Jordi (from Driving with Jordi fame) learning how to skate a few years ago. He could count on his dad. He showed me when I should lead, and when he needed me to get out of his way. Now they call him rocket man.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE.

This essay “The Art of Teaching” was originally published April 15, 2009. I just revised it in support of the release of the music video  ’We’ve Got to be That Light – A Gift For America’s Teachers”, which was the subject of the last post here at Blog on the Universe.

Let me know what you think of this essay! Leave a comment below or send me an email at jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org

-dr. jeff

So here’s a thought. Track down an old teacher
that meant the world to you and tell them just that.

It’s a new school year and teachers are now back in classrooms across America. During these tough times I wanted to write something that might help inspire the new teacher, reaffirm to the seasoned professional why we went into teaching in the first place, and recognize the remarkable gift that teachers in our lives give to us all.

My thinking actually began with a question that appeared one day on LinkedIn in the “Education and Schools” category:

What early-school teacher do you remember most vividly? Why?“

It’s a question that got me thinking about not just my early school teachers, but teachers that affected me throughout my education, from Little Red Train Nursery School, to my Ph.D. classwork in astrophysics.

Good teachers in our lives are not characterized by the grade level at which you encounter them but by the learning environment they foster. The teachers that made a difference in my life, and helped me empower myself to blaze a trail, had something in common. They recognized that it was MY journey, and they were there to help guide the way. Through a love of teaching, and a passion for exploration, they did not impose their authority, or credentials, or ego. They gently, patiently guided my interactions with a brave new world, whether it was the world of reading, or an understanding of the very laws of nature that govern the universe.

The great teachers knew when to first lead and guide—to get you walking in a new direction, and then … knew when to get out of the way. Conversely my worst teachers were those that treated learning as a one way flow of information from them to us, did not get emotionally involved in the experience, and sometimes in college, were professors who felt they could come down from the mountain of knowledge and we would bow before them. Now that I’m older and wiser (hah) I wish I could take some of those classes over again, and let the great teachers know how much they truly meant to me in that very moment of learning, and let the bad teachers know they were doing damage to their students, creating misconceptions about science, exploration, and the teaching profession that could last a lifetime.

Teaching is wonderfully human, and for lack of a better word, pure. It is important to preserve this noble profession, with good paying jobs, treatment of teachers—at all grade levels—as the professionals they are, and ensuring there is a system of rewards that recognizes the great teacher, encourages the good to become great, and removes the bad teacher from the classroom they do not deserve.

This is actually pretty serious stuff. We are talking about a profession that nurtures our children, the next generation, so that they may take their rightful place at the helm of the human race, and steer it in the right direction.

So, to answer the original question (but with my own twist), and recognizing that teachers are meant to arrive on the scene long before you first experience a classroom, here are just a handful of moments that stand out…

710 Tower Court, Uniondale Long Island—A Place Called Home, 1964

Thank you mom and dad for making my life an adventure. You taught me so much, It would take a book to do justice to your gifts to me. So let me say that I still have the book you gave to me when I was 7, Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. It taught me a person’s a person no matter how small, even the Whos in Whoville. That book opened for me a profound understanding of Earth’s place—MY PLACE—in a greater universe. Please know that I’ve shared that book with tens of thousands of children, parents, and teachers. You threw a stone in a pond that day and the ripple seems destined to go on forever.

Smith Street Elementary School, Uniondale Long Island, 1966

Thank you Mrs. Peterson for what you did for me in 4th grade. I remember that special moment when you were teaching us about maps of the world. You pointed to a river and said it flowed north, and then moved on to other things on the map. Everyone else seemed to get it, but I didn’t. How could a river flow ‘up’? Don’t rivers only flow ‘down’? In frustration I raised my hand. You didn’t dismiss me. You didn’t tell me I’ll talk to you later. You embraced my question and worked me through it with the rest of the class in tow. You helped me see in three dimensions. You made my problem a teachable moment for the class. I hope the smile on my face gave you joy. I became an astrophysicist … and a teacher. Please know that long after that special moment back in 1966, a piece of you lives on in me.

Bronx High School of Science, Bronx, NY 1974

Thank you Ms. Strauss. In 10th grade you showed me the world of geometry and gave me an understanding of the framework of the universe. I LOVED your class. You also gave me an “E/N” on my quarterly report card. ‘E” for excellence in academics, but “N” for needs improvement in behavior. To this day it seems like one is in conflict with the other. How can poor behavior go hand-in-hand with excellence in academics? I know I was a handful. But you recognized it was just me pushing for ownership in learning. Everything you said took my mind in different directions, each path screaming to be explored. You did your thing with the grade, and then embraced my spirit and my uniqueness just like you did with everyone else in the class. I know it was like herding cats, and it took a great deal of energy, but I can only imagine the profound effects you’ve had on thousands of students. So for all of them … thank you.

Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, NY, 1979

Thank you Professor Hoffmann. Your class in Theoretical Mechanics when I was a college senior meant the world to me. I hung on your every word. You spoke of Einstein as if you knew him, because … you worked with him at Princeton. And the way that you embraced your students—gently guiding us through a brave new world—allowed us to feel we knew Einstein too. At the end of class I made sure to shake your hand to thank you for the great adventure, and through that touch, I felt connected to a legacy of exploration.

To my parents, and my teachers—thank you for showing me the way. As my gift to you, please know that I’ve tried to continue your legacy.

P.S.

I emailed Bronx Science to see if I could contact Ms. Strauss. I wanted to make sure it was okay to use her name for this post. Turns out she is still teaching at this national treasure of a high school. So I wrote her, and asked if she remembered me. After all, it’s been 37 years. She wrote back:

Dear Jeff,
Of course I remember you…row 4 seat 5.

I read that and I got pretty teary-eyed. That’s exactly where I sat. Teachers like her are a national treasure. So here’s a thought. Track down an old teacher that meant the world to you and tell them just that.

