Embedded Files
Classroom Updates & Stories
Classroom Updates & Stories
Monday: Lab Safety & Introduction to Calibration Lab
Monday started off with the treck to the Natural Science Building or NSB, 17 minutes away from ERC. After meeting our professors, we were supposed to have a presentation on safety in the lab, however as you will read, things went askew. After a small lecture from Dr. Pomeroy we headed back to get lunch. Fueled up, we headed back to the NSB where we would step into the lab for the first time. After equipping our Personal Protective Equipment or PPE, George briefed us on safety. This afternoon lab was a calibration lab, each duo pair calibrated an Eppendorf pipette, an instrument used to dispense fluids systematically. Instruments aren't always exactly precise, which is why we needed to calibrate by measuring several dispensers from the instrument and finding the average over each trial.
Tuesday: Introduction to the Ethics Presentation
On Tuesday we were introduced to our ethics presentation that covers an ethical dilemma of our choice that connects to the topic of our cluster (climate change). The top three presentations will be presented to an ethics board that will pick the final winner! The prize? COSMOS merch! In the lab our cluster split up into project groups. Project groups include bio diesel, bio degradation, tidal waves, enzymes, and solar cells. With the next 3 weeks we will get to know our groups, set up our experiments, start collecting data, and practice our final presentation. Students will present in groups to fellow classmates and the parents on pick up day!
Wednesday: Density Lab and Lecture on Solar Flux
On Wednesday, we had a lecture on solar radiation, energy balance, and radiative balance. We spent time understanding mathematical models. It was great to see how college class structure works. In the lab, we used expensive machinery, interesting techniques, and math to find out the density of sea water. With help from the teaching assistants and our professor we were able to analyze the data and create graphs using excel.
Thursday: Ethics Presentation Continued!
Thursday, some very lovely librarians introduced us to the plethora of digital resources we have access too for our final presentation. Afterwards, everyone gave a small blip about their ethics project to the rest of Cluster 3 and 6 respectively. After some brief feedback, we split off from Cluster 6 to discuss our background, interests and what we look for in higher education schools. When the clock hit 11:30 we headed to fuel up at Cafe Ventanas back at ERC. The afternoon consisted of working in our project groups on our work towards our final presentation. Details about what we worked on will be included in next week's Newsletter!
Lab Safety: The Invisible Presentation
On the first day of classes, all lab Clusters were required to attend a mandatory Lab Safety Zoom meeting. Of course, safety comes first in a laboratory setting, but this meeting ran into a slight hiccup. The professor who was presenting ran into technical difficulties, simultaneously being unable to hear audio and forgetting to share his screen. To make the problem worse, he never read the chat, despite promising to do so. This all led to the unfortunate, but funny, scenario where no one could see or understand the very important safety presentation*, and the professor had no clue.
*another, more in-depth presentation was given by our professors right after
Professor Winston in the Lab!
Professor Winston in the Lab!
Our lab had a surprise visit on Tuesday, Dr. Skip Pomeroy's dog Winston. Everyone loved him lot, but some thought he looked too much like a cow.
Our lab had a surprise visit on Tuesday, Dr. Skip Pomeroy's dog Winston. Everyone loved him lot, but some thought he looked too much like a cow.
Residential News & Stories
Residential News & Stories
Rumble in the Sand!
On Tuesday, 20 people rushed to sign up for a Tournament-style volleyball competition. Hosted at the Triton Bar Park sand-volleyball courts near Muir College, the 20 participants would split up into 10 duo pairs. John Lee (C1) and Connor Weinhouse (C4) started on the court, defeating every team against them. Only a few pairs got close, but John and Connor reigned the court until they were told off the court as champions. The rounds continued to determine the runners-up. The game was interrupted by an urgent alert about an injury back at the dorms, ending beach volleyball early. The top 3 winners went home with shiny medals and bragging rights!
Runners Up!
2nd & 3rd place winners:
Opening Activities: Rock Painting
Every night, our Cluster meets out on the green with the other 12 clusters to hang out & do activities. On our first night, there was an array of activities including cards, volleyball, spike ball, making mocktails, water balloon toss, and rock painting. We had some creative designs from our clusters for the rocks including turtles, dragons, starfish, and bees.
Cluster 3 Preparing for the 2024 Cosmosolympics: A Timeline
Monday: Brainstorming our skit
Tuesday: Prop making and making costumes
Wednesday: Finalizing props & the skit
Thursday: Final run through!
For the first week at Cosmos, all clusters were required to perform a skit, in hopes of winning some merch and bragging rights among the other campers! After some discussion, we decided that a Lorax skit would represent our cluster perfectly. Fyn, our director, grinded out a clever script for us that wove ideas of climate change into engaging Lorax songs. We have practiced our roles diligently the past few days and hope to win Cosmolympics this coming Friday!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse