STEAM Project

This is my STEAM project

I’ve assembled thin tubing, as if it were the filtration of air within some contraption, to represent the lymphatic system moving lymph through its tiny lymph vessels. I’ve added a T divider to help represent a filter or a lymph node. From one end of the T divider, the pathway continues to cycle within the mainline, like in the lymphatic system, but the other end is the pathway to the dust collector, which would be emptied when full. I used fish food to represent the “dust” which in turn represents whats left of bacteria when the white blood cells are done with them. Just as within the lymphatic system lymph nodes filter the lymph then what’s remaining ends up going to the urinary bladder which is later excreted from the body. Thus ending the filtration of the air in my representation as well as lymph in the human body.

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Ectopia Cordis Model

file:///C:/Users/Anna%20Green/Downloads/Untitled%20document%20(3).pdf    

For my project, I made a model of a chest with the rare heart condition, Ectopia Cordis. It was my goal to simulate the effects of this condition as it would appear on a newborn, and depict how the heart develops outside of the chest cavity, and is made visible from the abdominal wall. I based my topic on Course Objective #42, as I wanted to learn more about abnormalities in the formation and structure of the heart. I believe I also briefly touched on Objective #19 as well, as this defect is formed during the early development of a fetus. This condition is cause when the sternum doesn’t fuse properly in utero and as the heart forms, it does so from the protection of the chest cavity. Despite the high mortality rate at infancy, several patients with this condition are able to still maintain a lifestyle, but are at risk of higher health complications. To simulate the condition, I baked a loaf of bread to act as the chest area and inserted a potato in the center to act as the heart. I used red dye and spray glue to give my “heart” a more realistic, textured appearance at it emerges through the “cavity”.  

 

 

 

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Osmosis Resembles a Pendulum

Osmosis is the diffusion of water. This pendulum represents the passing of a water molecule through a membrane at osmotic equilibrium. Osmosis continues to happen as the molecule of water passes back and forth through the membrane represented by the cone on the back of the pendulum. The membrane also contains aquaporins, which is the part of the membrane responsible for the passage of water. Without the presence of aquaporins water could not pass through the membrane in both directions which means osmosis would not be possible. The stones on the base represent concentrations. The darker the stones the more concentrated with water it is. Since osmosis works down the gradient from high to low concentrations the pendulum   representing the water molecule, swings back and forth between the the two areas of concentration traveling from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. This will happen continuously at osmotic equilibrium.

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