If you’ve not seen it yet, take 4 minutes and watch the music video We’ve Got to Be The Light – A Gift to America’s Teachers. If you think you’d like to embed the video in your school or school district blog, go for it:)

Photo caption: Earth as seen by the MESSENGER spacecraft as it flew by our planet on August 2 2005.

This post is a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE and at the Space Tweep Society Blog HERE.

Don’t let your seemingly vast experience as an inhabitant of this world fool you. It’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of self-importance. Let me explain.

You likely live in a house or apartment on a street, and in a community that’s part of some town, maybe even some major urban area. Your community is likely part of a much larger state or province of one of the nations of Earth—which are themselves nothing more than imaginary constructs of human society. Your country is also likely assigned to one of the continental masses whose sum total of land area is just 29% of the planet’s surface. You are small and the Earth is seemingly vast, as if we humans to Earth are just so many micro-organisms scurrying about each day (each rotation of Earth), and following rules of social engagement that often defy logic.

It’s a story that at a most fundamental level defines your address. It may be all the address you need to ship a package to your friend across the ocean. But it won’t cut it with the intergalactic post office. As I said, don’t let your experience and perception fool you. It’s the rest of the address of which most Earthlings are unaware. For so many reasons it’s also the most important part of the address.

This seemingly vast Earth is but a tiny planet. (By comparison, over 1,000 Earths fit inside Jupiter.) Earth is one of eight planets orbiting the Sun—a tiny star by star standards—as part of a planetary System called the Solar System. The Sun resides in the Solar Neighborhood of stars, a small smattering of stars found in the Orion Spur—a nondescript little corner of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a vast city of stars, with enough stars to give 50 to every human on Earth. Right now, you, your family, and the rest of your race are orbiting just one of those stars.

The Milky Way is one of two large galaxies in the Local Group of 25-30 galaxies. The other large one, Andromeda, is on a collision course with ours. And the cosmic debris-field that is the Local Group of galaxies resides not too far cosmically speaking from the Virgo Cluster of 1,300 to 2,000 galaxies. The Local Group and Virgo Cluster are just two of the 100 to 200 or so groups and clusters of galaxies making up the Local Supercluster of more than 50,000 galaxies. The Local Supercluster—a small supercluster—is one of MILLIONS of superclusters that are woven together to form the largest structures ever seen—Galactic Filaments. And all this comprises the Observable Universe—what we believe is a remarkably insignificant portion of the Universe that nature, by law, allows us to see. Beyond what is observable, the Universe may truly be infinite.

So using myself to summarize—

I live in a house on a street in a town in the State of Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, in the USA, in North America, on Earth, in the Solar System, in the Solar Neighborhood, in the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy, in the Local Group of Galaxies, near the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, in the Local Supercluster of galaxies in the tiny corner of the Universe we like to call the Observable Universe.

That is our address. It makes the often human perception of our reality as the center of cosmic activity …. just laughable. You always know the most about your own neighborhood. But that also leads you to conclude your neighborhood is somehow important. In truth, it is only important because YOU live there. And YOU obviously think YOU are important. So please think about this … for vast numbers of humans, our perception, our daily life, is driven by self-importance, a remarkable lack of humility, ignorance of—even disinterest in—a greater context of existence which our machines of exploration have brought into crisp focus, and for many, a sense that embracing God is the righteous and comforting thing to do—but does not require taking time to look at the majesty beyond Earth. And while we burn precious, non-renewable calories watching “reality” television, following the lives of the rich and famous, acquiring lots of things, deciding which of us is better or more deserving or more moral, and buying into the distorted views of what our societies have our children embrace as heroes and role models, our world—the spaceship that affords us the view of majesty—is coming under attack.

The microbes called human kill one another because each group, each (bacterial) culture, thinks they are more important than the other. It is self-importance taken to the extreme. Their self-serving technology is modifying the environment of the planet, not only threatening their existence for generations to come (how do they do that to their children?), but puts at grave risk countless species that don’t have the gift of recognizing the majesty of the cosmos. Isn’t it ironic that the only species on Earth that does possess the gifts of intelligence and tool-making, does not collectively care about its world, and collectively squanders these gifts?

So watch the movie above, taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft as it flew by in 2005. Watch as the Earth recedes into the cold, black void of space. Imagine the nearly 7 billion humans scurrying around on its surface. How many of them recognize that the remarkable spaceship they are on is NOT owned by them? It never was. But because of their technology, they are now, by natural decree, stewards of this spaceship for good or ill. Do they understand their responsibilities to the spaceship, to all its occupants, and to themselves? For if this tiny blue world is laid to waste, the geologic Age of Self-Importance will be over, the rest of the Universe will surely not care … and I fear God will not come to the rescue.

A penny for your thoughts …..

Photo and movie credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. For more information about the photo and movie visit the MESSENGER web site.

Dr. Jeff on Mathematics Education

This is a Dr. Jeff’s Jeffism and a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

Math is the language of nature. If you yearn to know

how she operates, you must speak her language.

—Dr. Jeff

I wrote this essay because I needed to get something off my chest. It first appeared as a foreword to a Dr. Jeff’s Weekly Challenge posted on June 15, 2009, but I think it’s so important that I decided to commit it to a formal Resource Page here at Blog on the Universe. My Resource Pages are all found in the right navigation column under the section titled “Pages” and under the subsection titled “Dr. Jeff on Stuff – The BotU Resource Pages” (take a look at right.) I dedicate the Resource Pages to essays on important topics like: the Nature of Our Existence, the Art of Teaching, Scientists and Engineers as Heros and Role Models, and the Crisis in Science and Technology Education. I felt that an important essay on mathematics and mathematics education should be a dedicated Resource Page.

So here now is my sure to be viewed as an outrageous essay:

Dr. Jeff on Mathematics Education

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment on that page. Also—you can read more about this Blog’s Resource Pages HERE.

This is a Teachable Moment in the News and a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE.

