U of M News Wire
February 21, 2007
University of Minnesota undergrad student builds I-35W bridge model for NTSB
By Patty Mattern
U of M News Wire
University of Minnesota civil engineering junior Rachel Gaulke put the final touches on a 1/200th-scale model of the former I-35W bridge she built for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday morning.
The model, approximately five feet long, will be shipped in a large crate to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 where it will be used by engineers at NTSB for various presentations to help visualize and explain information related to the bridge collapse and its causes.
NTSB contracted the University of Minnesota to produce the model because of its familiarity with the bridge. Now, NTSB hopes to take the impressive model of the bridge and get familiar with the case as well. The budget for the model was about $6,000, including labor and materials.
Civil engineering professor Carol Shield received the call from NTSB and chose Gaulke for the project because of her attention to detail and excitement for working on the project.
"This is a terrific opportunity for one of our undergraduate students to contribute to the profession," Shield said.
Gaulke estimates that she has spent more than 100 hours over the last two months building the model.
"I believe that the most important and useful thing I have learned in doing this project is time management. It has taken a lot longer to complete than I had ever expected," Gaulke said. "I also learned the importance of precision and accuracy, and what can go wrong if measurements and calculations are not perfect."
Gaulke used bridge plans and computerized drawings to make her calculations. The model is made primarily of model railroad parts and painted to identify tension and compression members of the bridge to illustrate the structural forces affecting the bridge at the time of the collapse.
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Lecture-free biology
Freshmen learn for themselves--and with each other
By Deane Morrison
U of M News Wire
At round tables all through the classroom, freshmen watch along with Tom Cruise as gigantic Martians wreak havoc on Earth and earthlings. The scene from “War of the Worlds” is graphic, but these biology students are picking up details even H.G. Wells could miss.
"What can you tell me about the alien?" asks instructor Robin Wright.
"I heard breathing," a student calls out.
"So it's breathing the same thing as Tom Cruise. What about the temperature?"
"It's got no clothes, so it's very comfortable."
But it can't eat humans, Wright points out. Instead, the aliens use humans to fertilize the planet and grow red stuff that they can eat. And we're like that, too. We can't eat "alien" foods, only ones whose chemical makeup is similar to our bodies. So we probably wouldn't be able to eat the food on another planet--and vice versa.
"We can eat carrots because they have the same things, [such as certain sugars], that our bodies have," Wright, associate dean for faculty and academic affairs in the U's College of Biological Sciences, tells the students. "You are, literally, what you eat."
Welcome to Foundations of Biology (Biology 2002-2003), a course where students have no lectures to listen to – or tune out – and must learn text material on their own. The instructors believe it to be the only class of its kind in the United States, and it's already transforming the notion of how a large "lecture" course can be run.
The main event comes when Wright and co-instructor Susan Wick, a plant biology professor, probe students' knowledge of basic concepts with questions from a variety of angles. Before answering, they consult with their tablemates.
Wright holds up a cup of coffee. "What happened to the sucrose [table sugar] when I put it in my coffee?" she asks.
The students have four choices. At one table, a student picks answer A: Sucrose, a double sugar, splits into its constituents, the simple sugars glucose and fructose. But another student says no; the chemical bonds holding sucrose together are too strong to break by merely getting wet. In the end, the table votes, correctly, for choice C: The sucrose just dissolves.
"What will happen in my stomach?" Wright prods.
"Enzymes will break it into glucose and fructose," a student sings out.
After the exchange, the students realize that the sucrose molecule, which is forged from simple sugars by means of an enzyme, also requires an enzyme to split it apart. By learning this, they have discovered something about chemical bonds in general, an invaluable aid to understanding how all organisms function.
From text to context
By showing how the basic concepts of biology affect everyday life, Wright and Wick add context that helps the knowledge stick. More glue comes from the discussions and the camaraderie of spending the semester as teammates at the same table. It's an approach most students come to appreciate--especially at quiz time.
"Everyone gets rocked on the quizzes" when students take them individually, says Abby Moran. "But when we take them [over] as a team, we get 27 or 30 points out of 30."
And just to ensure that everybody at a table gets involved, 5 percent of the course grade comes from evaluations by teammates.
The idea for this kind of teaching, says Wright, has been around since at least the 1990s, when a national inventory of physics students showed that even those who had had the best teachers didn't know much more about physical forces than those who had never studied physics. And it wasn't just physics.
