Category: Science 10

Accessibility Design Challenge

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Accessibility Design Challenge –

Group: Scarlett, Catherine, Ella, Onikka, Riley, and Gabby.

  • Empathy and Define 

For this project, our goal was to make an everyday task more manageable for Molly. After meeting her and asking her questions we decided that an issue that impedes her daily life is the difficulties she faces with her cane. Her cane resides on the floor, thus causing an issue when she needs to find it. Our goal was to provide a solution that would allow her easy access to her cane.

Our official problem statement: How might we create a device to provide a solution involving the daily struggles  and maneuverability that occur from the usage of a cane.

  • Ideate 

Initially, we came up with the idea of a clamp that could be squeezed to fit the table and the cane could be pushed into it. However, upon thought, we realized that it may be difficult to squeeze with Molly’s dexterity.

Secondly, we thought of a C clip that would allow her to simply push the device onto the table and push her cane into it. This was a better idea until we learned the specifics involving how her cane folds.

Finally, we needed an idea that would allow better support for her cane, which lead us to the idea of attaching a bag to our C clip device.

  • Prototype and Test

Our initial Prototype:

The prototype we created was simple. A 3D printed C clip with a taped-on metal piece that allows for it to connect to the surface or table where it was inserted.

Pros –

– The idea of the shape primarily worked. It fit on surfaces and would be able to support the weight of the cane.

– The general shape was almost perfect and could be replicated in a larger form.

– The metal piece will work as a solution to the clamping on the table.

Cons –

– The piece slides around the table.

– Because it’s a squared C shape the tension point all rests in a corner, causing breakage and eventually it will snap.

– The metal piece gets bent after repeated use because the device is too small overall to support to metal’s long-lasting capabilities.

Feedback –

– Molly will need to be able to transport it easily.

– Bag needs to be easily held open as searching for an opening is difficult.

– Device needs to have something that takes the tension off the corner to be more stable.

  • Final Project 

 

Overall we came up with solutions to our technical issues and feedback.

  1. To fix the sliding we added grips to certain parts of the device using hot glue. Our goal was to create a gripping system like you would see on the bottom of a sock.
  2. We changed the corner to be rounded with a ball instead of an L corner to create a tensionless section where pressure could snap it.
  3. We made the C longer, wider, and taller to allow the metal piece to have more room, which will decrease its bending and damage.
  4. We added a hook to the bag. That was when molly needs to transport the device she can pull the C off the table, place it in the bag, and use the hook on the bag to attach it to the backpack she wears every day,
  5. And, finally, to solve the dexterity issue, I crocheted the bag. This will help it be more supported and hold its shape, making it easy to find the large opening.
  • Reflection

My role in this project:

For this project, my main role was helping to design and create a bag of some form to hold Molly’s cane. This bag had to be accessible to her, meaning easy to use with a low dexterity, as well as easy to carry around and not take up too much space. The actual design of the bag proved to be more difficult than the crocheting, which I did not anticipate. I found that every pattern I searched for were much too complex with the handles and opening of the bags. Many of the patterns also created a bag that was too large, and would take up too much space in Molly’s bag.

Therefore, I had to make my own design. This was a fun creative challenge for me, and I had a lot of fun spending my evenings crocheting, knowing that with a design of my own, I could create it to fit Molly’s specific needs, as well as make it something more personal than a bag bought at a store.

My responsibilities:

-I was responsible with creating the design of the bag

-I was responsible with crocheting the bag and making our idea come to life in that way

Contributions:

Mainly, I am proud of the bag that I created to hold Molly’s cane, as it was something of my own design. I am also proud that I was able to make the design come to fruition.

What I learned:

Something that I learned is that there is more than one way to create an idea that you may have. I had the idea of a crochet bag, but I was not certain as to how I should make that idea a reality. With some research, watching videos and googling patterns, I discovered many good ideas, but none that perfectly fit what I saw in my head. That is why I decided to create my own pattern as I went, and it turned out to be just what we needed.