I had a day of meetings yesterday, with no connection to the outside world. When I got home a good friend stopped over and asked if I heard what Al Gore had said in Copenhagen, and the firestorm it created in the world media. I had not. So I made a beeline for the computer and sought out the circus-sphere passing for journalism these days. Here is what I found.

A Timesonline story titled “Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his north pole sums don’t add up”, may have been the focal point. Apparently Mr. Gore said, as reported by the Timesonline—

“These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”

However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast.

“It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,” Dr Maslowski said. “I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.”

This led the Timesonline to conclude, that—

The embarrassing error cast another shadow over the conference after the controversy over the hacked e-mails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, which appeared to suggest that scientists had manipulated data to strengthen their argument that human activities were causing global warming.

But this story did not add up to me. My problem was two-fold. First, Mr. Gore stated a dire prediction about the Arctic and attributed the prediction to Dr. Wieslaw Maslowski. Given Gore is not a climate scientist, citing his source was the right and prudent thing to do. Maslowski was apparently contacted by some organization or individual (I should assume the Timesonline but I won’t) and the Timesonline then quoted Maslowski’s denial. So here we have two individuals with differing stories, but with a distinction—Mr. Gore was attributing his statement to Dr. Maslowski. But Maslowski was not attributing anything to Gore. Clearly someone was wrong, whether by mistake or by design. But based on the story, I didn’t know which one. Which brings me to my second problem—Timesonline immediately assumed the problem was with Gore, the story was picked up globally, and quickly turned into “there goes Al Gore again, and this time we got ‘em!”

But the pesky distinction between the two was an obvious pathway for me to explore—Gore cited Maslowski, so was there any formal record of Maslowski’s past statements about Arctic sea ice coverage? I found no evidence that anyone reporting the story had bothered to look.

Is this what journalism passes for these days? No need to check sources carefully? Forget due diligence? Gore caught twisting the truth—even lying—is good for sales and readership? And it doesn’t matter whether he did or not, because perception is reality today, not truth?

Earth to journalists. Let me clue you in. I’m not a journalist but I’ll do your due diligence for you. It’s REALLY easy in the age of the internet. Here, let me show you how it’s done.

Dr. Wieslaw Maslowski is a Research Professor in the Department of Oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California. All this is from his bio on the NPS website. His research includes: arctic oceanography, numerical ocean and sea ice modeling, and climate change—again from the NPS website. He sounds like a qualified expert to me. Apparently the media has thought so too. Here is what Dr. Maslowski told the New York Times, October 2, 2007 (just 2 years ago)—

“Experts say the ice retreat is likely to be even bigger next summer because this winter’s freeze is starting from such a huge ice deficit. At least one researcher, Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., projects a blue Arctic Ocean in summers by 2013.”

Want him in his own words? Here, at Beyond Zero Emissions, is Dr. Maslowski interviewed by Matthew Wright, with a post date of March 24, 2008 (less than 2 years ago.) Read the transcript of the interview, and by all means download the podcast.

“We speak to Wieslaw Maslowski about his prediction that by the summer of 2013, we will have completely lost ice cover in the Arctic. Dr. Maslowski says that the complete loss of summer ice may actually happen sooner.”

Wright: “Ok. So now, it was reported in The New York Times that you said that 2013 was a possibility, and perhaps you’d actually projected this some years ago, that we could lose the summer sea ice extent – that’s in the summer solstice is it?”

Maslowski: “That is correct.”

Maslowski (later in the interview): “There are some model simulations, single model simulations, that are suggesting that it could possibly occur as early as 2050 or maybe even as early as 2030. Comparing those models simulations predictions with the satellite observations of the Arctic sea ice extent actually shows that most of those models are too conservative predicting the current and the past ice extent changes in the Arctic as has been observed. So the idea is that the climate models – they’re underestimating, they are too conservative in their prediction.”

Maslowski is on the record stating he thought it possible that we’d lose all summer ice cover in the Arctic by 2013. Let’s do some math. That is 3.5 years from now.  Gore said 75% chance in 5 to 7 years based apparently on personal conversations with Maslowski. You know what? Gore’s statement was a CONSERVATIVE estimate relative to what I found Maslowski has said on the record.

Does anybody care that journalistic integrity is important in the midst of a contentious debate? Will ‘journalists’ like Hannah Devlin, Ben Webster, and Philippe Naughton (see Timesonline) apologize to Mr. Gore for not doing their jobs? Will anyone give the guy any credit for standing up for what he believes in? Mr. Vice President, hang in there. I know you know how Galileo felt.

And a note to the Timesonline. Should I believe your quote from Dr. Maslowski? If so, then shouldn’t someone ask Dr. Maslowski why his quote is inconsistent with what he has said on the record? Dr. Maslowski, your credibility as a researcher is on the line.

Let’s debate the quality of the data and the interpretation of the data. Let’s do it in the context of science. As a planet, let’s explore and debate the global courses of action that can and should be considered based on what these data are telling us. And let’s do it with journalists recognizing the important role they play in keeping us all informed, and the sacred trust that that entails.

Finally, aside from the spitting back and forth on who said what (which could have been avoided if journalists did their jobs) does anybody care that complete loss of sea ice coverage in the Arctic, even if by 2050, would represent a dramatic climatic change in a geological instant in time?

For an understanding of rapid climatic change in the context of geologic time, and the correlation to human activity, see A Day in the Life of the Earth, here at Blog on the Universe.

This is a Teachable Moment in the News and a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE and at the Space Tweep Society Blog HERE.

I just watched space shuttle Atlantis land at Kennedy. I had lots and lots of mixed emotions. The shuttle is just a remarkable technological achievement, and watching it land can be a pretty emotional experience.

But the space shuttle was never supposed to be more than a space truck to low Earth orbit. I was left reflecting on my childhood when I watched Apollo astronauts walking on the Moon, and dreamed of what awaited us in the 21st century in terms of human spaceflight. It has definitely not come to pass. In fact, approaching 2010 we are now at a crossroads. Shuttle has just 5 more flights, and then the U.S. will need to rely on the Russians for years just to have astronaut access to the International Space Station. And that’s just keeping the status quo with humans continuing to travel no farther from the surface of Earth than a couple hundred miles. I drive farther than that visiting my mom just north of New York City from my home near Washington, DC. It’s called low Earth orbit, and we’ve been stuck here now for 37 YEARS. Is this the grand vision for human spaceflight we embraced 40 years ago when we saw Armstrong and Aldrin walking on the Moon?

