Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Science Can Be FUN...

I am teaching Biology 100 again... an introduction to biology and a reminder of how biology shows up in our daily lives. I lectured yesterday on "The Scientific Method" ...or in other words, "How To Think Like A Scientist".  After class, I set up for a lab activity that I was going to run today. I created a fake crime scene for the students to observe, take notes, and then develop hypotheses on what they think happened in the lab across the hall.

There was an outline of a dead body (which I drew around myself laying weird on the floor):

 
There was a bloody lab coat draped across a chair (I used ketchup) ...

 
The nearby desk looked like Chemistry gone bad (don't worry, more ketchup):

 
There was a mysterious black glove pinned underneath an overturned chair (a la OJ Simpson-style):

 
There was a white powder-substance in a baggy (not cocaine, baking soda!), fake money, a map with a destination on it and a lighter:

 
There were shoeprints on the floor, running through spilled white powder:

 
But wait! There's more!! There was a bloody knife (more ketchup):

 And a mysterious girl, hiding in the corner (cardboard cutout from an old Hallmark campaign):

 
All behind police crime scene tape:

 
The room was locked and untouched by janitors until this afternoon. I took groups of my students to the crime scene room for 5-minute sessions of quiet observation. Some students missed the girl in the corner. Some students missed the bullet casings on the floor (I added those today). Some students were analysing the splatter pattern of blood (a.k.a. ketchup) which was not only on the lab coat and the floor, but I had accidentally squirted on the wall too (oops!). Some students went back a second time to examine the evidence; they were allowed to talk to each other this time.

They compared notes:

 
These three were FASCINATED by my fake crime scene, running scenario after scenario by each other to explain how the VIC (that's slang for "victim") died. They wanted to know why the silent girl was still in the corner.... I said she was waiting for her lawyer to arrive before she answered any questions:

 

Krista wanted to know why so many chairs were overturned, was there a fight? Elizabeth wished she had a fingerprint kit and wanted to interrogate the mystery girl. And Trevor was the most curious of them all. He even laid down on the floor to figure out whether the dead body outline was face-down or face up and why were the arms & legs so crazy?

 
We all agreed that dead bodies slump over in funny ways when falling on the floor...

Long story short... Seriously! Science CAN be FUN!!!

[Note: It took me about 1/2 an hour to pick all of that yellow tape off of the floor, clean up the desks, and scrub dried ketchup off the wall, table and floor. As for the lab coat, I just shoved it in a bag to bleach later. heh heh heh]

 

 

Farewell, Biologists...

Yesterday was the last day of Biology 100 for summer quarter. I knew it would be intense... cramming 10 weeks of intro biology into 8 weeks of summer! But we did it! Though a couple of students disappeared near the end of the quarter... most students showed up faithfully for class each day, including my last lecture on "SHARKS!".

I snapped some pics last week when we did our last lab exercise. It is a fun one called "Predators vs. Prey".  The students are randomly assigned to be one of 4 different "predators", all with different "mouth parts". Their mouth parts could be a pair of tweezers, a plastic fork, plastic knive or plastic spoon  all paired with a single dixie cup. The "prey" of the day are different colored beans; white, black, red, & pinto beans. We went outside to our "hunting ground" and all of my predators had to turn around while I gave the prey a chance to "hide". Then all predators had five minutes to capture as many prey as they could:

Some predators tried to steal food from other predators -- some hunted in pairs or packs...

We calculated all of the stats and found out that the Spoon Predators were most successful at capturing prey. Of the prey, the white beans were either endangered or went extinct and the black beans were best at hiding from predators!

We took a "nice" picture first, followed by a "not-so-nice" picture...

Ahhhhhhh. Biology. I LOVE IT!!!
 
 
 

My Teaching Philosophy

Meet my group of budding biologists at SVC. I warned them at the beginning of the quarter that this was no ORDINARY "Biology 100" course. I took a camera with me on the second day of class and asked if they would like to do me a small favor. I told them that I am a photography nut and was close to finishing my personal "Project 365" (you can read about this more here). Would they like to be a part of my documented daily life? They all agreed! 

