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12 Disney Quotes to Inspire White People to Be Anti-racist

12 Disney Quotes to Inspire White People to Be Anti-racist

Disney movies have never really been the best at helping their audiences realize their own privilege and complicity in white supremacist society, but some quotes (predominantly by characters of color) can be used to inspire activism and action.

“Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one” – Grandmother Willow

Now is not the time to be complacent and carry on with life as normal.…

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Jungle Cruise Jokes: Fact or Fiction

What's your favorite Jungle Cruise joke? Find out if there's any scientific facts behind the dry humor!

The Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite rides because I love puns and animals. But sometimes the puns get in the way of communicating accurate facts about the creatures around the world.

Monarch butterflies are the rulers of the jungle. They range in size from one foot to 12 inches.

Fiction!

Monarch butterflies only have a wingspan of up to 10 centimeters, or around 4 inches. Even the…

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Female Disney Scientists

February 11th, 2020 is International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Today, I’m featuring female scientists that work for Disney!

Disney Research

Kyna McIntosh has been working for Disney Research since 2013 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon with her Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and Art. Her many projects include the Magic Benchwhich enables multiple guests to interact with…

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Tips for a Solo Trip to Walt Disney World

Tips for a Solo Trip to Walt Disney World

I have taken more than a handful of solo trips to Walt Disney World and they have been some of my favorite trips so far! Below are my best tips for having a vacation that’s just as memorable and magical as a group trip.

Where should I stay?

The All-Star resorts are usually the cheapest option. If you don’t plan on spending much time in the room, it doesn’t make sense to spend a large chunk…

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External Posts Master List

External Posts Master List

Below, I’ve included any writing I have done outside of this blog! If you are interested in having me write on your site, please contact me via e-mail or on Instagram.

Originally Published on DSNY Newscast

What Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration Can Teach Us About Living Longer

Behind the Seeds: “Living with the Land” Continues Epcot’s Edutainment Mission

Originally Published on

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Science of Disney: California Screamin' / Incredicoaster Launch

It's been a year since California Screamin' closed. Read about how it and the Incredicoaster get up to top speed in less than 60 seconds!

Tantalizing trills of a triangle, a cadence of carnival bells, then a countdown – 5…4…3…2…1! – and the screaming begins.

California Screamin’ at Disney’s California Adventure closed January 8th, 2018 and was re-themed with an Incredibles overlay to become the Incredicoaster. Today, I’ll explain some science concepts integral to the launch of this awesome ride.

How does this coaster launch you…

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If Pixar Characters went to Grad School (Males, Part 1)

If Pixar Characters went to Grad School (Males, Part 1)

I thought it was about time I featured some male characters on my Disney, PhD series. Can you think of any other specialties that would be more interesting for these animated men?

Woody – Leadership or Organizational Management.

Throughout the Toy Story films, Woody, as the main protagonist and leader of the motley crew of toys, has had to work with several different personalities to try to…

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Mythbusting Mr. Incredible's "New Math"

Mythbusting Mr. Incredible’s “New Math”

“Why would they change math?! Math is math! MATH is MATH!!” Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible) protested in Incredibles 2.

Most people who enjoyed or are heading out to buy the Incredibles 2 (released November 6th, 2018) will likely laugh at this joke. The joke works because so many parents today are struggling with the changes brought about by Common Core math. But is Common Core deserving of all of…

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Only the magic of Disney could turn the demonstration of a few “high-tech” measurement tools into an entertaining, interactive story that might actually be good at teaching kids (and adults!) some simple science concepts.

If you haven’t had a chance to see it before, the SpectacuLAB is a 30-minute play about an intern’s first day in a science lab learning about the lab’s cool technology through “experiments” that involve members of the audience! As of 2018, the SpectacuLAB is sponsored by Murata and most of the actors are real scientists from Science from Scientists, a non-profit that aims to get more 4th-8th grade kids interested in science. The show aims to teach force, acceleration, barometric pressure, and sound waves using Murata’s accelerometer, pressure sensors, and ultrasonic sensors.

Overall, the show is endearing and fun to watch at least once (I even saw the show as part of a second date!), but it wouldn’t hurt to incorporate more research-based evidence about learning science into the experience.

