#natural science educators

[ahhvernin]

FIY, almost every environmental educator or naturalist is a giant nerd and is just a 10 year old kid on an adult body suit who just happens to pay taxes. They can be 70 years old and they will light up and start singing and dancing about birds, or get super giddy about how to make a fishing fly out of carpet strands and cat whiskers to catch the coolest fish, and then show you pictures of a cool amphibian they found once, and the time they got to hold a (insert wild animal during biodiversity survey, rescue, rehab, release, randomly found event). And I guarantee you, they got a gimmick or two that they do with their students and audience that just hypes then up to tenth degree and all the other fellow educators, just on honors system, always credit them for it.

How do I know?

I once worked in that world and everyone knows and still talks about my paradise bird dance, my broken wing dance, my phrase pet the moss and high five trees, playing marco polo but with specific bird calls that I taught my students so i can find them almost anywhere if they are within ear shot, my phrase of "did you bring an extra socks?" And....."POCKET SNAAAAAACKS!"

Yes...the job satisfaction is high because you get to run around and play and be goofy all the time without being considered weird. Yes there's still paperwork, bureaucracy, and people who want to make your day a living hell. But if your audience leaves knowing at least ONE new thing, you've won.

I think the only person I've met in real life with 100% career satisfaction was this gal I knew who was a presenter at a children's science museum and delivered every line like she was running a WWE match. Every time you passed the room where she was giving a presentation, you'd hear something like "WHO'S READY FOR CEPHALOPODS?!?" and the kids would go absolutely nuts cheering.

[fortunatelyperfectcreator]

[legodna]

You guys wanna see a science Lego set? Well, here's Lego DNA!

With a scientifically accurate DNA model, and a historically accurate lab + 5 scientists!

Aims: to promote science to kids and honor Rosalind Franklin.

Less than 4,000 votes needed to get it considered as a real official Lego set to be sold worldwide!

If you like it, please support here and share with your friends: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c92cd95b-49e7-46ec-b844-ac6482c51139

[amnhnyc]

🗣️ College students: Do you want to inspire curiosity in a captivating environment where science, community, and communication intertwine? Become a Museum intern! Applications for the Museum Education Experience Program (MEEP) are open through August 23. Apply today!

[bogleech]

The REAL economic stability scale:

The typical quality level of around a dollar's worth of fake bugs from when I was a baby in the 80s 😄

A dollar fifty at dollar tree in 2024 😔

....wait.......

......😧

[biologist4ever]

Coconut octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus)

[rebeccathenaturalist]

This FB post (which was public at the time I grabbed this screenshot) is Reason #90510 I teach nature identification classes and am SO adamant that my students look at ALL the details of a given animal/plant/fungus. Also, I ran the photo through iNaturalist just for the heck of it. Its first suggestion was timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), but its second was western rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus). This is why you never, ever, ever use an app as our only tool for identification, because you need to also have the critical thinking and observation skills to be able to differentiate between species, to include when the app offers up two similar species where the difference can be a serious matter.

I hope the OP makes a quick and full recovery, because I can't imagine getting tagged by a venomous snake is much fun. Please skip any judgemental comments about Darwin Awards, etc.--I have seen plenty of intelligent people make bad mistakes, and have even made a few myself, though none with quite this level of consequence. It can happen to anyone; thankfully OP realized their error in time to get medical help.

[bats100]

Bats fact #94

This is how bats during the day time

[reality-detective]

The Earthing Movie - Part 2

GROUNDING STUFF

• Take a hot shower, bath

• Run water over hands & face, drink water, hold an icecube

• Walk barefoot in the grass, nature or garden

• Physical Exercise, yoga, jumping

• Hold a crystal/rock

• Spend time with pets

• Focused Meditation, frequency music

• Essential Oils

“You are a battery composed of ELECTRONS. Just as a battery needs to be RE-CHARGED, so do YOU. Hence = the lack of CONNECTION with MOTHER EARTH has in reality decreased you of electrons. This is not fake science, but real science.” 🤔

[typhlonectes]

Snails poster

[courtingwonder]

The Tallest Trees in the World

[smmnh]

Zircon Crystals From the Jack Hills, Australia: World’s Oldest Substance

In the Beginning, Earth's surface was extremely hot. Meteorites plummeted into molten seas of lava and tumbled along scorched rubble on semi-solid terrain. Volcanoes suffocated the atmosphere with their clouds of  poisonous vapors. The average global temperature was above the boiling point for water. Welcome to Hell! This is how the Hadean Eon got its name, after Hades, Greek god of the underworld. 

Rocks would seldom form in the molten environment. Those that did were eventually forced back down into the Earth by tectonic activity and recycled by intense heat. The only survivors of this great recycling were the nearly indestructible zircon crystals like this one, periodically thrown back to the Earth surface by volcanic activity. No wonder then why so little is known about the Hadean Eon!  Our tiny zircon specimen is 4.4 billion years old!

[fortunatelyperfectcreator]

[legodna]

Do you wanna build a Lego science set? Here's Lego DNA!

With a scientifically accurate DNA model, and a historically accurate lab + 5 scientists!

Aims: to promote science to kids and young adults and honor Rosalind Franklin and her legacy!

3,800 votes needed (we already have 6,200!) to get it considered as a real official Lego set to be sold worldwide!

If you like it, please support via the link above or here: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c92cd95b-49e7-46ec-b844-ac6482c51139

[amnhnyc]

Teachers: Earn graduate credit and advance your career in six weeks with our flexible online courses! Connect with the Museum’s scientists, labs, exhibitions, and specimens. You can choose from a variety of courses ranging from Marine Biology and the Solar System to Climate Change and Virology. The courses are asynchronous, providing participants with the flexibility to complete weekly activities at their own pace—and can be taken anywhere at any time! Subject to school/district approval, courses may be used toward professional development, salary advancement, and recertification. Sign up for our summer session today—classes start July 8!

Photo: A. Keding / © AMNH

[yepdo]

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