As a department chair, I am fortunate to have the opportunity (right now . . .) to be conducting a clinical observation of my physics teacher.  She started her class with a YouTube music video, which I must say is fantastic.  It really resonates with me on many levels.  I though it important to share it here.

Here are the lyrics from the website:

[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically[Feynman]
I think nature’s imagination
Is so much greater than man’s
She’s never going to let us relax

[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature

[Nye]
I’m this guy standing on a planet
Really I’m just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There’s billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks

[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We’re made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself

Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned

I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we

[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??

(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)

[Feynman]
There’s this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other

And it’s all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it’s all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature

Today, my Honors Biology students and I had the opportunity to videoconference with Dr. Don Webb at Quinnipiac University.  Don is currently running the Bristol Meyers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning:

Old Saybrook resident appointed director

of Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning

at Quinnipiac University

Hamden, Conn. – Sept. 18, 2008 – Donald Webb of Old Saybrook has been appointed director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Quinnipiac University.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning is a Quinnipiac-based network of scientists and educators working to advance the art of science education from kindergarten to the university level. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning is one of only three such centers in the country.

In his new position, Webb will be responsible for overseeing the center, which strives to enhance science education throughout the state. The center offers workshops and support for teachers in inquiry-based teaching methods, providing tools which support student’s proficiency and achievement in science including interactive science education video conferencing with local high schools. In addition, Webb will offer science teachers and students opportunities for hands-on science experiences through Quinnipiac’s management of the Farm River in East Haven.

Webb holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, a master’s degree in education from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of British Columbia. He has worked extensively on issues related to bioremediation and has been involved in international research projects on global climate change and the oceans.

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 5,400 full-time undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students in more than 65 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Professional Studies. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top universities with master’s programs in the Northern region in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges. The 2009 issue of U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s programs in the North. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review’s The Best 368 Colleges.

Dr. Webb’s professional path lead him to his current job at Quinnipiac.  He spoke to the students about professional opportunities in this field.  His PowerPoint presentation was:

Please comment on the field(s) of environmental science.  Is it interesting? Do you have interests?  What has surprised you by the presentation?  Please feel free to add to, respectfully agree or disagree, but not repeat others comments.