Music training in childhood boosts the brain in adulthood

If you have to endure hours of squeaky tunes while your child practices their music, take heart. A new study has shown that even a little musical training in early childhood has a lasting, positive effect on how the brain processes sound.

 You can read the rest here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/268597.php

We cannot afford to get science education wrong

Kids need to know that curiosity didn’t kill the cat. Julien Behal/PA

Science gives young people the tools to understand the world around us and the ability to engage with contemporary and future issues, such as medical advances and climate change. That is why science should be taught to students up until the age of 16. However, Ofsted’s recent report on the state of school science reports worrying trends in the way science is being taught.

A particular worry is the status of practical science in our schools. Studying science without experiments is like studying literature without books. Experiments are an inherent part of science and are vital for further study and employment. They bring theory to life, nurturing pupils' natural curiosity, teaching them to ask questions and helping them to understand phenomena such as magnetism, acidity and cell division. Practical work gives them valuable skills and abilities, such as precise measurement and careful observation.

How to teach… music

Whether you are a non-specialist focussing on music for the festive season or an experienced music teacher, we have teaching resources and ideas to inspire.

From now until the end of term the singing isn't going to stop, these resources will help you make the best of music in school. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/Alamy

Like it or not, Christmas spirit comes early to schools – so this is the time of year when even non-specialist teachers find themselves devoting inordinate amount of times to music and festive singing.

We have some inspiring music teaching resources to share which will uplift non-specialists and experienced music teachers alike.

We start off with some excellent resources shared by Jackie Schneider, a teacher on a mission to help fellow primary teachers teach music. Find Jackie's useful presentation on teaching primary music as a non-specialist dealing with such desperate questions as: "But I'm not musical, how can I teach music?" There are lots of generous music teachers who like nothing better than to share if you know where to look: I need some help to teach music is a handy guide to online inspiration.

Science in Action Winner for 2013: Elif Bilgin

Elif Bilgin, winner of the 2013 Science in Action award, a $50,000 prize sponsored by Scientific American as part of the Google Science Fair. Credit: Elif Bilgin

“Genius,” Thomas Edison famously said, “is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” He would have found a kindred spirit in Elif Bilgin, 16, of Istanbul, Turkey, winner of the 2013 $50,000 Science in Action award, part of the third annual Google Science Fair. The award honors a project that can make a practical difference by addressing an environmental, health or resources challenge; it should be innovative, easy to put into action and reproducible in other communities.

Coping with change: teaching adaptability will help kids grow

Moderating your behaviour, emotions and thinking in the face of change is not easy – but can it be taught? Emotion image from www.shutterstock.com

Across a student’s lifetime, their world will change and change again. They’re likely to see industry reshaped, medical advancements, and huge changes to technology.

In their own life too, they will begin school, transition to further education or work, move out of home, begin or end relationships, maybe have children, and retire from work.

To navigate this ever-shifting world, young people will need to be adaptable. But is this something you can teach? And what kind of difference can being more adaptable make?

International Children's Day

Kenya, 2011 (Photo: Brett Hahn)

Since so often children of the world are taken advantage of, used for labor, malnourished, abused, impoverished, homeless, and voiceless, those who can must speak up for them. Children are the future of the world yet many of them are living in less than desirable conditions. How will you show your appreciation and support for children on November 20th, International Children’s Day?

All children have the following rights (http://www.squidoo.com/international-childrens-day):

90 Seconds of Tolerance and Respect

This Saturday - November 16 - is International Day for Tolerance, declared by UNESCO in 1995 to foster appreciation of the rich variety of cultures and ways of being human across the world. This clip was made by US high school students to mark the annual day in 2011, taking a stand against bullying - powerful stuff.

http://www.goodnet.org/articles/90-seconds-tolerance-respect

Beyond the Higgs boson: five reasons physics is still interesting

Only physics can burn a hole through the sky. European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Would physics be “far more interesting” if the Higgs boson had not been found? Stephen Hawking thinks so. He made this bold claim, possibly with his tongue slightly in his cheek, at the opening of a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London that celebrates particle physics.

With the boson in the can, the Nobel gongs handed out, and the particle collider where it was discovered offline for a two-year upgrade, why are we still doing physics? Here are five possible reasons:

PEN American Center presents: A TRIBUTE TO C. P. CAVAFY

Theatrical Evening Commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the Influential Greek Poet’s Birth with Olympia Dukakis, Orhan Pamuk, Kathleen Turner, Michael Cunningham, Daniel Mendelsohn, and others .
Artwork by David Hockney Based On His 1961 Cavafy-Inspired Etchings

Stephen Hawking: physics would be 'more interesting' if Higgs boson hadn't been found

World-famous cosmologist admits to losing bet as a result of particle's discovery.

Physics would have been "far more interesting" if scientists had been unable to find the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, according to Stephen Hawking.

The cosmologist was speaking at an event to mark the launch of a new exhibit about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the Science Museum in London and discussing the unanswered questions at the edges of modern physics as part of a history of his own work in the field.

Though the Higgs boson was predicted by theory in the early 1960s, not everyone believed it would be found. If it had not been, physicists would have had to go back to the drawing board and rethink many of their fundamental ideas about the nature of particles and forces – an exciting prospect for some scientists.

"Physics would be far more interesting if it had not been found," said Hawking. "A few weeks ago, Peter Higgs and François Englert shared the Nobel prize for their work on the boson and they richly deserved it.