So what exactly are we doing as a nation in terms of leadership in human spaceflight? Are we embracing a strategic long-term plan or an administration flavor of the month? Should human spaceflight be a high technology priority for America? Should we allow this leadership to pass to other nations? Won’t such action surely help erode our larger ‘brand’ as a leader and innovator in science and technology? Is it really about the NASA budget shortfall recently identified by the White House-appointed Committee headed by Norman Augustine, or is it something far more substantial, reflecting a nation trying to redefine itself—no, make that a superpower unsure of how to chart its course in the 21st century after the rules of the road seem to have dramatically changed? Is it the inability to muster a national will on virtually anything in light of a seemingly perfect storm of crises here at home, and globally?

My sadness over an unrealized vision for human spaceflight only leads me to a more general realization. And it’s this realization that is very troubling, even ominous. Will America be able to compete in the global high technology marketplace of the 21st century? Are we taking science and technology education seriously? Are PARENTS taking science and technology education seriously? Do Americans know that our national prowess in science and technology is about the future of our children, our standard of living, and the American dream? Do Americans truly know this is of national strategic importance? We are living through changes forced by globalization and a new marketplace. Are jobs lost ever coming back? More importantly—are we training Americans—all Americans—in our grade K-12 system and in our colleges and universities, in skills required by 21st century jobs? This is far bigger than leadership in spaceflight. It’s about the science and technology required to address global problems from energy, to climate change, to managing limited resources in the midst of growing populations. Will America be capable of stepping to the plate in the face of these challenges—in the face of these remarkable opportunities?

WE LANDED HUMANS ON THE MOON. IT IS STILL HARD TO FATHOM. IT WAS THE MOST REMARKABLE JOURNEY THE HUMAN RACE HAS EVER UNDERTAKEN (my view). It was raw inspiration propelling generations of young Americans to the frontiers of science and technology. Yet it seems to me that a vibrant, healthy nation, is only as good as its next success. The question before us—are we now destined in the words of Dylan Thomas to “just go gentle into that good night?” I firmly believe it is up to us.

I am very troubled. And as an American … I can say it hurts. I’m very interested in your thoughts on this, so please feel free to share below.

I had written in an earlier post my view on the needed driver for the future of U.S. human spaceflight.

Here is what it was like for me living through Apollo, and a later chance encounter with Buzz Aldrin. It will give you a sense of where I’m coming from, and might reconnect you with a vision for the future from a time long ago.

Photocredit: NASA

Photo caption: CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere in parts per million over the last 400,000 years. Credit: NOAA.

This post is a Teachable Moment in the News and a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE.

Here’s how the argument goes—and do it justice by reading it out loud, and kinda yelling whenever you see words in CAPS.

“Hey, you’re worried about CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere going up because of human activity and causing an increase in global temperature?! GIVE ME A BREAK! It’s only a TRACE gas, currently making up only 0.038% of the atmosphere, or 380 parts per MILLION!!  SO WHAT if we increase it to a WHOPPING 1,000 parts per million (ppm) by 2100. Then it would ONLY comprise 0.1% of the atmosphere. BIG DEAL!! There is NO CONCEIVABLE WAY that changes in such a miniscule amount of CO₂ could have any significant impact on the global environment. You’re preaching the sky is falling, and ANYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN can see that this is just SILLY! YOU must be part of some Scientists-in-Need-of-Federal-Funds—Green Business—Government (SiNoFF-GB-G) conspiracy that’s bent on destroying everything that is good. TAKE A WALK YOU ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST IN NEED OF A CAUSE. Why … you’re likely a paid operative of the SINoFF-GB-G machine!”

Ummm.. has anybody else heard this argument, or is it just me? Here’s my rebuttal (and you’re still using the CAPS-means-shouting thing.)

The point of the VAST MAJORITY of climate scientists is that the trace level of CO₂ in the atmosphere DOES play a critical role in the global environment. But before addressing why such a concept IS NOT PREPOSTEROUS, let’s get the obvious out of the way first. The myth makers and myth propagators use the word TRACE to belittle poor CO₂—to render its level WHOLLY INSIGNIFICANT. But anyone with just a touch of basic science education knows that—CO₂ IS VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR LIFE ON EARTH. It is both used and produced by life. If its level were so small to be a worthless consideration, then, hey—let’s take it ALL away, drop it to 0%, AND WATCH THE MAJORITY OF LIFE ACROSS THE PLANET CEASE TO EXIST. That TRACE gas seems pretty important to me. It powers a little thing we like to call PHOTOSYNTHESIS which is fundamental to the food chain. For all those that do not want to pay homage to CO₂, I say—STOP EATING. Or at least STOP throwing around the expression TRACE GAS so loosely.

Now for those that espouse the mythical view at the top of this post that “a little more of nothing amounts to nothing” is a rational argument for why CO₂ cannot dramatically alter the environment, my first tendency is to go into a discussion of climate change modeling and the importance of even trace gases held within acceptable ranges. A complex biological system like THE ENTIRE PLANET EARTH reflects a finely tuned balance, with regulating systems that keep conditions within acceptable limits for life—EVEN AT THE LEVEL OF TRACE GASES (barring catastrophic events like an asteroid impact, or super volcano, or say humans popping up in an instant and burning everything they can find in just 150 years). If specific trace gas concentrations are pushed beyond narrow limits the entire global system goes out of balance—even past a tipping point where it moves to a new equilibrium position not conducive for vast numbers of species currently inhabiting the planet.

