This presentation discusses the possibility of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes, and hereby developing a product, that maintains a normal blood glucose level without insulin treatment. In continuation of this, we’ll provide an introduction to beta cell replacement therapy based on The Edmonton Protocol, however we’ll be focusing on relying on stem cell technology rather than that of organ donor islets. Furthermore we’ll discuss how we can combine an encapsulation strategy, so we can avoid the use of immuno-suppression.

Course responsible: Associate Professor Signe Sørensen Torekov, MD Nicolai Wewer Albrechtsen & Professor Jens Juul Holst

In a multi-week experiment, student teams gather biogas data from the mini-anaerobic digesters that they build to break down different types of food waste with microbes. Using plastic soda bottles for the mini-anaerobic digesters and gas measurement devices, they compare methane gas production from decomposing hot dogs, diced vs. whole. They monitor and measure the gas production, then graph and analyze the collected data. Students learn how anaerobic digestion can be used to biorecycle waste (food, poop or yard waste) into valuable resources (nutrients, biogas, energy).

To reinforce students' understanding of the human digestion process, the functions of several stomach and small intestine fluids are analyzed, and the concept of simulation is introduced through a short, introductory demonstration of how these fluids work. Students learn what simulation means and how it relates to the engineering process, particularly in biomedical engineering. The teacher demo requires vinegar, baking soda, water and aspirin.

The digestive system is amazing: it takes the foods we eat and breaks them into smaller components that our body can use for energy, cell repair and growth. This lesson introduces students to the main parts of the digestive system and how they interact. In addition, students learn about some of the challenges astronauts face when trying to eat in outer space.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson introduces the idea of soil as an ecosystem and as a carbon sink.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson unravels the importance of soil and engages students to take actions to restore the soil for living things to survive. All materials have been fact-checked, and this lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson creates a collaborative learning environment for students to learn about soil as an ecosystem and a carbon sink for the environment.
-This lesson features kinesthetic learning as students will be digging into samples of soil.
-Students will develop a strong connection to self and others as they explore how we depend on soil.
-Students will have an opportunity to share with family members the lessons learned via their artistic model of soil and its importance to all of us.
-This lesson features age-appropriate vocabulary development.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-It is necessary to obtain soil samples magnifying glasses before the lesson.
-The teacher will need to gather “found” art materials from the classroom (e.g., paper, chenille stems, tissue paper, yarn, felt, glue, tape, etc.).
-Teachers will need to get the book Dirt: The Scoop on Soil ahead of time. It is available in most public and school libraries.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students can make predictions or answer questions after viewing the time-lapse video while exploring the soil samples, and as they develop their soil carbon sink models.
-Students can work in pairs or teams to complete the hands-on soil activity and during the Inspire step.
-Groups of students with mixed abilities can collaborate as they build their soil carbon sink models.
-As an extension, students can walk around the schoolyard or playground and look for examples of “healthy” soil that is home to living organisms.

This resource was created by Crystal Hurt as part of the 2019-20 ESU-NDE Digital Age Pedagogy Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Lesson Plans promoting both content area and digital age skills. This Lesson Plan is designed for MS Language Arts. 

Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and computer programming, have become pervasive in everyday business and consumer use. This unit explores GIS in general as a technology about which much more can be learned, and it also explores applications of that technology. Students experience GIS technology through the use of Google Earth on the environmental topic of plastics in the ocean in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The use of this topic in GIS makes the unit multidisciplinary, incorporating the physics of ocean currents, the chemistry associated with pollutant degradation and chemical sorption to organic-rich plastics, and ecological impact to aquatic biota.

Students create model elevator carriages and calibrate them, similar to the work of design and quality control engineers. Students use measurements from rotary encoders to recreate the task of calibrating elevators for a high-rise building. They translate the rotations from an encoder to correspond to the heights of different floors in a hypothetical multi-story building. Students also determine the accuracy of their model elevators in getting passengers to their correct destinations.

Students design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrots for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic bags filled with dirt. Every few days students remove the carrots from the dirt and weigh them. Depending on the experimental conditions, after a few weeks most of the carrots will have decomposed completely.

In this activity, students investigate different methods (aeration and filtering) for removing pollutants from water. They will design and build their own water filters.

Students disassemble and analyze retractable pens. Through the process of "reverse engineering," they learn how the ink pens work.

