Thursday, November 29, 2012

Science, Biology, and History in One


                So I watched a real interesting show on the History Channel this weekend. It was called Mankind The Story of All of Us. If you are a visual learner, I would recommend this mini-series of simple understanding of how the evolution of humans evolved into today. If anyone took a particular BIO 182 lab with a smart and interesting instructor, then the video he showed before the experiment on Becoming Human part 1 on Nova is just like the History Channels program.
The 1 hour Nova program shows how humans took the first step 6 million years ago to separate us from apes. Also, how the tools we used and the force of bipedalism made us into who we are today. On the other hand, the History Channels program shows similar events like the start of farming, inspiration of democracy, the belief of a higher power, the discovery of metals to make weapons, Rome’s advanced empire, and other key events that make who we are today. The species humans went through many obstacles through the ages, and this underdog story of humans explains it in a visual dramatic reconstruction events. I have left two links below for the Nova program Becoming Human part 1, and one link for the History Channels program Mankind The Story of All of Us.
                Furthermore, don’t be frightened by the time of 2 hours and 30 minutes of the YouTube video one because the program was three parts long and the first part is the crucial one hour.









Monday, November 19, 2012

Individual Meeting & "Ideas" On My Mind


                I met with Amanda Chapman last week. I believe she is the director of the S-STEM Scholars program, and I was later directed to the lab staff for a brief interview in the lab department of the DB building. Amanda and I talked a bit about my personal life and goals. She shared some of her experiences and gave some insight of other scholarships later in the future based on my ethnicity. Moreover, the lab staff or lab research advisors were a cool group to be around for their humor attitude. I look forward to working with them because they made me feel real comfortable with the interview situation.
I’m currently struggling with the classes I piled up on me this semester. On the other hand, I look forward to the new experience with the STEM program that require some time from my part and a little bit of critical thinking. I, also, took a look at the “Internship Ideas” of the S-STEM Mentorship Blog. I’m still in the brainstorming process of gaining an idea for my project. Furthermore, I left a list of some particular ideas that came to mind below.
  • The growth of bacteria or some microscopic threat from fiddling with your mouth by your fingers, chewing on objects like pens, pencils, etc., or chewing of nails.
  • What are some of the crucial life conditions of a plant? For example, how much CO2, Light, and other conditions do a plant need to survive on to live.
  • What is the rate of growth for microbes and their interaction between human skins? For example, we as humans touch keyboards, phones, ipods, classroom desks, and other objects of everyday life. The body is a remarkable defense mechanism, so how fast is microbes on the body’s first line of defense growing or spreading.
      I would like to work with Amoeba. The link below show the eating of Amoeba

Friday, November 9, 2012