3rd+quarter+-+Science+in+the+News

3rd quarter Science in the News

1/11 - Due 1/18 on turnitin.com

[|Read the following link on Artifical Sweeteners] Remember this is a response/reflection to the article and your personal ideas. Please do not summarize the article! Use the following to organize your thoughts if you need it:
 * 1) Do you consider yourself a sugar junkie?
 * 2) Do you think switching from sugar to artificial sweeteners is a good or a bad idea? Explain.
 * 3) Much of the controversy over artificial sweeteners arises from debates about whether experiments are based on good, sound science or not. How might scientific experiments mislead people?
 * 4) Why might a preference for certain flavors develop during childhood? How can a person change his or her eating preferences?
 * 5) How sweet are your favorite foods? For a week, keep a sugar journal. Write down everything you eat. Then, record how many grams of sugar (or carbohydrates) are in each item. Were you surprised by what you found? [Hint: A variety of online calculators offer this type of information. Here's one example: [|www.calorieking.com/foods] (Calorieking Wellness Solutions)]
 * 6) When you read nutrition labels, sweetening agents can appear under many names, including high-fructose corn syrup and honey.
 * 7) Make a list of the different types of sweeteners found in the foods and beverages you consume. Separate these ingredients into a full-calorie category and a diet category.
 * 8) Do you think a company would lie about cancer-causing chemicals in its products in order to stay in business? Why or why not?
 * 9) Besides artificial sweeteners, what are some other products that make people worry about cancer or other health problems?

Read the following link:** [|Our Plastic World] - the chemistry of the plastic we use Possible response/reflection Prompts Use them as you want:
 * News article for 1/18 - due on turnitin.com by Sunday 1/25

1. Now that you know there are potential risks from using plastics — but that the human risks have not been proven yet — how important do you think it would be to avoid using plastic items? 2. For which plastic items in your home or school do you think there might be good substitutes? For which can you think of no substitutes? 3. Plastic baby bottles have been considered a potentially big concern. Moms used to use glass bottles. What are at least three reasons why modern moms might prefer plastic? 4. The author says these junk pieces travel at breakneck speed. Do you think that would make them more or less of a danger to astronauts in orbit? 5. If you think plastic items may pose a health risk, what should we do with all of those that are in our homes? How would you discard them? What might be the best way to ensure that plastic trash doesn’t become a hazard in the trash? 6. Do you think plastic trash in lakes and streams would pose a risk to fish and other aquatic life? Why or why not?

=__Article - due 2/1 Sunday on turnitin.com__= Read hand out - see below for paragraph that is hard to read: Another factor to consider is how the combinations of substances affect one another, epspecially since the combined effects of two or more substances may be great than if each were taken separately. Any pharmacist will tell you not to mix certain types of medication. Since all the energy drinks are relatively new to the market, their long term effect on the body is not known. If you consume energy drinks, Buell suggests to alays read the label and heed any warnings and to stop drinking energy drinks immediately if you experience elevated heartbeat, nausea, or any other unusual symptoms. Reflect/Response: Respond in your own way - could be a personal reflection: Go to this site to see how many energy drinks would be really bad for you based on your weight: [|Caffeine Fiend] - shows amount of caffeine in various drinks

Due 2/8
The Chemistry of Fireworks Read these links: [|Fireworks] [|Introduction to Fireworks] [|Engineering and Fireworks] You need to complete the following on turnitin.com!!!
 * Pick one of the following color-producing chemicals: sodium carbonate, barium nitrate, magnesium, strontium nitrate, or copper carbonate. Find out as much as you can about the chemical, including its formula and uses. Use chemistry books or the Internet. See, for example,** [|www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0845790.html] (Fact Monster).

=Due 2/15 = [|Big Machines and Small Worlds] Possible prompts for you to respond to - not answer them in number order! That is not a response/reflection!
 * 1) Häusermann describes the synchrotron as a "big toy." Do you think that is an accurate description for the machine? Compare and contrast the synchrotron with one of your favorite toys.
 * 2) Why do scientists need such a large machine to look at such small things?
 * 3) If you owned a synchrotron, what would you do with it? Whom would you allow to use it? Explain your answers.
 * 4) The article claims that synchrotron technology has helped create better packaging for potato chips. What problems might there be with snack packaging? How do you think a synchrotron could help improve such a product?
 * 5) How do you think the particular wavelength of microwaves helps this type of energy heat food? For help, see [|www.howstuffworks.com/microwave1.htm] (HowStuffWorks).
 * 6) Synchrotrons harness the power of electrons. How else do scientists use electrons? How do we use electrons in our daily lives? For hints, see [|en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron] (Wikipedia).
 * 7) What is the difference between an electron and an atom?

2/22 Read about nanocars- [|Atomic Drive] Possible response prompts: After reading:
 * 1) How big is a nanocar?
 * 2) What was chemist James Tour's inspiration for building nanocars?
 * 3) How do termites illustrate what nanocars could do someday?
 * 4) Describe the wheels of a nanocar.
 * 5) What are some possible uses of nanocars?
 * 6) Where is the NanoTech Institute located?
 * 1) Besides the uses mentioned in this article, what other future applications for nanocars can you imagine? What could you do if you owned a fleet of nanocars?
 * 2) James Tour and his coworkers used a molecular paddlewheel to power their nanocar. In what other ways might you power such a small vehicle?
 * 3) What does a nanotechnologist do? See [|mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/technologist/index.html] (University of Wisconsin).

Due March 1 by 4 pm on turnitin.com - no emails accepted
Read handout article - Research Ethics 101 Possible responses: Are there other types of science ethic topics besides research? Can you think of a time when a scientist might be unethical? Can you think of some ethics topics - in science?

Due March 8 on turnitin.com
[|Read about the Crime Lab] Possible prompts
 * 1) Would you want to be a forensic scientist? Why or why not?
 * 2) Design a piece of equipment that you think would be helpful to a forensic scientist. Draw a picture of the machine and label its parts.
 * 3) How has DNA testing changed criminal prosecutions?
 * 4) What types of science are necessary to understand a body decaying in the woods?
 * 5) How is forensic science useful in understanding fossils?

Due March 15 on turnitin.com
[|Fingerprint Evidence]
 * 1) Nowadays, police seem to prefer DNA evidence to fingerprint evidence. Why do you think this might be the case? Compare the two types of evidence. When might a police officer rely more on fingerprint evidence than on DNA evidence and vice versa? See [|www.sciencefriday.com/kids/sfkc20030411-1.html] (PBS).
 * 2) The article states, "The more information that stores, banks, and governments collect about us, the easier it may be for them to track what we are doing. That makes many people uncomfortable." Why do you think it makes some people uncomfortable? What are they afraid of?
 * 3) Why would Walt Disney World want to use fingerprint scans for all ticket holders? What advantage does the technology have for the company? See [|www.epic.org/privacy/themepark/] (Electronic Privacy Information Center) and [|www.local6.com/news/4724689/detail.html] (WKMG-TV6).
 * 4) How do your fingerprints vary? Design an experiment in which you test your fingerprints under several different conditions.
 * 5) Not everyone's fingerprints are in the FBI's computer database. Generally, only people who work for the government, immigrants to the United States, and those people who have been arrested have their fingerprints saved. Do you think everyone in the United States should have their fingerprints taken? Why or why not?
 * 6) Besides the places mentioned in the article, where else might it be helpful to have fingerprint scans? Why?