Today the students got to go across campus to the Old Pharmacy building that has now been converted into a “multidisciplinary building” that houses several biology laboratories, including Dr. Robin Cooper’s. Dr. Cooper and several of his graduate students led the students through a series of different experiments involving neuroscience, specifically our senses and the sense of fruit flies. Students explored heart rates using sensors and computer programming – they were able to see an echocardiogram of their heart. They analyzed their heart rates at rest and when they were excited.
They also worked with fruit flies, conducting a variety of experiments with them. They gathered data and analyzed their results to produce scientific conclusions. One of their favorite experiments was inducing a coma:
Robotics proved to be exciting today with the mini-challenges over and the rings taped on the floor…it was “fighting” time today! The students took turns having their robots competing against each other…the last robot standing won! Most of the competitions were one vs. one, but I heard through the grapevine there were about 6 robots competing against each other at one point…
In their words… We ask the students the three questions below each day…here are some of their answers.
- That your heart rate changes when your scared rather than relaxed.
- Flys can last 3 hours in cold temperatures
- I made flies pass out…
- I thought that looking at fruit flies’ behaviors was really neat because you could learn about why it is that they do the things they do.
- Yes, if I want to be a surgeon this will be vital to my success
Conversation Starters…
- What are the rules of the sumorobots competition? How do you win? Do you program your robot for different moves or how do you take out your opponent?
- What does the light sensor on the robot do?
- What did you learn about your heart?
- What was the most interesting experiment you did on the fruit flies? What did you learn from it?
- How long was your fruit fly in its coma?
- Has this camp made you think about a career in mathematics, science, technology, or engineering? Why or why not?
Video of the Day…
Don’t forget about the pictures we have here! Can you believe tomorrow is the last day!!??