Rosalind Franklin vs. Watson & Crick - Science History Rap Battle

[@Geekgamergirl]

"Not a female scientist. I'm a scientist." Yes! Thank you!

[@beejfqjuice]

My teacher was playing this over and over. I was literally crying laughing I'm sorry

[@jauume]

My biology teacher played this in class lmaoo

[@emilystephens8353]

Desi N same

[@TY-dk2kw]

mine too

[@madamba12]

I'm a grade 12 Biology teacher and a big hip-hop fan. This is so well done scientifically, historically and musically, that I don't think people will appreciate it. Tremendous!

[@sciencewithtom]

+Christian Madamba Thanks man!

[@dtrabona]

+Christian Madamba Same!

[@timsmith6675]

Well done!

[@MissBaubles]

This is so fabulous - I am a sophomore at a liberal arts university, and it was brought to my attention some people from my dorm still don't know who she is, and this lovely video is a perfect way to give them a history lesson! Thank you!

[@sciencewithtom]

+Hanna Roseen Thanks for helping to spread the word!

[@midnightsshadow3]

Hanna roseen me too!!!

[@relaxedwithnature6510]

I am a molecular biologist working on an essay about injustice in science and specifically on Rosalind 's work . I believe this is by far the best way to teach children .Congratulations to all the participants and to you Tom ! You are an excellent example of an educator!! WELL DONE !!!

[@sciencewithtom]

Thanks!

[@GodlessScummer]

Brilliant video. I should just say that one of my friends is the niece of Rosalind Franklin and I sent this video to her. She really appreciated this.

[@sciencewithtom]

So so cool!

[@video43210]

Nice work, Tom. Favorite line: "I'm a scientist."

[@danilikescupcakes7114]

Applause to everyone who participated in this! The promotion of science/education through a fun and collaborative project is just a wonderful combination! All of you little future scientist rocked in this video!!

[@beckyb8929]

so good! Thank you! 7th graders know more than when I was in college as a bio major......and much more entertaining now as well.

[@GriffWild]

What? How did I not already know about this!!! Awesome, I learned about Rosalind Franklin while dancing! What? You guys sooooo rock!!!

[@funkot690]

I feel you Rosalind I hate when people show my pics to other people behind my back ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@sibrinacollins1688]

I love this! I would love to see a science history rap video based on the very public feud between the late Al. Cotton and Greg Robinson in the field of inorganic chemistry. Robinson had published a paper with a crystal structure and other data that contained an iron-gallium triple bond. Cotton and others attacked Robinson for his work.

[@jessicatunnis6230]

Awesome!!! Love it... great job!

[@Tonsilloliths]

I'm a forensic DNA analyst at the Sacramento County crime lab - your students nailed this video! I'm going to forward this to all my colleagues at the lab.

[@morganpowell9162]

Heard about this on NPR this morning and it made me cry. I love to hear of new ways to get students involved in learning. Great job guys & girls!

[@JoshuaBattlestrong]

This is AWESOME!!!!! GREAT JOB GUYS!

[@MaxineMachine]

Max loves to hear about other kids who love learning about science as much as she does, like the kids at KIPP Bridge Middle School! Had to celebrate them in a post on the Maxine Machine blog! Love what you're doing Tim!

[@SraTacoMal]

I can't even process this because I'm so happy that these kids have this knowledge in the first place.

[@rikkirobinsonrn3011]

I absolutely LOVE this video! I am a returning student, aspiring R.N., taking my Sciences. I discovered a ton of science related raps/songs on youtube, and use them often as a way to both teach, and reinforce what I am learning. Way to go! Your video is heartwarming on many levels. Keep it goin!

[@RosalindFranklinU]

What a great way to highlight Rosalind Franklin's contributions to science. We totally love this!

[@buddamylynn]

FANTASTIC! I just taught a college class where students wrote songs in the spirit of Hamilton and one of my students cited this battle as an inspiration (she wrote abut Rosalind but it's a very different piece). I'll send a link to her work if she's comfortable having the video posted. So cool that these pieces of art and history can talk to one another.

