DOCSLIB.ORG

Physical Science Methods for Elementary Teachers. an Experimental Course

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Physical Science Methods for Elementary Teachers. an Experimental Course DOCUMENT RESUME ED 296 885 SE 049 411 AUTHOR Orlich, Donald C. TITLE Physical Science Methods for Elementary Teachers. An Experimental Course. A Model to Improve Preservice Elementary Science Teacher Development. Volume V. INSTITUTION Washington State Univ., Pullman. SPONS AGENCY National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 15 Jun 88 GRANT TEI-8470609 NOTE 452p.; For other volumes in this series, see SE 049 407-412. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use Materials (For Learner) (051) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC19 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *College Science; *Course Content; Course Descriptions; Curriculum Dew opment; Elementary Education; Elementary School Science; Experiential Learning; Higher Education; *Preservice Teacher Education; Science Education; *Science Experiments; Science Teachers; Science Tests; *Teacher Education Curriculum; *Teaching Methods ABSTRACT A group of scientists and science educators at Washington State University has developed and pilot tested an integrated physical science program designed for preservice elementary school teachers. This document is a comprehensive guide to be provided to students in a physical science teaching methods course. Chapters include: (1) "Science as a Focus" (rationales, teacher as decision maker, trends and progress); (2) "Determining What Will Be Taught" (planning and objectives); (3) "Taxonomics and Teaching Science"; (4) "Questions and Teaching Science"; (:) "Using Science-Related Discussions"; (6) "Using the Real Stuff of Science: Inquiry"; (7) "Classroom Management"; (8) "Simulations and Games in Science Teaching"; (9) "Science Safety"; and (10) "Evaluating Students and Elementary Science Programs." Each chapter concludes with a list of references. An outline of the methods course content is appended. (CW) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** FINAL REPORT Submitted to the National Science Foundation A MODEL TO IMPROVE PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY SCIENCE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT Julie H. Lutz, Principal Investigator Donald C. Orlich, Principal Investigator NSF Grant No. TEI-8470609 WSU 145 01 12V 2460 0102 Washington State University Pullman, Washington 99164-2930 June 15, 1988 3 PHYSICAL SCIENCE METHODS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS An Experimental Course Designed by Donald C. Orlich Department of Educational Administration and Supervision Washington State University For Elementary-Secondary Education 311 Physical Science for Elementary Teachers 1988 Volume V, Final Technical Report Submitted to the National Science Foundation, WSU Project Nc. 0102 NSF Grant No. TEI-8470609 Julie Lutz, Project Director Department of Astronomy Washington State University Pullman, WA99164-2930 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 SCIENCE AS A FOCUS Understanding Science Education 3 Why Teach Science in the Elementary Gradz.s? 3 The Modern Rationales 5 Scientific Processes 6 The Teacher as Decision Maker 12 Teaching as Interaction and Decision-Making 14 Teaching With Only One Style 19 Content and Process as Decisions 21 Goals and Schools 24 Curriculum and .:nstructional Decision Areas 27 Approaches to Curriculum Design 28 Curriculum as Subject Matter 30 Curriculum (Is Experience 31 Analysis of the Two Basic Approaches to Curriculum 32 Curriculum and Individual Differences 34 Analysis and Implications 35 Trends and Progress in Elementary Science Education 39 General Findings 43 Some Washington State Data 49 Probable Directions 50 Conclusion 53 References 55 CHAPTER 2 DETERMINING WHAT WILL BE TAUGHT Planning for Successful DAruction 57 Performance Objectives 58 Beginning the Process 62 Rationale for Performance Objectives 64 Taxonomies of Behaviors 66 The Cognitive Domain 67 The Affective Domain 67 The Psychomotor Domain 67 Elements of Performance Objectives 68 Element One: The Performance Term 69 Element Two: Elaboration of the Conditions 73 Element Three: The Criterion Measure 77 Criterion Grading 80 Models of Completed Performance Objectives 83 Are Performance Objectives Necessary? 