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Fruit salad

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A fruit type presentation developed for botany class was used in ethnobotany fall 2025. The videos that had been used up until spring 2025 tended to be ignored by the students and were not well focused on the fruits encountered in the fruit salad activity. The students are of a generation that can tune out a YouTube video as background noise. And the fruits shown in the videos were of a temperate climate focus. The botany slide deck, however, included material that is relevant to agriculture majors in a botany course, material that is not part of a general education non-major non-lab science course. A slide deck more tightly focused on the activity was prepared for use.  The class was scheduled to end early to accomodate student evaluations of the course. With this in mind a handout of fruit types based on the one in the text and used on botany was prepared. The handout lacked a header label and doesn't line up the fruit types into a common column. This proved confusing. The hand...
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Optics

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This term optics week was not hit with a holiday. Monday was DVD throwback. Two years since the reflection and refraction DVD was hauled out and shown.  Wednesday was optical demonstrations including the disappearing beaker.  The double beakers are in the optics container along with the coins for the hidden coin. The 60-60-60 prism is also in the optics container and is not with the other prisms. The board shows the progression from left to right of the demonstrations using the laser. The demonstrations wrapped up with the image produced by a convex lens. Rainbow refraction was also mentioned.  A rainbow has a primary bow and, in reversed order, a secondary bow, with Alexander's dark band between the bows.  The set up song was Chemical Brothers Sometimes I Feel so Deserted. The set up coffee was caramel macchiato three-in-one. The fruit salad bowl was disincluded - fall 2025 the bowl ...
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Botany lab twelve photosynthesis

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This term the early preparation of plants was overlooked. Spring break preceded to the laboratory. Test plants were not set up until Easter Sunday. This also did not leave open the opportunity to dry run the set ups at the house. This failure to use well established plants and to have trial run the plants would haunt the laboratory. Plants wound up in paper cups, and the plants were not yet stable with intact root hairs. The plants were still stressed by the following Tuesday, only 40 hours after being transplanted. The tongs were to lower the paper cups into the photosynthesis chambers. The Vabira unit was measuring Centella asiatica. The Vabira requires a rather lengthy calibration period to the current atmospheric carbon dioxide levels which are roughly 433 ppm at present. The issue of the oxidation of RuBisCo, typically around 30°C, would also be a potential issue. The Neulog unit was measuring Alternanthera sessifolia. ...
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