What I learned from Molly:

Something that I learned from Molly was that it is difficult for her to adjust to change. As someone without a disability, I had never considered this before, as my routine is changing almost everyday. But for someone like Molly, the continuity in her day to day schedule can be grounding. Learning this showed me that even if our project works perfectly for her, she still may not choose to integrate it into her routine.

What I enjoyed:

During this project, I really enjoyed getting to hear about Molly’s experience at our school as a person who is blind. She told us about how it is difficult for her to navigate, as there is not any brail. This makes it difficult for her to have much independence. As a teenager as well, I cannot imagine how frustrating that could be for her, as I love it when I can have just a little bit of independence. I enjoyed hearing from her, as well as the people that she spends a lot of time with, as it helped put into perspective for me how she lives every day, and what little things we can do to make her life a bit easier.

In the future:

In the future I think that it is important to create a personal connection with the student, as they are not only their disability. This project is about creating something for that person, that would positively impact their lives. Unlike some other projects, it is not just for a mark but about creating something for someone in our community. If we were to do this project again, I would recommend that we get to know the student a bit more, other than what they struggle with.

How can the discovery of exoplanets change how we view other solar systems?

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Exoplanets

The discovery that there are planets circling stars in our solar system, hundreds of lightyears away, has been a thought on scientist’s minds for some time. What could this mean for the future of Earth, and how could this discovery change our view and understanding of the solar system?  

Exoplanets are simply planets that circle stars outside of our own. These planets can be anywhere from hot gas giants, like Jupiter, to smaller, rocky planets, like Earth or Mars. Scientists have discovered many exoplanets orbiting stars that are near Earth, and some of these planets have a solid, rocky surface like Earth but they are still working to discover whether these planets have atmospheres. 

The Goldilocks zone 

For a long time, scientists looked around our solar system for signs of other life forms. During this search, they discovered that there is a specific area that life can inhabit, one that is not too hot, and not too cold. This is called the Goldilocks Zone. This zone is not too far away or too close to that planet’s star, therefore life could form there. For example, Earth is in the Goldilocks Zone of the Sun. But this zone is very small, and even some parts of Earth have extreme temperatures, the deserts and the Arctic, but certain forms of life can still exist here. In the past 40 years, scientists have learned much more about extreme environments and the life forms that can live there, meaning that the Goldilocks one could be bigger than we originally thought.

This discovery could mean that other forms of life are able to survive on exoplanets within the Goldilocks Zone, if these planets have an atmosphere. Discovering this could also change the way we explore and send people to other planets in the future.  

Recent exoplanet discoveries 

Recently, Scientists found seven exoplanets orbiting TRAPPIST-1. All these planets are rocky and three of them are in the star’s goldilocks, or habitable zone. 52 Pegasi b is a gas giant, not unlike Jupiter and takes only 4.2 days to orbit its star. At the time it was discovered, scientists did not predict its existence because it was not possible for a gas giant to form that close to a star. They hypothesize that it was formed farther away and moved there because of the gravitational pull of the star. This shows that there could be exoplanets around stars that we do not know of and are unlike anything we have discovered so far. 

The Eso (European Southern Observatory) discovered an exoplanet, roughly the size of Earth, orbiting the star closest to Earth. The discovery of this rocky planet in the habitable zone of this star is huge, as it means that there could be a potential for life very close to Earth. An increasing knowledge of space and technology in the future could give us more information about these exoplanets as we discover them. 

In the future, Nasa wats to create a census of exoplanets that are much farther from Earth. There will also be missions to discover and document the environments of these planets. Nearby stars are within 60 light-years from the Sun. If scientists can inspire people to become interested in these exoplanet missions, they can become a reality. 

