danaleeling

Laboratory four begins with a line of marbles on a ruler. Before I roll one marble into a line of five marbles, I ask the students to predict what will happen. Some guess that all of the marbles will move, others guess that one will move. Then I roll the marble. I follow-up with predictions and observations of two marbles rolling into four, three into three, and so forth. I also demonstrate that speed in equals speed out.  Stacy and Krystal consider their calculations   I usually focus the student's attention on the penultimate marble in the stationary line. I ask, "How does this marble know whether to stay or to go?" The students start throwing out terms such as "force" or "energy." This term one student suggested "magic." Another said, "The marble can feel whether one or two marbles have hit the other end." This usually leads to a discussion of what marbles can feel, and whether they have those feelings hurt. "Can marbles f...

The ethnobotany class students gave individual presentations on healing plants. The following are some images and information from a sample of these presentations. Yvonne Sue of Pohnpei presented on the use of eight inner shoots of the grass reh padil to treat diarrhea. Jessica of Pohnpei presented on the use of kareretik (a small, very tart likely variety of key lime found here on Pohnpei) to treat kopokop (cough) and inta laud (high blood pressure). For cough, the fruit juice is consumed uncut with water. Jeffrey presented the Pohnpeian use of topwuk ( Premna obtusifolia ) in combination with ilau ( Clerodendrum inerme ) and konok ( Piper ponapense ) for umwlap (medicinal steam bath). Jeffrey also detailed the resolution of boils, umpwos , using leaves heated on hot rocks and then applied with marekeiso (coconut oil) to the boil. Qdelia of Pohnpei covered the use of koramahd ( coleus ) for herpes zoster infection. Marcia noted the use of i ( Morinda citrifolia ) to treat diabete...

In a rather overly simplistic physics demonstration of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, I used a RipStik at the bottom of a hill to show I had no potential for motion - no energy due to my gravitational position.  Then I moved up slope and mounted up onto the caster board without pushing off with my foot.  I then accelerated down slope, trading gravitational potential energy for kinetic energy. I then carved around on the board and noted that I could not gain speed going uphill. I was now trading kinetic energy, speed, for gravitational potential energy. I also demonstrated that I could continue uphill beyond the energy available from my speed only by swizzling the RipStik. Going uphill requires energy. Crude, primitive, and lacking in measurements, but as a basic demonstrator of the concepts, the RipStik was again useful. Earlier demonstrations included constant linear motion and accelerated motion .

In the spring of 2009 I moved beyond pedometers and into an effort to tally 200 minutes of running per week. The target of 200 minutes per week was a result of a previously found relationship between a seven day pedometer average and my seven day total running time.  A month into the 200 minute program and initial results were promising. The key indicator was a three month weighted average of my seven day total time statistic. The goal was 200 minutes per week, but not a Sunday to Sunday basis. I used a spreadsheet to track my seven day total running time each and every day. A simple seven row sum function handled this. Each day I could calculate how many minutes I needed to maintain 200 minutes of running. The three month weighted average consisted of a 50% weight on the average of the most recent thirty days worth of the seven day total time, one-third on the prior 30 days, and one sixth on the thirty days before that. Thus the average was a three month span, but with half ...

While El Niño puts the deep freeze on north america, europe, and siberia, Pohnpei continues to provide reasons for letting go of an unhealthy attachment to the four seasons. Here are three of those reasons.  One. Two. Three. Try striking a pose soaking wet while outside in Omaha right now. Continental on roll-out at the end of the runway. The work being done is on an extension to the runway.

Laboratory 032 involves timing the fall of a ball to determine the acceleration of gravity g. Cecelia drops the ball while Brigida observes. Eliander is the dropper-timer while Steward secures the meter sticks. Mayleen and Irene work along the laboratory windows. Nick and Kesusa work on top of a table to get drops as high as 300 cm. The final drops are made from a balcony outside that provide drop heights of 400 and 500 centimeters. Data from the laboratory (OpenOffice.org Calc file). Nancyleen working with Cecelia.

A family should really Stik together through the bumps and falls in life. We are working on a " flight formation " routine where we sweep down slope together with proverbial "36" inch cockpit-to-wingtip separation in echelon and diamond formations. The we split or cross-over. For reasons that baffle me, mass is playing a role in our downhill speeds. In the underlying physics the mass cancels out - the old feather and hammer fall at the same rate in a vacuum physics experiment. And no, air resistance is not a significant differential factor at the speeds we attain, a mere two meters per second at best. So when we do a formation turn the least massive has to be on the inside, with the middlemost massive in slot, and myself on the outside of the curve. More massive is faster in the world of caster boarding down slope. I tend to fall more often than the other two, but I view my re-acquaintance with the ground in a positive light. Learning to rebalance oneself...