[@sciencewithtom]

Would love to see it!

[@BarbaraHolliday]

Thank you. I posted it a few days ago on an arts page I run and although it took a few days to get "recognized" I was delighted to see it had 49 hits this morning! The kids in the video are talented, wonderful, and really appreciated. As are you. I look forward to seeing the new videos I just found on your page! Break many legs! It's an exciting and hands on way to teach and these children are very obviously learning:):):):)!

[@sciencewithtom]

What an honor! Glad to hear it!

[@KelsEyeInc]

So creative and wonderful! Showing my 7th graders this week, hopefully it will encourage them to get creative!

[@sciencewithtom]

Can't link to it here, but check out the ScienceWithTom blog!

[@FozzB2386]

You're amazing. I had a teacher similar to you when I was in high school that made me see the value in intellectual curiosity and I kid you not it saved my life in many ways. Keep it up man.

[@ramzysouthern]

I heard this on NPR, and have watched the video several times since then. Rosalind Franklin is awesome! Keep up the good work.

[@froggycross]

You guys are amazing! I'm a librarian at a history of science archive in Philly. I wish our researchers would do rap battles in the break room!

[@TheJackiebot]

This is amazing. Everyone in this production is a champ. My college professor posted this link for us.

[@astudstill]

So great! A much cooler version of Epic Rap Battles!

[@sciencewithtom]

+astudstill Thanks!

[@mcmanubay]

brilliant, these students are unbelievably talented! I'm so glad that these young kids are learning about Rosalind Franklin's amazing contributions to scientific knowledge-something I didn't get taught until AP Bio.

[@edublove]

This is so wonderful. I love when teachers take the time to break down educations so that children actually learn. Not just try to force feed and become upset when they don't learn. Keep up the wonderfully great work!!!!!

[@mmeyarham4095]

wow. That's some super awesome stuff. Thank you very much for sharing. My students are going to love it. :D

[@sharonmccorkell]

Fabulous! I'm a science teacher and I really appreciate the writing and student performance. Good job, guys!

[@evolutionisus]

wonderful--this is the way to teach today's kids about science and the truth, the real truth---this is the way I prepare my UGs to go to graduate school--know how the game is really played and watch you back at all times!

[@rachaelstaley4571]

This is such a good way for kids to learn things! This helped me more than 2hrs of tutorials with my teacher ever could.

[@claumonasterio]

WELL DONE!!

[@DerekWeberPhD]

This is truly spectacular. Great job everyone.

[@hannahstewart7462]

this is awesome! I am going to show my 7th and 8th grade students tomorrow! :)

[@MadisonHipHopAwards]

This is absolutely brilliant! I'm a scientist by day, and occassionally try to educate others about Ros Franklin. I have to say, this is definitely the most appropriate way to tell the story! Even in death.... these hataz can't hold her back! Thanks for what you're doing.

[@delightfullyari]

Outstanding! These kids are going far! I hope they continue to enjoy the sciences.

[@Stagbeetle007]

Will do! As I said, it was a great production and a smart way to commit hard concepts to memory. I applaud your efforts Sir!

[@LizHenry]

This is amazing! I loved when Watson and Crick got to the red carpet, and also the nefarious Maurice!!! And of course, especially when Rosalind began to tell about her dreams and her life!!

[@DoctorReality1]

This. Is. Amazing.

[@jbhbx]

I'm a chemistry educator and amateur science hip-hopper in the Bronx associated with Chris Emdin's "Science Genius Battles" and #HipHopEd. Super work by you and your students!

[@alliekrumm3709]

Ended up watching this in my biology class today at Auburn University...it was amazing. Everyone loved it.

[@sciencewithtom]

+Allie Krumm awesome.

[@MarilynWHill]

Fabulous! Updated School House Rock! I'm so impressed with their science enthusiasm (former teacher) and I learned about Rosalind Franklin!

[@sciencewithtom]

I was not their classroom teacher. I taught an after school elective and this was the final product of that class. This allowed me to do similar projects at five different schools at once.

