Common Core Standards for STEM Practices & School Library

Media Center Research

Cecil County Association of School LibrariansSpring 2012

High School Physics Research Project

Research Question Exploration Assignment

Purpose - explore areas of science that may be of interest to you as an introduction to our research and design course and capstone project.

Product• Completed web of your idea evolution• Bibliography of at least ten sources and 5 full

journal articles• One summary of a full scientific journal article

Model

Question & Seek Answers

Investigate The World Around Them

Alex Alvarez 1/20/12Traumatic Brain Injury in High School Athletes

All high school students that participate in sports always have a risk of getting a sports-related injury. One of the most severe injuries that can be caused in these sports are concussions. Concussions are a major concern and can result from a rotational or linear force applied directly to the head and this causes the brain to jolt. Therefore the force applied on the head can cause a concussion which then can produce a variety of damages to the brain including disability or death. In this study for mild traumatic brain injuries they examined the frequency patterns of the mild brain injuries that are associated with ten chosen high school sports. These sports include boys’ and girls’ soccer, wrestling, field hockey, baseball, softball, and girls’ volleyball. The study used data National Athletic Trainer Association (NATA) injury surveillance program, this study was designed to discover the impact that sport related factors have on the incidence of injuries along varsity high school athletes. A total of 114 high schools participated for 3 years, 42 recorded data for 2 of the 3 school years, some schools didn’t offer all 10 sports. Out of the study the highest cases of incidents for brain injuries occurred in football and basketball. (63%) of the cases were football. Involvement of sponsors, researchers, medical professionals, coaches, and sports participants is essential to help minimize the risk of brain injuries in sports.

Search For A Variety Of Answers

Obesity

Fat cells

You have the same ammount through

adulthood Number of fat cells is determined during

adolesence. which is why most obese children end up

being obese adultsWeight loss and gain are the shrinking or expanding of cells

Diets

Artificial sweetners may be calorie free

but they can confuse your bodies calorie counting abilities.

your body thinks its consuming real

sugar. so it increases fat storage.

Diet pills

scientists have found a pill that helps prevent

obesity related complications in lab

rats.. its unsure wether it works in humans or

not

Scientists still say that the pill is no replacement for heathy eating.Surgery

Gastric bypass decreases the volume of the

stomach. decreasing

appetite

Investigate Topics That Interest Them

Articles:• "Proof, at Last! Hubble and Chandra Detect First Physical Evidence of Black Holes." Today’s

Science On File: n. pag. Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, 28 Feb. 2001. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. http://www.2facts.com/article/s0901010

• Hill, Raymond P.. "Explosion of Luck: Scientists Observe the Birth of a Supernova." Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, June 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.

• http://www.2facts.com/article/s1600070• "Black Hole Catches Falling Star." Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, Sept. 2011.

Web. 20 Jan. 2012. • http://www.2facts.com/article/s1900074• "Stephen Hawking: Shedding Light on Black Hole Physics." Today’s Science. Facts On File

News Services, Sept. 2004. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. • http://www.2facts.com/article/sb000147• "Black Hole Rips Apart, Partially Eats Star." Today’s Science On File: n. pag. Today’s Science.

Facts On File News Services, 31 Mar. 2004. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. • http://www.2facts.com/article/s1201089

Games

Video Games Game

shows

Sports

Video games are good for you

Brain training

Jeopardy

Head Injuries and football

Olympics

Investigate Topics That Interest Them

Identify The Significance & Meaning In Their Learning

• Scientific interest and inquiry carries over from one class to another – transfer of learning

• Choice-based inquiry• Connect Scientific Method to research• Build background knowledge so can create

more informed STEM project

They Understand How Their Learning Has Relevance To Their Surrounding World

Fraud and Ethics in Scientific Research

Data falsification in cancer research

Approval of non-beneficial or

potentially harmful medications

Patients recieving drugs not thoroughly

tested, causing complications

Manipulation or fabrication of data

Motivated by sponsorships/money

Global warming temperature data manipulated and

extrapolated

Gene Copies Making Us

Unique

What a difference a gene regulator

makes

The evolution of sex-biased genes and sex-biased

gene expression

Complete nucleotide sequence

Explaining our unique diet

A Second Genetic Code

DNA Research

The X Files: A Chromosome's

Secrets RevealedCristina Sosa

Article Summaries Gene Copies Making Us Unique : The explanation of genes and how they make each

individual unique. How RNA and DNA make a person look and act a certain way, and how not one person is identical to the other. (article)