85 Problems in Writing Appropriate Objectives 86 Confusing Instruction with the Conditional Statement 87 Incomplete Criterion Statements 87 Level of Performance in Criterion Statement 88 Reductio ad Absurdum 90 A Final Caution 94 CHAPTER 3 TAXONOMIES AND TEACHING SCIENCE Using Taxonomies in Science 99 Why Use a Taxonomy 100 Bloom's Taxonomy: A Classification System For The Cognitive Domain 105 Knowledge 107 Comprehension 109 Application 112 Analysis 115 Synthesis 118 Evaluation 122 The Cognitive Domain: A Critical Analysis 125 Uses of the Taxonomy 127 Post Script 130 References 133 6 ii CHAPTER 4 QUESTIONS AND TEACHING SCIENCE Formulating Meaningful Questions 134 Tips for the Teacher 137 Classroom Question Classification Method for Science Teaching 139 Applying Three Strategies 140 Convergent Questions 140 Patterns for Divergent Thinking 142 The Evaluative Questioning Pattern 145 Technical and Humane Considerations 148 Framing the Questions 148 Probing Techniques 150 Prompting 151 Handling Incorrect Responses 151 Concept Review Questions 153 Encouraging Nonvolunteers 155 Developing Student Skills in Framing Questions 156 Teacher Idiosyncrasies: A Caution 161 Repeating the Question 161 Repeating all Student Responses 163 Answering the Question 164 Interrupting a Student's Long Response 165 Ignoring the Responding Student 166 Selecting the Same Student Respondents 166 The Status of Classroom Questioning 168 Questions and Cognitive Effects 171 Summary 176 References 180 CHAPTER 5 USING SCIENCE-RELATED DISCUSSIONS Organizing for Process Skills 184 Establishing Goals 184 Using Small Groups 187 Developing Small Groups 191 iii 7 Why Use scussions? 192 Techniques for the Classroom 196 Brainstorming 197 Phillips 66 199 Tutorial 200 Task Group 203 Introducing the Concept of Evaluation 204 In General 209 Cooperative Learning 210 Structuring for Cooperative Learning 211 Adapting for Cooperative Learning 212 Co4clusion 213 References 214 CHAPTER 6 USING THE REAL STUFF OF SCIENCE: INQUIRY Understanding the Concept of Inquiry 215 The "Professional Bag of Skills" 221 Inductive Inquiry 222 Guided Inductive Inquiry 224 Inferences 227 The Time Involved 228 Analysis of Guided Inductive Inquiry 231 Models of Guided Inductive Inq"&ry 234 Model 7- An Inductive Approach to the Compound Light Microscope 236 Exploring the Compound Light Microscope 237 Objectives 237 Use 238 Part 1 238 Sample Results 239 Part 2 240 iv Part 3 240 Model 2 - Color Wheeling and Dealing 241 Objectives 242 Procedures 243 Questioning and Guided Inductive Inquiry 247 Unguided Inductive Inquiry 252 Some Unguided Inductive Inquiry Techniques 256 About the Inductive Method 261 Problem - Solving 263 Understanding the Implications 264 The Teacher's Role 268 Examples of Real Problem-Solving 269 Some Steps in Solving Problems 272 Discovery Learning 275 Examples of Discovery Learning 278 The Black Widow Spider 278 Mystery Island 279 Assumptions About Inquiry 280 References 285 CHAPTER 7 CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Managing Materials and Children for Inquiry 293 Using the Class Members as Helpers 293 Preparing for a Science Lesson 299 Other Coping Skills 304 Incorporating Science Learning Centers 308 Getting Started 308 Objectives 309 Designing a Science Learning Center 310 Teachable Moments 311 Unteachable Moments 311 Constructing a Science Learning Center 