[@chris20038]

tom, thanks for giving us a chance to make the video. Jalleh

[@h2so4hurts]

This is spectacular outreach. Thanks for being such a great science teacher.

[@soulsage360]

I absolutely love this. Especially the way they included Rosalind Franklin's input.

[@aristotle4048]

This is an interesting twist on the tale. Crick and Watson obtained some of Franklin's data without her permission, but the reason was that Maurice Wilkins (mentioned cursorily in the video but who is perhaps the real bad guy in all this) gave Watson and Crick Photo 51, which was really taken by Ray Gosling under Franklin's supervision. Watson and Crick used this photo to support a hypothesis they were already adopting on the structure of the DNA molecule. This is not the only thing they contributed however, they had remarkably precise models of DNA and had essentially worked out all the details without Franklin's help, but they had hypothesised multiple versions and Photo 51 was what ultimately swayed them to select the double helix model. Franklin was very niggard about her discoveries however, and did not like to share them with anyone. Wilkins knew that if he had asked her for it she would have declined to provide her data, so he went behind her back to help Watson and Crick out. Now James Watson was disrespectful to Franklin, but this was not so much out of sexism, as it was out of her rudeness and bad attitude toward most of her colleagues. She was incredibly antisocial and made a conscious effort not to let theorists observe her experimental findings because if she could help it, she liked to have all the credit for any discoveries. She was a remarkable scientist, but wasn't very easy to work with. Today, she is depicted as this innocent little angel who had her work "stolen" by the diabolical Watson and Crick. It's true that she was near an understanding of DNA structure, but she did not have very accurate models. Essentially she knew roughly what DNA would look like, based on her crystallography. She was not awarded the Nobel Prize for but one reason: the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously. She died before she could have received it. And actually Watson and Crick, though they didn't like her, made a conscious effort to acknowledge her contributions. They didn't in their original papers count her as a co-discoverer, but later were very generous about saying how her work had influenced the overall development of their theory in its later stages. I must say, all three of them were remarkable scientists and each made many other contributions to science. Don't forget to acknowledge that this was one of many brilliant ways they all helped our understanding of the world. One more point, the video makes a 'diss' at Watson and Crick's chasing models (albeit a good joke) and not getting data the hard way. Well, science takes both experimentalists and theoreticians. Experimentalist like Franklin do what they do so that they can provide evidence for hypotheses theoreticians come up with. You can't just have data, you have to have correct interpretations of that data. This is how science works.

[@sciencewithtom]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I wish more KZbin comments were so thorough and respectful.

[@marscrumbs]

One could compare using photo 51 to finding an old NYTimes crossword puzzle in a drawer left by the previous occupant and solving the rest of the puzzle.

[@singingnymph]

Love the line: I'm not a "female scientist." I'm a SCIENTIST.... It's past time to stop adding gender to words that don't need it to begin with. You are a scientist or you are not.

[@megsneptune]

I heard of this in Donna north high school pretty good. Accurate and educational. Loved it.

[@sciencewithtom]

+Maegan Palma Thanks Meagan! Where is Donna North?

[@rachelsevereid9989]

You all are so talented! I'm a freshman in college, but this helped me study for my biology quiz! Thanks! Keep up the great work!

[@m0biusace]

Great video! The work you put into this really showed off. I know ALL of you have the capacity to do great things!

[@michaelmoellering4066]

Well done! I love the wee ones. They are not afraid to put it out there!

[@allenthammavong5875]

Great video!! You guys did an awesome job on this video!!!

[@weyrcat]

I love it! Great work everyone! Sharing on my Science Teaching page!

[@stephanieneallangel4779]

Great job!!! I am loving this. The students did such a great job. Sharing sharing sharing.

[@Abominatrix650]

I'm in University and this was put on our website for the Biomed students

[@TekstartOrg]

I love this so much. I'm showing to my students to see if they want to create some thing similar. I've started following your blog. This is quality work of how to use technology to extend learning. I wonder did GZA and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan see this? They have initiative in the New York school district, it was on PBS a few months ago.

