Web notes & Calendar, September 2012

Calendar of upcoming events First Wednesday of each month The East Bay Science Café Saturday, February 23, 2013 Unraveling the Genome: What we've learned and why it matters — UCMP's next annual short course. Learn more about it. Saturday, April 20, 2013 Cal Day: UCMP's Cal Day open house — A day of family fun, displays, tours, and more. Watch our website for more details. Monday-Friday, July 29-August 2, 2013 Think evolution V: a summer institute for science educators — Five fun-filled days of evolutionary explorations with biologists and educators at the University of California. Watch our website for more details.

This note received by the Understanding Science webmaster was a cause for smiles:

Just a quick note to say that I think your website is amazing (or as my students would say, "awesome"). I teach high school science at a large, rigorous, public school in the Midwest. I approached the new school year with dread knowing that I would need to once again teach the "scientific method." After 15 years working in research industries, I never felt that the traditional approach to teaching how science works was very realistic or even correct. So much effort was given to this method which had been reduced to 5 or 6 steps. Your website has done more to redirect my teaching of this introductory material than anything else I have seen in my 14 years of teaching. Thanks for providing such a meaningful and comprehensive approach to such a complex topic. My new focus will be "How science works" not the "Scientific Method."
 
— Diane H. Sherry, Science Educator
Naperville North High School, Naperville, IL