Month: May 2016

Expanding Universe

keishan2015
Untitled (2)lab (2)Untitled (3)chart (2)
What did you do in this lab?
 In this lab we blew up a balloon slightly and drew dot’s on it, then we measured the distances between the dot’s. Then we would then blow up the balloon to half of its size and measure the distances once again, then finally we blew up the balloon as large as we could and measured the distance of the dot’s one last time. We did this to show how the distance between the galaxies get farther apart.
What did the balloon and dots represent?
 During this lab the balloon was used to represent the universe whereas the dot’s were used to represent the different galaxies.
What was the trend in your expansion distance?
 These are the expansion differences we found:
  • A – 1.6
  • B – 3.4
  • C – 3.1
  • D – 7
  • E – 5

 To find the expansion difference you subtract the data from the barely inflated balloon from that of the fully inflated balloon. When we were analyzing these numbers we couldn’t find the “trend” or anything that they had in common with one another.

 What is your opinion on the value of the activity? What are some things your still curious about?

I liked this astronomy lab because it showed how the galaxies move apart from one another in a simple way to understand. What I would like to know is does the universe have an ending point or does it not have an end?

Taming of the Shrew Stop Motion Induction Scene Project

keishan2015

This stop motion video is based on “Taming of the Shrew” a comedic play written by William Shakespeare.

This Stop motion was created by Joy, keisha, Jenna. Joy’s role during the creation of the stop motion project was to download the stop motion app, take the photo’s, upload the video to youtube, narrate scenes, and to bring in the lego needed. Keisha also contributed by writing the storyboard, moving the characters, bringing in lego, and narrating scenes. Jenna contributed by narrating scenes, and writing out the treatment plan.

The induction scene in the play is used as the opening act and sets the tone or feeling for the main act, an inset is used to describe a play within in a play. We demonstrated the induction scene for the majority of our take on “Taming of the Shrew” by showing the story of Christopher Sly and the Lord’s prank. The inset can be seen near the end of our video when the players perform their play for Christopher Sly and his wife.

For our project we used an app called “stop motion” to film our video, it was a simple app to use because you only needed to move your characters and take photo’s as well as a simple navigation system. We had decided to use Lego to present our version of “Taming of the Shrew” in a way different from a stage play.

Some of the challenges that occurred during the making of the stop motion was getting the narration to match with the scenes, we had a hard time making sure we met the minimum of two minutes, and we had problems with getting the audio to work on the app.

What we learned during the project was how to use the stop motion app, we also gained a better understanding of the induction scene from the play.

 

Mutation Story

keishan2015

Part 1: Mutation Story

My name is  Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, but you can call me progeria for short. I am a negative genetic mutation inside of 10 year old Sarah’s body. I am a rare gene found in few children that causes their body to age fast. My siblings and I only affect 1 in 4 million children of all  races and genders. For Sarah her body is what is most affected by my appearance.

Progeria mutationSarah’s mutation wasn’t inherited from her parents, Sarah was born with my mutation which was caused by the LMNA gene that makes a protein called lamin A. The protein lamin A plays a part in determining the shape of the nucleus within a cell. I was the result of a production of an abnormal version of the protein lamin A. The abnormal protein causes the nuclear envelope to become unstable, damaging the nucleus, making the cells more likely to die prematurely.

-3750429e192ad493I affect Sarah more physically than internally.  When Sarah was born she looked like any other healthy newborn baby and then began to show symptoms of having progeria and diagnosed before the age of two. my mutation caused Sarah to have a large head, big eyes, aged looking skin, abnormal tooth growth, hair loss including eyelashes and eyebrows, loss of body fat, fragile bones, and causes Sarah to have a high pitched voice. There is no way for Sarah to get rid of me, but she can have surgeries that limit complications that Sarah may have like heart attacks and strokes.

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My host Sarah has always had hard times doing things that all kids are able to do and usually suffers from muscle pains. Most children living with progeria die at the average age of 13 but some are known to have lived longer than that age. Sarah goes to school like any other child, although she has a larger head her brain wasn’t affected. Some people stare at Sarah because she looks different but she acts the same as any other kid. It makes me feel bad for causing Sarah hardships and knowing that because of me we will both die at a young age.

Links Used:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/progeria/basics/symptoms/con-20029424

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/hutchinson-gilford-progeria-syndrome#inheritance

http://www.webmd.com/children/guide/progeria?page=1#1

https://www.genome.gov/11007255/learning-about-progeria/

http://www.progeriaresearch.org/progeria_101.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/children-living-progeria-inside-world/story?id=14182279

 

Part 2: The Making of the Mutation Story

 

What questions did you need to research in order to create your Mutation Story?

At first I just searched progeria and then later on to narrow the search and get more details I searched things such as, what genetic mutation causes progeria?, and what its like living with progeria.

 

 What New familiar Digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?

I mainly used google, and google images, but I also used the Genetics home reference website which I thought was reliable. As I worked through this project I would find pages that I thought to be reliable and I would bookmark them to use later.

 

What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

At first I just did a general search of progeria and then later on to narrow the search and get more details I searched things like what genetic mutation causes progeria?, and what its like living with progeria and then branched off from there by writing down the information I thought was useful in a notebook and copying that down into my story.

 

 How did you verify and cite the information you found?

I would look at the question I was trying to answer then I would look through a couple websites to see if they all had common information.

 

How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you Have done better?

I think that the process went fairly well for me and I found that it was fun learning about my mutation and writing the story. I think what I could have done better was present my story in a more engaging way like a PowerPoint or Prezi, and to write in a more interesting way.