In this episode, Scott, Melanie, and Michael -- short because Michael did not have things set up properly to record (sorry!), so you missed some great discussion: he did not record it! -- have some initial discussion of what science is and how to teach it. Knowing what science is is important for teachers, but also for parents, students, scientists, and adults in general: we need to know how the world works and how to get things done: how to achieve our values. And how to tell truth from falsity.

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Contact Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-k-harris-b037966
Contact Melanie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-katragadda-nctm-9b14522a
Contact Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/ or goldams.com

About Scott:
Scott K. Harris (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-k-harris-b037966) has a Bachelor of Arts in History/Psychology from Texas State University and a Master’s in Education from Lamar University. He received the Mirabeau B. Lamar Award for Teaching Excellence, and was the first teacher in Texas to receive the Quality School Teacher Award.

In his 29th year of teaching, Harris has taught U.S. History, World History, Psychology, A.P. Psychology, A.P. Macroeconomics, Philosophy, and International Baccalaureate’s capstone course Theory of Knowledge. He also coached swimming and water polo for 17 years.

Harris has guest-lectured at Texas State in Philosophy, and at the University of Texas San Antonio’s graduate school in Education. For nearly two decades he was a member of the Mind Science Foundation and the National Association of Scholars.

Harris piloted curriculum for what is now John Stossel-in-the-Classroom, serves as a consultant to Free- to-Choose Media, and is an associate producer for Izzit.org, all of which produce videos advocating liberty and economic education.

External links:
1. Penn Jillette quote (note: quote used here to illustrate a point about what science is, not to agree with Jillette on his attack on herbalism; we will provide some links to info on herbalism to let people decide for themselves; we would also ask people to consider whether or not vegetables/plants/"herbs" play a role in our biologic function and health): "[I]t was science that, oh, cured polio. I could list others--isn't that enough? [Laughs.] Oh, Western medicine doesn't work; I'm sorry, we cured polio. What more do you want? Your herbalism has done jack; we cured polio. And guess what? It cures polio even if you don't believe in it. We don't have it on Earth anymore. And then there's also small pox, and then there's mostly dysentery, and we haven't even gotten into the stuff we're good at, which is physics.” From: https://www.atheismunited.com/wiki/Penn_Jillette

2. Herbalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_medicine

3. Herbal medicine:
a. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071505/
"The use of plants for healing purposes predates recorded history and forms the origin of much of modern medicine. Many conventional drugs originate from plant sources: a century ago, most of the few effective drugs were plant-based. Examples include aspirin (from willow bark), digoxin (from foxglove), quinine (from cinchona bark), and morphine (from the opium poppy). The development of drugs from plants continues, with drug companies engaged in large-scale pharmacologic screening of herbs.​herbs." And then there is Aloe Vera.
b. "The discovery of artemisinin and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine:" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4966551/

4. A Brief History of Herbalism: http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/herbs/brief-history/

5. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by E.O. Wilson: https://www.amazon.com/Consilience-Knowledge-Edward-Osborne-Wilson/dp/067976867X

6. Science from tracking. The Art of Tracking: The Origin of Science by Louis Liebenberg: https://www.cybertracker.org/downloads/tracking/The-Art-of-Tracking-The-Origin-of-Science-Louis-Liebenberg.pdf

7. Karl Popper's Philosophy of Science
a. https://www.iep.utm.edu/pop-sci/
b. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/popper/

See also:
1. Introductory Physics by Dr. Herbert Priestley: https://www.amazon.com/INTRODUCTORY-PHYSICS-Historical-Approach-Priestley/dp/B005H7TJ1M
1.a. Michael's review: http://goldams.com/introductory-physics-by-herbert-priestley/

2. Galileo and Einstein (early physics) by Dr. Michael Fowler: http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu
2.a. Modern Physics by Dr. Michael Fowler: http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/home.html
2.b. The Discovery of Energy Conservation by Dr. Michael Fowler: http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/152.mf1i.spring02/MayerJoule.htm
2.c. Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory by Dr. Michael Fowler: http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/TeachingHeat.htm

3. "To summarize: Aristotle’s philosophy laid out an approach to the investigation of all natural phenomena, to determine form by detailed, systematic work, and thus arrive at final causes. His logical method of argument gave a framework for putting knowledge together, and deducing new results. He created what amounted to a fully-fledged professional scientific enterprise, on a scale comparable to a modern university science department. It must be admitted that some of his work - unfortunately, some of the physics - was not up to his usual high standards. He evidently found falling stones a lot less interesting than living creatures. Yet the sheer scale of his enterprise, unmatched in antiquity and for centuries to come, gave an authority to all his writings." --Dr. Michael Fowler (http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/lectures/aristot2.html)

4. BBC Show "Aristotle's Lagoon." Described as "How Aristotle's fieldwork on the island of Lesvos helped found the science of biology."
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN8ortM4M3o
b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e12pbSHrzAs

5. "The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science" by Armand Marie Leroi, a talk given at the British School at Athens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYro4kkPxiA

6. Good science-related books
6.a. The Soul of a Horse by Joe Camp: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Horse-Life-Lessons-Herd/dp/0307406865/
6.b. Horsemanship Through Life by Mark Rashid: https://www.amazon.com/Horsemanship-Through-Life-Trainers-Better/dp/1616087463/
6.c. Fire-hunter by Jim Kjelgaard: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Hunter-Jim-Kjelgaard-ebook/dp/B07R6BK7SG/
6.d. The Heart of a Lion by William Stolzenburg: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Lion-Lone-Across-America/dp/1620405520/
6.e. Crusaders of Chemistry by Jonathan Norton Leonard: https://www.amazon.com/Crusaders-Chemistry-Essay-Index-Reprint/dp/0836973208/


Image courtesy Scott Harris.