Wow, have you seen this “We Are All Connected” music video? One of many auto-tuned music videos put together by the Symphony of Science project, it offers a gee-whiz look at the amazing things scientists think about and work on every day. It’ll make you want to run out and be a scientist today!
Auto-Tune is a program that is analogous to the process of airbrushing photos to get rid of imperfections. It allows for the correction of vocal and instrumental pitch and has been put to creative use in various arenas besides the music industry.
For the “We Are All Connected” video, the Symphony of Science project (or the SOS project, as I call it) culled images and clips and music from a variety of sources to showcase the brilliance of scientists such as American astronomer Carl Sagan, science educator and television host Bill Nye, American physicist Richard Feynman (my personal favorite for his wild thinking and incredible sense of humor), and American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson of NOVA scienceNOW fame.
I can see this and other auto-tuned science videos as great material for science teachers. Students could be asked to deconstruct a video to identify all the scientists, find out more about their contributions, writings, lectures, television shows, etc, and maybe even make their own auto-tune video. And if the technical resources aren’t available at school or among the student body, challenge students to find other creative ways to share scientific information musically. I think Richard Feynman would approve.
Below are some additional links related to the “We Are All Connected” video:
1) Carl Sagan hosted the successful Cosmos PBS television series in 1980. You can learn more about Sagan and order the series from his website. Or, you can go to YouTube and watch it there. Click on the clip below for a sample.
2) Richard Feynman interviews are all over YouTube. This link will get you started.
3) Bill Nye is a science educator and was host of Bill Nye the Science Guy, a popular PBS science education series of the 1990s. These days, he has a great online presence in the Eyes of Nye series.
4) You can also watch episodes of the History Channel’s The Universe series on the History Channel website itself.
Have fun with this. There’s lots out there to play with!
And check in next week for more from TFCB.
Laurie S. Sutton
I wish I'd had a “video book” similar to “We Are All Connected” to inspire me about science when I was growing up. My teachers were boring, bored, and rote. I make up for it nowadays by watching How the Earth Was Made, The Universe, The Human Spark, Nova…..
Domenica Di Piazza
Yes, I think you've hit on something. If a teacher is boring, bored, and rote, it comes across to the students and impacts their experience of learning. I had a chemistry teacher and a physics teacher in high school who were both so in love with chemistry and physics, respectively, that the classes were among my very favorites. I think that's one of the reasons I'm not afraid of science, and why I love things like “We Are All Connected” that get across the wonder and excitement of the scientific journey. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!