[@mrssquarepants1000]

This is the actual best thing ever. Thanks so much to this cool teacher and these totally amazing kids for making me laugh! I'll definitely be letting my school science department know about this!

[@nickshannin9708]

Came here because of NPR. This is amazing work at any level, much less seventh graders. Kudos to TMac (Mr. McFadden has to have a rap name, right?) and his students for this and the Science History Rap Battles to come!

[@sklenzendorf]

Fantastic job! I will definitely be using this in my own biology classes!

[@j-r-m7775]

This is beautiful. The world needs more teachers with this kind of vision and insight who make learning fun and put in a context to which the kids can relate. With all the negativity and violence so often talked about in regards to Oakland youth this is great example and positive representation of the community.

[@sciencewithtom]

Thanks James!

[@plantendomembrane]

Awesome video! Loved watching this. Great job, everyone, looking forward to see more in the future. :) Greetings from Oxford, UK!

[@theo4man]

This is way cool! The subject is contemporary, relevant, and educational. I actually learned a thing or two. Very inspiring video. Everytime I think that all is lost with our children I am happily surprised.

[@AntonSmall]

I like it. Rosalind Franklin , phenomenal scientist.

[@lionmml]

I love this. It is wonderful! More more more more more!!! Well done!!

[@sciencewithtom]

Thank YOU for doing such a fantastic job!

[@snapsalot]

This was really good, great job kids. Keep it up with the learning!

[@KenenthSimpson]

This is totally awesome!! these kids are intellecually devine! Keep up the motivation.

[@peaslee12918]

Gotta admit I laughed out loud at the 2Chains line. Keep up the great work, Tom!

[@GreenBubbieBoog]

OMG THIS IS GREATTT I'm showing my science teacher this!!!

[@yetanotherjohn]

It is difficult to believe that anyone gave this remarkable thing the thumbs down. Haters back off, were only having fun defending the legacy of a genius here!

[@Faded965]

This was amazing! Good job! I had fun learning! GREAT JOB!

[@iz_zizi3186]

my science teacher is friends with their science teacher, but our school r in germany berlin

[@offcharlton9985]

Glad to see talent like this on the scene! keep doin ya thing!

[@voorhisk]

Great work Tom and Oakland students!

[@thejaydabee]

I had a really fun time doing this, it was a really great experience

[@jodiepedia]

I came here because Adam Rutherford tweeted it, and it is indeed unbelievably awesome. Well done all :)

[@dgirl1109]

Awesome work, kids! Loved it!

[@ThatSpazChick]

This came out better than I was expecting.

[@jolou0917]

Amazing job guys!! thanks for sharing!!!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

[@Magoonski]

Wicked cute! Loved the science, obviously...the background girls should have been more enthusiastic (could feel their embarrassment through the screen) but overall very good. I even liked how you threw in the part about "change her hair," that just speaks on so many levels.

[@TheJohannineIgbo]

Unbelievable. Keep up the GREAT work!

[@chrissyrivera]

This is so awesome. You guys rock!

[@julianazanella73]

This channel is great!

[@sillykids1234567]

This is fantastic. Well written and performed. My 7th and 8th graders are going to love this.

[@SHAVENAPE]

BRAP this is so unbelievably awesome. 'It has not escaped my notice that you're a jerk, shoulda got a Nobel for my work'. Genius.

[@TruOmilade]

This was awesome. keep up the good work.

[@unchainyourdog2977]

This made me laugh so much! I had to watch twice. The kids' lyrics, raps, and performances were smart and hilarious. How wonderful to see kids getting so excited about science while celebrating a somewhat forgotten female scientist...or just "scientist" as the performers remind us! Fabulous. Keep up the awesome work engaging students in STEM!

[@septaphon]

So good, Tom! You and those kids... preach it!

[@erinnasim]

This is amazing! Loved it! Young minds

[@stephanie5885]

I love it!!! You did a great job.

[@KurtRex1453]

Terrific piece. I never knew about here. Thanks.

[@tessamae2394]

i got chills this is so good

[@NMHalloran1981]

This is brilliant! I love it.