Mystery of Life Unit 4 Plants

Warm-up 05/09  How much sweeter is soda to an apple?  Is there such a thing as too sweet?

Data Sheet  Red Delicious  Ambrosia  Gala  Pacific Rose  Golden Delicious  American Cameo  Granny Smith

Procedure  First drink plain water.  Baseline: taste 10%, assign a sweetness score of 100  Taste water, assign a sweetness score of 0  Repeat assigning a sweetness score for 1,4,6,8% sucrose solutions using Record on your data sheet.  Rate each apple and potato using the same scale, record on your data sheet.  LAST: rate Coke using your scale.

Graph  Using your data graph your findings.  On X axis, Concentration of sucrose %  On Y axis Student rating of sweetness

Discussion Questions: Answer these on the back of your data sheet:  What is the purpose of sweetness?  How does the color of the apple influence your perception of sweetness?  Have our taste preferences as a species influenced our choices of what we eat?  Have our choices of what we eat affected what is grown commercially?  How is sweetness impacted distribution and other fruits?

Warm-up 05/10 Pre-Questions  What aesthetic tastes do bees and humans have in common?  What is your opinion of tulips compared to other flowers? Are they more or less beautiful?  Are there rational explanations for "beauty?" How obsessed with beauty are Americans? Do other cultures have obsessions with beauty?  What is the practical purpose of flowers? From an economic standpoint, how important is the idea of beauty to people today?

Agenda 08/10  Basic Designs of Beauty  Watch Beauty: Tulips Clip  Post Questions  Patterns and Beauty in Nature

BASIC DESIGNS of BEAUTY All forms of life are constructed of nine basic designs. The nine designs are listed below and are often combined as composite forms that can include all nine or just a few.  the sphere and spheroid  the circle and ellipse  the cube  the cylinder  the spiral  the undulate  the pyramid and triangle  the lattice  the frond

the sphere and spheroid

the circle and ellipse

the cube

the cylinder

the spiral

the undulate

pyramid and triangle

the lattice

the frond

What designs do you see?

What do you think about beauty?  Think about your own personal opinion of beauty. Which traits do you think influence how you perceive beauty?  Do you find beauty in things that are more complex or more simplistic? Or both?  What are the likely evolutionary advantages to possessing traits that are considered beautiful?

Beauty : Tulips

Post-Questions  What aesthetic tastes do bees and humans have in common?  What is your opinion of tulips compared to other flowers? Are they more or less beautiful?  Are there rational explanations for "beauty?" How obsessed with beauty are Americans? Do other cultures have obsessions with beauty?  What is the practical purpose of flowers? From an economic standpoint, how important is the idea of beauty to people today?

Warm-up 05/11  Designate these pictures primary categories of beauty based on the following: Health, Symmetry, Vibrancy, and Complexity.

Agenda 05/11  Patterns and Beauty in Mature  Perceiving Beauty  Generating Patterns and Beauty with Technology  Computer Lab  Beauty Project  Journal Article #3 Due 05/18

Patterns and Beauty in Nature 1. Arrange the objects according to similarities/differences in form. 2. Arrange the objects according to beauty. 3. On your own, fill in your table. a. Designate the objects' primary categories of beauty based on the following: Health, Symmetry, Vibrancy, and Complexity. b. Additionally, identify the objects' more striking qualities that elevate or minimize their beauty.

Perceiving Beauty  beauty.php beauty.php

Generating Patterns and Beauty with Technology  Tessellation  Fibonacci sequence  Phi golden ratio  Fractals

Fractal Leaf Pattern

Edible Fractals: Romanesco (a cross between broccoli and Cauliflower)

Agenda 05/14  Computer lab  Answer Questions  Start Beauty Art Project

Agenda 05/15  Hand-Back  Project Beauty Flower

Essay  Sometimes the term "adrenaline junkie" is used to describe someone who enjoys dangerous activities that give him/her an adrenaline rush — a hormone-induced reaction that includes elevated levels of oxygen and glucose in the brain. You don't need to skydive to get a rush of adrenaline (also called epinephrine). Performing in front of others or participating in an athletic competition can also give you that rush. How would you describe an adrenaline rush to someone who has never experienced it? How does this differ from what you have learned about the effects of the plant molecules you researched?

Explore & Answer  W hat are the most beautiful representations of fractals and tessellations in nature?  How and why does nature fold things? (See Ha-ori leaf folding or Miura folding patterns.)  How might I use unusual shapes to break the rules of traditional geometry?  What is the shape of a beautiful fractal or tessellation or origami object?  What role does the concept of "the infinite" have in art?  What variables might I manipulate in order to create a desired, symmetry, color, or form?  How might I incorporate bumps, curves, folds, spikes, and curls into a piece of artwork to achieve my definition of beauty?  What are the most beautiful sorts of fractals? (Graftals, Mandelbrots, L- systems, IFS theory fractals, Von Koch curves or Sierpinski triangles?)

Youtube Clips Tesselations  Mandelbrot Fractals  Von Koch  U&feature=related U&feature=related Sierpinski triangles  Miura Folds 

Generating Patterns and Beauty with Technology Patterns in Nature Visual Math golden.html Fractal Generators polymer.bu.edu/java/java/anthill/Anthill.html Tessellation Generators Molecule Builders golden.html polymer.bu.edu/java/java/anthill/Anthill.html

Agenda 05/16  Intoxication: In the Arms of Morpheus  Project Beauty Flower  Due to present Friday  Article Review #2 due Friday

Agenda 05/18  Project Beauty Flower Presentations  Due to present Friday  Article Review #3 due Friday  Intoxication: In the Arms of Morpheus  Group Mini presentations

Project Beauty Flower  Create an original piece of work (flower or other object) that you consider beautiful, incorporating the knowledge you have gained by exploring the basics of fractals and tessellations and answering the questions.  You will present your work to the class friday, sharing your reasons for creating what you chose to create and the process you employed.

In the Arms of Morpheus Group Mini-Presentations  Morphine  Heroin  Codeine  THC  Identify the questions you would like to explore to learn more about your assigned molecules.  Pick five questions to drive your inquiry.

Background on mind-altering compounds  In the film, scientists assert that human beings have an innate drive to experience other states of consciousness. Do you agree? If so, why do you think that is? How do we most commonly explore altered mental states? What evolutionary benefits do you think there might be to this drive?

Drugs and Culture  Which drugs are tolerated in particular cultures? How have drugs been used in various cultures? How was cannabis used in the United States in the 19 th century?

The impact of THC on the brain  What is the psychoactive molecule found in marijuana and what does it do to the brain?

The importance of Forgetting  Why is forgetting important to the normal functioning of the brain? Part of the value of sleep is that it gives the brain an opportunity to process and organize the day's experiences – retaining some and discarding others. How does this understanding of sleep expand on the notion that forgetting can be good?

Computer Lab  Mini Presentations  Article Review #3 due Friday

Agenda 05/17  Intoxication: In the Arms of Morpheus  Group Mini presentations  Project Beauty Flower  Due to present Friday  Article Review #3 due Friday