school level, to Asia for the first time.

3.  We are also partnering with Scarletta Press to highlight two children’s books in their new Scarletta Junior line, Lost in Lexicon and The Ice Castle, both written by Tumblehome Learning co-founder Pendred Noyce.

Tumblehome Learning booth at TIBE

Our first day at the fair brought a lot of visitors interested both in the idea of introducing engineering concepts at the elementary level and in Tumblehome Learning’s philosophy of inspiring kids’ interest in science through enjoyable stories and linked hands-on experiences.  We kept busy  handing out materials and chatting with kindred spirits and potential partners.  In Day Two, we expect to be meeting even more.

Leading up to THL’s first Chinese language science learning book releases in Asia at the Taipei International Book Expo, as well as the opening of our new office on ZhongXiao E (Dong Lu), Houshanpi, Taipei, THL staff have been busy at work on preparations in Taiwan, throughout the New Year.  2012 – the year of the Dragon (龍) –  is significant for Tumblehome Learning, as ‘fraudulent dragon fossils’ are a key theme in several of the inaugural books produced by THL this year, including the Furious Case of the Fraudulent Fossil, and Dinosaur Eggs & Blue Ribbons, both authored by Barnas Monteith.

Dinosaur, in English, originally named by Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892), is derived from the Greek words deino, meaning “fearfully great”  and sauros meaning “lizard”; however in the most widely spoken language in Asia, Mandarin Chinese, the word Dinosaur is translated as “kong lung” (恐龍), which means “fearful dragon”.  Dragons and dinosaurs have long been closely affiliated in Asian cultures in more ways than just their names; for hundreds of  years, dinosaur and other vertebrate animal fossils, often darkly colored, were thought to be the charred and hardened stone bones of long-dead mythical dragons.   As such, they were thought to have mystical healing properties and were revered by doctors and people with severe illnesses, not knowing that they were actually fossils of dinosaurs, reptiles, amphibians and even birds from millions, even hundreds of millions of years ago (this is even document in ancient text such as the Shennong Bencao Jing, ca. 100 AD).  These “fraudulent dragon bones” were often crushed into powder and prepared in teas, and mixed into foods, in an attempt to use the magic of the dragon bones to heal the wounded and sick.  Needless to say there were very few people truly healed by these dragon bones, but yet, even to this day the practice of using dinosaur bones in Eastern medicine still continues.

Although not Peking Man, this is an example of an early hominid skull fossil

It is a lesser known story that the origin of mankind, and the study of human evolution, was first discovered in a pile of these so called “dragon bones”.    Peking Man (Sinanthropus pekinesis, named afterBeijing, once known as Peking), is known to be an early ancestor of homo sapiens (man).  In the late 1800’s, many paleontologists, rather than going out and digging in the field, would instead visit Chinese pharmacies, knowing that some of the best finds could be had in the dragon medicines.  German physician, Dr. KA Haberer picked up a number of fossils on a trip to a Beijing pharmacy in 1899, and unbeknownst to him, also picked up a 2 million year human-like molar, which it was later determined was that of the Peking Man, a very early ape-like ancestor of man — and additional parts were later found on subsequent expeditions to a limestone quarry location just south of Beijing known as “Chou Kou Tien” or “Dragon Bone Hill”.  Important fossils continue to be found to this day, in remote apothecaries throughout Asia.

In Fraudent Fossil, students learn of a modern day fraudulent fossil mystery, which they must solve by going back in time to visit and learn from historically significant geologists, naturalists and other scientists who helped to shape the ideas which have evolved into modern paleontology.  One such scientist/naturalist was Shen Kuo (沈括, 1031-1095) a high ranking Song Dynasty statesman who discovered the concepts of geomorphology and stratigraphy, while viewing the bamboo-like plant fossils found in different rock layers of the Taihang Mountains in Wenzhou, China.  Shen’s idea of how rocks and mountains were formed predated the concepts of sedimentology and rock formation described by James Hutton in 1802, which has often been referred to as the work which defined modern geology.  Geomorphology (the study of the shapes of landscapes and land formations) and sedimentary deposition / stratigraphy (how smaller rocks such as mud particles are joined together to make larger solid rocks like mudstone and slate over time, and then form layers) are perhaps the most crucial tools used by geologists & paleontologists to utilize in studies of evolution (e.g. dating fossils to determine whether or not they are truly “missing links” – not to mention their validity as real fossils).  Students also explore the world of Roy Chapman Andrews – an adventuresome American paleontologist and explorer often referred to as the real world basis for the movie character “Indiana Jones”.   Roy Chapman Andrews (1884-1960) also visited China to hold expeditions in the Gobi Desert of Montana to try to find more clues about the history of early mankind, and to find evidence of missing links even earlier than “Peking Man”.  However, instead, Roy Chapman Andrews became the very first paleontologist to uncover dinosaur eggs, and to describe in significant detail some of the behavioral characteristics of dinosaurs which could be inferred from fossils.

