Transcript German presentation - Active Life Learning

A direct way to
Biology, Chemistry, Maths
and Computer Application
Experiences and Projects
 Biology
- Limnology: Row ,row, row your boat
- GEO-Day of Biodiversity: Ecosystems and Citizen Science
- Ecology: Meeting Dracula‘s little Cousins
- Genetics: CSI Rahel-Varnhagen-Kolleg
- Evolution: Whales with legs/Hello, Mr. Mettmann/Heritage in Stone
 Chemistry
-Homemade Aspirin and the process of esterification
- Photometer in charge of water quality
 Maths
- Let‘s have fun: Calculating anamorphosises
 Computer Application
- Genes and molecules in action – It‘s a wrap: Starting our own editon of videoclips
In the beginning: The idea
 When teaching science you have the choice to stay in the
classroom and use computers or traditional chalk or to go
outside as often as you can to give the students access to
real experiences and scientific work.
 The Rahel-Varnhagen-Kolleg is situated in a part of
Germany close to the Rhine and Ruhr area with universities
and museums but close to the more rural highlands, too.
 So – let‘s make the best of it!
Limnology: Row your boat
When teaching ecology, we concentrate on
freshwater ecosystems. So each summer and
autumn classes stay at the „Sorpetalsperre“ one
of several water reservoirs situated in the
highlands to take samples of plankton and collect
data on several chemical parameters. Besides of
scientific work it‘s having fun and practising
teamwork.
Sorpe-Talsperre
The water reservoirs were built
to support the industrial areas
and for drinking water. Today
they are mostly used for
recreation. The SorpeTalsperre is one of the deepest
and has an excellent water
quality in the main basin.
Approaching the
right spot on the
main basin
Collecting samples
Measuring depth,
temperature,
visibility and
collecting samples
for several chemical
parameters and
plankton organims
are the tasks divided
amongst the
students.
No, it‘s not karaoke. We
are ready for measuring
Ropes can be tricky
Water and plankton samples
GEO-Day of Biodiversity
More popular in countries like Great Britain or the
United States a new apporach to get high amounts of
data or information with the help of laymen has been
established. Citizen Science joins the exact methods of
scientific research and the enthusiasm of interested
people. GEO, a magazin dealing with geography,
biology, medicine and other topics regularly announces
a contest for schools and other groups to look for
creepy crawlies, birds or plants and encourages them to
send their lists of species and research logs to it.
A small group of people took part and
concentrated on a brook in the forest
close to the school. It became „family
business“ with students, their kids and
teachers , all caught by exploration
fever.
A typical brook
in the woods
around Hagen.
Shaded by
trees,
attractive for
amphibians
and animals
adapted to
cool and
oxygen-rich
water.
„Look what I‘ve found!“
No matter, if small or big boy –the
hunter‘s instinct has been risen
The student who wants to study
ecology, the kids and their parents
may spread what they have learned
and help protecting biodiversity.
An intense look to indentify
insect laravae, crustaceans,
molluscs and planaria
Ecology: Meeting
Dracula‘s little Cousins
All European bats
forage for insects.
Different times for
hunting, different
places (close to the
water surface, between
branches or high in the
air like swallows )
prevent competition.
Noctule (Nyctalus
noctula)
Common Pipistrelle
(Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
Daubenton‘s bat (Myotis
daubentoni)
At daytime just a pond, but at
nightfall the stage for three
different species of bats.
One of the artifical summer
roosts attracting bats which
usually live in holes made by
woodpeckers
Here they come!
The bat-detector
lowers the
frequency of bat
sounds from 24-40
kHz down to a level
human ears are able
to hear.
Genetics: CSI RahelVarnhagen-Kolleg
Know your DNA!
The mobile lab truck
enables the students to
take a probe of their own
oral mucous membrane,
enlarge the DNAsample and analyze a
DNA-fingerprint
Working with
professional lab
equipment is
great!
And offers new
perspectives
concerning a
job after
school!
What‘s next?
Coming in September: Student‘s discussion on genetic engineering
and ethics with a member of the German „Bundestag“
„Nothing in Biology Makes
Sense Except in the Light of
Evolution“ (C.T. Dobzhansky)
The museum of natural
history in Münster had a fantastic
exhibition about whales. The
most fascinating display models
were whale fossils, showing the
developement from a fourlegged land-based mammal
resembling a wolf to the biggest
water-living animal ever.
Casting a critical eye: How big was
Durodon?
Compare the skeletons
of man and dolphin: the
water supports the
body. There‘s no need
for strong bones.
That‘s all what is left of a
Sperm whale‘s pelvis.
Hello Mr Mettmann!
In the early 19th century, the
Neandertal in Mettmann, close to
Düsseldorf was a romantic valley ,
inspiring painters . Later the rocks
gave way to a quarry. One day two
workers had the order to dig out
the mud in a cave and found some
bones. They didn‘t pay much
attention, but their find turned out
to be a hitherto unknown form of
European human ancestor: The
Neandertal Man.
What was left from the body
Parts of the
Neandertaler DNA
has been found in
recent men
Heritage in Stone
Coal can be found in the western part of
the land, sometimes close to the surface,
when earthquakes formed the land
tumbling it upside down. East of Hagen the
underground changes. In the devon period
the land was a part of a shallow tropical
ocean, leaving fossil coral reefs and
dripstone caves when it surfaced.
Tools for
geologists
Let‘s dig!
Discoveries: Brachiopods, corals
and crinoids
40° C in the shade!
No, unfortunately
not our discovery:
The skeleton of a
Cave Bear was found
in the Heinrichshöhle
near Hemer. Men
and his ancestors
inhabited the region
for about 40 000
years. Several layers
of ceremonial burials
were found in a cave
in Hagen within the
last years.
Chemistry: Home-made
Aspirin and the process of
esterification
The Alfred-KruppSchülerlabor belongs
to the Ruhr-University
in Bochum. Here
students can work
under real laboratory
conditions. One of the
topics in advanced
chemistry is about
drugs and medicine
Take some carbon
acid and alcohol
and create a
synthetic fruit
fragrance or take
acetic anhydride
and salicylic acid
and get your own
Aspirin
Beakers, test tubes and condensers:
working in a lab is fun and might help
to choose a job or university course.
Water Quality: using LambertBeer‘s Law for measuring
concentrations
The amount of
chlorophyll a,
phosphate,
ammonia, nitrate,
nitrite, silicate
gives hints about
water quality
After all data are collected: Cleaning up!
– well, someone has to do it!
Maths: let‘s have fun!
First: imagine a geometrical form
Second: calculate your anamorphosis
Third: find some classmates helping to draw
Fourth: Have fun walking on a cube!
Computer Applications
Genes and molecules in action: It‘s a wrap!
In post-production:
„Dance of the
molecules“ a clip
about diffusion
Potassiumferrocyanide and
ferric chloride, 2 yellow
powders, in water quickly
diffuse and react to a dye,
Prussian Blue
Watch:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2101254/Proteinbiosynthese%20v.%205.m
p4
A stop-motion clip about translation
from m-RNA to amino acids, the second
part of proteinbiosynthesis made by the
students based on paper models