“If you see me watching baseball clips on YouTube, know that I’m writing a blog post about the new infrared cameras they’ve been using in the World Series,” I announced to my coworkers this morning.

“Sure you are,” said Paul, our Science Content Editor. “And I’m playing Solitaire to study probability.” I laughed.

As I’ve watched the Rangers in the World Series this past week, I have wondered a couple of times about the black and white video that occasionally appears on the screen. What is going on here? What is the purpose of this? When can we get back to the game? I have always accompanied my friends to restaurants where the crowd was too loud for me to hear what the announcers were saying about this new technology, so I didn’t realize what this type of video replay meant for fans of baseball (and probably other sports, too).

For those of you who’ve been following the 2011 World Series, do you remember the end of Game 1 when Adrian Beltre hit the ball that bounced its way to third base but, according to Beltre, not before it hit him in the foot (which would have made it a foul ball)? The ball was fielded by Cardinals third baseman Daniel Descalso, thrown to first base, and determined a fair play by the ump. One more out for the Rangers. One step closer to Game 1 victory for the Cardinals.

Thanks to the new high-speed infrared (IR) camera system, we can all agree with uncontested certainty that the ball was indeed foul. Using IR Technology to Illuminate Some Interesting Physics gives an explanation of how the “heat map” of the IR camera works to show us this. This Scientific American blog post includes a video of the play as we saw it live during Game 1.

…So maybe I am enjoying a little time during work to watch a couple of the most sensational clips from this World Series. As I like to say, though, everything can be tied to science—and STEM education—somehow. As you’re watching tonight’s game, pay close attention to how/if this infrared video is used. I know that I will be keeping an eye out for it!

It’s Wednesday again—and time for the second in a series of three video lessons that LTF is releasing as part of our move toward blended learning for teachers. In "Constantly Changing Velocity," students will find the speed at particular times of a walker traveling at a constantly increasing speed.

Says LTF Physics Coordinator Ron Esman of the video, “Students will construct their own learning…actually develop equations for kinematics, which is one of the most important beginning concepts of physics.”

Now that fall is in full swing, take advantage of the cooler weather—and make this activity even that much more fun—by taking your students to the football field to gather data.

If you use this lesson in your classroom, have one of your students film it and post it on our Facebook page! We'd love to see how this activity works for you.

I’m a list person. For those of you who aren’t list people, you may not understand the fulfillment that list people get from making lists—and then checkmarking the tasks or items one by one as they get done. When my boss Jared Brueckner, VP of Business Development, emailed me Katie Ash’s EdWeek article Common Core Accelerates Interest in Online PD, I quickly organized some of the main points into…you guessed it…a list.

Here are a few direct quotes that I compiled:

1. Inadequate funding and a lack of state guidance on the new standards were cited as two top challenges in [Common Core State Standards] implementation, the survey found.

2. PD should not be confined to a one-time conference or class, said Mr. Kanold, but rather become an ongoing process for teachers.

3. Online professional development, in particular, may help teachers embed those PD opportunities into their daily schedules more naturally because it is so easily accessed.

4. “Even as we’re thinking nationally, we need to be aware locally” of teachers’ specific backgrounds and instructional methods.

5. Another issue for online PD around the common core is identifying high-quality resources, said Ms. Bornemann, from Washington state.

That’s the list. Here is the checkmark part (how LTF meets each item on the list):

1. LTF is cost effective. As a nonprofit organization, we rely heavily on grant funding and are able to offer our training packages and products at lower prices than other teacher training companies around the country.

2. Although we offer conferences and condensed workshops, we are, in essence, a 3+ year training program. Embracing and implementing the LTF philosophy isn’t a short process, but the time investment pays off with great results for your districts.

3. We are moving toward blended learning. As our CEO Dave Saba puts it, “Training can now move from just four days in the summer to a year-round experience that will truly change teaching practice.”

4. We understand that teachers and districts vary on a host of different elements, from the resources that they have at their disposal to offer their students, to the number of students in their classrooms. When I attended LTF Training, I saw firsthand how trainers attempt to accommodate lessons to meet the various needs of educators—without, of course, losing the rigor that makes us who we are.

5. The advantage of my sitting on the “content side” of the LTF office is that I get to overhear all of the great high-level conversations that our math, science, and English teams are having about Common Core. As we complete the alignment of our lessons with the Common Core State Standards, I encourage you to reach out to Jared Brueckner at jared@ltftraining.org for more information about how our resources meet the high standards that you are looking for in a professional development program.

Now I’ve got my list fix for the day!

Earlier this month I blogged about how I gravitated toward the social sciences in high school and college. I’m a humanitarian at heart, hence my choosing to study nonprofit management in a University of Georgia graduate program. Passions of mine include social media, marketing, writing, reading, and helping others, to name a few. Even if I had devoted more of my college education to biology, chemistry, science, engineering, and math classes—and genuinely enjoyed them—I’m not sure I would reach self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, anyone?) in the type of career that often comes to mind when we think of STEM education and the STEM fields.

This is where I think we might be getting it wrong. At least I have been.

STEM doesn’t have to mean working in a lab. It doesn’t have to mean building the next mobile device. It doesn’t have to mean crunching numbers or surveying a construction site or performing surgery. In Content Collection: Careers at Nonprofits and NGOs, Elisabeth Pain reminds us not only that scientists are important members of the nonprofit community in the traditional sense (e.g., doctors treating the poor or math or science Ph.D.s conducting research), but also that scientists can work in the social sciences as human rights and child poverty researchers, international development program managers, political activists, ethicists, and, my favorite, internal communications and public relations specialists.

Math and science teachers, if you have students who are more motivated in their English, government, and business classes than they are in your classes, chances are they aren’t seeing the big picture because nobody has shared it with them. Don’t write them off. Rather, cultivate their interests and pass this blog post or associated articles along to them. Show them how your rigorous science and math classes will open doors for them in their future marketing, business, nonprofit, psychology, history, and art careers.

STEM education is important for all students.

"Black people are 12 percent of the U.S. population and 11 percent of all students beyond high school. In 2009, they received just 7 percent of all STEM bachelor's degrees, 4 percent of master's degrees, and 2 percent of PhDs, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

From community college through PhD level, the percentage of STEM degrees received by blacks in 2009 was 7.5 percent, down from 8.1 percent in 2001.

The numbers are striking in certain fields. In 2009, African-Americans received 1 percent of degrees in science technologies, and 4 percent of degrees in math and statistics. Out of 5,048 PhDs awarded in the physical sciences, such as chemistry and physics, 89 went to African-Americans – less than 2 percent.

Several factors are cited by scientists, educators and students. One is a self-defeating perception that STEM is too hard. Also mentioned are a lack of role models and mentors, pressure to earn money quickly, and discouraging academic environments."

LTF training is designed to eliminate that self-defeating perception that a student cannot handle STEM. And make no mistake, it is not just the students perception, it is often a teachers perception.  Changing that perception by providing challenging lessons that students love demonstrates that students can handle more rigorous STEM classes.

It is time to end the trend!