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For my STEAM project I decided to do Scleroderma. Scleroderma is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by the tightening and hardening of the skin and underlying connective tissues. This is caused by the overproduction of collagen in the connective tissues. For the art portion of this project, I used construction paper to create two models of skin and the underlying tissues, one healthy, and the other with scleroderma. I gave each model hair and a hair root, an eccrine sweat gland, a sebaceous gland, an arrector pili muscle, blood vessels, and sensory nerve fibers. Each model has an epithelial layer, connective tissue layer, and adipose tissue layer. I made the model with scleroderma have a thinner layer of adipose tissue at the bottom and a thicker layer of skin on the top. I also made the blood vessels on the scleroderma model thinner than the healthy model to show how Raynaud’s Phenomenon affects the blood vessels.
Hi Teresa,
I really enjoyed your STEAM project on Scleroderma. Before reading through your project, I have never heard of the condition or two kinds. I found your paper super informative and super understandable from a completely blank canvas on the subject. I also really enjoyed your artwork and really showing the difference between healthy and diseased tissue. You did an absolutely fantastic job on both the paper and artwork. It helped me read your paper, look at the artwork, and match the labels with the words. I enjoyed the labels and how they matched up perfectly with your essay description. I also wanted to thank you for opening up about your dad’s struggle with this disease and your personal connections to it. It gave your essay depth and an ethos appeal. I found the part about Raynaud’s Phenomenon especially interesting because it seems so common for people to say they have bad circulation in their fingers when they turn red, but it could be more than they think. I also find it fascinating how the body can attack itself and how common it is. This is one of the many diseases that this is all too common for. I also found it interesting that it’s more common in women than men, and it made me wonder why exactly that is? In the end, I was able to add brand new knowledge about the human body. Thank you for letting me read and comment on your essay Teresa!
Ashlee Schaeffer
Hi Teresa,
I really enjoyed your STEAM project on Scleroderma. Before reading through your project, I have never heard of the condition or two kinds. I found your paper super informative and super understandable from a completely blank canvas on the subject. I also really enjoyed your artwork and really showing the difference between healthy and diseased tissue. You did an absolutely fantastic job on both the paper and artwork. It helped me read your paper, look at the artwork, and match the labels with the words. I enjoyed the labels and how they matched up perfectly with your essay description. I also wanted to thank you for opening up about your dad’s struggle with this disease and your personal connections to it. It gave your essay depth and an ethos appeal. I found the part about Raynaud’s Phenomenon especially interesting because it seems so common for people to say they have bad circulation in their fingers when they turn red, but it could be more than they think. I also find it fascinating how the body can attack itself and how common it is. This is one of the many diseases that this is all too common for. I also found it interesting that it’s more common in women than men, and it made me wonder why exactly that is? In the end, I was able to add brand new knowledge about the human body. Thank you for letting me read and comment on your essay Teresa!