January 19

Charis Walko skype chat

Hello everyone, last Friday we had a Skype chat with stem cell researcher Charis Walko. Here is a picture of what happened:20160115_094753

A Summary

We had a skype chat with Charis Walko, a stem cell researcher working with Stem Cell Technologies in Vancouver. Walko has a PhD in stem cell research from the University of Cambridge and before that got her masters in cell biology and genetics at UBC. She is originally from Germany. During our skype chat, we asked her questions about stem cell research and stem cells in general. I really enjoyed it and think that it is a unique opportunity to talk to someone who works with stem cells and get to know more about the subject. It was very interesting.

We asked the question “How do the people you work with feel about the stem cell controversy?”

What I learnt from the chat:

I learnt the answers to my question and the questions other people had.She answered my question “How do people you work with feel about the stem cell controversy?” She said “I myself think that the pluripotent stem cells are a great alternative so we don’tneed to have a controversy any more.”

Another thing I found interesting was a question about what diseases can be cured with stem cells. About 80 diseases can be cured with stem cells and most of them are associated with blood, because blood stem cells are oune of the easiest to put back.

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January 13

Mutation Story

Part 1: Mutation story

Hello! My name is gene 547893 and I live on the long arm or q arm of chromosome 5. My host’s name is Cassia Irizarry and she was born with the genetic mutation cri-du-chat syndrome or 5p minus syndrome. What that means is when she was born, the short or p arm of chromosome 5 broke off, killing thousands of my brothers and sisters including my twin, gene 547894. This syndrome is caused by a deletion instead of an insertion or deletion. This catastrophe might be sad for us genes but for Cassia and her family this small incident is absolutely devastating!

Chrom5bands

Cassia is part of a 10% group that inherited this rare syndrome from a parent that is unaffected. When this happens, like it did to Cassia, the parent, in this case her mother, has a chromosomal rearrangement but no genetic material is gained or lost. When Cassia was just a foetus, a random deletion occurred which caused her to get cri-du-chat-syndrome. When Cassia was just a baby, she had a very high-pitched, cat-like cry, which went away by age two, but she still has a voice that is a little higher than normal. Luckily for Cassia and her parents, she was not born with a heart defect, but she still suffers from intellectual disability and delayed development. She also has the physical symptoms of cri-du-chat-syndrome including a small head size, low-set ears and wide-set eyes.

Poor Cassia has to tackle many problems, including severe speech development problems, for which she has to undergo speech therapy. She also developed her motor skills very late and has a very short attention span. As Cassia grows older, even more problems will present themselves, including minor to severe hearing and eye problems and some dental problems because of her small jaw. Cassia should live to approximately 60 years of age and up to this point has lead a very happy life. Because just a small part of Cassia’s chromosome 5 broke off, she does not have major problems.

Part 2: The Making of Mutation story

1) What questions did you need to research in order to create your mutation story?
I asked the questions, what causes the mutation, what effects does the mutation have on the host’s body, how is a host’s life affected, what age are they expected to live to, what problems and obstacles do they have to face?

2) What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?
I used a a search engine to research the questions above and to find out more about the genetic mutation, cri du chat syndrome. I found 3 or 4 good websites about the syndrome that told me all I needed to know. I also used an encyclopedia to find out more about my mutation.

3) What was the process you used to investigate the topic?
The process I used was, I asked questions, researched my questions and acquired information about the mutation cri du chat syndrome. I then analyzed my information and went back and verified my sources.

4) How did you verify and cite the information you found?
I verified my information by checking the website domain to make sure it wasn’t a .com or a .ca or a blog that anyone could have written. I made sure that it was a .org, .edu or a .gov. I then checked to see if I could find who wrote the post to attribute it to them properly. I made sure that the information was correct by cross referencing it with other sources, including my encyclopedia. I would also make sure that the site was a professional one, connected to a well know organisation or university by googling the organisation the site was connected to.

5) How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?
I think the process of completing this challenge went very well and I was very organised and efficient. I used my class time wisely, and completed the project on time. I could have made my story more engaging and less informative and added more pictures.

Here are the sources I used. They are not blogs and although I looked, I could not find one specific person to attribute the information to.

