We had a great talk by Dr. Charles Wolgemuth, a young biophysicist from the University of Arizona; he is also a University of Arizona alumnus. He spoke on two different subjects: the first was the Lyme disease bacteria, especially how it moves within the body through various organs. The bacteria are flat wave spirochetes, and Charles talked about their motion (with video), how much torque they produce to move through liquids and organ walls. Overall, the question is, What role does physics play in Lyme disease? He showed how the “spring constant” of the spring that is the bacterium can be measured. Then looking at their motility through liquids of various viscosities can lead to a calculation of the torques generated. A torque of 3000 pN-nm was measured. So that was kind of cool. I will attach his slides to a later email, I’m sure I’m not conveying the important points completely well – biology is a bit foreign to me. In addition, Charles went into a second research interest of his group, which is wound healing. He showed that cells on the edges of a wound grow to close the wound, but it isn’t just the cells closest to the wound that act. There is some amount of communication between at least three layers of cells. Inactivating a single layer of cells still lets wounds heal, but if three layers are inactivated, the would does not heal. Also, on short timescales, cells stick together, but on long timescales, they may slip relative to each other. Kind of like silly putty.
Next meeting
We will meet October 25th at Pima Community College West Campus. We will have 10-minute presentations from members. If you have a favorite lesson, lab or activity, talk about it for 10 minutes. Bring a handout if you can. Let me know in advance if you would like to present, and I’ll make up a schedule. My colleague Lynne Gillette will make a presentation on Direct Measurement videos and how to use them. I will talk about using smartPhysics and the flipped classroom. Have you done something innovative? Come and let your peers know the details!
Here are some other things you might be interested in:
Speckle Interferometry Opportunity for students:
I went to the AzAAPT meeting two weeks ago at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. There was a good speaker, Richard Harshaw, who talked about his speckle interferometry project. The observations are being made at the McMath Solar Observatory at Kitt Peak. By using speckle interferometry, Harshaw and his group are able to measure the orbits of double stars very accurately. Double stars are important as part of the base of the distance scale. Mr. Harshaw is willing to visit astronomy clubs to lecture. He’s an engaging speaker, and has some opportunities available for high school and undergraduate students to help with the double star research. He would be very happy to answer anyone who contacts him.
His contact information:
Richard Harshaw
Brilliant Sky Observatory
4625 E. Brilliant Sky Drive
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Cell: 480.227.7231
Email: rharshaw2@cox.net
Biosphere 2 is open for teachers some evenings in October:
Several Saturday evenings in October Biosphere 2 will remain open until 8pm (as opposed to the usual closing time 4pm), with visitors allowed to explore B2 at their own pace, scavenger hunts for kids, telescopes for astronomical observing, pizza for sale, and a whole slew of live animals and hands-on STEM activities.
I think these events would be of interest to teachers around Tucson (and beyond) - especially the Oct 25th Discovery Night, in which teachers (with their school ID) get in for half price and are entered into a raffle for a free field trip to B2.
More details are at www.b2science.org, and I am attaching a PDF flyer.
Questions can be directed to Pacifica Sommers. Please use the link in her signature below to contact her and do not reply to this message.
Pacifica Sommers
Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
psommers@email.arizona.edu
801-647-4124
www.biodiversitytheblog.
Next meeting
We will meet October 25th at Pima Community College West Campus. We will have 10-minute presentations from members. If you have a favorite lesson, lab or activity, talk about it for 10 minutes. Bring a handout if you can. Let me know in advance if you would like to present, and I’ll make up a schedule. My colleague Lynne Gillette will make a presentation on Direct Measurement videos and how to use them. I will talk about using smartPhysics and the flipped classroom. Have you done something innovative? Come and let your peers know the details!
Here are some other things you might be interested in:
Speckle Interferometry Opportunity for students:
I went to the AzAAPT meeting two weeks ago at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. There was a good speaker, Richard Harshaw, who talked about his speckle interferometry project. The observations are being made at the McMath Solar Observatory at Kitt Peak. By using speckle interferometry, Harshaw and his group are able to measure the orbits of double stars very accurately. Double stars are important as part of the base of the distance scale. Mr. Harshaw is willing to visit astronomy clubs to lecture. He’s an engaging speaker, and has some opportunities available for high school and undergraduate students to help with the double star research. He would be very happy to answer anyone who contacts him.
His contact information:
Richard Harshaw
Brilliant Sky Observatory
4625 E. Brilliant Sky Drive
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Cell: 480.227.7231
Email: rharshaw2@cox.net
Biosphere 2 is open for teachers some evenings in October:
Several Saturday evenings in October Biosphere 2 will remain open until 8pm (as opposed to the usual closing time 4pm), with visitors allowed to explore B2 at their own pace, scavenger hunts for kids, telescopes for astronomical observing, pizza for sale, and a whole slew of live animals and hands-on STEM activities.
I think these events would be of interest to teachers around Tucson (and beyond) - especially the Oct 25th Discovery Night, in which teachers (with their school ID) get in for half price and are entered into a raffle for a free field trip to B2.
More details are at www.b2science.org, and I am attaching a PDF flyer.
Questions can be directed to Pacifica Sommers. Please use the link in her signature below to contact her and do not reply to this message.
Pacifica Sommers
Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
psommers@email.arizona.edu
801-647-4124
www.biodiversitytheblog.
The STEMAZing Project
DaNel Hogan is director of the STEMAZing project
You can receive the STEMazing newsletter. Sign up at http://www.
DaNel will be our TAPT speaker on January 10th.
This came from Dawn Pelayo:
EDAY! - Science Educator's Day; Tucson, AZ
Great upcoming opportunity for educators!
Free for educators and dinner provided! See below and attached for details.
The Science Educator’s Day (EDAY) is an event intended to expose secondary-school science teachers to the intriguing and educational world of optics, and to suggest ways it can be introduced in secondary school. This year EDAY will take place on Wednesday, 22 October in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
The EDAY 2014 program will include:
• Special Guest Speaker: Michael Raymer
• Approximately 10-20 stations with OSA Student Chapters demonstrating and discussing hands-on activities for teaching optics to secondary school students
• International Year of Light gift bags containing demonstration aids and lesson plans
• Additional optics materials available as door prizes
• A buffet dinner allowing you to mingle with fellow teachers and conference attendees
The registration process is EASY. To confirm your attendance simply email your name and contact information to eday@osa.org. For questions, contact:
Ameé J. Hennig
CIAN-ERC Education & Outreach Manager
University of Arizona
1630 East University Blvd., #501B
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.8253
amee@optics.arizona.edu
Books recommended by Fritz:CIAN-ERC Education & Outreach Manager
University of Arizona
1630 East University Blvd., #501B
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.8253
amee@optics.arizona.edu
Classical Mechanics with Calculus of Variations, Levi.
Naturalism and Pragmatism, Shulkin
The Signal and the Noise, Silver
Morality for Humans: Ethics from the Perspective of Cognitive Science, Johnson
See you October 25th!
Karie
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