You could also point out that in fact life operates within narrow acceptable regimes for, e.g., temperature. Absolute zero is -460 °F (-273 °C). The surface of the Sun (exceedingly cold by cosmic standards) is 10,300 °F (5,700 °C). That’s a temperature range of 10,800 °F (6,000 °C)!  But a human—YOU—has to exist within a temperature range of just 100 °F (55 °C). Here’s a way to look at it. If you represent the range in temperature from absolute zero to that of the solar surface as a 10-foot ruler, you’re existence is constrained to the width of 1-inch (for you metric types, if the larger range is represented by one meter, then you’re assigned just one centimeter of living space.) YOU LIVE ON THE HAIRY EDGE. YOU JUST AREN’T AWARE YOU LIVE ON THE HAIRY EDGE. You depend on Earth’s regulatory systems to keep you in the happy place.

But alas, I can’t use these arguments, because folks often can’t get past the it’s just a trace gas thing. Detailed global observations over time, careful analysis of the geological record, sophisticated climate models projecting into the future, and still you hear—”it’s all voodoo, it’s just THEORY, it’s a [VERY LARGE] percentage of [CLIMATE] scientists that don’t know what they are talking about. And there’s a [VERY SMALL] percentage of scientists that AGREE WITH ME so THEY must be right.”

Ok, fine. So let’s do this far closer to home. And see if there isn’t something strangely familiar about this.

1. The amount of alcohol in the blood is defined by the Blood Alcohol Level (BAC.) If someone has just a little to drink, and they’re BAC is between 0.01% and 0.029%, they will appear outwardly normal. What does this mean? It means that the alcohol content in the blood is between 95 and 270 PARTS PER MILLION. It is a TRACE chemical in the blood.

Now you increase the BAC to 0.11% to 0.20% and this person looses gross motor control, staggers when walking, and their speech is slurred. What does that mean? You’ve increased the alcohol concentration to at least 1,050 PARTS PER MILLION. Just by increasing this TRACE chemical by a factor of 4 (THAT’S FOUR) leads to system-wide imbalance in a human being—A COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM.

What? The alcohol shouldn’t have been there in the first place? That’s different than CO₂? Well this is a ROCK-SOLID example of systemic imbalance due to a 4-fold increase in a TRACE chemical. But fine, let’s go to example 2.

2. Say … hypoglycemia. We should all be able to agree that glucose is absolutely essential for body function. A normal glucose level averages about 1,500 PARTS PER MILLION in the blood. Now this one is really dramatic. If you DECREASE blood glucose by a factor of 10 to about 150 PARTS PER MILLION—then … COMA, and possibly …. well you get the picture.

ANYONE who thinks that changes in TRACE chemicals cannot impact complex biological systems—after just these 2 of TRULY COUNTLESS examples—is not reachable through reason and logic.

Now—BY LOGICAL EXTENSION—back to Earth. JUST BECAUSE CO₂ IS A TRACE GAS DOES NOT IMPLY IT CAN’T CAUSE A GLOBAL-SCALE IMBALANCE IN CLIMATE. This myth is busted.

Take a look at the graph at the top. It tracks CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. Over the last 400,000 YEARS, CO₂ concentration never went above the dotted line. It was typically 230 parts per million, and maximally 300 parts per million (ppm). But just since 1950, it has gone from about 280 to 380 ppm!

In the graph below, climate models indicate by the year 2100 the concentration will increase to 550 to 1,000 ppm! If we assume the average climate model projection, the Industrial Age (Age of Fossil Fuels) by 2100 will have increased CO₂ concentration by a factor of 2.5 over the highest levels seen in the last 400,000 years, and by a factor of 3.5 over what was typical over the last 400,000 years!

Surely worry is warranted. We know we are changing the atmospheric composition, we know that global warming is real, and the vast consensus of scientists that specialize in this field feel that it is highly likely the global warming is due to how we are changing the atmosphere.

I’ve finished my rant. I hope many reading this have some new ammunition. But those that don’t want to accept global warming as human induced will now take the argument to the next level—increased CO₂ does not lead to increased global temperature. Sounds like I’ve got the topic for a new post. Stay tuned to this same Bat Channel. Alfred … have you been standing over my shoulder the whole time?

-dj

ps- You want more PERCEPTION-CHANGING posts on Climate Change and Global Warming? Your wish is my command: HERE

Photo Credit: Past and future CO2 atmospheric concentrations, United Nations Environmental Programme, cartographer/designer Philippe Rekacewicz, Emmanuelle Bournay, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Photo Caption:

This is a Teachable Moments in the News QuickLinks Post. It connects a news story with this Blog’s existing powerful library of Posts and Resource Pages. The cited Posts and Pages provide a deep understanding of concepts in the earth and space sciences relevant to the news story. Teachers—the Posts and Pages are also designed for use as lessons, allowing you to easily bring current science into the classroom as a teachable moment. Each cited Post is outlined in the Teachers Lesson Planner, which includes the Post’s essential questions, concepts, objectives, and math skills.

Earth Science Week takes on a rather unique importance in 2009. This year’s theme is Understanding Climate. On December 7-18. 2009, the entire world will meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to hammer out the next international agreement on climate change and put in place new targets for greenhouse gas emissions. It may be humanity’s last opportunity to craft an agreement—AND get it ratified by the world’s nations—before the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 (and in force in 2005) expires in 2012. This seems to me to be a very big deal for the future of this planet, particularly in light of the latest projections for the impact of global warming—which indicate we need to act NOW or face irreversible consequences (see CNN, March 12, 2009)—and Copenhagen is the venue for that action.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has now issued 4 Reports, the last issued February 2, 2007:

On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that the evidence of a warming trend is “unequivocal,” and that human activity has “very likely” been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years.

—New York Times, October 11, 2009

If we allow things to continue unchanged and we don’t take action today, it would destabilize human society.

