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Show V Stage smjeds Science has taken on a new meaning for students at Tintic High School. Each student in the biology class has developed an individual project. The scientific method has been used with both research and experimentation involved. Fred Openshaw, the biology teacher, stated that it is vital for students to become with the major developments of this scientific world. Because factual knowledge is increasing so rapidly Mr. Openshaw felt that the study of science should be based on major ideas and on the scientific method. Actually, students acquire as many facts as they do in the usual class. More important, they learn to look up information which they need to answer their own questions. For example, Debbie Ewell chose a project on the growth of the embryo. By incubating chicken eggs she was able to show daily changes. Each day an egg was broken open and the stage of development noted and photographed. Debbie preserved the embryos in glass jars and gave the complete exhibit to the biology department. Before Debbie, or the other students, could begin a project, each needed background information. Research was approved only if the student showed an understanding of what he plan April 5, 1968 THE EUREKA (UTAH) REPORTER Page Four ned by submitting an outline of steps to be taken. The reading necessary to write up the plan also helped each student understand and carry out his experiment. Information ceased to be something memorized for a test. Debbie said "I read that the heart was the first thing to develop and it was interesting. When I saw what the heart looked like when I opened that first egg, I began to get an understanding of life. Isnt it something that the heart develops before the brain or anything else? Untie High School biology projects were related to a unit on vertebrates. Mr. Openshaw introduced the unit with material from current magazines on what the man of the future will be like. He will then be able to show need for the scientific method and to guide students in choosing projects based on it. Since the students were free to choose something of special interest they were eager to do the study necessary to complete their experiment. John Phillip was interested in heart transplants. His project was to attempt such a transplant in a frog. In order to see if he could really attempt this he had to know a great deal about the organs and systems of the frog. He also had to learn about drugs that would lion Griggs talks with Sirs. Ruth Young, curriculum consultant who is working witii Superintendent Nelson, in scheduling for the 1968-0- 9 school year. Fred Openshaw, biology teacher, directs Gary a hamster. Gary will note what effects were suffered with the rodent in view of the fact that it was gradually weened to drink alcohol. The experiment lasted for about eight weeks. The alcoholics physical condition was compared with well-fenormal hamsters. Mr. Openshaw has found student interest and learning high in his biological experiments Nelson in disecting d, K7 keep the heart going during the transplant procedure. John read widely and wrote many letters in his quest. While he has not yet transplanted a heart in a frog, he has gained a real knowledge of the major ideas about vertebrates. Mickie Morris wanted to know more about the effects of drugs on animals. She obtained permission to use morphine on a hamster. In fear of the needle she found it difficult to give the hamster his daily shot. Mickie compared the hamster she addicted to morphine with another she gave no drugs to. Her experiment showed all the class members the dangers of drug addiction in a most dramatic way because the drugged hamster would not eat properly, it was irritable and in general it suffered poor health. From the beginning of the biology class this year, Mr. Openshaw wanted to emphasize understanding of the unchanging ideas behind scientific investigation. He could see the importance of students learning how to learn as compared to just learning facts. Since Mr. Openshaw is also a certified librarian he felt that the library should be the real learning center of the school. His vision of a library was that of a place where a student in search of knowledge could fill his needs. For this reason, most of the instruction relating to the biology experiments made by his students was directed at how to use the library and resources available there in order to set up and interpret experiments.' Several girls chose to do experiments on diet. Debbie Laird found that her guinea pigs on a Vitamin A deficient diet died sooner than would be expected and .she is still investigating the cause. Sue Jameson had some healthy animals but had not completed her experiment because the protein deficient diet she had ordered and paid for did not arrive. Both of these girl;; learned that research costs money an may not always be successful. Jian Bliss has found that milk does have a value in the diet through her experimentation with hamsters One is fed coffee and one milk. The one fed on coffee shows signs of physical deterioration. Mr. Openshaw had suggested to his students that in laboratory explorations the results cannot always be predicted and that students can often learn as much from failure as from success. Sharing the knowledge gained in individual projects was part of the assignment. Mike Sanderson and Larry Chambers were both working with the effects of nicotine from cigaretts. Mike fed nicotine to a pigeon along with its regular food. Larry attempted to produce skin cancer on a white rat with external application of nicotine. Neither experiment was completed when the unit was ended, but Mr. Openshaw stated that the students were free to continue projects and report on them later. Completed projects were of interest, but class members observed each new finding as it occured. Students took responsibility in caring for the animals, the nM equipment and the room. Some equipment was furnished by the school but students provided their own animals and animal food. Alice Judge worked on the effect of environment on hamsters. She deprived one group of hamsters on any attention or affection but gave them the same diet as the hamsters she petted and fondled each day. Hamsters that received attention wore not only friendly to humans but also were healthier than the deprived group. Carl Fife tried a number of environmental experiments with animate and discovered that excesses of many kinds are fatal to vertabates. Gary Nelson fed some guinea pigs a normal diet while others received only alcohol. Although the alcoholic animals gained at first they later showed many signs of deficiency. Autopsies (Continued on Page Five.) A $1400 refrigerator unit for the Tintic High School was delivered recently through a special federal grant obtained through the efforts of Superintendent Nelson. Mrs. Leah Boswell, school lunch unit which will be used manager, looks at the new for the school lunch program. Mickie Morris chose to study the effects of morphine addiction on hamsters. Each day she injects a treatment of morphine with a hypodermic needle and notes the actions and reactions of the rodent. Debbie Ewell studies various stages of development in the growth of a chicken embryo. For her biology project, she Incubated chicken eggs. Each day she was able to note daily changes. |