ScienceTeach Hub

While the Philippines is greatly alarmed by the falling-off of its performance in science and mathematics, it is surprising that other seemingly invincible  nations are likewise hit by the very issues that are crippling our basic science education, issues that are trending worldwide! Such include the declining interest in science, indifferent social perception of science, drastic reduction in science career options, poor primary science, low performance in international assessment studies, lack of qualified teachers, overcrowded curriculum, lack of quality textbooks and instructional materials, low student’s motivation, high drop-out and repetition rates, lack of time for planning lessons and evaluations, poorly defined learning objectives, and lack of teachers’ training. Common Issues, Varied Approaches Despite communalities of issues, several countries approached the same problems differently. For example, France has its LAMAP (La main a la Pate) that focuses on inquiry p...

Human anatomy class. A student who reported about the reproductive system made mention that among males the passageway both for urine and semen are the same. And that when the pe*is is supplied with blood, a flap of tissue partly closes the bladder which explains why it is impossible for males to urinate while having an e*ection. A student raised a query. Morning E*ections Student 1: Why is it that the pe*is gets erect every morning? Student 2 (Girl): Is it really always in the morning? Student 1: Yes! I really wonder why. You told us that sensual stimuli can cause an e*ection but what about this one? There are no stimuli yet in the morning. No magazines, videos or whatsoever. Me: Are you speaking of wet dreams? According to psychologists this is the signal that you are already reproductive, which means that you can already make babies. It happens during puberty. Student 3 (Young Mom): But I have observed sir that my baby boy is also having an e*ection in the morning....

Just like most of our curriculum planners, I envision a basic science education that will make our learners scientifically, technologically and environmentally literate. These have been termed as the ‘key goals’ of science education. Efforts towards the attainment of this vision are rather captured by jargons that popularized the thematic goals of science education in this time and age like Delors’ pillars for learning to know, to do, to be and to live together and UNESCO’s education through, in and for science. So much has changed in science as it goes along with the change in social landscape. There has been observed modification in its practice, the nature of public engagement with it, post-modern criticisms about its certainty, knowledge explosion, nature of schooling, population of students, nature of youth and the like. Change has become the central driver for goal refocusing. To reach a full circle, these goals are expected to congruently respond consistent to these changes...

More often, the approach in introducing our science students to a field of scientific discipline is to acquaint them of its historical development first. This I usually do in my cell biology and genetics classes. My purpose is simple. I want to honor the men and women who laid the foundation of scientific knowledge whose fruits we currently enjoy. What is a second or two, like just mentioning their names and notable contribution plus their pictures, in comparison to a life dedicated to the passionate pursuit of their works? I currently came across with an article entitled The Value of History of Science as a Medium for the Integral and Specific Education of the Individual . The article answers the question: “What is the value of teaching history of science?” The original version of the translated article was published in 1935 in Spanish. Fast forward to 2019, it still makes a lot of sense in the context of science education in the Philippines particularly here in Romblon. The ...

Tissue culture is one of the asexual methods of massively propagating banana plants. Banana demonstrates the so called parthenocarpy, a condition wherein a fruit develops even without prior fertilization. They reproduce through suckers that grow around the mother plant. A ground tissue is usually extracted from the source plant in an aseptic environment. They are then placed in a bottle with gelled phytohormones and incubated. Overtime, the cells will dedifferentiate, reinitiate cell division and could even regenerate the whole plant, hence, totipotency. In animal cells however, differentiation is irreversible. But there's more to this video than itself. We always have our first time in everything. I made this video after my Biotechnology class and I received a quick training from the technician at the Banana Tissue Culture Laboratory of the University. But this was almost eight years past.  Back then, Movie Maker was the most friendly and handy editing software at hand. And...

Discussing 'Action Potential' is one of the most challenging topics in human physiology. When I was still learning the concept back in the University, I had a hard time figuring out the influx of ions into the axon and how this action at the cellular level can produce voltage and electrical signals. So, when we were assigned to do a learning material, we chose the topic on the generation of action potential. Here's the script I made for the above video clip. Enjoy learning. The body’s information system is built from billions of interconnected cells called neurons. A nerve cell or a neuron consists of many different parts. The cell body or soma is the life support center of the neuron. The dendrites are branching extensions at the cell body. They receive messages from other neurons. The axon is a single extension of a neuron which is covered with myelin sheath to insulate and speed up messages through neurons. The terminal branches of axon are endings that transmit...