- Kris Crawford
Knock Out Dog Fighting at AGU Conference
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – December 27, 2009 – The award-winning Knock Out Dog Fighting program was featured at an exhibit at the 2009 AGU Conference that was held in San Francisco, CA from December 14 -18, 2009.
The AGU is the American Geophysical Union, a worldwide (in spite of the name) scientific organization dedicated to the furtherance of the geophysical and space sciences. Every year the AGU holds its primary conference in San Francisco in December. Attendence this year was over 16,000. The Knock Out Dog Fighting program was featured in the Education and Public Outreach section.
The Knock Out Dog Fighting youth intervention program partners with schools, juvenile detention facilities, community centers, law enforcement agencies, and gang prevention task forces with the goal of stopping cruelty and abuse by providing alternative activities and interests for young people. Team members include professional athletes, dog trainers, break dancers, musicians, artists, and scientists who present information and involve students in intriguing alternative activities to get them to stop fighting dogs and help them succeed in life.
"Many of our young people turn to dog fighting because they find in it the respect, acceptance, power or success that's not available to them in their day-to-day life," said Crawford. "These are precisely the reasons cited for why young people join gangs, perhaps indicating why dog fighting has risen in popularity among urban gangs. Simply teaching young people how to train their dogs isn't enough to stop dog fighting, we must also address the underlying reasons they are fighting dogs -- financial, social and/or cultural."
What does geophysical and space sciences have to do with dog fighting?
In the unusual partnership with the Stanford Solar Center, the Knock Out Dog Fighting program offers a workshop that makes learning science fun to youth at Juvenile Detention Facilities and Alternative Schools. Science is part of our everyday lives, from the mechanics of basketball to choosing products we buy to understanding the almost-magical technology pervading modern life. The Knock Out Dog Fighting Science Fun workshop takes learning to a whole new exciting level by teaching valuable science connections while having a lot of fun in the process; i.e. experiments with rockets and with dry ice! This workshop empowers the participants, giving them a sense of how science is done by letting them BE the scientist.
The Science Fun workshop consists of multi-disciplinary, interactive exercises and activities based on the Sun and solar science. The program provides alternatives to inappropriate behavior so often seen in inner city environments by introducing students to hands-on, inquiry based science activities. Couple this training with the Knock Out Dog Fighting humane education and dog training classes and you have a recipe for success.
"Choosing to fight dogs is not a logical decision, but rather an emotional reaction," says Deborah Scherrer, Director of the Stanford Solar Center and longtime pit bull owner, rescuer and breed advocate. "By teaching these kids science, we are attempting to open their minds to a new process, a new way of thinking -- logical, informed, fact-based, with a linking of cause and effect. That is, we help them learn to make decisions based on discovery, analysis, and understanding. Coming from the chaotic environment many of these kids do, science may be their first introduction to problem-solving through reason. These are exactly the skills needed for them to move from inappropriate, emotion-driven behavior toward better, more productive choices."
For more information about the award-winning Knock Out Dog Fighting program and how you can join help Knock Out Dog Fighting, go to www.KnockOutDogFighting.org
Educators John Blair, Deborah Yager, Deborah Scherrer
The challenge is to engage students who have often performed poorly in school and shown little interest in formal education. On this particular day three separate stations were set up, each focusing on a hands-on science activity--one station with 2-liter bottle rockets (physics), one with dry ice (chemistry) and one dealing with the solar system and solar observation. The students were formed into three groups and spent about 20 minutes at each station.
Solar System and Solar Observation
Dry Ice Station -- Chemistry
Deborah Yager: Dry ice offers opportunities to explore phase changes while having good, clean fun. Students were first asked to name the four states of matter and to describe changes between solids, liquids and gases. They were taught the term "sublimation" as the change from a solid directly to a gas.
After forming groups of 2-3 students, they were given two styrofoam cups, each with a small piece of dry ice. They were asked to add a small amount of liquid dish soap to each cup and informed that hot water would be added to one cup and cold water to the other cup. Each group was asked to predict which cup would display the fastest sublimation. Students really enjoyed watching the bubble towers that formed (this is called Marge's Experiment for good reason -they resemble Marge Simpson's hair) that can pop and release "smoke" and their hypotheses were readily tested.
Students were then allowed to play with pieces of dry ice, empty water bottles (no lids! very important to prevent building of dry ice "bombs"), soap and/or rubber balloons that fit over the mouths of the water bottles and can inflate to the point of failure. They particularly enjoyed finding the perfect combination of dry ice "dust" (large surface area) and hot water to cause a relatively fast balloon explosion.
Dry Ice Station -- Chemistry
Plastic Bottle Rockets -- Physics
John Blair: I managed the bottle rocket station. I showed them how to set up, pump, and fire the first rocket, then told them they had to do it themselves from then on. Each 10-student group quickly took over the task, themselves forming into subgroups to add water to the rocket, use an automobile tire pump to build pressure, fire the rocket, and chase it down. They worked well together and often traded-off on tasks. They asked what would happen if they used more/less/no water, and I told them to find out for themselves by trying it out, which they did. One rocket did manage to clear the facility's tall fence, prompting a loud cheer for its success in escaping. What I saw with each of the three groups were a bunch of kids having fun...and learning.
Plastic Bottle Rockets -- Physics
The Stanford Solar Center is located at Stanford University. It is dedicated to sharing the joy and excitement of solar science exploration. Acting as the education and public outreach arm of the Solar Observatories Group, and funded by NASA, the Solar Center provides resources, activities, and projects relating to the Sun for teachers, students, and the public.