With a simple demonstration activity, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. Then, in the Associated Activity (Sliding and Stuttering), they work in teams to use a spring scale to drag an object such as a ceramic coffee cup along a table top or the floor. The spring scale allows them to measure the frictional force that exists between the moving cup and the surface it slides on. By modifying the bottom surface of the cup, students can find out what kinds of surfaces generate more or less friction. They also discover that both static and kinetic friction are involved when an object initially at rest is caused to slide across a surface.

Students discover the mathematical constant phi, the golden ratio, through hands-on activities. They measure dimensions of "natural objects"—a star, a nautilus shell and human hand bones—and calculate ratios of the measured values, which are close to phi. Then students learn a basic definition of a mathematical sequence, specifically the Fibonacci sequence. By taking ratios of successive terms of the sequence, they find numbers close to phi. They solve a squares puzzle that creates an approximate Fibonacci spiral. Finally, the instructor demonstrates the rule of the Fibonacci sequence via a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robot equipped with a pen. The robot (already created as part of the companion activity, The Fibonacci Sequence & Robots) draws a Fibonacci spiral that is similar to the nautilus shape.

Through this lesson and its two associated activities, students are introduced to the use of geometry in engineering design, and conclude by making scale models of objects of their choice. The practice of developing scale models is often used in engineering design to analyze the effectiveness of proposed design solutions. In this lesson, students complete fencing (square) and fire pit (circle) word problems on two worksheets—which involves side and radius dimensions, perimeters, circumferences and areas—guiding them to discover the relationships between the side length of a square and its area, and the radius of a circle and its area. They also think of real-world engineering applications of the geometry concepts.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The plant microbiome plays integral roles in plant growth and health, and the soil environment of the roots, known as the rhizosphere, can recruit beneficial microbes to suppress soil-borne pathogens. However, the processes that regulate microbiome assembly and function both below- and aboveground during pathogen invasion are unclear. To learn more, researchers recently compared the microbiomes of different parts of chili pepper plants with or without Fusarium wilt disease (FWD). Sequencing analysis revealed that FWD affected the root/stem microbiomes (particularly the upper stem microbiome) more than the fruit microbiome. FWD also affected fungal communities more strongly than bacterial communities and made the roots and stems more susceptible to colonization by pathogenic fungi..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students demonstrate the erythrocyte sedimentation rate test (ESR test) using a blood model composed of tomato juice, petroleum jelly and olive oil. They simulate different disease conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, anemia, leukocytosis and sickle-cell anemia, by making appropriate variations in the particle as well as in the fluid matrix. Students measure the ESR for each sample blood model, correlate the ESR values with disease conditions and confirm that diseases alter blood composition and properties. During the activity, students learn that when non-coagulated blood is let to stand in a tube, the red blood cells separate and fall to the bottom of the tube, resulting in a sediment and a clear liquid called serum. The height in millimeters of the clear liquid on top of the sediment in a time period of one hour is taken as the sedimentation rate. If a disease is present, this ESR value deviates from the normal, disease-free value. Different diseases cause different ESR values because blood composition and properties, such as density and viscosity, are altered differently by different diseases. Thus, the ESR test serves as a real-world diagnostic screening test to identify indications of the presence of any diseases in people.

Welcome! In light of the COVID 19 pandemic and school closures, Portland Metro STEM Partnership has worked with thier partnering districts to create and curate distance learning resources for students.The following resources were developed by district science TOSA teams and the Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Councils. These Councils represent curriculum development leads and master HS teachers from Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Portland Public. Thank you, district science leaders and PMSP Content Council leaders, for developing this set of distance learning resources for high school students!

Students pass around and distort messages written on index cards to learn how we use signals from GPS occultations to study the atmosphere. The cards represent information sent from GPS satellites being distorted as they pass through different locations in the Earth's atmosphere and reach other satellites. Analyzing GPS occultations enables better global weather forecasting, storm tracking and climate change monitoring.

In this assignment, you have an opportunity to identify one aspect of your personal diversity
and consider its overlap within someone in STEM. The following are examples of the personal
descriptions that make you a diverse member of this class:
● Age and Gender
● Sexual Orientation
● Culture/Nation of Origin
● Race
● Religion
● Physical or Mental ability

This is a STEM activity to learn how different colors absorb light better than others. Vocabulary and investigating questions are included to facilitate discussion, and a rubric is provided for assessment.