Project Roster 2009

Session 1: June 23 – July 7

Exploring Microbial Diversity in Your Fridge!

Proj. Leaders: Daniela Goltsman (Environmental Science, Policy and Management)

Using microbiological techniques and your favorite spot in the house (or outdoors), you will learn about microbial diversity in our everyday life. The lab experience will be focused on culturing, visualizing and identifying microorganisms from your chosen sampling site. We will also use fluorescent microscopy (FISH) to identify different classes of organisms. The class will use our group’s lab facilities in 113 Hilgard Hall.

How does your immune system manage to keep its cool under constant attack? Meet the key players of your immune system!

Proj. Leader: Maria Mouchess, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Immunology Division

How does your body coordinate the fight against infections? Why are we vulnerable to the flu and bacteria? Using mice as a model system, we will explore what cells coordinate your immune response. We will dissect organs that are critical for your immune defense. We will focus on observing and identifying different cell types that make up your immune system using a powerful technique known as flow cytometry. This class will take place in a immunology research lab in 405 Life Science Addition.

What is the Shape of (a) Space? An Invitation to Topology

Proj. Leader: Shawn McDougal, Department of Mathematics

Is our universe shaped like a plane, a sphere, or something entirely different? What are the possible shapes of any universe? How do we classify spaces using only data that "inhabitants" have access to? Using tools like the Euler characteristic, we will explore the concepts of dimension, connectivity, and orientability in topology. We will learn how to classify low-dimensional spaces, and, time permitting, explore higher-dimensions and sundry unrelated phenomena.

Floating objects

Proj. Leader: Jakub Kominiarczuk, UC Mathematics and LBNL Mathematics

We will begin by asking a fairly simple question, namely why is it that certain things float when thrown into water. To understand the most important processes involved, we will learn about such concepts as forces, pressure, and potential energy.

After that introduction, we will tackle the main question: given a certain object -- and our initial example will be a square -- what will be it's orientation while floating? It turns out that the answer is quite interesting, even for graduate students, but we will find it using just simple algebra.

Our initial investigation won't be limited to a square, though, and if the time permits we will perform numerical experiments to see if our analytical calculations were correct. Finally, we might try playing with various other shapes, specifically with a thin, "needle-like" rectangle.

While the problem could be solved using somewhat sophisticated mathematics, we will use a simple approach based on high school level algebra. This will allow us to learn about things like forces, pressure, center of mass, and many other concepts which come to us naturally and help explaining much more complicated phenomena, such as why sail ships are stable even though they have very tall masts and are constantly being hit by large waves.

As an added bonus, we will try learn how to use LaTeX -- the system used for preparing scientific papers -- and use it to write our project report.

Energy and Sustainability

Proj. Leader: Kenneth Armijo

In this project, the students will learn about fossil fuel energy sources as well as alternative energy ones. With this the students will then be asked to investigate the carbon/exergy life-cycle for these from a very broad perspective then evaluate ways that waste thermal energy can be used to produce more electricity.

Spherical projections and map making

Proj. Leader: Ryan Hynd, Department of Mathematics

We will learn various ways to map a sphere onto a plane and hopefully come up with some new ways, too. These constructions will be used to make maps of the globe.

Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe

Proj. Leader: Chris Herdman, Department of Physics

The laws of physics for very tiny things (e.g. atoms, electrons, etc.), called quantum mechanics, are very different from what we experience everyday on human scales. This project will investigate the extraordinary world of quantum physics. We will use computer simulations of both quantum mechanical (very small) objects and human sizes objects and determine the differences and similarities of these two worlds. To better understand how the quantum world works, we will learn and play a version of tic-tac-toe based on the laws of quantum mechanics.

Session 1: July 9– July 23

Biological Detectives: Using evolutionary trees to reconstruct history

Proj. Leader: Mariska Batavia, Department of Integrative Biology - & - Sonal Singal , Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Students will first learn about phylogenies (evolutionary trees), which show relationships between organisms. They will then identify and use morphological characteristics of mammals to reconstruct the mammal family tree, and will use their tree to answer some important questions about mammalian evolution. Students will then use molecular data (i.e., DNA sequences)from humans to understand human evolution and from viruses to understand how viruses adapt to changing environments.

What is the Shape of (a) Space? An Invitation to Topology

Proj. Leader: Shawn McDougal, Department of Mathematics

Is our universe shaped like a plane, a sphere, or something entirely different? What are the possible shapes of any universe? How do we classify spaces using only data that "inhabitants" have access to? Using tools like the Euler characteristic, we will explore the concepts of dimension, connectivity, and orientability in topology. We will learn how to classify low-dimensional spaces, and, time permitting, explore higher-dimensions and sundry unrelated phenomena.

You Could Win A Car: Probability and the Monty Hall

Proj. Leader: Patrick LaVictoire, Department of Mathematics

You're on the Monty Hall game show, trying to win a car. There are three doors to choose from; the car is behind one of them. After you pick one, the host (as he does every week) opens one of the other doors to reveal... a goat. Now he gives you the option to stay with your original door or switch to the other unopened door. What should you do? Does it matter whether you stay or switch? Surprisingly, this little puzzle on 1950s TV tricked many people, including some famous mathematicians. We'll investigate this game and some variants with the tools of probability theory, primarily Bayes' Theorem, so that you'll be ready for anything Monty Hall has to throw at you...

Exploring the Ozone Layer: An Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry

Proj. Leader: Amadu Kanu, Department of Chemistry

Why is ozone found in the atmosphere important? Can we measure its abundance? In this session, you will learn about how and where ozone is made, and get an opportunity take measurements of it, which will extend through Earth atmosphere.