On the first day of class, I went through my syllabus and explained what I hoped to cover in 10 fabulous weeks. I announced that I would only take roll for a few days (so I could figure out their names)-- after that, it was up to each student to come to class. I told them that SOMEONE had paid for their tuition for this class (ex. the student, their parents, a rich uncle, state financial aid) and this meant that someone had paid for a "ticket" to "the show". The show?? I AM THE SHOW!  I guaranteed that I would make biology interesting, that I would make their experience memorable.  I am not a circus performer, but I do LOVE biology!

So the first two weeks of class were predictable. I made brand new PowerPoint lectures that were pretty engaging. I incorporated "Weird Science" trivia at either the beginning or the end of each lecture to add some spice. I asked questions that anyone could answer... dead silence. I asked for guesses on topics before I revealed the answers... a few students started raising their hands to participate. One of my older students told me as she left class one day that she could hardly wait for my next "show". (Hooray!)

Before I started that @#$!#!$% chemisty unit, I asked each row of students to come up to the giant dry-erase boards at the front of the classroom and gave them one minute to draw an "atom", a "molecule" or a "chemical compound". After we looked at the squiggly drawings, we all laughed. Last week, we played a 10 minute round of "Pictionary" to review parts of a cell and they all "won" mini-candy bars for playing.  And I had the whole class doing "the wave" (like fans do at a stadium football or baseball game) to demonstrate how cells in a sea sponge colony all work together to catch food particles and carry them inside. Everyone was smiling, so we did "the wave" again... backwards!

So I mentioned that I had a most excellent day on Wednesday. I did go to see "Oceans" (and I loved every minute of it!).  Afterwards, I went to SVC to teach my noon biology class. As I walked down the long hallway, I saw one of my students hanging around the doorway to my class and dart inside. Whatever. I usually see some students hanging around until the last minute while they are texting on their phones. He was apparently "the lookout" guy, because when I walked inside--- there was a message waiting for me on the gigantic panel of dry-erase boards. It filled two panels and it read, "WELCOME TO THE SHERRI SHOW!!!" in huge letters! It also had a big drawing of a little tropical island with a palm tree and ocean water lapping on the edge of the island. And... there was an squiggly octopus under the sea!  I think I squealed! A bunch of students were watching my reaction in the back row and giggling. They asked if I liked it? I said, "Are you kidding me??? I LOVE IT!!!" hahahahahaha

Needless to say, I kept their message on the boards for the whole period (I lowered a screen on the side for my PowerPoint lecture). And I think they get it. Most students show up every single day. And many of them participate on a regular basis. I think they believe me now when I say I will make biology entertaining. And I think they are enjoying THE SHOW. :) 

10 Things I Love Right Now...

It is time for a new Sherri's Top Ten List!  Are you ready?

1) It may be spring but there is still a chill in the air. I have been warming up in the morning with a Starbucks Vanilla Chai Latte (I hate coffee) (extra hot so it will last for awhile) and a molasses cookie. YUM!

 

2) Did you know that we are only a week away from Disney's new movie, "Oceans"???? I can hardly wait!

3) Natasha made a music CD for me to listen to on my way home last weekend. I think this British pop/punk singer is pretty fabulous. Her name is Lily Allen and I have been humming one of her tunes all week... Her lyrics are clever and sassy and her accent is adorable.

4) This song was also on Natasha's music mix and I recognized it immediately:

"Be OK" by Ingrid Michaelson. After surviving a week like this, I know that I will also "Be OK"!

5) My sweet chicken, Chickita, is back on the egg-train! 

She took two months off from egg-laying duty due to molting. Why?? Birds often "molt", or replace feathers, once a year and when that is happening-- it is too energy-expensive to lay eggs and regrow feathers at the same time. Chickita's eggs are unique-- she is the only chicken in my group that lays lovely, lovely green eggs.

We LOVE Chickita's green eggs!

6) OMG! The TV show, "Glee" is back! Hooray!!! Their new episode aired this week without missing a beat from where they left off with this musical-high-school-drama:

 

The cheerleader coach, Sue Sylvester, is still as mean as ever as she is back to take down her nemesis, the Glee Club.  I am already looking forward to next week as they are doing a Madonna-theme!

7) I can't help but smile every time I see this commercial for Amazon Kindle.  The stop-motion animation is fabulous down to the minute details...

