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November
2005
Science
Every Day
Facts and challenges for the science explorer
MONDAY
SUNDAY
TUESDAY
1
7
6
The black-footed ➤
ferret, previously
believed extinct,
was spotted in
Wyoming in 1981.
13
14
14
Birthday of
chemist Leo
Hendrik
Baekeland
(1863–1944).
20
How else can
information be
entered into
computers?
27
Birthday of pilot
Dora Dougherty
Strother (1921).
21
What would you
invent to make
computers easier
to use?
28
Dougherty held
world records
in flight and also
researched ways to
make cockpits and
instruments better
for pilots.
2
The discovery of
methane-producing
organisms known
as methanogens
was reported in
1977.
For more resources, click on the
calendar at www.nsta.org/
elementaryschool#journal.
8
9
The black-footed
ferret is found in
prairie habitats,
along with prairie
dogs.
The ferrets’ predators
include owls, eagles,
hawks, coyotes,
badgers, foxes, and
bobcats.
15
Baekeland was a
pioneer of plastics
and inventor of
Bakelite, a plastic
that doesn’t melt.
22
The National
Science Foundation
is a U.S. government
agency that
promotes science
and funds research.
29
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
16
Birthday of
chemist James W.
Mitchell (1943).
23
Birthday of Rita R.
Colwell (1934), the
first woman to lead
the NSF.
3
Methanogens are
found in oxygenfree environments,
such as in sewage.
10
Read about other
prairie plants
and animals
in “Ecosystem
Journalism” on
page 42.
17
FRIDAY
4
5
These organisms
are so different
from other bacteria
they were classified
as a separate group,
Archaea.
The first patent for a
gasoline-powered car
was issued on this
day in 1895.
11
12
Name another ➤
species that
was thought to
be extinct but
rediscovered.
18
Mitchell created
techniques for
measuring traces
of substances,
helpful in detecting
environmental
contaminants.
24
In the 1960s,
Colwell created a
computer program
to track species of
bacteria.
SATURDAY
19
A patent was issued for
the computer mouse
on this day
in 1970.
25
26
Colwell also made
breakthroughs in
the study of the
disease-causing
bacteria cholera. ➤
30
Birthday of ➤
Nathanael Pringsheim
(1823–1894),
founder of algology
(the study of algae).
November/December 2005 75