New from the Wordsmiths

This issue’s Wordsmiths column focuses on some books that take a look at some tiny earth materials—sand and dust. If you have found a book that you think other FOSS users should know about, please send the reference to foss@berkeley.edu, including author, title, ISBN, and a short annotation.

Sand

In the FOSS Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Module, students discover that sand is a word used to describe a size of rock. But where does sand come from? Geologist Ellen Prager exposes some of the mysteries of sand in this book. Using colorful and whimsical illustrations,she describes how water, wind, ice, and other processes of erosion help create sand. She describes the various earth materials that make up sand, including rock, coral, and crystals. Photomicrographs provide readers with close-up views of beautiful sand samples. (Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Module; Solid Earth Module; Landforms Module)

Sand: The Never-Ending Story

Sand is overrated—it’s just tiny little rocks.

Sand may be overrated to some, but to geologists and FOSS students it is an important earth material. The stories told by a sample of sand provide a glimpse into events that have changed Earth’s surface over billions of years. Welland, a British geologist, delves into the study of sand full-throttle. Using Wentworth’s definition of sand, he focuses on particles ranging in size from very fine sand, 0.0625 to 0.125 mm, to very coarse sand, 1–2 mm. He discusses all of the various earth materials from which sand originates, including quartz to microfossils. He explains how much sand is part of geology, biology, and human history. A grain of sand is followed down the Susquehanna River to the ocean depths. From the strange fluid mechanics of moving sand to fascinating sand art, Welland exposes the never-ending story of sand in a way that should capture just about anyone’s attention. (Earth History Course; Landforms Module; Solid Earth Module)

A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder The Amazing Microphotography of Dr. Gary Greenberg

To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.

Greenberg opens his book with this quote from William Blake and then invites into the close-up world of sand. Using microphotographic techniques that he developed, Greenburg gives us an almost three-dimensional view of sand, its colors, textures, sizes, and shapes. The story of sand unfolds through text and photographs. Sand becomes an art form through his amazing photographs. Even young students will appreciate these images; older students and adults will find the text useful in expanding their understanding of the world of sand. (Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Module; Landforms Module; Solid Earth Module; Earth History Course)

The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, The Big Consequences of Little Things

Think about it. If it weren’t for dust, water vapor wouldn’t start to condense until the relative humidity was about 300 percent. This is just one piece of information provided by Hannah Holmes as she unearths the story of dust. To most of us, dust is just a nuisance that gathers on top of surfaces in our homes just waiting to be wiped off and moved to a new location. Most dust is well traveled—between one and three billion tons of desert dust fly up into the atmosphere each year. To put that in perspective, one billion tons of dust would fill 14 million boxcars, in a train that would wrap around Earth’s equator six times! Chapters continue with discussions of planetary evolution, allergies, dinosaurs, lung disease, and pollution, to name a few. The book includes a detailed bibliography, as well as a listing of websites for each chapter so that readers may continue their exploration into the world of dust. (Earth History Course)

NEW RELEASE

The Role of Public Policy in K–12 Science Education

George E. DeBoer, editor. AAAS Project 2061 (Research in Science Education Series). IAP–Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, 2011. http://www.infoagepub.com/products/series/sunal.html

Linda De Lucchi and Larry Malone, co-directors of the FOSS Project, have co-written a chapter entitled “The Effect of Educational Policy on Curriculum Development: A Perspective from the Lawrence Hall of Science” as part of this publication. The goal of this volume of Research in Science Education is to examine the relationship between science education policy and practice and the special role that science education researchers play in influencing policy. It has been suggested that the science education research community is isolated from the political process, pays little attention to policy matters, and has little influence on policy. But to influence policy, it is important to understand how policy is made and how it is implemented. This volume sheds light on the intersection between policy and practice through both theoretical discussions and practical examples.

This book was written primarily about science education policy development in the context of the highly decentralized educational system of the United States. But, because policy development is fundamentally a social activity involving knowledge, values, and personal and community interests, there are similarities in how education policy gets enacted and implemented around the world.

This volume is meant to be useful to science education researchers and to practitioners such as teachers and administrators because it provides information about which aspects of the science education enterprise are affected by state, local, and national policies. It also provides helpful information for researchers and practitioners who wonder how they might influence policy. In particular, it points out how the values of people who are affected by policy initiatives are critical to the implementation of those policies.