 

8) I had a craving for Swedish (gummy) fish yesterday. I stopped at the store, bought a bag, and even incorporated them into my Biology 100 exam today!

At the beginning of the hour, I passed out the exams and then had each student take a gummy fish from my bag. I used it as a "prop" for Question #5 that read, "Examine the object Sherri has given you. If this were REAL, which kingdom would it belong in?"  I haven't graded exams yet, but I seriously hope every student got this particular question RIGHT. ha! [Answer: Kingdom Animalia]

9) Another one of my favorite TV shows is about to climax. Project Runway (Season 7) is now down to their final three fashion designers to compete during Fashion Week in Bryant Park. I was rooting for different designers along the way... My new favorite is Seth Aaron Henderson from Vancouver, WA. He is slightly eccentric in personality, dresses like a preppy punk rocker, loves vinyl and lots of zippers. Would I wear his clothes? No, not me. BUT... he is very, very creative and innovative in all of his endeavors. His clothing is meticulously made. He is a family man and loves his wife & kids. I like that he is willing to take risks. 

Underneath his spiky, black-dyed hair, tattoos and black fingernail polish-- he is very grounded. He is confident without back-stabbing his fellow fashion designers. Good luck, Seth Aaron!

9) I am soooooo relieved. I am finished lecturing on chemical compounds:

[This is NH3; also known as ammonia.] On Monday, I can begin a new set of lectures on CELLS:

10) College exams don't have to be all work and no play. I had a chemistry professor many years ago that always put a cartoon on the last page of his exams. Though I struggled with that course (my "ah-haaaa!" moment for Chemistry happened a year or two later), he always made me feel better on the last page. When I became a professor-- I adopted his practice. Here is a classic "The Far Side" cartoon by Gary Larson that usually shows up once in my exam pages:

 

Happy Friday!

From "A" to "B"

Where, oh where, has the week gone???

All I know is that I was burning my candle on both ends... again. Instead of being two lectures ahead of my students in Biology 100-- I am writing them the night before. I cranked out a lecture on "The Scientific Method" on Sunday night and gave it on Monday.

This is what I was lecturing about on Wednesday:

This is an atom. I was lecturing on "The Atomic Theory" and how there is a lot of chemistry in biology.

That night, I was catching up on something else:

This is a baby. His name is Elijah and I was babysitting. And I love him. When he falls asleep at our house, I can't seem to put him down. I just want to hold him, rock him, and breathe. I watch him sleep. I like how he covers up his eyes when he is tired. He was also holding his baby pacifier in place. I study his face and his hands. And life is very, very good when I am holding this baby. I have learned through my own life experience that babies grow up too fast. Though I often live my life in hyper-speed-- I want to make it slow down when I am with our new grandson. He is worth it.

Weird Weather!

Bill and I went out to dinner Friday night with our friends, Kris & Darin:

It was cold.... it was windy... as a big storm was moving in.  On our way home, we passed a bank sign and we COULD NOT BELIEVE how bad it was, here in Washington  state! Yes, it was after 8 p.m.:

And this was what we were experiencing:

I am soooo glad we glad we had the sunroof closed! YIKES!

The Back-Up Plan

Sometimes life gets too busy to go as planned...

For example, I found out 2 weeks ago that I would be teaching Biology 100. I KNOW Biology but I haven't TAUGHT beginning biology for a loooong time-- so this would take some organization to  re-create it "Sherri-style". 

I wasn't really worried about it two weeks ago-- I was still working on my future sewing room (in progress), I decided to take ALL of our music CDs out of their plastic cases and put them into media binders (another Sherri great idea!), I was creating cool salads for my chickens and spending time with the new Rodgers who moved back into town (J & A & BABY E).

But then I woke up in the middle of the night last week and thought to myself, "CRAP!! I better put some things together for Biology 100!!!" So I wrote 1/2 my syllabus then shifted gears to finish our income taxes. [My justification: April is coming and I wasn't sure if we were paying or receiving a refund.]  I wrote the other 1/2 of my syllabus on Sunday and planned my second lecture. I xeroxed some things on Monday. I tried to write my first lecture at home last night BUT Bill was entertaining a bunch of his friends with a new board game called "Diplomacy". He bought some really good chips and dips...they were all drinking Fat Tire beer... And I found myself talking and laughing with his friends... and (big surprise?) I didn't get much done. Oh well, I had one more day!