Reconstruction of a Gobi Desert, Mongolia oviraptor nesting site, exhibiting parental behavior. Roy Chapman Andrews aka "Indiana Jones" uncovered numerous nesting sites throughout the Gobi of China on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History, and had several species names after him.

In Dinosaur Eggs & Blue Ribbons, Barnas Monteith digs deep into the world of modern paleobiology and the various advanced biochemistry techniques used today to uncover and compare ancient proteins, while offering tips and advice about how to succeed at winning science fairs.  In the story, Barnas discusses his adventures as a young student of paleontology doing field research for his science fair project in the badlands ofMontana, under the guidance of famed paleontologist Jack Horner, a MacArthur Genius award winner, and the model behind the lead character inJurassicPark.  Jack Horner’s work on dinosaur egg placement suggesting material nesting behaviors in Maiasaurs over60 m.y.a. were cutting edge in the1970’s and80’s, and Dr. Horner has continued to innovate new fields of paleontology.  A number of years ago, Jack led a team of researchers to uncover proteins from a highly well preserved T-rex bone, which was so well fossilized, that some organic materials and possibly even cells of T-rex blood, actually remained within the bone.  In recent years, Jack has been doing significantly more fieldwork in Asia, where a plethora of bird fossils and new nesting grounds continue to be found on a frequent basis; as a result of all this new data, Jack has come up with various new theories and ideas to support the idea that dinosaurs were incredibly bird-like and that dinosaur-like reptiles very likely evolved into birds.  One of Dr. Horner’s ideas involves the concept of genetically “reverse engineering” dinosaurs from chicken DNA; so far, he has already been able to get a normal chicken to grow a small dinosaur-like tail by simply awakening old “extinct” genes.  And he is not the only one working to revive extinct DNA – it was announced in 2011 that Japanese scientists have begun work on resurrecting 8,000 year old Woolly Mammoths, and expect work to be completed within 4 to 5 years.  Scientists hope to revive DNA from intact If research advances as predicted, it  may be possible to have a real woolly mammoth walk into the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. before the 2017 U.S. Presidential inauguration (for those of you who haven’t been there before, there is a giant woolly mammoth centerpiece which greets you, as you enter the lobby of the museum; museums are among the best ways to get children interested in science by the way, as can be seen in the most recent previous THL blog – by THL cofounder Penny Noyce).

Barnas Monteith, THL CoFounder at the Taiwan Museum of Natural Science

Taiwan’s own Taichung Museum of Natural Science, one of the largest and most well attended museums in the country, is home to an amazing collection of fossil elephants, mammoths, rhinoceros, and other mammals found throughoutTaiwan.   The Taichung MNS held a special mammoth exhibit in 2009, to display elephant and mammoth finds fromTaiwan, as well as from around the world, includingSiberia.  Although Taiwan’s climate does not permit permafrost in most areas and therefore can not offer a good preservation environment for genetic material, the mammal fossils in TW are very well preserved, and have been described as early as the1920’s by Japanese paleontologists, as being related to other fossils found in mainland China, as well as in Japan.  Most of these animals are from the recent Ice Ages,10’s of thousands of years ago.  A recent study by scientists at a traditional medicine center in Oregon have determined that a variety of randomly sampled “Chinese medicines” are in fact fossils of elephants, woolly mammoths (Stegodon) and rhinoceros – very similar to the profile of fossils found in Taiwan.  Who knows how many mammoths have been mistakenly consumed as “dragon bones” throughout time, acrossTaiwan, and throughout Asia?

Woolly Mammoth fossil skull, displayed at the Taichung Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan

One thing is for certain: the dragon is an important mythical cultural symbol throughoutAsia, and their real counterparts – dinosaurs – will be a key feature in THL’s 2012 book catalog.  This year, THL will celebrate the Year of Dragon by releasing a minimum of 3 books focused on paleontology; and will be building a major presence in Asia, the original home of the Dragon.

The "Year of the Dragon" exhibit at the Taichung Museum of Natural Science

Don’t forget the next time you get ill, be sure to eat all your “dragon bones”…

If you happen to be in Taipei currently or in the near future, please visit THL’s booth at the Taipei International Book Expo from Feb 1-6, 2012, at the Taiwan World Trade Center (details on our events page), or visit our new Taipei office at 800 ZhongXiao DongLu (please set up an appointment via our contact page).