"The University of Washington surveyed graduates of all majors a year after graduation," recalls Wright, who was a faculty member there at the time. "The grads were happy, but nothing we'd taught them was of relevance to their careers.
"Even in engineering, there's a disconnect between what is taught and what's needed. In Foundations of Biology, we emphasize real-world problems so they will take away more than just knowledge about biology."
The students often find themselves wrestling with the same problems as working scientists. Last fall's Biology 2002 students were asked to come up with ideas for a new antibiotic against tuberculosis.
"One group decided to use bacteriophages [viruses that kill bacteria] to kill the TB bacteria directly," says Wright. "Another group thought of taking existing antibiotics that are used topically and developing a form that could be inhaled."
This spring's class is playing the role of scientists in a biotech company. Their job is to suggest the best target for an antibiotic against the killer bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staph aureus.
"We're not lecturing about what antibiotics do. The students must research that, plus how resistance to antibiotics evolves, and apply what they know about basic science," says Wright.
In Biology 2003, the students get to stretch their innovation muscles in the laboratory. Those taking 2003 this spring, for example, are tackling questions about how yeast adapt to conditions at the ends of the Earth.
"They're sequencing genes from yeast taken from the Arctic and the Antarctic," says Wright. "We want to show how genes have changed over eons and get a handle on cold adaptation." Afterward, the students will draft a paper for publication and submit it to the journal they decide is most appropriate.
Real-life lab experience is crucial because science, says Wright is like softball; just knowing how to play doesn't help much, especially with a team sport.
"All science is moving toward interdisciplinary work and collaboration," she says. "As a group, they learn more than I could ever tell them.
"And it's fun. Attendance is almost 100 percent. It's wonderful to have them talk about science, and when they leave to still be talking about science. These students will just blow you away with their ideas."
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Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota
Question: We recently moved to a small town where our 7-year-old son entered second grade. Initially he seemed excited about the new friends he made and even invited some boys over after school. However, now he refuses to have anyone over because he’s embarrassed about his 4-year-old brother, who has Down syndrome. Apparently the other kids teased him about his brother after they came over, and now we’re not sure if we should push the issue or just let it go.
Answer: Kids can be cruel, and unfamiliarity is often at the root of the cruelty. But this situation presents you with a good opportunity to teach your son some important skills, raise awareness among his classmates and, in doing so, pave the way to a smoother future for both of your sons.
I’d suggest you start by helping your son learn and practice what to say when people tease him about his brother. Give him simple words and phrases to describe how Down syndrome affects his brother, and then use role-play (with you playing the part of the teasers) to let him practice how to stay calm and positive even when people tease him.
It also would be wise to engage your son’s teacher in helping the class learn about individual differences and disabilities. In a small town there are fewer opportunities for children to be exposed to a wide variety of people, so teaching may need to be even more intentional than it would be in a more diverse setting.
You also could reach out to the parents of the boys who came to your home, letting them know that you’re trying to help the kids become more knowledgeable about and comfortable with your younger son’s disability. The other parents may know nothing about the teasing, and probably would be glad to help their sons develop a more accepting attitude.
As I’m sure you know, it’s common for brothers and sisters of children with special needs to feel a wide range of emotions about how their own lives are affected. At any point in time they may be embarrassed by how their sibling looks or behaves, sad that they don’t have a “regular” brother or sister, angry about the special attention their sibling gets, or resentful about the need to take care of their brother or sister – even as they feel love and affection for him or her. It’s important to acknowledge that those feelings are natural and to allow your son to talk them through.
On a personal note, your question evokes strong feelings for me because of a young man with Down syndrome who has been a part of my family’s life for many years. My son sometimes babysat for this boy – I’ll call him Scott -- and his brothers when they were young. When Scott entered high school, my son (then a senior) drove him to school every day and they developed a strong friendship that endured even through the years my son attended an out-of-state university. At my son’s wedding a few years ago, Scott was a member of the wedding party and gave the most moving toast at the groom’s dinner. And he was the last person off the dance floor after the wedding. Scott’s parents are quick to thank my son for what he has done for Scott. But I’m forever grateful for what Scott has done for my son – helped him develop compassion, genuine respect for individual differences, and appreciation for the warmth and joy that come from moving past superficial barriers to meet someone heart to heart. I’m confident that, with time, familiarity, and thoughtful adult guidance, the children in your son’s new school are in for some of life’s most valuable lessons.
Dr. Erickson is a senior fellow and director of the Harris Programs in the Center for Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota.
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com