Tonight the pressure was ON for me to finish that lecture. But first, I stopped by the college on my way home from work to check out my new classroom and test the new media technology in SVC's brand new science building. From past experience, this is ALWAYS a good thing to do when you are a part-time instructor and you are walking into the classroom 5 minutes before it begins. You need to know WHERE the dry erase markers are (=old school lecture notes on the boards) and HOW the high tech computer and projectors work for your cool PowerPoint presentations. You also need to check your security codes (only instructors get to use the cool media toys) and find out where the nearest bathrooms are (just in case).  GOOD THING that I did that!! Because they made a last minute schedule change and my lecture room changed! (OMG!) I went to sign onto the fancy media system and my passwords didn't work! And I caught wind from another biology instructor that during her first day in class, the computer didn't work and she had to wing her first lecture without a presentation!  Oh Nooooooooooooooo!

A few years ago, I would have been sobbing over this. Instead, I ate dinner. I tucked in chickens. I worked on some of my faculty online stuff, like Blackboard and my faculty email account. Then I got to work on the first lecture. It is pretty good. I hope my PowerPoint presentation will be grab their attention tomorrow......but in my head I have been working on my back-up plan. Just in case EVERYTHING goes WRONG in the classroom tomorrow. I packed my teaching bag with a fresh dry erase marker in case I have to put some notes on the board. I have some fun science books to read some excerpts out of. And I can tell these fresh faces how much I love science.

My secret goal is to make them fall in love with biology.  If that doesn't happen, maybe they will learn to like it.  I'll let you know how it goes... (insert crossed fingers here)

A Sherri Medical Mystery...

Today I went to see a doctor. Only because Bill MADE me promise to go see a doctor...

This is a slightly awkward topic to blog about... but it is not that strange. No, it is not a "feminine problem"-- rather a "it can happen to anyone" problem. I have a mysterious rash and it has not gone away in 3 weeks. And it is in weird places; on my throat, my shoulders, middle of my back, here & there.

So, here is my disclaimer: I am a smart woman. And I was NOT going to pay a dumb office visit co-pay to show a doctor my rash and be told to buy some stupid over-the-counter ointment that would solve my silly problem. So I have been carefully analyzing my rash situation. I have not changed laundry detergent or any of my body products. I have not eaten shellfish or rare, tropical fruit. I have washed all of our bedding in hot water (we have kitties that sleep on our bed) but no change. Bill does not have my rash, so that clears the bedding and also proves it is not contagious. I am not taking any new medications, I am not running a fever, it is not fungal. I have tried hydro-cortisone cream (which works for many skin outbreaks) and no real changes. I have been taking Benadryl at night (so I don't scratch in my sleep), but that has not cleared it up as a allergic reaction.

I have talked to Jeremiah (our family medic) and we brainstormed some of those elements. I thought it might be stress-related-- you know, we have had ALOT of stuff going on in the Rodgers household (ex. buying a house for J & A, raising chickens, preparing for the holidays, working in retail during the holidays, you get the drift!)-- but some really great things have happened too (ex. having a new grandson, knowing Nick is home safe from Iraq, closing the house deal)! So what ?!?!?!

Long story short, here is my good news today:

1) Bill made me go to the walk-in clinic. Seriously.

2) The doctor was stumped. I had answers for all of his questions and he couldn't explain it either!

3) He prescribed something stronger than an ointment that might work.

4) When I went to pick up the new prescription, the pharmacist was pretty funny. She said, "You should take 2 of these pills IMMEDIATELY.  You will feel like you are a woman on the go, go, go. You should take them again tomorrow morning. You just might not sleep great tonight." I said,"Are you saying they will make me jittery? Wired? Or can you tell I am a woman who is always on the go, go, go?"  She laughed. (We agreed I could take them with Benadryl and THAT would knock me out.)(Terrific!)

5) Obama's health care plan must be working for ME today.... Why? Because my prescription only cost me 37 cents. I loved that!

P.S. That was not an President Obama slam-- I fully support Obama & his health care plans. Seriously.