Bat Dissection on Halloween!

       
            Today we went to the Science Center to dissect a…bat! The preservative hurt my nose; however, I eventually got used to the burning smell.

            The first activity was watching a video about bats with large wings hunting their prey. The video was very interesting because some bats catch their small insect prey with their tiny feet.

            After the very interesting video, it was time to learn a few educational bat facts: the smallest bat can be the size of a finger, and the largest bat can be the size of a bathtub. Wow! More interesting facts are that mega bats eat fruit, pollen, and nectar, and micro bats eat insects, like moths and butterflies. Vampire bats suck blood, of course.

            Finally it was time to dissect a bat. We started our dissection by pinning the small Mexican free-tailed bat’s wings to the square shaped, blue dissecting mat. Then we kept ripping off the skin and we were cutting bones like you could not believe. After we completed our dissection, our bat was completely decimated. We had a fun and batty time at our favorite science place, the Arizona Science Center. 

Mexican free-tailed bat

     Interesting bat facts:

• Bat urinate while drinking blood from cattle.
• They are related to lemurs and apes.
• The largest bat is the size of a bathtub.
• Bats come out at night so they have less competition from birds for hunting insects.
• They hang upside down so it is easier for them to let go, flap their wings, and fly off.
• Bats eat 60% of their body weight everyday.

Decimated!

A foot on the electronic microscope.

The bat still in its jar.

Arcosanti: An Urban Laboratory

October 30, 2012

       Today we visited Arcosanti in central Arizona near Mayer to learn about how people can live in a dense area instead of in suburban sprawl. The architect, Paolo Soleri, used a concept called arcology, which combines the word architecture, which is designing and constructing buildings, with the word ecology, which is the interaction of people with their environment. Arcosanti's goals are to live as a community and to be frugal with time, space, and resources. One example of a multi-use area at Arcosanti are the stargazing steps which can be both steps and a place to view the night sky. Another idea practiced at Arcosanti is light harvesting and using passive sunlight. This is when the sun shines on bricks and concrete, and then heats the rooms. To make Arcosanti cooler, parts of buildings are underground; also water flows through areas to keep it cool by evaporation.

Only 5% of Arcosanti has been built.

We learned how bells are made with bronze. The bell makers take heated bronze and pour the hot bronze into a square shaped box filled with sand. One favorite part of the trip was seeing the bell makers pour the burning and fiery liquid bronze. I could feel how hot the liquid bronze was because my eyes were squinting from the heat. The importance of the bells, besides the artistic part of it, is to sell them to raise money so the architect can fund the building of more houses, and continue to expand the arcology community.

Paolo Soleri bells

            Our tour guide was named Danny. He was a very friendly man, and he knew a plethora of knowledge about the community. He lives in Arcosanti in a small apartment above his work area, which has a plethora of insects. Even though Arcosanti had some nasty desert critters, it was still an interesting and educational place to visit. Thank you Danny for exposing the Education Girlz to arcology!    

Facts:

     1. Arcosanti was built in the 1970's in central Arizona, near Mayer, Arizona, 1 hour and 22 minutes from here.
     2. Arcosanti’s location has an elevation of 3,372 feet and we are 1,124 feet, so we might be prepared for colder weather than here.
     3. We can visit Arcosanti from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m, seven days a week 928-533-8295.
     4. The cost is a $10.00 suggested donation for each person.
     5. The architect, Paolo Soleri, wanted to use a concept called arcology which combines architecture and ecology.
     6. Arcosanti is an urban laboratory (not lavatory), which means it is an experimental town, focused on design and community.
     7. The town of Arcosanti is planned for 5,000 people; however, today it is home to just 60 residents.
     8. Today it continues to operate under the Cosanti Foundation which is located in Scottsdale.
     9. The Education Girlz have a reservation to take a private, two hour tour of Arcosanti on Monday, October 29, at 10 a.m. with Danny. We plan to have lunch in their café after the tour, and then take a short hike south of Arcosanti to get a view of this amazing city. We will stop at the Rock Springs Cafe for pie on the way home!

Star gazing steps.

Thanks Danny!

We sampled the pecan pie, the pumpkin pie, and the coconut cream pie!

Egyptian Shadouf

Lauren and Samantha made shadoufs out of modeling clay, tin  foil, and skewers.

Samantha demonstrates how to scoop water from the Nile.

Shadoufs were used by the ancient Egyptians as a tool for irrigation.

This model shows the main parts of a shadouf.

Octopus Dissection Lab

Name That Asteroid for NASA

        

Asteroid Fuxi

         After studying gods and goddesses around the world, I have decided to choose Fuxi for the name of asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ 36. Fuxi is a myth of ancient China; he is half human, half dragon. He was the world’s first teacher, and OSIRIS-REx is on a mission to return to us and teach us about the structure of asteroids. Fuxi, the myth, was a protector of all people, and this mission is to gain knowledge to protect humans in the future. I chose a Chinese myth because there are no asteroids named after mythological gods or goddesses from China that I know of. Also China has the only man-made structure that can be seen from space: the Great Wall of China. In 2016, when OSIRIS-Rex launches, I will be just starting high school, and I look forward to following the chase of Fuxi.  By Lauren

The Chinese god Fuxi.

Asteroid Hina

ina issh Hina should be the name for the asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ 36 that OSIRIS-REx will visit after 2016. Hina is the Hawaiian goddess of space. For example, if people look up at the sky they will soon imagine that they can see OSIRIS-REx taking a sample of the asteroid, Hina. Hina lives in the moon and beats a tapa cloth that makes the white clouds. Hina will be chased and caught by OSIRIS-REx, so they will be connected. This shows that they are almost joined. I am hoping to see the piece of Hina that OSIRIS-REx brings to our scientists. By Samantha

The Hawaiian goddess Hina.

OSIRIS-REx

Busy Bones

The spongy bone and the bone marrow were removed from the cow's bone.

October, 17, 2012

            We took our home school class to the Arizona Science Center and learned about busy bones. We started out with making a model of a skeleton on a large sheet of construction paper. Our ingredients were bone stickers, labels, and a body outline. Our lesson was to attach the bone parts to the correct area of the body. When we were finished with that project, it was time to start a surprise dissection. When we received our cow’s bone, we started to pick at the bone marrow and the spongy bone. We finally revealed the inside of the bone. It resembled a telescope when we were finished picking with a nail.

            We also learned about joints that allow our body to move. We learned about six types of joints: pivot, ball and socket, saddle, ellipsoid, hinge, and gliding plane. In our body Ligaments connect bones to bones, and tendons connect bones to muscles. Did you know that children have more bones than adults? This is because bones attach to other bones once children mature. There are more than three hundred bones in your body; take good care of them! By Samantha