Week 16 - Science Toys: What Will You Make?

 

As winter break is rounding the corner, it is time to figure out and discuss what homemade scientific toy you will be making over the break.  For some ideas, visit the following website: http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/.  Also, check out YouTube videos for step-by-step directions of how to make your homemade scientific toy.
 
The toy I decided to make this year is a giant water prism.  Not only will these be exciting to build, but it will be beautiful and hysterical to look through in the end too!!!  I can hang these prisms outside on my porch and watch the different way in which light passes through/reflects, and I can also use these to look at the ways in which it changes people's faces in funny ways! 

So, this week I want you to conduct some research about what science toy you plan on making over winter break.  Discuss why you made this decision, what function the toy serves, and where you found the directions.  Try to include pictures, as well!
In addition to this initial post, respond to your classmates' posts, as well.  Provide feedback, elaborate on ideas, and share experiences if you have made something similar in the past.  I look forward to hearing about all of your ideas and can't wait until you bring them into class after the break!

Week 15 - Touch Senses: Can it be Artificial?

The next unit we will move on to involves our senses.  While we focus on the signals being sent to and from the brain, the pathways they take, and the senses involved, this week's blog is going to go in depth about a new scientific study that can have a tremendous impact on the future of humans.  This week's reading discusses a new experiment that proves electrodes implanted in the brain can send signals that make a monkey think its finger has been touched.  As a result, this experiment suggests ways to build artificial hands or arms for humans that restore a feeling of touch to users.

"In this study, the scientists implanted electrodes — small devices that can detect or relay an electrical signal — into the animals’ brains.  Then they trained the monkeys to look in a certain direction whenever a particular finger was touched.  The electrodes took notes of the animals’ brain activity during that touch.  The scientists used the electrode data to identify which brain cells, called neurons, had become active.  Then the scientists used the implanted electrodes to zap those same neurons, which caused the monkeys to react as though their finger had been, when it really wasn't.  Overall, this experiment is trying to mimic natural signals in the brain" (Ornes, 2013).

Okay, with this being one of the most interesting articles discussed in a blog throughout this year, I am especially expecting the posts this week to be exceptional!  There is no doubt that the sense of touch is crucial to every day tasks.  People without it may have difficulty cracking an egg, lifting a cup or even turning a doorknob.  That’s why restoring this sense is a major goal for designers of artificial limbs.  Knowing this, you are required to post two substantive posts this week and respond to your classmates.  Answer the following in two separate posts:

1) Finish reading the article and conduct some research on this topic.  After doing so, discuss whether you believe this experiment will eventually be successful.  Do you think it will ever work?  Or do you think working in monkeys is the closest this idea will get to humans?

 

2) Imagine that these findings become successful in working for humans missing limbs or senses.  Describe/predict the impact this will have on humans if so.  Do you think it would be affordable?  Would this discovery lead to similar devices for other senses?

I look forward to reading all of your responses and will definitely be a part of the discussion even more this week as this topic has spiked my interest!!!

Click Here to Read the Entire Article

Week 14 - The Smell of Fear: Is it Inherited?

Hi everyone, as we progress in our cell unit, we will touch upon genetics and how specific traits are inherited, etc.  In this week's blog, we are going to elaborate on this topic by discussing a new genetic discovery.  Scientists have just published findings of a recent study that provides evidence of a new genetic trait.  This specific study shows scents associated with terror may be passed on for two male generations.  "Scientists have shown for the first time that fear can be transmitted from a father to his offspring through his sperm alone in a ground-breaking study into a new kind of genetic inheritance" (Connor, 2013).

 

This specific study experimented on mice and demonstrated that they can be trained to associate a particular kind of smell to a fearful memory.  It also discovered that this fear can be passed down through subsequent generations via chemical changes to a father’s sperm cells.  Therefore, these new findings raise questions over whether a similar kind of inheritance occurs in humans.  Connor (2013) provides an example of "whether men exposed to the psychological trauma of a foreign war zone can pass on this fearful behavioural experience in their sperm to their children and grandchildren conceived at home."

 

As the article progresses, different scientists and researchers agree that while these results are encouraging, more careful mechanistic studies of animals is needed before associating such finding with humans.  Therefore, you have two main tasks for this week's blog.  First, read the article and respond with your thoughts in a blog post.  Second, create a possible experiment that can be the next step in testing these findings.  This experiment should be outlined in a discussion post, as well as mention how the results would impact human genetics.

 

Click Here to Read the Article

Week 13 - Bacteria Cells: Do They Age?

