How to Use Authentic Tasks with Video in the Classroom « Cecilia Nobre ELT Blog I love authentic video! A lot has been said about its use as a classroom tool and I couldn’t agree more. Videos are fun, engaging and they can provoke the most exhilarating reactions. On the other hand, in my opinion, the way to approach authentic videos has yet to be properly developed. By the way, I was inspired by Marek Kiczkowiak’s amazing blog post on how to design authentic tasks for listening and reading resources. Do we really need to create a worksheet of exercises with filling in the blanks, true and false or order the events? Instead, we should ask ourselves: If my students were to watch this video outside the classroom, how would they react to it? Why you should use authentic tasks with video • More meaningful, fun and truly engaging • Students practise English outside the class • There is no right or wrong answer • Learners are taught skills to be used outside the class (such as comparing, summarizing, evaluating, criticising, etc.) Bite-sized video Why? Tasks Facebook Live Why?
Gene editing: Is era of designer humans getting closer? Image copyright SPL An international meeting of leading scientists has said it would be "irresponsible" to allow the creation of genetically altered humans. But they said basic research involving embryo gene editing should continue in order to improve understanding of human biology. As scientific knowledge advances and societal views evolve, they added, the clinical use of genetically modified embryos should be revisited on a "regular basis". The gene editing summit in Washington was organised to discuss new techniques which enable researchers to alter human DNA. Genetic enhancement has been a favourite theme for science fiction writers. A Brave New World of designer humans - although still a long way off - has moved a step closer as a result new gene editing techniques. Three years ago scientists invented a new simple cut-and-paste system, called CRISPR-Cas9, for editing DNA. Media playback is unsupported on your device 'Blood disorder' That's where gene editing in embryos comes in.
Five tips for using authentic video in the classroom How can teachers use video content that isn't designed especially for language learners? English language teaching materials writer and developer Lewis Lansford explains. These days, learners have easy access to English language input, that is, authentic language in use, such as online videos, social media, and podcasts. Most teachers appreciate that using authentic materials – anything produced for a purpose other than teaching English – can capture and hold learners' attention, and motivate them to improve. But they also know that unfiltered, ungraded content can be hard to understand. With a few tips and tricks, these challenges can be overcome, and the classroom can be brought to life. 1. When we say 'listening', we often assume that we’re talking about listening to people speak. 2. We might consider a newscast, a Shakespeare play or a football match too complicated, idiomatic or high-level to use in the classroom, especially below level B1 (intermediate). 3. 4. 5.
List 25 25 Scary Bridges You'll Have To See To Believe 4,186,362 views 8 months ago Tweet this video! - If you're not afraid of heights, you have a sense of adventure, and you you scoff in the face of danger then you may want to check out these 25 scary bridges you'll have to see to believe. Check out the text version too! Here's a preview: The Nominees - 134 YouTube channels that will make you smarter The 60 YouTube channels that will make you smarter were selected from this master list. In here you can find many captivating channels that for some reason or other didn’t quite reach the shortlist. That shouldn’t take away from their standalone awesomeness though! In addition, you’ll find some totally new categories of channels for your enjoyment. So go and get smarter! Spark your curiosity Vsauce — Amazing answers to questions about our world In a Nutshell — Animations that makes learning beautiful C. Crash Course — Bite-sized science and learning in many subjects Scishow — Indispensable science news, history and concepts HowStuffWorks — Your daily curiosity dose that explains the world Brit Lab — Smart-ass ammunition that’s guaranteed to impress Mental Floss — Where knowledge junkies go to get their weekly fix of trivia THNKR — People, stories, ideas that will change your perspective The Good Stuff — Great all around inspiration from PBS Hello Internet — A podcast. Experiment with the sciences
Light as a Particle | Las Cumbres Observatory Light behaves mainly like a wave but it can also be considered to consist of tiny packages of energy called photons. Photons carry a fixed amount of energy but have no mass. The energy of a photon depends on its wavelength: longer wavelength photons have less energy and shorter wavelength photons have more. Red photons, for example, have less energy than blue ones. Until about 1900, scientists only understood electromagnetic radiation to be made up of waves. More energetic wavelengths such as blue and ultraviolet caused more electrons to be ejected than red or infrared wavelengths. Einstein was the first to explain what was happening. Are we living in a simulation? - Zohreh Davoudi If you can’t wait to dig deeper into the question of whether the Universe is a simulation, here are some useful links to get you started: For a though-provoking debate on the subject, see the 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson: For a general audience presentation of the topic take a look here. If you are interested in the technical discussions regarding possible tests of the Simulation hypothesis, see the original papers here and here. Or for the full text, try this link. And finally if you are curious what Nick Bostrom’s philosophical argument is to believe we may be living in a computer simulation, you can read the original article here.
Light & Optics: Introduction To understand light you have to know that what we call light is what is visible to us. Visible light is the light that humans can see. Other animals can see different types of light. Dogs can see only shades of gray and some insects can see light from the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. Scientists also call light electromagnetic radiation. The key thing to remember is that light and EM radiation carry energy. Or search the sites for a specific topic. Tour the EM Spectrum (ScienceAt NASA Video)
Radar spots trillions of unseen insects migrating above us Birds and human vacationers aren't the only creatures that take to the skies each year to migrate north or south. An analysis of a decade's worth of data from radars specifically designed to track airborne insects has revealed unseen hordes crossing parts of the southern United Kingdom—2 trillion to 5 trillion insects each year, amounting to several thousand tons of biomass, that may travel up to hundreds of kilometers a day. The numbers, reported in this week's issue of Science, are "stunning," says Silke Bauer, an ecologist at the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach. "Wow," adds Larry Stevens, an evolutionary ecologist at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. "Can you image what these numbers look like in tropical settings, say, over the basins of the Amazon or the Congo?" Although some insect migrations are well known (think monarchs), the new work takes a systematic approach to flying insects and hints that such mass movements are surprisingly common.