tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342310502012-05-28T19:51:38.471+01:00The Frog Blog is created and maintained by the science teachers in St. Columba's College, Dublin Ireland. It contains science articles on a rich array of topics, from astronomy to zoology (A to Z). It's created for science enthusiasts of all ages, so enjoy!Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comBlogger1222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-83560589030177332012012-05-28T10:09:00.002+01:002012-05-28T10:09:36.648+01:002012-05-28T10:09:36.648+01:00

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science” Edwin Hubble I’m frequently asked, by my friends or my students, if I ever get sick of teaching the same old stuff year after year. Of course I tell them no – every class is different, every student is different – the usual clichéd answer. However, I’m probably not being completely honest

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-34744092279430361202012-05-26T20:00:00.000+01:002012-05-28T19:51:38.493+01:002012-05-28T19:51:38.493+01:00

This wonderful video, produced as part of the Ted-Ed project, is a excellent introduction to the strange world of plankton. Using new videography and filming techniques, the team of researchers have opened up the oceans' microscopic ecosystem, revealing it to be both mesmerizing and astoundingly complex. Marine biologist Tierney Thys was part of the team responsible for producing the video, and

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-62552682235961969222012-05-24T12:52:00.000+01:002012-05-24T12:52:34.380+01:002012-05-24T12:52:34.380+01:00

Members of the Ichthyostega genus were likely the first four limbed animals, or tetrapods, to venture out of the water and spend some time on land. Understanding that massive behavioural change is important for scientists, principally to get a better understanding of the evolutionary process. These animals, which would have had some fishy traits and some amphibian traits, may have been the

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-63604103829714145042012-05-24T10:48:00.002+01:002012-05-24T11:50:10.724+01:002012-05-24T11:50:10.724+01:00

Get out your camera and start snapping! A new photography competition for secondary school students in Ireland & the UK is looking for your images which capture a unique and personal view of the theme ‘Drops in Nature'.  The competition is being organised by the Irish Science Teachers’ Association, the Institute of Physics and Dublin Camera Club and has some amazing prizes up for grabs.

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-60139215273497398902012-05-24T10:09:00.002+01:002012-05-24T10:09:43.116+01:002012-05-24T10:09:43.116+01:00

Blackwater Community School in Lismore, Co. Waterford has built up a strong reputation over the past few years for producing some of the finest young scientists in Ireland, their students excelling in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and in SciFest. Now two of their students, Ruairi O’Neill and Eoghan Flynn (pictured above after winning SciFest earlier this year), have taken

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-7282623122491079172012-05-23T13:09:00.001+01:002012-05-23T13:09:26.035+01:002012-05-23T13:09:26.035+01:00

Let's face it! Kids love space! Using space exploration and astronomy can be a brilliant way of engaging students with science and planting the seed of inquiry in young minds. While the Irish science curricula (criminally) contains little mention of space, there is no reason why individual science teachers can't use it as a means of capturing their students' imagination. If you would like to

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-30882887488427110822012-05-23T11:43:00.001+01:002012-05-23T11:43:27.335+01:002012-05-23T11:43:27.335+01:00

The Institute of Physics (IOP) Ireland are campaigning to have the new bridge across the Liffey in Dublin at Marlborough Street named for Ernest Walton – Ireland’s only physics Nobel prizewinner. They have a petition on their website where they ask those in support of the idea to sign up - it takes just a couple of moments.  Walton received receiving the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 (

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-48405587088628920722012-05-21T15:26:00.001+01:002012-05-21T15:26:13.027+01:002012-05-21T15:26:13.027+01:00

Anyone who has visited Science Gallery's latest exhibition, HAPPY, will likely have seen a striking image of a upturned man rather pleased with himself. However, if you turn flip the image, so as the young man appears in the right orientation, and again take a look, he doesn't seem at all pleased. In fact, he doesn't even seem recognisable as human.  The striking image utilises a

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-65639942478655264602012-05-21T14:45:00.000+01:002012-05-21T14:45:17.290+01:002012-05-21T14:45:17.290+01:00

Phytoplankton are autotrophic (meaning they make their own food) members of a group of organisms known as plankton and represent 90% of all marine plant life. The word phytoplankton comes from Greek, phyto meaning plant and plankton which means that it is made to wander or drift. They are microscopic organisms that can live in both salt or fresh water environments. They cannot be seen with

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-1706985148770663972012-05-19T08:30:00.000+01:002012-05-19T08:30:01.744+01:002012-05-19T08:30:01.744+01:00

A few months back, Michael Mosley's exposé on "The Truth About Exercise" became one of the most watched Horizon episodes ever. In this wonderful hour of television, Mosley uncovers the surprising new research which suggests many of us could benefit enormously from just three minutes of high intensity exercise a week. He also discovers the hidden power of simple activities like walking and

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-40814017787994955862012-04-28T15:15:00.000+01:002012-04-30T15:15:26.861+01:002012-04-30T15:15:26.861+01:00

Today's featured video comes from space scientist and lunar fanatic Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock as she explores our intimate relationship with the Moon and how it was created. The debris from a huge collision of another planet on Earth formed what is now our moon, 14,000 miles from Earth, the closest it has ever been.