Hi class, since we are continuing to focus our attention on cells, specifically bacteria, I thought it would be great to start this week off with a debate about whether or not bacteria cells age.  We have already learned last week that when a bacterial cell divides into two daughter cells, those two cells divide into four more daughters, then 8, then 16 and so on.  Well, the result of this cell division has led to biologists assuming there will always be an eternally youthful population of bacteria.  Therefore, according to this article, in a way, scientists believe that bacteria, in other words, don't age...at least not in the same way all other organisms do.

This article does a great job at establishing an internal debate, because it goes on to describe the thoughts of other scientists.  "Others conclude that not only do bacteria age, but that their ability to age allows bacteria to improve the evolutionary fitness of their population by diversifying their reproductive investment between older and more youthful daughters" (Science Daily).

This is where all of you come in.  For this week's blog, you will click the link below and read the entire Science Daily article, paying close attention to both sides of the argument.  After reading the article, conduct some research in this area and chose a side that you believe is correct (either bacteria don't age OR they do age).  Post your thoughts, opinions, and supporting research in a post throughout this week.  Then defend your ideas as your classmates try to prove you wrong. 


Click Here To Read The Article

Week 12 - Cell Division: Is A Biological Clock Used?

This week we move on to our cell unit.  One of the main concepts we will discuss is cell division.  One of the greatest ways to demonstrate this process is to watch videos of live cellular division.  The video we will watch in class this week is of a bacteria cell dividing.  The reason we are discussing this in the blog is because there is an article that was just published that has evidence that cell division depends on a biological clock.

This discovery would be very tremendous in the scientific world because this idea was never thought of before.  We all know how essential a biological clock is for humans.  It plays a role in whether we gain or lose weight, when we fall asleep or wake up, how we respond to certain illnesses, etc.  Well, it seems that cells are just as dependent on this biological clock, as well!

"A team of biologists has unraveled the biochemistry of how bacteria so precisely time cell division, a key element in understanding how all organisms from bacteria to humans use their biological clocks to control basic cellular functions" (Science Daily).

Therefore, further studies in this area could apply to human problems that result from disorders in the biological clock, circadian clock, etc.  So, what I would like you all to do this week is research specific human disorders that are caused by or affected by these biological clocks, circadian clocks, etc.  Discuss this disorder and make a prediction about the impact this bacteria cell division knowledge could have on it.  Would it be positive, negative, and explain why.  Support your prediction with scientific evidence.


Click Here To Read The Article

Week 11 - Global Warming: Are Humans The Only Ones To Blame?

As we move onto the environmental unit, we will begin covering environmental problems and solutions.  One of the first topics we will discuss is global warming.  As mentioned in class, global warming is by far the most significant and dangerous environmental issue the world is currently facing.  For the past 2 centuries or so, researchers, scientists, and environmental experts have singled out humans as the sole cause for this global warming problem.  However, are humans the only ones to blame?

New evidence has emerged which proves that cosmic rays are the main cause of global warming.  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, cosmic rays are thought to derive from supernovas (explosions of distant stars) which results in an increased number of clouds in the atmosphere.  This increase in clouds, in turn, reflects rays back into the atmosphere.  However, although there is significant research conducted, this theory is still somewhat new and very few people have taken this issue seriously.  So, I want to know what you think.

However, before you can post your thoughts and opinions, you must conduct research of your own.  First, read the article provided below and then find evidence to support these claims.  Include sources and references in your posts.  Defend your arguments and support classmates' evidence, if it applies.  Overall, you should either agree with this theory or disagree (no in-between status) and prove why you made this decision. 

Global Warming Article: Click Here to Read

Week 10 - Digital Stories: Any Ideas?

 

Hey class!  This week we will be beginning our digital stories.  Your job is to choose ONE topic we have learned about so far and create a digital story that teaches others about this concept.  Before you post to this discussion, I want you to complete some research first.  Visit the following three websites and watch some examples of digital stories.  As you do so, write down any ideas or information that sparks your mind! 

1) http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/example_stories.cfm

2) http://mcli.maricopa.edu/storytelling

3) http://www.schrockguide.net/digital-storytelling.html

If you came across any additional websites during your research, please share them in your post.  Out of your research, I want you to post one explanation/description of your favorite digital story that you came across.  Describe what it was about, the entertaining features, what program was used, if text was used, what kind of visuals were created, and any other technical aspects you discovered.  This is to help ignite some creative ideas you and your classmates may have!

Your second post for this week will be about your initial ideas for a digital story.  After reading your classmates' posts and viewing many examples, discuss what program you are leaning towards using to create and narrate your digital story.  Explain the technical side, but also the academic side.  At this point, you should have a concept in mind and may just need to tie it to a theme, etc.  Please provide feedback to your classmates and I look forward to hearing all of your creative ideas!!!