—Rajendra Pachaurihead, Head of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Climate chief warns against ‘Tragic’ inaction”, CNN, August 21, 2008

Here are some relevant links:

Findings of the UN IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, see Union of Concerned Scientists, February 16, 2007

June 16, 2009 White  House Report Global Climate Change Impacts the United States: coverage by USAToday (‘Game Changer’),  CBS (White House Sounds Alarm), CNN (Report Warns of Cimate Change Effects), ABC (US Climate Report Dire)

Assessment by U.S. Department of Defense on U.S. National Security, and on the grave scenarios that can play out from global warming: New York Times (August 8, 2009)

My point is that over the next few months, the world faces a unique and seminally important moment in time, and Earth Science Week 2009 should serve as a timely catalyst for education in the US. HERE is the countdown clock to Copenhagen.

To date I’ve created 5 Posts at Blog on the Universe—5 powerful lessons—on climate change and global warming that I’d like to share with you as resources to use in classrooms and in discussions at home this coming week.

First, what is Earth Science Week?

From the American Geological Institute website:

Since October 1998, the American Geological Institute has organized this national and international event to help the public gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Earth Sciences and to encourage stewardship of the Earth. This year’s Earth Science Week will be held from October 11-17 and will celebrate the theme “Understanding Climate.”

From the Geological Society of America website:

Earth Science Week, the second full week in October, is an annual celebration of the contribution geoscience makes to society. The resolution to establish Earth Science Week was initiated by the Association of American State Geologists and was read into the Congressional Record in July 1998 by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.

GSA urges each of you to set aside at least one day during Earth Science Week to reach out to your community and promote the creation of a conscientious society committed to the responsible use of Earth and its resources.

From the NASA website:

The theme of this year’s Earth Science Week — “Understanding Climate” — promotes scientific understanding of a timely and vital topic: Earth’s climate.

The BotU Posts on Global Warming, Climate Change, and the Earth Environment

Below are the 5 powerful climate change lessons at Blog on the Universe. For each, I’ve provided the title, the essential question(s), and the conclusion relative to climate change and global warming. The information below is excerpted directly from the BotU Teachers Lesson Planner, which also includes for each Post, the key concepts addressed, lesson objectives, math skills required, and any special features of the Post. I invite you to get a cup of coffee or tea, go to the Lesson Planner, and from their explore these lessons.

The Business Trip 2009-05-19

Essential questions: How far is ‘Outer Space’? What does this imply for the thickness of Earth’s atmosphere?

Climate change point: we do not live under an ocean of air, but rather a slender fragile veil of atmosphere.

Apples and You 2009-05-21

Essential question: How thick is Earth’s atmosphere?

Climate change point: you can make a simple model that shows how thin the atmospheric layer is surrounding Earth, and it is shockingly thin. This model provides a new perspective on rhe atmosphere’s fragility, and the need to protect it.

Weekly Challenge 1: A Pound of Ants and the Capabilities of Intelligent Biomass 2009-05-26

Essential question: If humans are changing the environment on a global scale, then you might think the planet is overrun with people, and the human race must take up a lot of space. Does it? What can we learn from the answer?

Climate change point: the total volume of the human race is shockingly small. It is human technology that is changing the environment, which is the fundamental argument for a scientifically literate public that can make informed decisions about technology use.

Weekly Challenge 2: People People Everywhere 2009-06-02

Essential questions: How fast is the human population growing? What are the consequences?

Climate change point: world population is growing at a stunning rate, and the needs of increasing populations put severe stress on available resouces and services—particularly in the age of global warming.

A Day in the Life of the Earth: Understanding Human-Induced Climate Change 2009-06-13

Essential Question: What is the basic argument for Global Warming due to human activity?

Climate change point: global warming has the signature of a catastrophic event, and the introduction of  human technology on a global scale appears to be the source in plain sight.

From Dr. James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies concerning this post—

Public understanding of climate change depends on an understanding of time scales. Goldstein [Dr. Jeff] does a brilliant job of making clear the rapidity of the human-made intervention in the climate system, and the correlation of global warming with the appearance of technology powered by fossil fuels.

Photocredit: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center.

Teachers and Parents: make sure to read about The Teacher’s Toolbox which is designed to help you put this Blog to work for your class and your children. If you’re new to Blog on the Universe read About this Blog.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE.

12:01 am, September 11, 2009

I’ll remember Tuesday September 8, 2009 for quite a long time. My Jordi turned 7. How can that be? It seems like only yesterday I took my wife Kathy to the hospital, both of us thankful that he wasn’t going to be born on September 11. And now he’s 7! —looking for experiences under every rock, challenging his mom and dad to keep up. He is just a joy to behold. He inspired this blog.

Last Tuesday, it wasn’t just his birthday, it was his first day back at school. He was giddy with excitement when I drove him to school. He was going to see all his classmates he’d missed all summer. I walked him to class and he was bouncing off the walls. He also was given a gift that day. He sat down with his school and listened to the President of the United States, who spoke of the power of education.  He spoke of a student’s obligation to themselves, to their family, and to their country. He spoke to Jordi and his generation, and challenged them to reach within themselves and aspire to do great things. I believe deeply in those words. I also believe in those that tirelessly and patiently nurture our children so they can indeed aspire to great things. I believe in teachers. I am so very thankful for Jordi’s teachers, and my daughter Jada’s (an important future post for me). And I remember my own teachers that long ago invited me on a journey of a lifetime. So I did what I could do as well. I’m not sure how (it wasn’t planned that way), but an hour after the President spoke, my essay appeared at Huffington Post, titled The Art of Teaching – In Tough Times, a Thank You to Teachers Everywhere. It was my way of saying thanks.

There are threads through moments of time.

Today is September 11, 2009. It was 8 years ago that I watched President Bush talking to an elementary school class in Florida at the beginning of their school year. I remember that moment when he was interrupted with news beyond comprehension.

