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Dr. Keller received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of New Mexico in 1992.
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Preserving the Art of Science
As a science book writer and former scientist, I keep up with the changing trends in science and science education. One such trend is the movement towards “digital experiments.” Students can now do virtual dissections on frogs and perform virtual chemistry experiments. I understand the excitement over exploiting the digital age for classroom education. Instead of having to invest in costly equipment, all a school, classroom, or homeschool needs is a computer and an account with the virtual lab provider.
Read the rest of this entryJust the facts please
About twelve years ago I sat down to write a science curriculum. I was homeschooling my children and wanted to teach them science. At that time I was working on a post-doctoral project in molecular biology and fell in love with molecular machines. Molecular machines were a “new” concept in biology, and having received my Ph.D. in biophysics a few years earlier, the idea captivated me. I was mesmerized by the work of Michael O’Donnell and the transcription machinery his lab was just beginning to discover 1.
Read the rest of this entryLevel I Astronomy and the Age of the Earth
The new Level I Astronomy Student Textbook is finished and ready to hit the shelves! The softcover edition will be available in a few days, and the hardcover edition will arrive in a few weeks. As of today, we at Gravitas Publications Inc. are taking pre-orders. 
The question I’m often asked is how the age of the Earth will be addressed in this book. What people are really asking is whether the new Level I Astronomy Textbook takes an old Earth or a young Earth point of view–an important question I’d like to take the time to answer.
Read the rest of this entryHaving rhubarb with dinner?
Getting together with family for the holidays? Do Aunt Sue and Uncle George disagree with your belief in Creation? Or maybe your brother-in-law, the pastor, insists on sharing the gospel again, while telling you evolution is all washed up. If your family is anything like mine, when you sit down for dinner, rhubarb pie isn’t the only rhubarb on the table. There’s nothing quite like a family meal to get a good fight going, especially when worldviews clash.
Read the rest of this entryLouisiana, Science Textbooks, and Shame
In Louisiana this week a state advisory panel voted to approve biology and environmental science textbooks that were contested by certain groups of dissenters. Of course, this is a familiar rhubarb with a predictable narrative. Textbooks are written and submitted for approval to certain textbook approving boards. Word gets out that textbooks are being approved and certain groups oppose their approval. Then groups that oppose the opposing groups pop up to oppose the opposition. This cycle starts to oscillate, back and forth, until one side or the other claims victory. But it’s only a temporary victory. Pretty soon there will be a new set of books (or standards, or legislation, or opposing groups) to oppose and the whole narrative repeats.
Read the rest of this entryConnecting the Dots with Real Science-4-Kids
School is about to start, and parents are deciding which books to use as they write up their lesson plans for the year. As a result, we get lots of questions about Real Science-4-Kids. Many people ask about the sequence RS4K books follow or about the materials needed to teach the curriculum.We also get specific questions about how RS4K deals with evolution and creation. “Is RS4K a Creationist curriculum?” many will ask. “Does RS4K teach evolution?” or “Does RS4K say ‘God created’?” people inquire.
Read the rest of this entryEveryday Science: What’s for dinner?
Nutrition is a big topic these days, and as our choices increase, it gets more and more difficult to decide what’s for dinner.When I was growing up, we didn’t have as many processed, packaged, organic, or genetically modified foods as we have today. I had my share of “junk” food. I remember going to McDonald’s on the weekends with my mother or drinking canned Coke after school and fighting with my brother over the bag of Bugles. But when it came to dinner, most of my meals were home cooked from fresh meat and vegetables. Processed food was not a huge staple in our family, and I don’t recall ever worrying about the quality of the fresh foods my parents bought.
Read the rest of this entryWhat is science? Part 5
In the previous “What is science?” post I discussed the idea of different worldviews, or maps, when it comes to interpreting scientific data. That is, scientists can often agree about data, but because of their different maps they can get into huge conflicts over what the data mean. In this post I’d like to discuss what can be done about this conflict. Do we pick one map over another? Do we suppress maps we don’t like? Do we only support the map we find favorable? Or is there another solution?
Read the rest of this entryReal science in action: Open Inquiry
Last week I discussed one of our two first place Pre-Level I 2010 Virtual Science Fair winners. In that post I explored the concept of “learning pegs” and how a six-year old user of Real Science-4-Kids has already begun to build a solid science foundation. In this post, I’d like to discuss our other first place 2010 Virtual Science Fair winner in the Pre-Level I category. This project demonstrates another important aspect of real science in action: open inquiry.
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