Engineering Commons^™

From Soap Bubbles To Cell Membranes, Peter Beltramo

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Have you ever blown a soap bubble and wondered - what causes the bubble to be so stable and produces those colorful reflections of light? The answer lies in a class of molecules known as surfactants, and they have remarkable similarities with the molecules that comprise the cell membrane of all living organisms. In this workshop, we will use the analogy of a soap bubble to describe cellular membrane properties such as chemistry, structure, membrane transport, and ion channel formation. The goals of this workshop are to 1) link initially intractable concepts in biology like intracellular transport to the intuitive …

Brain Science = Biology + Engineering, Jennifer Welborn, Guangyu Xu, Morton Sternheim, Chris Emery

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

This interdisciplinary (physical and life sciences) seminar exposes participants to cutting edge research at UMASS, Amherst, on cell imaging using a chip which gathers a variety of data on the activities of single cells. Part of the seminar will be a presentation of current research in this area, followed by hands-on activities and a visit to the lab where this research is conducted. Application of this new technology to brain research will be discussed as well as the NGSS standards alignment and classroom applications at various levels and disciplines.

Superhero Robotics, Frank Sup, Brian Umberger, Nick Sawyer

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Using Adi To Quantify A Color Change In Crayfish, Jennifer Welborn

STEM Digital

Do Crayfish Change Color If Their Environment Changes? A Guided Inquiry Lab for 7th grade Life Science

Background: There is anecdotal evidence from bass fisherman that crayfish are able to change color depending on their surroundings. A (cursory) literature review of this phenomenon showed that no formal research has been done in this area. Students had an additional informal lesson about research funding (or lack thereof) because of this finding.

Students designed and conducted a controlled experiment to see the effect of changing environment color on crayfish color.

ADI was used to quantify a color change.

Arsenic Project Topics, Julian Tyson

STEM Digital

How do analytical chemists make light work in tracking potentially harmful chemicals?