An artist's concept of several stars orbited by exoplanets

Conclusion

If scientists can find forms of life on different planets, they could send astronauts to these planets to search for more life and investigate what has already been detected. Exoplanets are still somewhat of a mystery for astronomers, as they are still very difficult to find orbiting stars even with the technology, we have access to. With technology getting better and more complex each year, scientists are optimistic that exoplanet discovery can increase. The exoplanets we have discovered already have set off a light in many people’s minds that the probability of finding life on another planet is very likely. This could mean that we find life that is completely different from life on Earth. We could be looking at a star that has an exoplanet orbiting it with life on it, and the thought that that is a possibility is what could change for everyone here on Earth. 

Works Cited:

“The Exoplanet Zoo.” Canadian Space Agency, 22 Apr. 2022, www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/beyond-our-solar-system/exoplanet-zoo.asp.

Brennan, Pat. “ESO Discovers Earth-Size Planet in Habitable Zone of Nearest Star.” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 24 Aug. 2016, www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/eso-discovers-earth-size-planet-in-habitable-zone-of-nearest-star.

Bolle, Dana. “Exoplanet Exploration | Science Mission Directorate.” Science Mission Directorate, 11 May 2022, science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/ExEP.

“Exoplanets: Crash Course Astronomy #27.” YouTube, 6 Aug. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ATtD8x7vV0&t=349s.

Dunbar, Brian. “NASA – The Goldilocks Zone.” Nasa, 30 Nov. 2007, www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/livingthings/microbes_goldilocks.html.

—. “Lost in the Glare.” Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond Our Solar System, 14 Sept. 2012, exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/1023/lost-in-the-glare. 

Epigenetics-Biotechnology

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The first thing you may be wondering is, what is epigenetics, and to be honest I could go on and on because it’s such a complex subject. To explain it in its most basic form I would say it’s the study of outside effects on our genetics. You may not know this, but your genes are not set in stone when you are born. Take identical twins for example, even though they have the same genetic makeup, they can still be so different, but how? Well, depending on the environment, the nutrition and the people around them, they will develop certain habits which will translate into their genes. Another fun fact, since these habits can be written in genes, those genes can be passed down to their offspring. Therefore, if a mother has bad time management, it will most likely be somewhat passed down to her offspring. 

There have been and will be many more advancements in the field of epigenetics. In my opinion, some of the greatest advancements so far have been discovering the role epigenetics have in exercising, inheritance, and how our nutrition can affect our epigenetics. Firstly, methyl groups, chemical tags attached to DNA strands, can prevent nearby genes from expressing what they are programmed to do. Exercising can reverse changes these chemical tags may make on DNA. Unfortunately, with this test, after three weeks of exercise, the methylation tags came back after two days of resting. Next, in a small Swedish town, genetic scientists analyzed 200 years of harvest records. They discovered that food availability and diet can affect how exact sperm cells are copied from the ages of nine to twelve in boys. Epigenetic inheritance can fluxgate through generations, unlike the genome, which takes many generations to change, epigenetics changes can happen quickly. The inheritance of epigenetics can also be passed down to children from things a parent has experienced, as well as changing from the current environment of an individual. Finally, scientists have found that the food an expectant mother eats not only affects their epigenetics, but their children’s as well. A diet that is low in methyl, the chemical tags, can decrease DNA methylation, which affects how genes are expressed. In bees, scientists have found that a larva destined to become a queen will be fed royal jelly, which is a substance that comes from the heads of worker bees. Scientists discovered that a specific gene called Dnmt3 in bees codes to silence the queen genes. Royal jelly turns off this gene, giving larva queenly behaviors and a larger abdomen for laying eggs. Because the queen bee is fed royal jelly, she will develop these traits, which are different than worker bees, who are otherwise genetically identical. 

