STEM(in) with Steph

  Hey There!  Yes, it's been awhile and it's time to get back into the swing of things! Wildfires - We have seen a lot of wildfires this past summer; Turner Gulch, Lee Fire, South Rim Fire, Etc.... and those are just the one's that made the news in our state.  Nationally, there were fires going on in just about every state in the west this past summer.  But what happens after a fire goes through the land?  Does everything just start over and regrow?  Actually, it's not that simple.  Below are recent photos from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison 2025 South Rim Fire burn scar. South Rim Fire Burn Scar When a Wildfire goes through the area, the heat created at the base of the burn can be so intense, it causes the soil to develop Hydrophobic Properties.  Watch this video link to learn more. When the temperature rises at the base of the burn, it also kills all the organics that help keep that soil healthy.  The leaves, roots, grasses, are all turne...

Simple Sugar Glucose This month, I got to teach a class on cellular respiration, or how cells make energy.  Cellular respiration is the process of breaking down sugars into ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), what we call energy.  Cells can use Aerobic or Anaerobic pathways for breaking down sugars into energy.  Aerobic means 'with oxygen' while Anaerobic means 'without/lacking oxygen'.  Although a cell can use both pathways to produce energy, the efficiency of ATP production is greatly affected in a non-oxygen environment compared to when oxygen is present for the process.  For comparison, a single glucose (sugar) molecule will produce only 2 ATP in the fast paced and wasteful anaerobic process, while the aerobic process can produce 34-38 ATP from the same, single sugar molecule.   The complicated process of how a cell makes energy Our class experimented with yeast to see how the process works in real time.  We couldn't, of course, see the cellula...

  DNA is the building blocks to all life Deoxyribonucleic-Acid, or DNA for short, is the genetic material that forms the basis of all life.  Without DNA, you would basically be a rock (i.e. rocks are not living and therefore don't have DNA).  Another way to think of DNA is to compare it to a building's blueprint; it is the instruction manual for constructing life.   DNA lives in the nucleolus of every living cell.  It takes the form of a double helix structure, usually depicted in a counter-clockwise rotation (upwards).  Some might refer to its unwound shape as a ladder, with two sugar phosphate 'sides' and rungs made of 4 nucleotide bases joined 1:1: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine.  Unique is also the fact that if you look at the 'rungs' of DNA, Adenine will only pair with Thymine, and Cytosine will only pair with Guanine.  If you really want to get minuet, the whole of DNA is purposefully designed based upon the use of the 5 ...

  Have you ever watched CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)?  It was (is?) a fictional crime drama that invited viewers to follow the process behind crime scene investigations, evidence collection, lab analysis, and eventually apprehending the bad guys!  Another similar program, yet often more realistic as to timelines, is Forensic Files.  Unlike the fictional TV show, Forensic Files shared true case files and the real people who had a hand in solving them.  Where as the TV drama makes it look like evidence review and lab results lead to closed cases every few days, the real investigators make it very clear to audiences that in reality, it can take weeks, months, and even years for evidence to lead them to the crime perpetrator, if ever... Either way you like to watch your crime TV, both shows are exciting as they share the secrets behind solving the mystery!  Both use real life terms, evidence collection methods, lab techniques and machinery, and good old...

  Jamming with Germs! Johnson Elementary 1st grade is doing their part to live healthier and more active lives! Back in October, I was invited into their classrooms to help them look for bacteria (Germs!) around them that they couldn't see with just their eyes. We started out on a Monday by talking a little about germs and what types of bacteria are found around us, good and bad bacteria, and good tips for being healthy. A swab and petri nutrient dish (before germ growth) Next I encouraged all students to wash their hands, and then each put a finger print on the petri (germ depository) dish. Then, students were challenged to take swabs from 1 of 4 places around their classrooms: the sink, their desks, and....my cell phone.... among other class specific locations. The results were...well judge for yourself Johnson 1st Grade Germ Swab Results! DISGUSTING!!!!!! Oh you bet I went home and cleaned my cell phone! After viewing the bacteria cultures on some pretty cool...

  Birds and Bird Feeders! Bagel feeders displayed outside classroom 3rd grade at Oak Grove is studying animals that use Spring Creek during the winter months. Since kids spend so much time indoors during the winter, what better way to observe the birds than by building bird feeders for outside their classroom windows! Students wanted to learn what diets birds best like to eat when given a choice. They crafted 6 bagel bird feeders using a variety of different ingredients including: Lard, Birdseed, Sunflower Seeds, Crackers, and Oats. the bird feeders were all weighed before being hung up outside for a week of observations. Oat bagel 2nd weighing 3rd graders then watched out their windows to see all the different feathered friends that came to eat up the yummy treats. Can you guess what bird feeder was most popular when we re-weighed the feeders a week later? HINT: It shouldn't surprise you!

  Streamflow and RUBBER DUCKIES?!?!?! I'm thrilled to be able to work with Oak Grove Elementary this year on their Problem Based Learning (PBL's) projects. In partnership with Dr. Barbara Shaw, CSU Extension Western Regional STEM Specialist, we are working with 5th grade students to determine the baseline water quality of Spring Creek, which runs behind their school playground. Water is one of the most important resources we have on this planet and our students are learning to both appreciate and protect that resource from pollution. Not our actual rubber duckies Today we visited the creek with our supplies of waders, nets, rulers, measuring tapes, and rubber duckies! QUACK!!! Our goal was to look at 5 different locations around the creek and determine the rate of flow of water by measuring width, average depth, and water speed (by means of racing rubber duckies!) to calculate the water's movement in Cubic Feet per Seconds (CFS). The different speeds, volumes, and movements...