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Hi All

Yes, The exhibit described is an Exploratorium exhibit. Please contact
Charles Carlson for more information. I know they included it in their
traveling life sciences exhibit Traits of Life, and it has also been
reproduced for other museums through ExNet partnerships.

Best Regards,

Ted Koterwas
WDIl.org
http://www.wdil.org

On 10/2/07, Chuck Howarth <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> 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:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> > Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> > institutions.
> > **********************************************************************
> > *******
> >
> > 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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