jokaydia Roadtrips: Lets Get Sciencey!

Published: 22 February, 2009Posted in: events, jokaydia, roadtripsTags:

We’ll be meeting at Edusquare @ jokaydia (SLurl) in just over 2 hrs for our regularly scheduled roadtrip! I hope you can join us!

The aim of each roadtrip is to give participants a taste of an educational genre or technology… and this week it’s all about Science!

Second Life offers a range of opportunities to explore science including simulations, virtual experiments, scientific symposiums, exhibits and displays. There are a huge number of very successful projects in SL which illustrate all of these strategies, and the spaces I’ve chosen for tonights event is but a small snapshot!

Event Details:

We’ll be starting the tour at Edusquare on jokaydia and have four locations planned for the visit as detailed below.

Tour Plan

I’ve included entries from the SLeducation Wiki – Educational Uses resource below which detail the fantastic locations we’ll be visiting. SLurls, links and further info are included. Participants will be provided with a Tour notecard at the beginning of the event.

Location 1: Scilands Archipeligo

Scilands (SLurl) was founded in April 2007 by an international group of scientists and educators from universities, research laboratories, museums and scientific agencies and is dedicated to exploring science and technology in virtual worlds. It’s members include the National Physical Laboratory (UK), NASA Ames Research Center, San Francisco’s Exploratorium hands-on science and technology museum, Elon University, the University of Denver, NOAA, the Imperial College of London and the International Spaceflight Museum.

The aim of Scilands is to bring together scientists and educators to explore how Second Life can be used for education (formal and informal), public outreach, knowledge transfer, simulation, research, conferencing, meetings, and giving presentations.

There are many resources and spaces to explore at Scilands including:

For more information visit the Scilands website, read the Scilands blog, view a map of the Scilands continent, check out the Scilands Classroom website or watch walk-thru video of Scilands on Youtube.

Location 2: Genome Island

Originally developed by Professor Mary Anne Clark aka Max Chatnoir, a Professor at Texas Wesleyan University, Genome Island (SLurl) is focussed on using Second Life to teach genetics. Using the building and scripting tools in Second Life, she has created laboratories where students can take part in virtual experiments that produce analyzable data. The Island is also designed as a place where students and other residents can meet and talk with professional geneticists. The Island includes a range of interesting areas, including:

  • the Abbey of Saint Thomas in Mendel’s Garden (SLurl) which is focussed on the laws of inheritance, which were discovered by Johann Gregor Mendel in the mid-nineteenth century
  • the Tower (SLurl), which includes a Genes are DNA (Hershey-Chase) Experiment, DNA Models, a virtual DNA Sequencer, a model of the human chromosome and also includes quizes, notecards and links to additional information
  • the Terrace (SLurl) – which houses a giant model of a Eukaryatoic Cell which residents can enter and interact with
  • the Gene Pool (SLurl) which is situated by a lovely virtual pond and includes a series of displays which illustrate Protein Synthesis
  • the Cattery (SLurl), exploring genetic inheritance.

To find out more about Genome Island visit the Genome Island webpage, read an article on the Islands from Educause or watch a video about The Tower at Genome Islands on Youtube.

Location 3: Timeline of Earth

The Timeline of Earth (SLurl) has been created by students in the ASTR 202 “Exploring Life in the Universe” non-major astronomy class at the University of Arizona over 2 semesters. During the course, students in the class create, research, build, and script exhibits for ’spotlight times’ during the Earth’s 4.6 billion year history.

Visitors are invited to walk the timeline in a spiral pattern and click posters and models for information about the Earth and life of Earth during that time period. The display includes ‘immersive boxes’ where you can listen to the Moon landing or watch a dinosaur bite the dust!

The project is set to continue in 2009, with further details and exhibits planned.

For more information read an article about the Timeline on the NMC Campus blog , view images of the Timeline on Flickr, view screenshots from the project, read Astronomy in Second Life: A User’s Perspective (PDF) which includes extensive information about the project or watch a video fly-thru of the timeline on Youtube.

Location 4: Exploratorium Island, Sploland and the Splo Museum

The Exploratorium – the museum of science, art and human perception in San Francisco created the very first museum in Second Life in April 2006. Since they they have developed interactive science museums at three locations Second Life. Each allows residents to explore art and science whilst having fun. You can visit ‘The Splo’ at their original location – Splo Museum at Midnight City (SLurl) and visit them at Exploratorium (SLurl) or Sploland (SLurl) Islands which are located within the Scilands continent.

The Exploratorium’s spaces in Second Life house more than 100 exhbits including:

  • optical illusions and perception exhibits,
  • a 3D map of the nearest stars
  • the Pie Ride
  • the Distorted Room
  • the Orbital Experience where visitors ride around the orbit of the planet of their choice
  • Splo Box – science and humor and art
  • the Steampunk Museum which contains puzzles and curiosities
  • Peeps Pond
  • PI Alley, which was created for the Exploratorium’s annual PI day celebrations
  • Moucault’s Pendulum
  • a Brownian Motion simulation, where visitors can ride inside the polen spores in Browns original observations
  • PI Henge, a tribute to the world of imaginary numbers

Th Exploratorium has also hosted a wide range of events in Second Life including the 20th Anniversary of PI Day Celebrations, the Transit of Mercury – broadcast live from Kitt Peak National Observatory to Second Life and theTotal Eclipse broadcast live from Turkey to Second Life.

For more information watch a video tour of Sploland, read the paper: Creating Museum Content and Community in Second Life or find out more on the Exploratorium’s Virtual Worlds website.

Additional Spaces to Explore

Of course there are many, many other Science related spaces to visit inworld. For those interested in exploring further, you will find additional about each of the following below on the SLeducation wiki:

Also, I’d love to hear about the other sciencey spaces you think should be on the list – please add them in the comments!

Seeya at the Roadtrip!!

About the Author

Jo Kay aka jokay Wollongong is a freelance digital designer and facilitator working in virtual worlds and educational technology. She helps educators and organisations to use new and innovative technologies for learning. Jo is the owner and facilitator of the Islands of jokaydia Project – a space for a vibrant community of educators to explore the use of virtual worlds in education.