I love it when teachers find cool and creative ways to get their kids interested in science. I first learned about rapper/8th grade biology teacher Tom McFadden a few days ago, through a post on The Brain Scoop blog by Emily Graslie (she makes science history museums super fun, but I will save posting about her until another time).
In the video she shared, Tom's students made a rap song battle between Watson and Crick and Rosalind Franklin, with Rosalind totally winning! For those of you who don't know, Watson and Crick were the male scientists who shared the discovery (and won the Nobel Prize for) that DNA formed a double helix. They only knew this because Rosalind Franklin took x-ray crystallography photos that proved DNA formed a double helix, but they didn't give her credit for the discovery, and she died before the Nobel Prize was awarded (and the award panel doesn't award them posthumously, even if they had considered her).
http://thebrainscoop.tumblr.com/post/64083377625/edwardspoonhands-jtotheizzoe-watson-crick
Totally awesome, right? I saw in the Brain Scoop re-post that if you like the planet Pluto, you have to check out another student rap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iEn4C9nss&feature=youtu.be
Tom McFadden isn't the only teacher doing this; there was a science rap competition for local schools in New York City. NPR wrote a little article and filmed a video of some of the students in the competition.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/08/207348197/science-rap-b-a-t-t-l-e-s-bring-hip-hop-into-the-classroom
I will be checking out Tom McFadden's YouTube channel and blog from time to time from now on for some science inspiration!
http://www.youtube.com/user/tomcfad
In the video she shared, Tom's students made a rap song battle between Watson and Crick and Rosalind Franklin, with Rosalind totally winning! For those of you who don't know, Watson and Crick were the male scientists who shared the discovery (and won the Nobel Prize for) that DNA formed a double helix. They only knew this because Rosalind Franklin took x-ray crystallography photos that proved DNA formed a double helix, but they didn't give her credit for the discovery, and she died before the Nobel Prize was awarded (and the award panel doesn't award them posthumously, even if they had considered her).
http://thebrainscoop.tumblr.com/post/64083377625/edwardspoonhands-jtotheizzoe-watson-crick
Totally awesome, right? I saw in the Brain Scoop re-post that if you like the planet Pluto, you have to check out another student rap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iEn4C9nss&feature=youtu.be
Tom McFadden isn't the only teacher doing this; there was a science rap competition for local schools in New York City. NPR wrote a little article and filmed a video of some of the students in the competition.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/08/207348197/science-rap-b-a-t-t-l-e-s-bring-hip-hop-into-the-classroom
I will be checking out Tom McFadden's YouTube channel and blog from time to time from now on for some science inspiration!
http://www.youtube.com/user/tomcfad