Patterns Around Us

• Welcome !!!!! Do you see a pattern?• Introductions–Where are you from?–What do you teach?–Favorite Hobby?–Favorite science class? Why?

• Workshop Agenda

UMASS RESEARCH CONNECTIONS

K-12 Perspective

The Nature of Science

Science may be described as the attempt to give good accounts of the patterns in nature. The result of scientific investigation is an understanding of natural processes.... Overall, the key criterion of science is that it provides a clear, rational, and succinct account of a pattern in nature....

Massachusetts Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks Statement

NGSS

NGSS

Patterns Around Us-Is there commonality in seemingly disparate events?Hurricanes and Fibonacci

Branching--Snowflakes

Branching pattern on Earth– suggests water

Branching pattern on Mars….

Branching – in systemsEfficient distribution and collection of materials and energy,

roads, roots and trees, cells, circulatory system, nervous system.

NSTA Workshop Focus: RAPT and Wrinkles!

NSTA participants will:• Learn and use a method for teaching students

about patterns in math and science (RAPT)• Learn the interdisciplinary nature of wrinkling

patterns • Learn how this workshop aligns with state and

national standards

RAPT- a method for teaching patterns

1. R– Recognize a pattern exists. Be observant and curious. Why

does the pattern exist?

2. A—Ask and Analyze. What information and tools can be used to

understand the pattern? What physical principles are causing the

pattern?

3. P– predict the cause and next occurrence of the pattern

4. T- test the prediction

Recognize a pattern exists

Nanotechology Wrinkles

Ask WHY there is a pattern. Why do some puppies and peas have wrinkles?

Analyze by classification.Three Categories• Spontaneous• Engineered-based on a plan• Hybrid (Nanotech)

Radiolarians and Diatoms

Condensation on a mirror

Nano-texturedmetallic surface

Analyze using knowledge.

Prior Knowledge• What do I already

know and how can I apply it to help explain the pattern I see?

Acquiring Knowledge• Research• Perform experiments

Analyze using physical principles that cause the pattern

Forces• What balanced

forces create the wrinkling pattern?

Energy• Does the wrinkling

show stored (potential) or the energy of motion (kinetic) and stored energy.

• Waves vs Wrinkled shirt

• What are the properties of the material(s) that create wrinkling?

• an understanding of patterns helps us deduce properties of materials and vice versa

Materials

Predict --The pattern will occur again given certain conditions

• Two round-seeded parent pea plants will produce offspring with round seeds.

x

Test– hmmm…WHAT??????

Much Ado About Spontaneous Wrinkling– funding!

• Spontaneous wrinkling---application in nano-materials research…

• Nano-materials – micro-electronics and memory applications

• Sheet of paper– 100,000 nm thick• Nano-films – 1-100 nm thick• Wrinkling patterns used to deduce thickness

of nanofilms

Spontaneous Skin Wrinkling Inquiry

• Model for deducing properties of materials from observations of wrinkling patterns

• Frameworks:MA Frameworks Biology 6-86. Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, and movement, control, and coordination) and describe ways that these systems interact with each other. MA Frameworks Biology High SchoolNGSSSIS1. Make observations, raise questions, and formulate hypotheses.SIS2. Design and conduct scientific investigations. SIS3. Analyze and interpret results of scientific investigations. SIS4. Communicate and apply the results of scientific investigations.

Epidermis - thin with keratin protein for stiffnessDermis– collagen and elastin proteins offer support and elasticitySubcutis– fatty layer

SKIN

Recognize a pattern

Procedure:1. Put index finger and thumb 3 cm apart in the

middle of the top of your forearm. Apply lateral force to reduce to 2 cm and wrinkle skin. Count wrinkles (peaks).

2. IV: skin on different parts of the body3. DV: number of peaks (wrinkles)4. Constant: applied opposing forces

Ask and Analyze

• Are wrinkling patterns different on different areas of the body?

• What do we know about skin itself and its form and function to help us make deductions about the variation in skin on different parts of the body? (fatty layer, elastin, collagen, keratin, etc)

Predict

Lateral vs longitudinal forces?Gender similarities/differences?Age similarities/differences?UV exposure differences?

Test

• IV: Gender – constants: age, area, force

• IV: Age – constants: gender, area, force

• IV: UV exposure – constants: person, basic area, force

• IV: Latitudinal vs longitudinal – constants: person, area, force

Top of forearm (lateral) top of forearm (longitudinal) Under forearm

Top of upper arm top of hand

Spontaneous Wrinkling of Silicone Sheets

* Another model for deducing properties of materials from observations of wrinkling patterns

* Silicone sheets of varying thicknesses are floating on a corn syrup substrate. Applied force is constant.

Which silicone sheetIs the thinnest?

Why Does this matter???

Wrinkling patterns can be quantified. Data can be used to make deductions. Using these data, were your deductions correct based on your observations?

RAPT and Spontaneous Wrinkling

• R – Recognize – Wow, I see a pattern of wrinkling in different conditions and materials. Ex. skin, silicone and nano-films!!!

• A – Ask and Analyze – What information do I have?– Similar wrinkling patterns occur when there is a adhering

substrate and a film associated with it.

• P – Predict – different thickness of skin, silicone and nano-films

• T – Test – Skin activity, silicone activity, and research on nano-films

R.A.P.T.

NSTA Workshop Much Ado About

Wrinkles

What can we learn about wrinkling patterns in seemingly

disparate events?

A wrinkling pattern emerges as the balance of opposing forces and the interaction of those forces

with associated materials

Engineered wrinkling (inherited trait)

Spontaneous Wrinkling—balance of forces

Hybrid Wrinkling– nanotechnology—spontaneous wrinkling with parameters

Wrinkled Peas Inquiry

Teaching Inquiry: ScaffoldingPre-Inquiry Labs that present background information and tools in order to perform an Inquiry Task.

This lab will investigate why some peas are

wrinkled when dry and others are not.

Connection To NGSS• HS-LS3-3.Apply concepts of statistics and probability to

explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

• HS-LS1-6. Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.

• HS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

Gregor Mendel and Wrinkled Peas

Background Information

Human saliva and enzymes

Lab 1

Osmosis and Dialysis TubingOsmosis eggsLab 2

Analyzing dry and imbibed weights of wrinkled and smooth pea seeds

Lab 3

Putting it All Together, What makes Wrinkled Peas?

Which Peas are wrinkled?

Inquiry Lab 4

Picture of peas in benedicts

What pattern classification would you use for wrinkled peas?A. SpontaneousB. HybridC. Engineered

Wrinkled peas are wrinkled because the do not have the enzyme which converts sugars to starch. When the wrinkled peas are growing, they contain more water due to the osmotic pressure produced by the sugars within the pea. When they dry, the outer shell of the pea has an imbalance of forces on either side of the shell and wrinkles.

Patterns Around Us - Summary

Scientists are using principles of patterns in many different ways, especially with new technologies.

Principles of patterns can help to explain scientific phenomena.

Analyzing patterns is a great way teachers can integrate many different concepts in order make sense of a pattern.

Spontaneous pattern formation is cool and engaging! Go RAPT your pattern!

Final Thought

Patterns allow scientist the opportunity to view and study mathematical principles of

the universe. If one knows the basic mathematical principles of the universe,

one can explain why a pattern occurs.