312 Managing Learning Centers 315 9 Safety as a Management Concern 318 Materials Management 318 Chemicals 319 Life Science Consideration 320 Conclusion 321 References 322 CHAPTER 8 SIMULATIONS AND GAMES IN SCIENCE TEACHING Brief Background about Simulation 324 Purposes of Simulations 326 Types of Simulations 329 Complexity of Activity 332 Selected Techniques 336 Role-Play 336 Simulations 337 Conducting Games or Simulations 343 The Teacher 343 The Class 343 Designing Your Own Games 345 Other Considerations 346 Some Research Findings on Simulations 347 Locating Sources About Simulations 351 References 354 CHAPTER 9 SCIENCE SAFETY* The Legal System in Perspective 358 Tort Law 359 Foreseeability 359 Reasonable and Prudent Judgment 360 Sovereign Immunity 362 Save Harmless Provision 362 vl 0 Liability Insurance 364 Statute of Limitations 366 Negligence 368 1. Did You Owe a Duty to the Injure Person? 369 2. Did You Fail to Exercise Your Duty of Care? 370 3. Way Another Person (Plaintiff) Injured? 372 4. Was the Failure to Exercise the Duty of Care the Cause of Injury to Another? 372 Contributory versus Comparative Negligence 373 Contributory Negligence 373 Comparative Negligence 374 Duties of the Teacher 375 Proper Instruction 375 Duty of Adequate Supervision 380 Duty of Equipment Maintenance 381 Avoiding Negligence Suits 385 Eye Protective Devices or Goggle Law 387 Case Studies 391 Teacher Found Liable 394 Teacher Not Liable 396 References 399 CHAPTER 10 EVALUATING STUDENTS AND ELEMENTARY SCIENCE PROGRAMS Measuring Student Performance 401 Formative and Summative Evaluation 401 Formative Evaluation 402 Summative Evaluation 405 Achievement Tests 406 Criterion-referenced Tests 407 Mastery Tests 409 Cognitive Domain 410 Knowledge 410 Understanding 411 Application of Knowledge 411 Application of Understanding 411 Evaluating Process Skills 412 Evaluation of Pupil Progress in Science 415 Pupil Evaluation Record for Elementary Science Program 416 Specific Science Testing Mechanisms 418 Measuring Program Efficacy 420 Evaluating Science Programs 420 Program Goals
Load more

Recommended publications
  • L5 News, April 1976
    In an effort to appease the budget (space stations housing up to two L-5 NEWS watchdogs, both within Congress and hundred people) and, possibly, to space OMB, however, the Committee kept the colonies. A Newsletter from the L-5 Society overall NASA budget within the $3.69 Several Soviet scientists have stated Number 8 * April * 1976 billion figure by dropping some other that many of the experiments being programs that OMB had allowed. carried out within the Salyut space MSFC SYMPOSIUM ON Most significant is a cut of $8 million station program are aimed at developing SPACE INDUSTRIALIZATION from Development Test and Mission new techniques for large permanent Operation (DTMO). These funds are part orbital bases. A two-day symposium on “Space of the Shuttle R&D budget. The Shuttle In an interview with the Soviet news- Industrialization” will be held at the is essential for the construction of the paper, Izvestia, August 1975, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center, 200-person orbiting facility, planned to Academician V. Glushko stated that Alabama, May 26-27. be completed in 1983-85 (given “There can be no doubt that in the future To be sponsored jointly by the appropriate funding), at which solar the crews of orbital stations will be Alabama Section of the American power satellite construction techniques international and space exploration will Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will be developed. A strong case could be become a matter involving that whole (AIAA) and the Marshall Center, the 1 made that funding power satellite planet.“ symposium will cover four primary research by diverting Shuttle funds is Another statement by Academician topics: Space Habitation, Space counterproductive.