What a difference a gene regulator makes: the amount of genes in the human body. How different combination of genes can create different species. How gene regulation accounts for many differences between yeast. Explaining our unique diet: sub category to gene regulation. The comparison of chimpanzees and human diets and the genetics (and evolution) behind the reason of difference. (article)

A Second Genetic Code: description of DNA and molecular functions. the decoding of the second set of DNA and the control/functions of all proteins, molecules, and DNA. (article)

The X Files: A Chromosome's Secrets Revealed: explanation of the X and Y chromosomes and how each is passed on. The amount of genes contained in each sex chromosome and their function(s). (article)

DNA Research: what the DNA is and how it is composed. The amount of genes inside one strand of DNA and how each creates a unique identity.

Summary of Journal:

The journal begins with the study of gene evolution in rats and the difference between the rat’s DNA and human DNA. Difference between non-allelic and allelic specimen. The size of introns separating exons 3 and 4 differ from human to rat. Explanation of gene cloning and the pro’s and con’s. How the genes mutate in rat gene clones vs. human gene clones. The results show that there is a non random pattern of nucleotide differences. The purpose of the journal was to give information about understanding the way gene cloning works.

Citations• "Gene Copies Making Us Unique." Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, Apr. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.2facts.com/article/s1800049>.• Than, Ker. "What a Difference a Gene Regulator Makes." Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, Sept. 2007.

Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.2facts.com/article/s1500120>.• Coleman, Elisheva. "A Second Genetic Code? Researchers Unravel DNA Secrets." Today’s Science On File: n. pag.

Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, 31 Aug. 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.2facts.com/article/s1400218>.

• "The X Files: A Chromosome's Secrets Revealed." Today’s Science On File: n. pag. Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, 30 Apr. 2005. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.2facts.com/article/s1300691>.

• "DNA Research." Today’s Science On File: n. pag. Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, 31 Mar. 2003. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.2facts.com/article/s1101276>.

• Tom Strachan*, Regis Sodoyer, Michele Damotte and, . "Complete nucleotide sequence of a functional class I HLA gene,." Centre d'Immunologie INSERM-CNRS de Marseille-Luminy, Case 906,. vol.3.no.4 (30 January 1984): pp.887-894, 1984. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC557443/pdf/emboj00308-0186.pdf>.

• Carroll SB (2005) Evolution at Two Levels: On Genes and Form. PLoS Biol 3(7): e245. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030245

• Joseph W Spatafora2 & James C Carrington, . "Evolution of microRNA genes by inverted duplication of target gene sequences in Arabidopsis thaliana." Nature Genetics. (21 November 2004 ): n. page. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n12/full/ng1478.html>.

• Hans Ellegren1 & John Parsch, . "The evolution of sex-biased genes and sex-biased gene expression." Nature Reviews Genetics . ((September 2007): 689-698 . Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v8/n9/abs/nrg2167.html>.

• Larhammar D, Hyldig-Nielsen JJ, Servenius B, Andersson G, Rask L, Peterson PA. Exon-intron organization and complete nucleotide sequence of a human major histocompatibility antigen DC beta gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Dec;80(23):7313–7317.

They Demonstrate Their Learning Through Project-Based Activities

• Presentations of their research to peers

They Collaborate To Find Solutions & Create Meaning

ARTICLE SUMMARYTissue engineers today at companies such as Organogenisis are researching fields such as regenerative medicine using and testing stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, meaning that they have not yet been assigned a “role” to play, such as being a muscle cell or a skin cell. If used correctly, this could result in muscles, organs, and limbs being replaceable within the human body. Sadly, we are not yet at this stage. However, scientists are currently studying the genes of newts that allow them to regenerate completely identical body parts. Cell mitosis is a process in which a mother cell divides into two daughter cells, both which are identical. Cellular mitosis is utilized in tissue regeneration. Research has much to advance before stem cells may begin actively helping humans. Once the process of utilizing stem cells is advanced to the point where it may be used to help cure degenerative diseases, it may help cure and assist thousands of people.

“Take Aways”

• The CCPS Media Curriculum is integral to implementing the Common Core Standards and STEM Practices in all content areas.