https://www.coa.edu/summercoursesforteachers.htm Biomechanics
Course #SG5093 June 23 - 28, 2013 (1 week, 2 credits) Why do we get shorter and more wrinkled with age? Could T. rex really outrun a jeep, as Steven Spielberg imagined in Jurassic Park? What keeps an eagle aloft? Why do elephants have such thick legs? How do geckos stick to a glass window, and can human technology mimic their mechanism? These diverse questions are all within the realm of biomechanics. Biomechanics examines the form and function of living organisms through the lens of physics and engineering. This interdisciplinary approach has led to new insights about the evolution of organismal diversity on Earth. It can also be a tool for making mathematics, physics, and engineering more accessible to young students and adult learners alike. Through lectures, readings, and lab activities, we will explore fluid dynamics, including the fluids organisms live in (air and water) and the fluids transported through their bodies (water-based solutions and suspensions such as sap and blood). We also will investigate mechanical properties of the materials that organisms make and are made of (bone, tendon, wood, shell, chitin, silk, hair, etc.) and how those materials are organized into working structures. We will be using Steven Vogel’s Life’s Devices as our main text to support this course, and additional short readings will be provided. Lab fee: $25 Coastal Marine Ecology Course #SG 5125 July 14 – 19, 2013 (1 weeks, 2 credits) In this one-week course, we will explore the biological diversity along Maine’s rocky shores. We will poke among tidepools, encountering the creatures that live there, including crabs, snails, barnacles, anemones, sponges, and more. If we’re lucky we may see delicate nudibranchs, adorable baby lumpfish, and perhaps a lobster lurking amid the kelp. Intrepid participants may brave the cold water and snorkel along the COA waterfront for an underwater view. Much of the time spent learning about intertidal ecology in this course happens in the field. We will compare patterns of species abundance and diversity among different sites in the intertidal as a way of learning censusing methods and statistical analysis. In addition, we will complement our field work with time in the classroom discussing tides, adaptations of intertidal organisms, and fundamental ecological concepts such as competition and predation. Lab work will include closer examination of organisms, making drawings or keying out specimens as a way of focusing attention to detail. We will also conduct some behavioral experiments, as well as do some microscope work with planktonic organisms. Participants will develop a familiarity with local intertidal organisms, and we will use a combination of field activities as well as substantial time in the lab for more careful observation to learn about the behavior, anatomy and ecology of these critters that inhabit the intertidal zone. We also have a boat trip planned with Diver Ed to get familiar with our local subtidal regions (check out his website: www.divered.com). Throughout the course we will discuss the data we collect, how these kinds of methods are used by scientists, how they can be applied by educators, and how they can be adapted to areas beyond marine ecology. And we will have a lot of fun. Lab Fee: $50.00. Dr. Helen Hess received a B.S. in Biology from UCLA in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Washington in 1991. She has been on the faculty at COA since 1994. Helen teaches a variety of biology courses at COA, most of which involve a significant field or lab component. Her formal training as an invertebrate zoologist has lead her to develop courses that take her and her students wherever invertebrates are found, including local rivers, Maine's rocky intertidal shores, and Caribbean coral reefs. She also teaches a course in bio mechanics, where students explore how the laws of physics have played a role the evolution of living organisms. Helen also has strong interests in teacher education and spends part of every summer involved in courses and workshops aimed at K-12 teachers as well as COA students who are pursuing a teaching credential. Helen's research interests focus on the reproductive biology of marine organisms, and she has studied parental behavior in worms, mating systems in mouth brooding in fishes, and the evolution of self-fertilization in hermaphroditic invertebrates. While she mainly identifies herself as a teacher at COA, she also enjoys including students in her research activities. She is currently working with COA students on a project studying the reproductive biology of a large, local sea cucumber species that is the target of an emergent fishery. She is also involved in writing papers with COA students on research projects on cleaning behavior in tropical reef fishes and on the evolution of egg size in fishes. In addition to publishing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, Helen also occasionally writes science articles for popular magazines. E-mail: [email protected] -- Nishanta Rajakaruna Professor of Botany College of the Atlantic 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, ME 04609 Office: 207-801-5731 Web: http://nrajakaruna.wordpress.com/ -- Nishanta Rajakaruna Professor of Botany College of the Atlantic 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, ME 04609 Office: 207-801-5731 Web: http://nrajakaruna.wordpress.com/ & Adjunct Associate Professor, Plant Biology Department of Biological Sciences San Jose State University One Washington Square San Jose, CA 95192-0100 Web: http://www.biology.sjsu.edu/facultystaff/nrajakaruna/nrajakaruna.aspx *** *
