• Question: do you have a favourite experiment ?

    Asked by 977nveg52 to Lauren, Marisol, Michael, Sarah, Sophie on 16 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Marisol Collins

      Marisol Collins answered on 16 Nov 2016:


      Great question! I really enjoy the work I do examining samples from animals to see if they carry a particular parasite. I bet you are surprised to hear that my favourite thing to examine is poo! ?
      I find it really interesting that I can take a sample of smelly poo from a dog, and even if I can’t see a parasite there, I can do some tests to remove the DNA (material from the genes in the cells) of the parasite from the poo, multiply the DNA in a machine and then separate it from all the other DNA in a gel! This process has an incredibly long name, called a Polymerase Chain Reaction, but we call it PCR for short. Many areas of science will use this test to help identify DNA from a particular plant or organism if they are searching for it. It allows us to find it, even if there is just a tiny amount of DNA in a sample. Did you know that PCR is also used by forensic detectives to identify the DNA of criminals in a crime scene?

      Marisol πŸ™‚

    • Photo: Lauren Burt

      Lauren Burt answered on 17 Nov 2016:


      Hey!

      One of the first experiments that I remember doing was about shining light through a prism and seeing how it separates into different coloured light, and how we see different coloured things.
      I also remember when we got to heat up magnesium strips in a crucible, and then exposed it to oxygen in the air and it glowed bright white! This experiment was about ‘oxidation’ and was a type of reaction. Really cool!

      Lauren

    • Photo: Michael Rivera

      Michael Rivera answered on 17 Nov 2016:


      My favourite study that I’ve done is I looked at 2,000 leg bones from different people across the world – from Canada to Argentina, from England to South Africa, and from Japan to Australia… literally everywhere!

      I found out that people’s leg bones are different shapes and sizes depending on where people live. If someone is from a cold place (like the Arctic Circle), it’s likely they have a fatter, shorter leg to keep all their body heat in as much as possible. If someone is from a hot place (like the African savanna), it’s likely they have thinner, longer legs, so that body heat can leave the body more easily into the air! Isn’t that interesting?

      Michael πŸ™‚

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