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-66398215602962164012012-04-27T07:00:00.000+01:002012-04-27T07:00:00.591+01:002012-04-27T07:00:00.591+01:00

Science Gallery's newest exhibition, HAPPY,  opens today, continuing their ambitious and stimulating programme for Dublin City of Science 2012. The gallery's exhibition space will be transformed in to a working lab during the next five weeks, featuring a series of unique exhibits / experiments, exploring your happiness from the TCD School of Psychology. Over the next month or so, visitors

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-56678803854055004872012-04-27T06:30:00.000+01:002012-04-27T06:30:03.488+01:002012-04-27T06:30:03.488+01:00

Cryptosporidium parvum, a single-celled animal, i.e., protozoa, is an obligate intracellular parasite. It has been given additional species names when isolated from different hosts. It is currently thought that the form infecting humans is the same species that causes disease in young calves. Cryptosporidium infects many herd animals (cows, goats, and sheep among domesticated animals). The

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-17544047143877129002012-04-26T21:17:00.000+01:002012-04-26T21:17:21.902+01:002012-04-26T21:17:21.902+01:00

It's taken me a while to get around to this - sorry! The 50th annual Irish Science Teachers Association conference took place in Trinity College Dublin at the weekend and was universally accepted as a triumphant success. The quality of the lectures / speakers that I attended was exceptional, with others also returned nothing but good reports from those that I sadly missed. The event opened

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-32421301785006645712012-04-26T20:43:00.000+01:002012-04-26T21:19:39.425+01:002012-04-26T21:19:39.425+01:00

The long awaited TED-Ed website has launched, promising to help teachers get the most out of video in their lessons. The wonderful website, currently in its Beta form, provides an innovative and structured approach to using video in the classroom. The website is based around providing excellent curated educational videos, created by collaborations between teachers and animators, and in providing

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-21291386920477143412012-04-22T09:36:00.000+01:002012-04-22T17:24:16.496+01:002012-04-22T17:24:16.496+01:00

A special welcome to those directed here from my presentation at the Irish Science Teachers Association (ISTA) Conference in the Old Chemistry Building of Trinity College Dublin. For those of you not attending, today I am giving a presentation at the conference on the use of iPad applications in the science classroom - outlining the 20 apps that you may find useful. Some of the these apps are

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-43612147237245389132012-04-21T13:55:00.000+01:002012-04-22T07:47:10.462+01:002012-04-22T07:47:10.462+01:00

Here's a fun way to introduce Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. It's from the wonderfully wacky BBC series 'Horrible Histories' and is an informative and entertaining introduction to one of science's greatest minds. Some might point out a few inaccuracies in the lyrics. Here's how one biology teacher in the UK uses the video in his lessons, asking his students to highlight the good

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-74430089848804857872012-04-20T07:30:00.000+01:002012-04-20T07:30:02.181+01:002012-04-20T07:30:02.181+01:00

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (shown above). Cats are the defintive host  but it can also infect humans and other warm blooded animals. It is acquired from contact with cats and their feces or by eating raw meat. When people are infected they are often not aware of it, but typical symptoms are swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches including pain.

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-50727627990937581292012-04-19T14:37:00.003+01:002012-04-19T14:37:43.068+01:002012-04-19T14:37:43.068+01:00

There is new hope today for sufferers of degenerative eye diseases with the news that scientists in the UK have successfully restored the sight of "night blind" mice. Night Blindness or nyctalopia is a condition where sufferers find it difficult to see in low levels of light. The most common cause of night blindness is retinitis pigmentosa, a disorder in which the rod cells in the retina,

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-33479830152202805062012-04-18T11:52:00.000+01:002012-04-18T11:52:49.781+01:002012-04-18T11:52:49.781+01:00

Do you like telling stories? Can you take a seemingly bland science topic and transform it in to something special - something that leaps from the page or computer screen? Then this is for you. The Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize returns for 2012, building on the enormous success of last year's competition. The prestigious competition is open to non-published writers in the UK and

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-39418404048690706212012-04-18T01:00:00.000+01:002012-04-18T10:41:54.010+01:002012-04-18T10:41:54.010+01:00

Have you got an innovative lesson that works? Would you like to share that lesson with other teachers and students? Would you be willing to make a short video about your lesson? Would you like to win some cash for your troubles? The O2 Learn Awards are a brilliant initiative which allows teachers share their inventive lessons online with thousands of other teachers and students. They're

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-5654774645883396332012-04-17T16:29:00.001+01:002012-04-17T16:29:08.038+01:002012-04-17T16:29:08.038+01:00

The Space Shuttle Discovery has made its final voyage, but sadly not in to space. Travelling atop a specialised jumbo jet, the shuttle was flown from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to its permanent home at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, but not before making a low level flight around the US capital first. After circling the Washington Monument four times and

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-85426054242416385372012-04-17T16:04:00.000+01:002012-04-17T16:04:03.900+01:002012-04-17T16:04:03.900+01:00

Recently the Irish agricultural research advisory organisation Teagasc applied for a licence to carry out field studies using Genetically Modified (GM) potatoes resistant to potato blight. This has caused many to ask what GM potatoes can do for them and if they can potentially be harmful to our health?  Ireland has had a long history surrounding blight, amounting in sporadic famines, one

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-85925022677949003422012-04-17T08:00:00.000+01:002012-04-17T08:00:11.747+01:002012-04-17T08:00:11.747+01:00

Last year the National Council for Curriculum & Assessment published new draft syllabi for senior cycle Biology, Chemistry & Physics and launched a period of consultation to seek advise from teachers, parents, students, universities and interested bodies on the direction of senior cycle science in Ireland. This involved a series of meetings between the NCCA and organisations like the Irish

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34231050.post-68902450245185439752012-04-16T14:05:00.001+01:002012-04-16T14:05:55.206+01:002012-04-16T14:05:55.206+01:00

The science teachers of St. Columba's College have been short-listed for this year's PharmaChemical Ireland Science Teacher Awards, run in conjunction with the Irish Science Teachers Association (ISTA). The team of teachers (Peter Jackson, Mary Singleton, Karen Hennessy, Humphrey Jones, Emma McNelis & Tom de Brit) will now participate in a seminar at the ISTA Annual Conference in Trinity

Humphrey Joneshttps://profiles.google.com/118424989540636925843noreply@blogger.com