I am an American, and  I am a New Yorker. I grew up in Long Island, then the Bronx. I grew up with an iconic skyline shaped by the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings and the World Trade Center. The Empire State and Chrysler Buildings were something out of a distant past. They were not part of me. But I remember watching the WTC Towers grow in amazement in 1970-71. I remember the orange-brown color of the exposed beams as they were set in place, floor by floor, the colors grown pale by the sheer distance between them and me. Even from so far away, they seemed to touch the sky. When they were completed, I loved to go to the observation deck and look out on this beloved city. I’d put my nose against the huge window and look down on the ant-like humanity scurrying around, and the ribbons of yellow formed by countless taxis. Every once and a while, the Tower would sway, and you’d suddenly be a couple feet from where you were a second ago, only the floor followed you to your new location. It was as if the building was alive, breathing, connected to the city.

I remember parking my car a block away from the World Trade Center on Labor Day Weekend 2001, and Kathy and I took the bikes along the East River, and across the Brooklyn Bridge. We stopped at a bakery, got some black and whites and some coffee, and we sat in a park looking at the skyline from the Brooklyn side. When we came back to the car, I put the bikes on the rack, and remember looking straight up to the top of these amazing Towers. I grew up with them. They were overwhelmingly bigger than me, and somehow that was reassuring. They would be there for me forever.

A week and a half later they were gone….  A week and a half later over 2,700 men, women, moms, dads, grandparents, and children were gone. I will never forget, I can never forgive. I only hold out hope that the answer lies in the education of our children, all our children, across this planet. So the mission is clear. We cannot aspire to do great things in the midst of hate and ignorance. We can only fulfill a commitment to our humanity if every generation educates the next and does it well.

This post is a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out and a Teachable Moment in the News.

This is crossposted at the Huffington Post HERE.

Should humans next travel to Moon, Mars, or …

The blue-ribbon panel tasked by the White House with reviewing NASA’s current strategic plans for human space flight, and exploring other options, wraps up deliberations this week. They’ve been at it just 2 months, and this Friday (August 14) Norman Augustine, the panel’s chair, presents the list of options to new NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and WH science and technology advisor John Holdren. I thought I’d weigh in.

I’ve been dwelling on an exchange that took place at a meeting last month between panel members Edward Crawley of MIT and Jeff Greason of XCOR Aerospace. It went to the heart of what I’ve been feeling for years. It addressed the fundamental driver for human space flight.

Crawley: “Our ultimate objective should be viewed as the exploration and eventual extension of human civilization of the solar system.”

Greason: “I know this sounds terribly ambitious and dramatic, but if that is not the point of human space flight … then what the hell are we doing?”

Yes! Something as challenging and expensive as a U.S. national human space flight program needs a strategic objective that derives from who we are as a species of explorers, not the destination flavor of the month (or administration.) If we are to be bold, then let our boldness reflect the need for journey written in our genes. We are born to learn, driven to explore, and this drive takes the form of simple questions like, “What might I find if I go in that direction far from home?”, or, “I wonder what’s under that rock?” Isn’t this the essence of a child’s curiosity? Isn’t this fundamentally who we are?

Note that the child after lifting one rock and finding a brave new world beneath it, will then run to every rock in sight and lift them all. That’s what is written in our genes, not the need to lift a specific rock over there.

In terms of human space flight, we’ve done a terrible job of lifting lots of rocks. Since the end of the Apollo era, we’ve concentrated on this one lone rock really close to us out of convenience, and then hit it with everything we had. As a grad student in astrophysics in the late 1980s, I remember attending a meeting of the Planetary Sciences Division of the American Astronomical Society, where we had an official briefing on plans for the International Space Station (then called Space Station Freedom). The planetary community saw no benefits from ISS. The briefer clearly knew this in advance. His approach to the community? “You’re going to get the space station whether you like it or not so you might as well figure out what you’re going to do with it.” Back then it sounded like strategic planning from some alternate universe, and now the current perception that NASA has helped create is let’s get the damn thing built quick, give it a few years, and then let it burn over the ocean. It’s strategic planning in the absurd, and Americans should be downright angry that this is what transpired after the monumental national achievements of the Apollo era.

While the great debate in human space flight has raged for decades, and still rages on, America’s’ robotic exploration of the Solar System has been magnificent, lifting one rock after another. Right now you can eavesdrop on Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars, and Cassini in orbit around Saturn more than 750 million miles (1.2 billion km) away. Go to their web sites and see the ‘rocks’ they’ve been lifting. We’ve visited planets with dozens of flyby spacecraft, orbiters, landers and rovers; slammed a spacecraft into a comet just to see what happened (we learned a great deal); and even orbited then landed on an asteroid. Four spacecraft are now beyond Pluto with greetings from Earth aboard. New Horizons is speeding toward a rendezvous with Pluto in 2015. MESSENGER encounters Mercury for a third time this Fall (September 29), and goes into orbit in 2011. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter entered lunar orbit on June 23, and on October 9, the LCROSS spacecraft will explore whether a rocket impact at the Moon’s south pole will reveal the presence of water.

Gosh, we’ve been living the adventure on the robotic side for decades. It has been a space odyssey so very true to our genes, and as Americans we should be terribly proud.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am passionate about human space flight. I believe the idea of extending a human presence beyond Earth is the stuff that inspires a generation in ways that robotic exploration cannot. Look at Apollo. But I absolutely agree with Crawley and Greason. It is high time that we lay down a fundamental, bedrock, strategic plan for human space flight that captures what we humans are truly about. We need to venture … out there, and in concert with our robots lift some rocks with human hands. And if you want practical, from a science and engineering vantage point it adds enormous capability to the tasks at hand. Cornell’s Steve Squyres, the Principal Investigator on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project, said it best when asked about the benefits of humans. He feels humans could do in a minute what his rovers can do in a day.

I truly hope the panel puts forth strategic options that are built on Crawley’s and Greason’s views. But after yesterday’s (Wed. August 12) public deliberations, the current budget constraints appear to rule out any option — including the current NASA strategic trajectory.

It now appears that the Obama Administration will be handed a fundamental question—will America re-affirm a commitment to a strong human space flight program, requiring a significant increase in budget regardless of option? I believe that it must. I also believe that the program must fundamentally embrace Crawley’s and Greason’s views—an approach that doesn’t put all our budgetary eggs in one destination basket, and that doesn’t relegate successful missions to a future so distant that our children will be middle-aged before they see it happen.