The Good

1. The show’s scientists are actually good role models for increasing diversity in STEM.

Research has shown that having a personal relationship with a scientist as well as seeing positive images of scientists increases students’ commitment to STEM and the SpectacuLAB can facilitate both of these. Both times I’ve seen the show, at least one performer has been a person of color or a woman (or both!) and kids have opportunities to start to build relationships with these scientists by participating in the show and asking them questions during Q&A. Although the majority of the audience is likely to be White and there are still many other institutional barriers hindering increased diversity in STEM, this show is a step in the right direction.

2. The show uses effective analogies, both to real-life experiences and across contexts.

To help explain pressure, the show makes analogies between ultrasonic sound waves making music to a car’s back-up monitoring, and to ears popping on airplanes.Incorporating students’ real-life experiences into science instruction is one of the most highly encouraged practices in the Next Generation Science Standards because it helps students see science all around them. There are also analogies between several applications of force – smashing one cup, smashing 1000 cups, applying weight to balloons, and laying on a bed of nails. This kind of careful control of what is being compared highlights what aspects are important for the scientific principle to hold – the distribution of force across a greater area – while downplaying more extraneous aspects – like the materials.

3. The show incorporates Jungle Cruise-esque humor and moments of suspense.

Although the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of humor and suspense on learning is weaker than for other techniques, there is some support that both are effective for creating memorable experiences. Humor has been shown to help memory (for punny jokes, in particular, see Summerfelt, Lippman, & Hyman Jr. 2010), and increases student motivation. On the flip side, the fear associated with moments of suspense may also be effective for learning. Usually suspense and fear are stressful and stress hinders learning, but the SpectacuLAB resolves the highly suspenseful moment of having someone lay on a bed of nails. Just like when music or horror movies resolve tension, the resolution of a suspenseful moment may help learning because it is a strong emotional experience. Both humor and suspense affect the dopamine reward system in the brain; linking the memory for science content with happiness from dopamine may help the learner retain the information longer.

The Less Good

1. The science doesn’t always work perfectly – especially the barometric pressure sensors.

The barometric pressure sensor game is very entertaining to watch but the sensors don’t always change color predictably, which can make the game frustrating for the players and confusing for trying to understand the science behind it. I think this demonstration could benefit from a screen showing a representation of air pressure in the room to explain what the different colors represent more than just a graph of where pressure is high or low. Even when the other experiments don’t go according to plan (like balloons popping unexpectedly or the ultrasonic drums being slow to respond), the scientists roll with the punches pretty well and this provides more opportunity for interrogation of the ideas after the show.

2. The show doesn’t allow for enough active learning opportunities.

Although holding a sensor is more active than sitting and watching someone else hold a sensor, this still isn’t the most effective way to learn. Active learning is when students (of any age!) are “engaged in” the learning process. Some examples that have been shown to be effective are self-explanation or even think-pair-share. Self-explanation – the process by which a student explains their own ideas to themselves through writing or speaking – has been shown to be effective for learning and retention, especially when dealing with multiple representations like in science. Think-pair-share is a common practice in classrooms at all grade levels in which students first think about their response, then tell a partner, and then share out to the whole class. These strategies are more effective for learning because they involve more construction of knowledge and questioning of relationships among ideas. Due to time constraints, these strategies are hard to incorporate in such a short show, but hopefully the show still inspires kids and adults alike to continue conversations about the content after they leave the theater to engage in more active learning.

3. The show could more strongly encourage more scientific practices.

Although the audience is exposed to a fair amount of scientific practices in the show – such as replication of results by repeating an experiment, manipulating independent variables (like stronger versus weaker applications of force), and interpreting data in graph forms – more opportunities could be built in for practices like making and revising hypotheses, and creating representations. When explaining force and pressure, there is some encouragement of making hypotheses but this could be incorporated more frequently and more broadly by getting the whole audience to share their ideas with even just a show of hands. Going along with the lack of active learning strategies, audience members don’t get the chance to demonstrate their understanding in scientist-like ways. Providing activity pages that encourage them to draw what pressure looks like, or make models about their predictions for additional scenarios could help them feel more like scientists. Outside of the theater, there are small interactive exhibits that allow visitors to practice more with the ideas from the show in authentic, scientist-like ways but these aren’t even mentioned during the show.

What are your thoughts on the SpectacuLAB? Which learning or physics concept would you want to know more about?

