BioDreamMachine Exploring Nature's Solutions

• Hierarchy

  Hierarchy

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:51 — nhoeller

  Life builds from the bottom up: a few simple components form chains and then are folded to make complex shapes. These shapes are then combined to make even more complex structures up through a nesting hierarchy of scale, from sub-atomic particles to the universe.
   
• Laws and Limits

  Laws and Limits

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:53 — nhoeller

  Nature (the living world) is bound to obey the laws of physics and limits of space and is shaped by these laws and limits into patterns and forms. For example, there are only so many ways that you can fill space or join two points or fit certain shapes into a container. Living organisms must abide by these limits. Organisms must also respond and adapt to forces like gravity or the surface tension of water. Their forms are often shaped by these adaptations and different creatures face different challenges. For example, large animals must struggle against gravity and inertia, while small insects must struggle against forces like drag and surface tension.
• Form Follows Function

  Form Follows Function

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:54 — nhoeller

  The shapes and patterns you see in Nature can be explained often by the functions that an organism has to perform. These shapes are subject to the laws of physics and the confines of space, but they are also the result of billions of years of evolution. The natural selection associated with this evolution has tended to extinguish forms that were not successful within a dominant environment. What we see around us are the forms that worked.
• DNA as Recipe

  DNA as Recipe

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:55 — nhoeller

  DNA can be thought of as a recipe, rather than a blueprint. It starts a series of events like assembling ingredients and then mixing them in order, as a cook would, rather than prescribing a final outcome, like an architect’s set of drawings.
• Emergence

  Emergence

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:56 — nhoeller

  Emergence is the expression of a structure or pattern as a product of its parts and their interactions with each other. The resulting phenomenon is novel, much more than its parts and cannot be explained by an examination of each of them.
• Scientific Inquiry

  Scientific Inquiry

  Wed, 2009/07/29 - 16:57 — nhoeller

  Most scientists are explorers at heart and get excited most about discovery. This scientific inquiry or exploring can take many forms, but almost always starts with a question, and then proceeds with testing a logical answer to the question in a way that someone else can understand, repeat for themselves, and judge. The formal name for this is the Scientific Method.

• DNA/ Information transfer in the cell
• Structure/patterns in Nature
• Watson/Crick and the discovery of DNA structure

Link to California State Science Standards

• Grade 7, Focus on Life Sciences:
• 2e Students know DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material of living organisms and is located in the chromosomes of each cell.
• 5a. Students know plants and animals have levels of organization for structure and function, including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and the whole organism.
• 7d. Students construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth’s plates and cell structure).

Grade 8, Focus on Physical Sciences:

• 3c. Students know atoms and molecules form solids by building up repeating patterns, such as the crystal structure of NaCl or long-chain polymers.
• 6c. Students know that living organisms have many different kinds of molecules, including small ones, such as water and salt, and very large ones, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and DNA.

1. table (6 foot)
2. Zoob set by Infinittoy, 59 pieces for each team in following breakdown: 26 red, 11 blue, 11 green, 11 yellow (decoys)
3. Four large containers to place separate color zoobs in.
4. One name card for each team.
5. recipe cards, one set per team, see examples
6. discard bags or boxes, one per team.
7. tape or other markers for start line and team areas.

This is a relay race in which each team must work together to collate information from different members and then assemble a structure.
The object of the game is to be the first team to construct the structure and get it to the centrally located table. 

Class is divided into teams of 4-6 people each. The teams are located in taped areas equidistant (about 25 feet) from a central table on which are placed the plastic parts and instructions needed to complete the game. It is recommended that the teams be situated so that spying is kept to a minimum. 

The table has open bowls or containers of different colored plastic parts and one stack of recipe cards for each team identified by the team name card. In front of the card stack on the ground or floor is the discard bag or box. The recipe cards comprise the following:

1. Card One Relay sequence
2. Card Two Code for parts
3. Card Three Parts list
4. Card Four Subunit assembly, part one
5. Card Five Subunit assembly, part two
6. Card Six Structure assembly

The race proceeds in this way:

1. Each team is issued Card One, the relay sequence, and given 5-10 minutes to discuss it as a team. Team should assign individuals to specific tasks at this time. The team is allowed to keep this card (and only this card) to refer to during the entire contest.
2. Student One races to the central table at the sound of bell or whistle and reads Card Two, the code for the colored parts. He memorizes this code, discards the card into the bag and then races back to the team and tells them (only after he has crossed into their taped area).
3. Student Two, once he’s been told the code, tags Student One and races to the table to read Card Three, the parts list, memorizes this, discards card and races back to the team to tell them the decoded list: “We need x number of blues, etc”.
4. Student Three, once she has been told the parts list, tags Student Two and races to the table to collect the parts and brings back to the team.
5. Student Four tags Student Three and races to the table to read Card Four, discards the card once memorized and races back to the team with the information on how to assemble the first of two subunits.
6. Student Five tags Student Four and races to the table to read Card Five, discards the card once memorized, and races back to the team with information on how to assemble the second subunit. Meanwhile, the team has been putting the individual parts together for the first subunit.
7. Student Six tags Student Five and races to the table to read Card Six, the final structure assembly instructions, memorizes, discards card and races back to the team. Meanwhile, the team has been putting the individual parts together for the second subunit.
8. The team assembles the final structure, and, with everyone touching the structure at all times, races back to the table in a group to place the structure and end the game.

Only one team member can be up at the table at a time, all information from the recipe cards must be memorized (no note-taking) and team members can only talk to each other if they are in their box together (no calling out to someone at the table or vice versa).

The final structure made by the teams should be a double helix. There is no other shape possible if the instructions are followed. The helix doesn’t take shape until the final, twisting step (see attached illustrations).

This is very similar to the solution process that Watson and Crick, with their sheet metal model, went through in 1953. The backbone of a double helix of sugar-phosphate molecules was the only shape possible that could join the base pairs of nucleotides together in the already proven complementary sequence.

This game combines short running and teamwork to a simple construction problem and is good for letting off steam while learning some principles of biological information systems.

More team members can be added to the team if each person has a specific job. For example a student could be in charge of team coordination, or in charge of assembly only, etc.

When teams have completed their model, they raise hands for a judge’s review rather than run up to the table with the model. The judge reviews the model and approves or rejects it as complete. If complete, they are issued information describing the components of DNA, and using this information label the basic parts of their model, and then take it up to the table as a group.