—dj

Here are some BotU resources to get you into the spirit of exploration—

Get a sense of what you’d see in the sky from the surface of other worlds at Dr. Jeff’s Interplanetary Travel Agency.

Read about The Nature of Our Existence here on spaceship Earth, and what we can achieve when we put our collective minds to the task at hand.

Remember Apollo 11 40 years ago, and here’s my personal Buzz Aldrin story.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL

This post is a ‘Jeffism’ by Dr. Jeff and a Dr. Jeff Speaks Out.

Last time on the blog, I used astronaut John Grunsfeld’s recent Business Trip to the Hubble Space Telescope to show you that the perceived limitless ocean of air we live under is really not limitless. At an altitude of 62 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface, you’re effectively at the top of the atmosphere (since 99.99% of it is beneath you.) So let’s really put this in perspective with a Dr. Jeff Jeffism:

Earth’s atmosphere compared to Earth is thinner than

the skin of an apple compared to an apple.

I truly hope that makes an impression on you. Read it again and let it sink in. Then take a moment and reflect on what you are thinking.

Now … for the rest of the story—

Our atmosphere is nothing more than a slender veil surrounding our planet. It supports all life on spaceship Earth. It is fragile. It is clearly changing at a frightening pace. Next time you’re in a discussion about global warming, pull this Jeffism out of your pocket—regardless of which side of the debate you might be on (is it induced by human activity or not). It speaks to what we ALL have to lose—’we’ the human race; and ‘we’ the other countless species of Earth.

My view? We humans are the agents of global change, and all of humanity needs to consider the consequences head-on and collectively define a response RIGHT NOW. And all those countless other species—their future is in our hands. Look to the birds in flight. Look to the diversity of life on the savannas of Africa, in the rain forests of Central and South America, and in the worlds’ oceans. They are voiceless in this debate, and powerless to intervene.

Look deeply into your children’s eyes and ask what is our responsibility to them, to their children—and to Earth. I have—and when Jordi and Jada look back at me, I get a sense of purpose and a deep resolve—to educate. This blog is one result.

For a powerful educational essay on global warming as an outgrowth of human activity, read A Day in the Life of the Earth here at Blog on the Universe, or at the Huffington Post.  It includes a foreword by Dr. James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

Teachers and parents:

Before reading the Jeffism above to your class or children, use a familiar model to identify preconceptions and misconceptions about the atmosphere. Get a classroom globe of the Earth and ask them how high above the Earth globe they think the atmosphere extends. You’ll be amazed (or maybe not) at the depth of the misconceptions. Then read them the Jeffism, and see if they are shocked. Ask them to reflect on the difference between their perception of the atmosphere and reality.

Here’s more to consider:

• Have a thoughtful and interdisciplinary discussion as a class or as a family considering the larger and inter-connected issues we face on global warming in terms of: science, technology, politics, economics, funding, the need for global partnerships, ethics, and morality. Science should not be taught in isolation from all other manner of human considerations. The world is interdisciplinary, so why would we want to teach about the world only subject by subject?

• Visit my Favorite Quotes page and read the quotes by astronaut Ulf Merbold and cosmonaut Yuri Artyukhin. How are their words relevant to the discussion?

• The Jeffism above is so effective because it builds a bridge to the familiar using a model—in this case using an apple as a conceptual model to understand Earth. Read my Power of Models page to gain deeper insight into how to use modeling in learning environments, and to realize that YOU surround yourself with countless models every day to make the world understandable.

The Experiment

Don’t let your students and children just assume my Jeffism is correct. Help them to insist on testing it. That’s what science is all about. Scientists (your kids) should put ideas to the torture test—and own the process. So assume my Jeffism is a hypothesis, and have them test it for themselves. And let them frame the experiment with guidance from you.

Here’s the concept: the atmosphere is 62 miles (100 km) thick and the Earth’s diameter is 7,900 miles (12,700 km). So how does Earth’s diameter compare to the thickness of the atmosphere? That’s just the ratio: 12,700 / 100 = 127. So the diameter of Earth is 127 times the thickness of the atmosphere!

What about the apple? The skin of the apple is what I’m going to define as the peeling you get when you peel an apple with a good potato peeler (one that does not dig deeply into the apple). Here’s the creative thinking part of the experiment—your students/children need to propose how to measure the thickness of an apple skin. One of a bunch of approaches is to use a peeler and carefully peel a really long strip from an apple. Then tear off reasonably sized pieces and stack them in layers until you have a thickness you can measure with a ruler with millimeter divisions. Measure the thickness of the stack, then count the layers, and divide the thickness of the stack by the number of layers to get the thickness of a single layer. That’s the thickness of the apple skin!

Finally, measure the diameter of the apple and calculate the ratio of apple diameter to skin thickness. This ratio is what you compare to the 127 we got for the ratio of Earth’s diameter to the thickness of the atmosphere.

I just did it with a trusty golden delicious apple. My stack of 10 layers had a measured thickness of 11 mm, corresponding to 1.1 mm for a single layer–which is the thickness of the apple skin. The apple has a diameter of 80 mm. So the diameter of the apple is only 80 / 1.1 = 72 times the thickness of the skin! Comparing that to Earth’s diameter being 127 times the thickness of the atmoshere means—the Jeffism (at least with my apple) is confirmed!

A final thought—you can ask your students or children to go back to the classroom globe of Earth and calculate the thickness of the atmosphere on the globe. It’s just the diameter of the globe divided by 127.

Science—it’s fun, it’s a team effort, it’s eye-opening.

-Dr. Jeff

A word from our sponsor:

• I have the title for next Monday’s Weekly Challenge that is sure to intrigue: A Pound of Ants and the Capabilities of Intelligent Biomass (how do I come up with this stuff). It is a powerful post on how we humans are affecting Earth’s environment.

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