Additional Reading

Tsui, L. (2007) Literature review on strategies to increase the diversity of STEM fields

Allen-Ramdial, S. A. & Campbell, A. G. (2014) Reimagining the pipeline: Advancing STEM diversity, persistence, and success

Humor and learning popular press article

Humor and learning research article

Suspense and learning

Prince, M. (2004) Active learning

Berthold, K., Eysink, T. H. S., & Renkl, A. (2009) Self-explanation

Gentner, D. & Toupin, C. (1986) Surface similarity hinders analogy

Next Generation Science Standards

How spectacular is Epcot’s SpectacuLAB? From a teaching and learning perspective Only the magic of Disney could turn the demonstration of a few "high-tech" measurement tools into an entertaining, interactive story that might actually be good at teaching kids (and adults!) some simple science concepts.

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Tips for Walt Disney World's Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Tips for Walt Disney World’s Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Here are my best tips and tricks for maximizing your time at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Schedule

First thing you need to know is that you can enter the park as early as 4:00 PM! So start traveling to the Magic Kingdom between 3:00 PM (if you’re parking and need to take the ferry or monorail) and 3:30 PM (if you’re taking the monorail from the Polynesian, Contemporary, or Grand…

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Science of Disney: How Ants Find Food

Science of Disney: How Ants Find Food

Foraging for food is an essential premise of a Bug’s Life – the ants have to collect enough food to feed the grasshoppers and get food for themselves. The movie got some parts of this process right – ants do often travel in a line to get from a food source to their nest – but the process is much more impressive than just following the leader.

From Pixar’s A Bug’s Life

To harvest food, ants use a…

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Pixar Women, PhD Part 2

Pixar Women, PhD Part 2

EVE – Ecology.

EVE’s sole mission was to collect data about life on Earth. She’ll likely need to work on her data analysis skills but armed with a PhD, she will be invaluable to the re-colonization of the planet. Specializing in urban ecology or sustainability, she will have a lot to contribute to establishing a healthier relationship between humans and their new ecosystems.

Ellie – Latin…

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Pixar Women, PhD Part 1

Pixar Women, PhD Part 1

Bo Peep – Animal Sciences.

Bo Peep has conspicuously been missing in the last two Toy Story movies and I think the possibility of her disappearing to go earn her PhD in Animal Sciences is somewhat likely (although I don’t know how she would be able to manage without her support system of the rest of Andy’s toys). This shepherdess would be overly qualified to conduct research on sheep behavior and…

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Science of Disney: Elephants and Bees

Science of Disney: Elephants and Bees

One of earth’s biggest creatures is being saved by insects.

As part of Animal Kingdom’s 20th Anniversary celebration, I attended a Tiffins Talk in which I enjoyed a four-course meal inspired by and specially prepared to accompany a presentation from a Disney scientist about their conservation efforts. During this talk, Dr. Joseph Soltis gave a very engaging talk about how he, his colleague, Dr.…

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Science of Disney: Buzz's Spacesuit

Science of Disney: Buzz’s Spacesuit

“Buzz Lightyear to Star Command, Buzz Lightyear to Star Command”

Named after Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men on the moon, Buzz Lightyear had a pretty spiffy spacesuit complete with a wings, a laser shooter, and a simple voice-recorder that could transmit his adventures to the intergalactic headquarters. According to John Lasseter (former chief creative officer at Pixar), the design of Buzz’s…

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How to Plan FastPass+ as a Disneyland Veteran

How to Plan FastPass+ as a Disneyland Veteran

As I was writing my list of tips for How to Visit Walt Disney World (WDW) as a Disneyland Veteran, I realized that the FastPass+ system can be extremely overwhelming. So I decided to write a more in-depth post on the system and include my opinions for the best choices for FastPass+ at each park.

General Tips

FastPass+ at Disney World is very different from Disneyland’s system in that there are no…

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How to Visit Hollywood Studios as a Disneyland Veteran

How to Visit Hollywood Studios as a Disneyland Veteran

Personally, Hollywood Studios is my least favorite park and part of that has to do with how many attractions it shares with the Disneyland Resort. But if you’re a huge fan of Star Wars, then this is the WDW park that you’ll probably enjoy most. In addition to my recommendations below, there are lots of great streetmosphere acts, pretty photo spots and plenty of shops to fill time when not waiting…