Thanks to David for the heads up.
Apr 09, 2011 – Research and development engineer, Marshall Barnes, is set to begin the creation of physics lessons for high schools based on the successful Fox TV sci-fi series, FRINGE. The lessons will be launched through the National Lab Network web site which is part of the White House Innovate to Educate initiative and began under the name of National Lab Day. National Lab Day was started by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jack Hidary and connects scientists, engineers and tinkers with schools and teachers in order to do STEM projects. Marshall is its top ranked STEM professional.
The lessons are a step up from the science lesson plans created from the Fringe series by the Science Olympiad organization under the name of "The Science of FRINGE". This reflects Marshall's tradition of, promoting advanced concept science and technology from his profession, to high schoolers as well as incorporating students into advanced physics challenges from his Oppenheimer Strain series - http://physicsintrouble.iwarp.com/OppenheimerStrain.html. According to their web site soinc.org/mission, Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female and minority interest in science, creating a technologically- literate workforce and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers. These goals are achieved by participating in Science Olympiad tournaments and non-competitive events, incorporating Science Olympiad into classroom curriculum and attending teacher training institutes. Science Olympiad has also been recognized by the White House for their efforts in promoting STEM.
Using the National Lab Network as the portal for the lessons mirrors the Science Olympiad model, as both organizations already have connections with the education community. Where the similarities end is that each episode that Marshall uses deals with the subplot of the FRINGE hit series concerning parallel universes and an alternate USA. Marshall will select those elements and suggest physicists to study who are working on related technologies, theories, etc as seen in that episode, as well as describe experiments that the class can participate in.
The idea came when Marshall saw the Science Olympiad lesson plan for one of the FRINGE episodes that involved bringing a bridge in from the alternate world and yet the lesson didn't mention anything having to do with those elements of the episode. Instead it focused on bioelectricity and how em fields effect tissue. That's when he checked the other lessons and discovered that none of them addressed any of the advanced concept physics ideas featured in the program that reflect real world cutting edge research that is currently going on.
As the creator of SuperScience for High School Physics, Marshall already had extensive experience explaining such topics as the nature of time, the Everett Wheeler Hypothesis, and wormholes to high schoolers in a way that they could be easily understood, and has won rave reviews from their teachers. Parallel universes in particular have been an area of research for Marshall since the early 90s and he successfully pointed out a mistake on them that Stephen Hawking made on his website which Marshall feels contributed to Hawking's misdirected fear of an alien invasion, something Marshall cited when he wrote his rebuttal to Hawking, called "Hawking, the Borg, the Necromongers, Rome, the Nazis, Fringe, FreeJack, Independence Day and the Fallacy of the Drake Equation" http://network.nature.com/groups/time/forum/topics/8600. Likewise, famed author and physicist, Michio Kaku,
has publicly joked about how he doesn't even try to teach the parallel universe theory to first year students because they would run home, "crying to their mothers". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnkE2yQPw6s (at 4:29). Marshall's experience, both as a researcher and educator, makes him the best communicator for these ideas for an educational setting.
The lesson plan portal will go online in time for the fall 2011 school season at the National Lab Network web site under resources and the SuperScience for High School Physics page http://my.nationallabnetwork.org/SuperScienceHighSchools. More can be seen here http://bit.ly/id9K7D now.
Source: prlog
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