    [Show full text]
  • Nobel Prize for Physics 1970
    Nobel Prize for Physics 1970 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize jointly to two European physicists: to H. Alfvén for his establishment of the fundamental principles of magnetohydrodynamics which decisively influenced the development of plasma physics, and to L. Néel for his research and funda­ mental discoveries regarding antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism, which have important applications in the physics of solids. An assessment of these men and their work is given below. the predicted magnetic decomposition that there could exist, below the Curie of the solid into two sublattices. point, a compensation temperature at In 1936 Néel also showed theore­ which the magnetizations on the two tically that antiferromagnetism must sublattices are equal in magnitude be characterized by the existence of but opposite in sign, so that the net a critical external magnetic field. macroscopic moment becomes zero. Passing through this critical value the The moment of such a permanent magnetic susceptibility exhibits a magnet would change its sign at that discontinuity. Sixteen years later this temperature. A few years later, E.W. curious phenomenon was detected Gorter in Eindhoven found that a experimentally by C.J. Gorter and N.J. mixed ferrite of lithium and chromium Poulis in CUCI2.2 H2O. has this property. In 1948, Néel succeeded in inter­ The theory of ferrimagnetism en­ preting for the first time the magnetic abled Néel and Bertaut to elucidate properties of spinel structures of the the properties of pyrrhotine, Fe7S8, a Louis Néel ferrites, which had remained a mys­ mysterious substance on which Weiss Louis Néel received the award in tery to physicists for fifty years.
    [Show full text]
  • Science and the Evolution of Public Policy
    SCIENCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC POLICY JAMES A. SHANNON Editm P u a L I s HE D BY ?lie RocKefelIcllcr Uniwmsi&Press NEW YORK CITY 1973 SCIENCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC POLICY SCIENCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC POLICY JAMES A. SHANNON Editm P u a L I s HE D BY ?lie RocKefelIcllcr Uniwmsi&Press NEW YORK CITY 1973 COPYRIGHT© 197 3 BY THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY PRESS L I B R A R Y 0 F C 0 N G R E S S C A T A L 0 G U E C A R D N 0. 7 3 · 7 6 3 9 8 S T A N D A R D B 0 0 K N 0. 8 7 4 7 0 - 0 1 7 · 5 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SEC 0 N D PRINTING 1975 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION JAMES A. SHANNON vii THE PURPOSE AND UTILITY OF SCIENCE I. Science and Social Purpose CARYL P. HASKINS 1 II. The Utility of Science WILLIAM D. McELROY 19 DEVELOPMENT AND GOALS III. Organization and the Growth of Scientific Knowledge HAROLD HIMSWORTH 31 IV. Problems of Science, Goals and Priorities RoBERTS. MoRISON 47 THE UNIVERSITY V. Science, Technology, and The University WALTER A. RosENBLITH 67 VI. Support of Research and Graduate Education in the United States IvAN L. BENNETT, JR. 87 THE FEDERAL SUPPORT OF SCIENCE VII. The Physical Sciences: Bellwether of Science Policy HARVEY BROOKS I 05 VIII. Social Change and Social Science HENRY w. RIECKEN 135 IX. Biomedical Sciences JosEPHS. MuRTAUGH 157 X.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Exemplary Physics Teachers' Instructional Practices In
    Exploring exemplary physics teachers’ instructional practices in supporting learner access to school physics content Student Name: Rorisang Agnes Rammiki Student Number: 576390 Supervisor: Prof. Samuel Ouma Oyoo Thesis submitted to the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2015 i Abstract This study explored exemplary physics teachers’ instructional practices which place learners at the centre of activities in terms of their abilities and competencies. It was carried out at two senior secondary schools in Botswana at a period when enrolment of learners had been increased. The increase in learner enrolment brought in new groups of learners whose performance in science subject was generally low as evidenced by national examination results. The low national examination results indicated a need for making school science content more accessible for these learners which is a direct responsibility of teachers (Mullis, Martin, & Foy, 2005; Shulman, 1987). Teachers’ instructional practices had been characterised by excessive use of chalkboard and teacher-talk which is considered less effective in making school science content accessible for learners of wide ability range (Botswana, 1993; Prophet, 1990b). Science education research on instructional practices put emphasis on active participation of learners as a way of improving learner access to school science content (Tiberghein, 2000). Learner participation in instructional practices draws largely from Vygotsky’s social constructivist perspective (Vygotsky, 2012) which assumes that knowledge must first appear at the social level between people before it can be constructed at an individual level (Minick, 2005). Ideas presented at a social level must be in a form that can be understood by learners in order to construct them as their own (Driver & Oldham, 1986).
