About two weeks ago, I was reading some nonfiction texts on a site called newsela.com, trying desperately to find a topic to use with a group of science teachers in professional development--I read and re-read several articles, trying to find one that appealed to me and potentially a group of science professionals. I mention this because--until two weeks ago--I had no idea what would appeal to an audience of science teachers. I wanted to discover what would illuminate the CCSS shift 2, Knowledge in the Disciplines, for teachers of science. One of the first tenants for scientific thinking is to start from an inquiry stance, so there I started, and I found myself learning to think like a science teacher as I worked my way through several texts. To start, I didn’t have, but I was becoming curious, indeed. My method for selecting a text developed as I read more and more, finally settling on a text that made me curious so that I could move forward and connect my personal curiosity to the field of science, a field I know little about, admittedly, but I do know a lot about literacy, which is the shift 2 focus. So, with curiosity burning inside of me, I settled on a news article that seemed timely, interesting, scientific in nature, and certainly something that could light up the desire for inquiry in a room full of science teachers: Think humans invented the gear? Nature proves us wrong. Wait, I thought, didn’t the ancient Greeks invent the working gear? A new question formed: does everything evolve from nature even when we didn’t know nature had solved a problem? Curiosity from this article propelled me to read several more perspectives on the discovery of the working gears in the planthopper inscect, which helped me to learn more about the topic, shift 2. What follows here is a list of curiosities that were either satisfied or could still burn after I conducted my own reading and learning.
• What did the researchers hope to find in their investigation? Malcom Burrows is a neurobiologist at Cambridge University, and Gregory Sutton is an insect researcher at the University of Bristol. Both researchers have long studied the ways that different species’ anatomy allows them to jump at remarkable rates and were interested in learning more about the “mechanism of this precise synchronization {of the hind legs}”(Luskin). . What they discovered, though, presented them with an opportunity to study something never before seen in animals or insects: working gears, which were long believed to be the creation of man, not nature. The results from the work of Burrows and Sutton are sure to alter history, create conversation, maybe even controversy, and open up new avenues for other fields to make advances in science.
• What scientific methods did the researchers use to study this insect? Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton studied the movement of the planthopper insect using a “high-speed camera shooting at a speed of 20,000 frames per second” (Cole). Burrows and Sutton placed the insects on glue boards, tickled them lightly with the tips of a paintbrush, and captured the movement using the camera that also had a powerful microscope with potent, hot lights attached to allow the anatomy inside the legs of the insect to be visible. The light was so intense that the researchers had to change the specimen every few minutes so that they didn’t harm the insects.
What will other scientists be able to do with this discovery to benefit man-kind?
Many previous researchers have found ornamental “cogs” (gears) in living species, but the planthopper’s working gears are the first ever seen by man. Researchers have often studied plant and animal species in order to advance technology and medicine, and the planthopper gears are certain to influence this type of research. One possibility, noted by Sutton, is that the gear found in the planthopper nymph is “particularly apt for…high precision and speed in one direction”, unlike the gears we see in man-made design like watches and cars. Sutton believes that the nymph’s gears may be a “prototype for a new type of gear.” (Luskin) Another possibility is in the field of bio-inspiration. Could this type of gear be used to develop something to assist the medical profession? What about new hip-replacement options? Could this type of gear be used to influence technological developments in other fields, like the study of how geckos stick to walls using “millions of tiny foot-hairs” in order to develop new adhesive products? Time will tell.
I went to dinner last night with my parents, husband, and daughter--my son was at his first co-ed high school party that his friend threw for Halloween--and we had Chinese. The fortune cookie, not stale this time, read: Emotion is energy in motion. I like this fortune cookie saying because it reminded me of the forward thinking we can do when we become curious. Questioning, inquiring, considering, reseraching, and discovering are all forward energies that require an emotional investment of some sort, perhaps engagement with the topic. A science classroom without a strong dose of curiosity to drive learning lacks any motion--it becomes a stale and stagnant environment. Shift 2 of the CCSS may be a way to avoid stagnation for science teachers, and, for that matter, any teacher.
