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The exhibit Gordon describes may have come from the Exploratorium, or
at least they produced a similar display. Not sure if they still
distribute it or not.
Science Museum of Virginia developed an updated and much more recent
version based on a similar concept. Check with Gene Maurakis at the
Museum about that.
Chuck Howarth
On Oct 2, 2007, at 12:18 PM, Glen Moore wrote:
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>
> Gordon
>
> Thank you for reminding me of this. I agree that it is a
> fascinating exhibit.
>
> Does anyone have some user friendly software to share?
>
> Thanks!
> Glen Moore
> Science Centre and Planetarium
> Wollongong, Australia
> [log in to unmask]
> http://science.uow.edu.au
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gordon McDonough" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: "CHILDMUS - A Forum for Childrens Museum Professionals"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 4:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [CHILDMUS] Exhibit on Diversity--Need Input
>
>
>>> What kinds of hands-on activities did you develop in relation to the
>>> exhibit or program?
>>
>> Liz, among our many push-button (yawn) exhibits we have a pretty cool
>> computer set up to poll visitor's genetic traits and compare them. A
>> few months ago I was asked about it, and I wrote the following
>> description of its contents. We have had this computer for a long
>> time, and I don't know who wrote the program, but I suspect it would
>> be easier to start all over than to try to use the version we are
>> running. (Get a high school computer teacher to assign it to a Java
>> programming class.*)
>>
>> "
>> ..snips... I just sat at that exhibit and learned, among other
>> things, that of the 50,995 other persons who have used it, only 232
>> of them share the same ten traits that I reported. It makes me feel
>> special. (OTOH, statistically, if we split 50,995 in half ten times,
>> we end up in a group of fifty, so I am not that special!)
>>
>> The ten items in the exhibit are:
>>
>> Ring finger longer than index finger? Yes is dominant among men, no
>> among women.
>>
>> Hair on the backs of middles of fingers is dominant.
>>
>> Attached ear lobes is recessive.
>>
>> Hitchhiker's thumb bends far back and is recessive
>>
>> Ability to curl our tongue is dominant.
>>
>> There is a tube that claims to contain a chemical fraction present in
>> male sweat. (Like 40% of us, I couldn't smell it.) Men tend to find
>> it offensive, women less so. Most people can smell it.
>>
>> If your pinky finger curves inward toward your ring finger, you have
>> the dominant gene.
>>
>> If your eyes are anything besides blue, you have a dominant
>> characteristic.
>>
>> If your hair forms a widow's peak, that is dominant.
>>
>> If you have real dimples (not part of smile wrinkles, like me) that
>> is dominant too.
>>
>> I poked around very briefly on the Internet and found nothing useful
>> for a second grader, but these sites may contain information useful
>> for you if you are helping a second grader. Several of them have
>> activities, worksheets, or tables that might be adaptable for your
>> son's purposes.
>>
>> http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/teachers/units/traits_tree.pdf
>>
>> http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/internet_lab/olc.php?
>> olcChapter=449
>>
>> http://chroma.gs.washington.edu/outreach/genetics/download/
>> toothpickfish.pdf
>>
>> http://biosci.usc.edu/courses/2001-spring/documents/bisc102-
>> humantraitslab.pdf
>>
>> "
>>
>> * Our program, as I recall, asks the ten questions and after each
>> question gives some information about that trait (or possibly it does
>> this at the end.) It keeps track of the ten answers, which are all
>> yes/ no. It stores the results and keeps a running tally of all
>> visitors' responses and reports that at the end. Then I think it
>> gives the visitor the option of going back and seeing what the
>> results would look like if they changed one or more of their answers.
>> A person with a background in programming will know none of this is
>> rocket science. One could alternatively use demographic questions to
>> underline how wealthy and privileged we, your visitors, are compared
>> to most of the world. Similar the the world as a village of 100
>> people idea:
>>
>> http://ssqq.com/archive/vinlin04.htm
>>
>> I am sorry I can't find the original source.
>> --
>> Gordon McDonough, Science Educator
>> Bradbury Science Museum, MS C330
>> Community Programs Office
>> Los Alamos National Laboratory
>> Los Alamos, NM. USA 87545
>>
>> (505) 606-0822
>>
>> "What one fool can understand, another can."
>> Sylvanus P. Thompson
>>
>
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