    [Show full text]
  • Response to the Task Force on School Governance
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 349 686 EA 024 298 AUTHOR Denoyer, Richard A. TITLE Response to the Task Force on School Governance. PUB DATE 26 Jul 92 NOTE 8p.; Presentation at a Meeting of the National Conference of State Legislat.ires (Cincinnati, OH, July 26, 1992). PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Statistical Data (110) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Achievement; *Boards of Education; Child Welfare; Dropout Rate; Educational Attainment; Elementary Secondary Education; Futures (of Society); Governance; *School Demography; *Scores; *Social Problems; *State School District Relationship IDENTIFIERS National Assessment of Educational Progress; *National Conference on School Governance ABSTRACT Although the Task Force on School Governance report claims that restructuring of school boards is essential to save the nation's failing schools, the real failure is society itself. Societal problems such as the nation's $4 trillion debt, air and water pollution, crime, drug abuse, and special interest lobbies abound, and legislators' unwillingness to face these problems has negatively affected American adults, children, families, and society. Demographic statistics pertaining to divorce, single and working mothers, teenage suicide, early parenthood, and poverty show a drastic change in family structure caused by worsening social conditions. However, a comparison of past and present standardized test scores, dropout and high school graduation rates, college completion, and other indicators shows improvements in student performance and educational attainment. Societal problems should be targeted, not school governance, which should remain the responsibility of locally elected school board members. In turn, boards should adopt policy, hire and fire the superintendent, and work with administrators to develop strategic plans for achieving educational goals.
    [Show full text]
  • Alfven-Lecture.Pdf
    H ANNES A L F V É N Plasma physics, space research and the origin of the solar system Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1970 1. Science and instruments The center of gravity of the physical sciences is always moving. Every new discovery displaces the interest and the emphasis. Equally important is that new technological developments open new fields for scientific investigation. To a considerable extent the way science takes depends on the construction of new instruments as is evident from the history of science. For example after the development of classical mechanics and electromagnetism during the 19th century, a new era was started by the construction of highly developed spec- trographs in the beginning of this century. For its time those were very com- plicated and expensive instruments. They made possible the exploration of the outer regions of the atom. Similarly, in the thirties the cyclotron - for its time a very complicated and expensive instrument - was of major importance in the exploration of the nucleus. Finally, the last decade has witnessed the construction of still more complicated and expensive instruments, the space vehicles, which are launched by a highly developed rocket technology and instrumented with the most sophisticated electronic devices. We may then ask the question: What new fields of research - if any - do these open for scien- tific investigation ? Is it true, also in this case, that the center of gravity of physics moves with the big instruments? 2. Scientific aims of space research The first decade of space research mainly concentrated on the exploration of space near the Earth: the magnetosphere and interplanetary space.
    [Show full text]
  • Axelrod, Julius
    Axelrod, Julius Julius "Julie" Axelrod (1912–2004) Biography Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., was best known for his work on brain chemistry in the early 1960s that led to modern-day treatments for depression and anxiety disorders, for which he shared one-third of the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Prior to this, he developed the use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain management, with Bernard Brodie at Goldwater Memorial Hospital. His storied career at the NIH began in 1949 when he arrived at what was then known as the National Heart Institute (now National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). He did not pursue and earn his Ph.D. for many years after this, when he was in his 40s. Aside from the Nobel, Dr. Axelrod's research was recognized by the 1967 Canada Gairdner Award and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971 and the National Academy of Medicine in 1980. Julius Axelrod National Institutes of Health Resources Dr. Axelrod's Own Reflections Interview with Marshall Nirenberg and Bernhard Witkop for National Institute of Health Oral History Project, 2003 (PDF, 89 kB) More reflections on a career in science in Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2003 First Interview with Martin Flavin for NIH Oral History Project, 1996 (PDF, 61 kB) Second Interview with Martin Flavin for NIH Oral History Project, 1996 (PDF, 82 kB) Reflections on research at NIH in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 1986 (PDF, 638 kB) Reflections on the research scientist’s career in Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 1988 Banquet speech at Nobel Prize ceremony, 1970 NIH Publications Brief biographical introduction to Axelrod papers at National Library of Medicine, 2006 Obituary in NIH Record, 2005 (PDF, 202 kB) Announcement of Nobel Prize Award in NIH Record, 1970 (PDF, 16 mB) Journal Publications Tribute obituary by Solomon H.