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/cri-du-chat-syndrome
http://www.criduchat.asn.au/content/cri-du-chat-syndrome
https://www.genome.gov/19517558

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January 8

Edible DNA model

In science, my partner and I made an edible DNA model out of marshmallows and licorice. This represents the double helix DNA strand that is found in the nucleus of cells. DNA contains the instructions to make proteins. DNA is made of sugar and phosphate and the steps of the “ladder” are made of 4 chemical bases, Adenine  (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C). 20160108_092435

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December 10

Tanya Harrison- space discussion

2015-12-09 09.29.49Hello, today we had a skype chat with Tanya Harrison, a scientist who worked on the mars rover curiosity.

Here is a picture of what happened :

 

A Summary

We talked to space scientist Tanya Harrison. She has worked for Nasa on the Mars rover curiosity. She is currently at the University of western  Ontario. During the Skype chat, our class asked her questions about her work on the rovers and about mars in general. I think this a great opportunity to learn about space up close and personal from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. It was very interesting.

The questions we asked were:

1. If Mars fails in preserving life what other planets could sustain life, if there are any?

2. What made you you become interested in this field of work?

What I learnt from the chat:

I learnt the answers to the question so we had and the answers to some other questions other people had.

She answered my question, If Mars fails in preserving life what other planets could sustain life, if there are any? She said ” If we are talking about life as we know it, mars is really the only option in the solar system with the exception of Saturn’s moon titan. Titan is really similar to how early earth was, with a really thick atmosphere and lakes full of hydrocarbon which is really great for microbial life. So if wanted to find life, we might find it there. ”

She also answered Alyson’s question about how she became interested in that particular field of work. She said ” When I was younger I used to watch a lot of star trek and that really got me interested in space and mars especially. When the sojourner landed Nasa released a great animation of it landing on Mars and then I knew I wanted to study mars.”

Another question I found interesting was aquestion about how much a rover cost to build. The curiosity rover cost 2.1 billion dollars to build, spirit and opportunity cost about 700 million.

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November 13

Currents from the kitchen

20151113_09282220151113_09170520151113_091953In our experiment we used a lemon, an orange and a potato to try and power an led light bulb.

1. A complete circuit will produce electron flow.

2. To find out if electrons are flowing, you could use a volt meter.

3. It doesn’t glow because the light blub had too high a voltage and the fruits and vegetables didn’t have enough voltage.

4. Use bigger vegetables with higher voltage or light blubs with lower voltage.

5. The zinc and the copper  or transition metals and the crocodile clips cause the electrons to flow.

6. If you were in a situation where you didn’t have enough electricity to power a lightbulb you could use this method.

7. No because, there isn’t a potato big enough to power a 60watt ligh bulb, let alone a town or a city.20151113_09335120151113_09295320151113_092155

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November 2

Electricity Mind map!

Hello!
Here is my electricity mind map!

My questions are:
1. What are the different types of circuits?
2. Are there different types of electricity? If so what are they?
3. What are the main uses for electricity?
4. How much electricity does the average person use per day?
5. What is the difference between volts and watts?
6. How did we discover electricity?
(Please click on picture to view screenshot!) Screenshot_2015-11-02-10-07-51

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October 23

Science 9 app review

My app is called Science explorer!
1) Is the app easy to use? Is it self-explanatory or does it take a long time to figure out? This app is very easy to use and is self explanatory. All you have to do is click on the diffrent tabs and it will take you to the different parts of the application.
2) What does this app teach you? This app teachs you different science facts and gives you science formulas and experiments you can try at home.
3) What aspect of science does it teach? It teachs you about chemistry, phisics, biology but not in depth.
4) What grade is this app meant for? Is it too easy or too hard for grade 9’s? This app is for all ages, but isn’t that usefull for grade 9’s.
5)How does this app teach you? Through games, quizes? This app teachs you through facts and figures and experiments. It isn’t very interactive, it doesn’t let you test your knowledge through games or quizes.
6) Is this app helpfull? What did it teach you? This app isn’t very helpfull, it doesn’t teach you much about science just a few facts and formulas and some experiments. It didn’t teach you much and I wouldn’t recomend it to anyone. Screenshot_2015-10-22-09-31-37Screenshot_2015-10-22-09-31-37

Screenshot_2015-10-22-09-30-14Screenshot_2015-10-22-09-30-14

Screenshot_2015-10-22-09-31-03

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