Works Cited 14, Amina Khan September. "Researchers Find Gears in Nature – on Planthopper Insects." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Burrows, Malcolm, and Gregory Sutton. "Interacting Gears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect." Interacting Gears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect. Science Journal, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Cole, Adam. "Living Gears Help This Bug Jump." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. "Health & Science." Washington Post. N.p., 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. "Mechanical Gears Discovered on Planthopper Insects Provide an Opportunity to Recognize, or Deny, Design - Evolution News & Views." Evolution News & Views. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. "Research." Functioning 'mechanical Gears' Seen in Nature for the First Time. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
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ReplyDeleteAbout two weeks ago, I was reading some nonfiction texts on a site called newsela.com, trying desperately to find a topic to use with a group of science teachers in professional development--I read and re-read several articles, trying to find one that appealed to me and potentially a group of science professionals. I mention this because--until two weeks ago--I had no idea what would appeal to an audience of science teachers. I wanted to discover what would illuminate the CCSS shift 2, Knowledge in the Disciplines, for teachers of science. One of the first tenants for scientific thinking is to start from an inquiry stance, so there I started, and I found myself learning to think like a science teacher as I worked my way through several texts. To start, I didn’t have, but I was becoming curious, indeed. My method for selecting a text developed as I read more and more, finally settling on a text that made me curious so that I could move forward and connect my personal curiosity to the field of science, a field I know little about, admittedly, but I do know a lot about literacy, which is the shift 2 focus. So, with curiosity burning inside of me, I settled on a news article that seemed timely, interesting, scientific in nature, and certainly something that could light up the desire for inquiry in a room full of science teachers: Think humans invented the gear? Nature proves us wrong. Wait, I thought, didn’t the ancient Greeks invent the working gear? A new question formed: does everything evolve from nature even when we didn’t know nature had solved a problem? Curiosity from this article propelled me to read several more perspectives on the discovery of the working gears in the planthopper inscect, which helped me to learn more about the topic, shift 2. What follows here is a list of curiosities that were either satisfied or could still burn after I conducted my own reading and learning.
ReplyDelete• What did the researchers hope to find in their investigation?
Malcom Burrows is a neurobiologist at Cambridge University, and Gregory Sutton is an insect researcher at the University of Bristol. Both researchers have long studied the ways that different species’ anatomy allows them to jump at remarkable rates and were interested in learning more about the “mechanism of this precise synchronization {of the hind legs}”(Luskin). . What they discovered, though, presented them with an opportunity to study something never before seen in animals or insects: working gears, which were long believed to be the creation of man, not nature. The results from the work of Burrows and Sutton are sure to alter history, create conversation, maybe even controversy, and open up new avenues for other fields to make advances in science.
• What scientific methods did the researchers use to study this insect? Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton studied the movement of the planthopper insect using a “high-speed camera shooting at a speed of 20,000 frames per second” (Cole). Burrows and Sutton placed the insects on glue boards, tickled them lightly with the tips of a paintbrush, and captured the movement using the camera that also had a powerful microscope with potent, hot lights attached to allow the anatomy inside the legs of the insect to be visible. The light was so intense that the researchers had to change the specimen every few minutes so that they didn’t harm the insects.
•
What will other scientists be able to do with this discovery to benefit man-kind?
DeleteMany previous researchers have found ornamental “cogs” (gears) in living species, but the planthopper’s working gears are the first ever seen by man. Researchers have often studied plant and animal species in order to advance technology and medicine, and the planthopper gears are certain to influence this type of research. One possibility, noted by Sutton, is that the gear found in the planthopper nymph is “particularly apt for…high precision and speed in one direction”, unlike the gears we see in man-made design like watches and cars. Sutton believes that the nymph’s gears may be a “prototype for a new type of gear.” (Luskin) Another possibility is in the field of bio-inspiration. Could this type of gear be used to develop something to assist the medical profession? What about new hip-replacement options? Could this type of gear be used to influence technological developments in other fields, like the study of how geckos stick to walls using “millions of tiny foot-hairs” in order to develop new adhesive products? Time will tell.
I went to dinner last night with my parents, husband, and daughter--my son was at his first co-ed high school party that his friend threw for Halloween--and we had Chinese. The fortune cookie, not stale this time, read: Emotion is energy in motion. I like this fortune cookie saying because it reminded me of the forward thinking we can do when we become curious. Questioning, inquiring, considering, reseraching, and discovering are all forward energies that require an emotional investment of some sort, perhaps engagement with the topic. A science classroom without a strong dose of curiosity to drive learning lacks any motion--it becomes a stale and stagnant environment. Shift 2 of the CCSS may be a way to avoid stagnation for science teachers, and, for that matter, any teacher.
Works Cited
Delete14, Amina Khan September. "Researchers Find Gears in Nature – on Planthopper Insects." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
Burrows, Malcolm, and Gregory Sutton. "Interacting Gears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect." Interacting Gears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect. Science Journal, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
Cole, Adam. "Living Gears Help This Bug Jump." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
"Health & Science." Washington Post. N.p., 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
"Mechanical Gears Discovered on Planthopper Insects Provide an Opportunity to Recognize, or Deny, Design - Evolution News & Views." Evolution News & Views. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.
"Research." Functioning 'mechanical Gears' Seen in Nature for the First Time. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.