    [Show full text]
  • Rocks and Reactors: an Atomic Interpretation of Human Rights, 1941-1979
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Linda Marie Richards for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History of Science presented on May 1, 2014. Title: Rocks and Reactors: An Atomic Interpretation of Human Rights, 1941-1979. Abstract approved: ______________________________________________________ Jacob Darwin Hamblin The atomic age was enacted by many scientists as a way to realize health and human rights. Human rights were conceived in this context as rights to economic development, science education, and nuclear medicine. The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) acted hand in hand with UN agencies and educators to spread nuclear knowledge and technology as a tool to advance health and human rights for peace and prosperity. UN agencies such as UNESCO, IAEA, and WHO standardized AEC interpretations of radiation exposure. Academics served as the glue to promote nuclear and health physics, research reactors and uranium prospecting. Technical experts traveled the globe to build nuclear infrastructure and institute ideas of radiation exposure that originated from the AEC. Trust in the ability of scientific experts to provide radiation health safety was central to the expansion and acceptance of nuclear technology worldwide. Willard E. Libby of the US Atomic Energy Agency, while admitting uncertainty, believed that under a certain threshold, radiation would not be dangerous. The international field of health physics, dominated by the AEC trained scientists, interpreted radiation danger with one particular and lasting trope: artificial radiation below natural background radiation levels was safe and acceptable. The construction of background radiation as “safe” by American and international agencies was a speculative and exclusive process. Radioactive accidents were interpreted by agencies and nuclear scientists as experiments to improve technology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Julius Axelrod (1912-2004): a Testament to Commitment
    Review Article American Journal of Pharmacology Published: 15 Dec, 2019 The Story of Julius Axelrod (1912-2004): A Testament to Commitment Ronald PR* Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University at Buffalo, USA Abstract The key research of Julius Axelrod focused on the release, reuptake and storage of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and epinephrine. These discoveries provided a new model for understanding the metabolism and regulation of neurotransmitters. In elucidating how neurotransmitters transmit their specific messages, Axelrod not only revolutionized research in catecholamine metabolism, but ultimately fostered the development of therapies for mental illness and pain relief. In 1970 Julius Axelrod was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries related to the mechanisms involved in the storage, release, and inactivation of neurotransmitters. Introduction Early years and education By possessing the best attributes in the broad area of science, Julius Axelrod was a compelling figure in biomedical research (Figure 1). As a former laboratory technician who became a pioneer in neurobiological research, his determination stands out as an example of anyone who is committed to realizing his/her ambitions. Raised by parents who were Jewish immigrants from Poland, his father was a basket maker who sold his wares from a horse-drawn wagon on the streets of lower Manhattan [1,2]. Despite his modest background, young Julius became interested in science, particularly in medicine, at an early age. However, these early years were met with a number of impediments and frustrations. He enrolled in New York University (NYU) in 1929; but had to transfer to the tuition- free College of the City of New York after one year, when he could no longer pay his tuition.
    [Show full text]
  • Julius Axelrod (1912–2004) Tissues Enriched in Sympathetic-Nerve Endings
    news and views Obituary [3H]noradrenaline was injected into rats and cats, the radiolabel concentrated in Julius Axelrod (1912–2004) tissues enriched in sympathetic-nerve endings. But lesions of the sympathetic Julius Axelrod, known to friends and nerves abolished the accumulation. So colleagues affectionately as ‘Julie’,died on Axelrod postulated that noradrenaline, NIH 29 December 2004, following a career that the neurotransmitter used by sympathetic was highlighted by so many extraordinary nerves, is inactivated by a ‘re-uptake’ discoveries about how drugs act that his system that involves the transmitter being place among the twentieth century’s pumped back into the nerve ending that greatest biochemical pharmacologists is had released it. Adrenaline, released from secure. The research for which he shared the adrenal gland, is also taken up into the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine sympathetic nerves. in 1970 was only a small, and perhaps not Neurotransmitter inactivation had even the most important, part of his opus. previously been thought to be primarily Axelrod’s life story is an inspiration enzymatic, because the first known to those who care about science but lack transmitter, acetylcholine, is inactivated elaborate academic credentials. The son by an enzyme. But it soon became evident of a poor basket-maker in New York City, that re-uptake inactivation is the rule he graduated from the City College of rather than the exception for most New York and applied to numerous medical neurotransmitters. Axelrod also found schools but was rejected by all of them. For From pharmacologist major drugs that inhibit re-uptake, and his 11 years he worked as a technician in a New to neuroscientist discovery that antidepressants work in this York City health laboratory, where he was way spawned the modern generation of assigned the task of monitoring the vitamin molecular oxygen.
