Why We Learn: What Can Ethology Tell Us About Educating Social Animals

The purpose of learning is a question as old as humankind. In "Why We Learn," Kathleen Engelmann explores the calculus of fitness, examining the current system of education and proposing new methods. Her approach involves using student teams to maximize our natural social tendencies, thus fostering the innate drive for education

Determining Stress Tolerance of H. dujardini Subjected to Extreme Conditions

Nicole Valentine, Luis Rivera, Kathleen Engelmann's poster on tardigrades and their tolerance to radiation & extreme temperatures and the ability to study that tolerance in a lab

Carbon Nanotubes Modified for Cellular Membrane Integration

In this examination, we create a functionalized type of carbon nanotube with detergent molecules designed to integrate with cellular membranes via an attractive electrical force between our molecular construct and the membrane itself. Upon examination, the functionality of our construct shows a bond between the carbon nanotube and the detergent molecules. Hopefully opening the door to more advanced studies of cellular interactions

The Human Brain Thermo Receptors: The Best Indicators for Reflecting the Feelings

Thermo receptors are part of the human brain, which reflect differently with changed conditions. Thermo receptors are classified into two categories: Warm and cold thermo receptors. In this abstract, an acceptable temperature analysis incentive is used for measuring the warm and cold cup of coffee used by different age group individuals. Both of the thermo receptors perceive the feelings through the gird of cup that is applied on the palm of the hand. Thus, both cold and warm probes are used with different kinds of temperatures. The cold cup of coffee was about 50 degree Fahrenheit and the warm cup of coffee about 115 degree Fahrenheit. In this experiment, participants showed different responses and reactions to the cold and warm cup of coffee. We measured their responses by giving them questionnaires based on five Likert formula. The experiment assumes that the feelings of human beings can be judged by creating portrait and reverse situation

Interdomain competition: Arabidopsis thaliana versus Soil Bacteria

Plants in their natural habits are constantly competing with other organisms.Arabidopsis thaliana is a model plant that must germinate and grow in the presence ofcommon soil bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis. A.thalianamay compete with soil bacteria such as for water, micronutrients, and the carbohydrate produced by photosynthesis. If there is competition between plants and soil bacteria, conditions that favor the growth of microorganisms will negatively impact plant development.A. thaliana was grown in petri dishes inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis. Murashige and Skoog agar, a plant growth media, was used initially, to favor plant growth. The experiment was done in both warm conditions, that favor bacteria, and cool conditions, that discourage bacterial growth, and at high and low concentrations of bacteria. Later in the experiment, the growth of P. aureginosa and B. subtilis was enhanced by adding nutrient broth to the petri dishes. We found that, under these conditions, the plants are only vulnerable to bacterial competition at the earliest stages, and only with low concentration of B. subtilis under warm conditions. Bacterial growth later in plant development actually seems to promote plant growth

Germination response of Arabidopsis toconcentration of Nitrates in an Aquaponic Hydroponic system

Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Columbia) was planted on sponges in 4 tanks with continuous aeration through airstones. Different amounts of fish under the same growing conditions for 5 weeks. An equal food-fish ratio was given to all tanks except the control which was a hydroponic setup with Murashige and Skoog solution, a plant growth medium, at 1/5 strength. The growth solution was changed once per week and fish water was partially changed every two weeks. pH, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and plant number were recorded once per week. A slow growth was observed in all tanks and the control treatment died on the 3rd week

Can Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds Survive Exposure to Extreme Cold?

Amanda Scott, Bryant Brown, John Solomon's poster about Arabidopsis thaliana seeds and there ability to survive exposure to extreme cold

Morphological Variations of Arabidopsis thaliana Caused by Altered Timing and Exposure Lengths to Red and Far-Red Light

A poster of a study looking at the effects of red light on the Arabidopsis thaliana plant

The Growth of Arabidopsis thaliana Facilitated by Microbe Interaction

Bessie Abrego, Kayla Simmons, and William Omdahl's poster on the presence of microorganisms will facilitate the germination and growth of Arabidopsis thaliana

The Effects of Water Stress and Apical Auxin Receptor Coverage on Phototropism in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana was first grown in the environmental chamber. The water tray and soil were kept moist for all plants as seedlings. They were kept in16 hours light and 8 hours of dark condition until they developed 4 true leaves. At this point, watering of one group of plants ceased in order to create a water stressed environment for this group. The other group continued to receive regular watering via hydrobubbles (the watering tray was kept dry). Select individuals’ apical meristems were covered with white out in order to block the auxin receptors (a total of 10 would be examined during the experiment). The two groups were then added to a secluded area where they were provided with blue light positioned on the left side for 16 hours a day. Each day the plants were rotated, the set of plants in front from each treatment (dry and watered) faced the light, during the rotation the two groups closest to the light were moved to the back, the next two being moved forward (as seen below). Every day the water for the regularly watered treatment was checked, hydrobubbles were used water in order to maintain a slow release of water to the plants (shown as the pink spheres in some of the images). The angle of 10 covered and 10 uncovered plants was measured at 3 different dates during the experiment to see the effects of water stress and auxin receptor coverage on phototropism