Epigenetics is a form of biotechnology that involves manipulating genes by turning them on or off based on the external factors that affect your lifestyle. This form of biotechnology is best used in the form of cancer treatments, which many scientists believe has changed the way we treat cancer. Cancer was thought to be purely a genetic disease; however, scientists have discovered that cancer is also caused by epigenetic matters. Epigenetic cancer treatments target the genes that have been turned off in cancer cells and instead of killing the cell, specific genes are reactivated, which leads to the cancer cell resetting itself back into a normal human cell. Epigenetics has revolutionized the way that cancer is being treated, as well as other neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia in the form of DNA methylation. DNA methylation is when methyl is added to genes and changes the way that genes express themselves, which changes the way that the brain functions and can help in the treatment of neurological disorders. 

Epigenetics is a very new and complex subject which you could probably see from the past paragraphs, but the future is looking up for epigenetics. In this “Scholarly Resources for Learning and Research | Gale. https://www.gale.com/” it was shown that epigenetics could be one of the leading ways that we can help avoid mental disorders in children such as autism. Since epigenetics is all about the study of inheritance so what if we could alter what the offspring inherit. This of course wouldn’t fully cure them of everything, but it could heavily lessen their load. Since epigenetics is so new, most of the things I am talking about are very hypothetical, but bio engineering was all hypothetical when it was first introduced

 

The study of epigenetics has evolved significantly throughout the years and has changed the way we use biotechnology today. Gaining a better understanding of how epigenetics works has led scientists to many important discoveries, such as how the external environment affects the development of genes and future generations. Epigenetics has also changed the way certain diseases are treated, such as new cancer treatments which are less invasive and more effective than traditional treatments. Finally, as more advancements are made in the study of epigenetics, we are also getting closer to finding cures for mental disorders in children before they are born. As more research is done on epigenetics, we can be sure that the future can lead to breakthroughs that will drastically affect how we understand and implement epigenetics in our daily lives. 

 

Bibliography:

Xi, Sigma. “Scholarly Resources for Learning and Research | Gale.” Gale in Context: Science , 2012, https://www.gale.com/. 

Motevalizadeh Ardekani, Ali. “Role of Epigenetics in Biology and Human Diseases.” Iranian Biomedical Journal, Pasteur Institute, Nov. 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075137/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20major%20effects,to%20health%20and%20cancer%20patients. 

 

Weinhold, Bob. “Epigenetics: The Science of Change.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Mar. 2006, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392256/. 

 

Issa, Jean-Pierre. “Epigenetic Therapy.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 16 Oct. 2007, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/epigenetic-therapy/. 

 

“Epigenetics and Inheritance.” Epigenetics and Inheritance, genetic science learning centre, 15 July 2013, Epigenetics & Inheritance (utah.edu)

 

“Nutrition and the Epigenome.” Nutrition and the Epigenome, 15 July 2013, 

Nutrition & the Epigenome (utah.edu)

Cheek Cell Lab

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I think that the best way to break apart cell membrane would be dish soap or alcohol. This is because I used dish soap on my cheek cells and could see, through the microscope, that my cheek cells looked more degraded and broken apart. When we used acid, we could no longer find any cells at all, therefore I would not use it to break apart the membrane. In the test tube lab, I saw that the alcohol separated DNA strands and made it possible to remove them in long strings. In my opinion, the dish soap was more effective for me being able to see where the cell membrane had degraded, and the alcohol was effective for removing DNA and seeing it separately from water and salt.

Something that I found interesting about the labs was during the test tube lab, we were able to see strands of DNA, without having to use a microscope of any sort. This was not something that I had ever done or seen before, so that was a new experience. During the cheek cell lab with microscopes, I found being able to see my own cells up close and with such definition was interesting. I also enjoyed that we were able to clearly see the membrane and nucleus of most of the cells.