    [Show full text]
  • UCSD Nobel Laureate Hannes Alfvén Dies
    UCSD Nobel Laureate Hannes Alfvén dies April 4, 1995 Media Contact: Warren R. Froelich, (619) 534-8564 Hannes Alfvén, distinguished professor and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in physics, died Sunday night at his home in Sweden. He was 86. Alfvén is regarded as the father of the modern discipline of classical physics known as magnetohydrodynamics for which he won the Nobel Prize. The field has a wide range of applications in geophysics, planetary sciences, astrophysics and plasma physics. The implications for the field of plasma physics are particularly important, since plasma--the fourth state of matter along with solids, liquids and gases--is the most common state of matter in the Universe. Magnetohydrodynamics, the study of magnetized fluids, also is important in astrophysics and is essential for the study of cosmic explosions and the collapse of protostars--magnetic regions of gas from which stars are formed. Born May 30, 1908 in Norrkoping, Sweden, Alfvén was awarded his Ph.D. at the University of Uppsala. He was named professor of electronics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1940 and professor of plasma physics at the institute in 1964. Alfvén served as Senior Lecturer in UCSD's Department of Applied Physics and Information Science from 1967 to 1970, when he became professor-in-residence of the department. Alfvén spent six months of the year at UCSD and the balance of the year at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 1971, Alfvén was granted the highest honor of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the Lomonosov Gold Medal, for "outstanding achievement in plasma physics and astrophysics." Alfvén also was awarded the Franklin Gold Medal by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, one year after receiving the Nobel Prize.
    [Show full text]
  • Julius Axelrod 50
    EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Albert J. Aguayo Bernice Grafstein Theodore Melnechuk Dale Purves Gordon M. Shepherd Larry W. Swanson (Chairperson) The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography VOLUME 1 Edited by Larry R. Squire SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 1996 Washington, D.C. Society for Neuroscience 1121 14th Street, NW., Suite 1010 Washington, D.C. 20005 © 1996 by the Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-70950 ISBN 0-916110-51-6 Contents Denise Albe-Fessard 2 Julius Axelrod 50 Peter O. Bishop 80 Theodore H. Bullock 110 Irving T. Diamond 158 Robert Galambos 178 Viktor Hamburger 222 Sir Alan L. Hodgkin 252 David H. Hubel 294 Herbert H. Jasper 318 Sir Bernard Katz 348 Seymour S. Kety 382 Benjamin Libet 414 Louis Sokoloff 454 James M. Sprague 498 Curt von Euler 528 John Z. Young 554 Julius Axelrod BORN: New York, New York May 30, 1912 EDUCATION: College of the City of New York, B.S., 1933 New York University, M.A., 1941 George Washington University, Ph.D., 1955 APPOINTMENTS" Goldwater Memorial Hospital, Third New York University Research Division (1946) National Heart Institute (1949) National Institute of Mental Health; Chief, Section on Pharmacology (1955) National Institute of Mental Health Guest Researcher (1984) Scientist Emeritus of the National Institutes of Health (1996) HONORS AND AWARDS (SELECTED): Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1970) American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1971) National Academy of Sciences USA (1971) Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London (1979) Leibniz Medal, Academy of Sciences, East Germany (1984) Mahoney Award "Decade of the Brain" (1991) Ralph W.
    [Show full text]