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Campers
focus on constructive
science
by Jon
Sherman
Another week of Summer Science Camp has brought an entirely fresh set
of constructive experiences to a group of area students.
Learning under the watchful gaze of professional educators at the
University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, the students are discovering
complex scientific principles in a non-threatening, fun sort of way.
On Tuesday afternoon, the students were doing "mouse work"
with Dr. Margaret Peaslee of the biology department.
Through a hands-on laboratory project, the students studied the
habits of the mice, including growth curves for their "pups."
Using sections of both clear and opaque plastic pipe, the students
constructed elaborate mazes and then observed how subject mice
approached the course.
One young lady thought it might be interesting to see if a female
mouse ran the course any more efficiently than a male mouse.
Unfortunately, the idea came to her too late to try on Tuesday - but the
camp runs for the rest of this week.
After cleaning up from the mice experiments, the students traveled to
the classroom of Dr. Nancy Tress, also of the biology department.
Tress was teaching about fingerprinting. The plan was for the
students to learn about the individuality of fingerprints and how law
enforcement officers match up portions from evidence collected at crime
scenes.
The students also will learn how to take their own prints.
Following through on the crime-fighting theme, Tress took the
students outside Broadhurst Science Center where a shoe print had been
left in the earth. Tress mixed a plaster solution and demonstrated how
to place it on the print to make an impression.
Tress explained that such plaster casts can give valuable information
as to the brand of shoe, the weight of the individual, whether he/she
walks with a limp and other information.
While Tress was dribbling the plaster solution on the shoe print, one
of the students questioned how such obviously cops-and-robbers
activities could fall under the domain of biology.
"You know, just because it's not boring doesn't mean it isn't
science," Tress said as she assured the students that biology has
many faces.
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