3D Data Visualization: Global Warming Bracelet

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Data:

Warming temperature of the Earth (in degrees Celsius)

1880s          13.73

1890s          13.75

1900s          13.74

1910s          13.72

1920s          13.83

1930s          13.96

1940s          14.04

1950s          13.98

1960s          13.99

1970s          14.00

1980s          14.18

1990s          14.31

2000s          14.51

2010s          14.73

 

Fossil Fuel increase (in terra-watt hours)

1880s-1910s         >9,000 TWh

1940s          15,000 TWh

1950s-1960s         29,000 TWh

1970s          53,000 TWh

1990s-2000s         90,000 TWh

2010s          129,000 TWh

I chose to do this project on climate change and based it on the earth’s temperature because I know that we as people can do better to protect our planet. I did some research after finding a graph that showed the earth’s temperature over the last century and found that one of the main reasons for global warming was fossil fuel consumption. the earth naturally breaks down fossil fuels, but because humans are overusing these resources, the earth does not have time to recycle them properly, causing the earth’s temperature to increase. I found this very interesting, as I had never really known why climate change was happening, and I now know one of the many reasons. Something that I may have done differently would be using yarn or crocheting rather than a bracelet because it would be easier to see.

Critical Thinking

I can ask questions and consider options.

I needed to figure out a way to effectively showcase data in a 3D way, and I considered what I was interested in and capable of showing well. I decided to show global warming and what its main effect is and what the temperatures were. I considered using the effects of forest fires, but the data that was available to me was not sufficient, so I decided to use different data. I ended up using the increase of fossil fuels over the past century and displayed that data using beads. The colour that the bead is in shows the increase in fossil fuels, and how that has made the earth’s overall temperature warmer.

I can gather and combine new evidence with what I already know to develop reasoned conclusions, judgments, or plans.

When faced with the issue of having a bracelet that was too short, I was able to think outside the box and make every two rows of string five years, rather than 10 years resulting in a longer bracelet. I also used the data of fossil fuels over the past century and showed how they have increased over time, using beads knotted into the bracelet correlating with each year of the data. I used the knowledge that fossil fuels have been a major part of the earth’s warming and found that with an increase of fuels, the earth’s temperature also increased. I planned to show the years with the most increase by placing a bead in that row. Overall, I was able to successfully show the increase of earth’s temperature, and how fossil fuel increase had been the main effect of that.

Scientific Method & Paper Airplanes and Self Reflection

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Paper Airplane Experiment

I chose to do the same paper airplane design, on three different sizes of paper. The results are as follows:

Plane #1 (11×17) had an average distance of 2.074m

Plane #2 (11×8) had an average distance of 1.418m

Plane #3 (8×5.5) had an average distance of 5.618m

The hypothesis, if I use a larger piece of paper then the airplane will fly farther because of the weight of the plane, is rejected. The data shows that the smallest plane flew the farther, rather than the largest plane as I thought. The results of this investigation are useful because if I want to make a paper airplane in the future or for a future experiment, I now know how to control the distance. I can do this by using a smaller piece of paper to create a smaller plane, as the one that went the farthest in this experiment. This investigation can be improved on by perhaps making different designs, rather than different sizes of paper, in order to see if it is the design or the size of the paper that allowed the smallest plane to fly the farthest. One question that could be taken into consideration is how to calculate and consider human error that may have occurred.

I learned that there is some human error that can occur, although the same person threw all of the planes, it is not possible to throw it the same way every time. I also learned that it can be difficult to throw the plane perfectly straight, and that could have been the design that was chosen, or human error. Next time I would try using the same size of paper and different designs, to definitively see if it was the design that I chose or the size of paper that created the results.

Scientific Method Reflection

Core Competency Critical Thinking

How does the artifact you selected demonstrate strengths & growth in the thinking competencies?

In what ways might you further develop your thinking competencies?

The paper airplane experiment shows growth in my thinking skills because I had to determine what may cause certain things to happen within my experiment and eliminate anything that may have interfered. I also had to determine what the results of the experiment meant, as well as finding that my hypothesis was incorrect and determining the results of the experiment. I can further my thinking competencies by continuing to use critical thinking during and after experiments and projects, as well as picking apart any variables that may have caused the experiment to be flawed, such as human error.