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COSI Friend, are you ready to be grossed out? If so, read on!
With each breath you take in a typical office, you inhale about 10,000 bacteria.
Your large intestine is about five feet long.
The hydrochloric acid in your stomach is so strong it will eat stainless steel razor blades.
About ten billion tiny scales rub off your body everyday. In a lifetime, you could fill eight 5-pound bags with dead skin.
Feet sweat because they have about 250,000 pores each that produce a quarter cup of liquid every day.
Learn why we're so gross at GROSSOLOGY: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body, a new exhibition appearing at COSI from January 30 to May 9, 2010. GROSSOLOGY supports Life Science 1.5, 2.2, 6.1; Scientific Inquiry 1.1-3, 2.1-5, 3.1-2, 3.4, 4.1, 5.1, 6.2-3, and Scientific Ways of Knowing 1.2, 1.3, 2.4, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 5.2, 6.3-4.
GROSSOLOGY is included with the cost of group rate admission to COSI (the 100,000,000 microorganisms living in your mouth get in free). Call 614.228.2674 to make your field trip reservation now. See you this semester at COSI!
Doug Buchanan
Education Programs Marketing Manager | Follow me on Twitter
GROSSOLOGY is presented by American Electric Power with education support from Nationwide Children's Hospital.
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What's the best remedy for an upset stomach? When your stomach is too acidic, it can feel upset. Antacids react with the acid to neutralize it. Try this experiment to determine which antacid works best.
Materials: Purple cabbage, boiling water, bowl, vinegar, three clear plastic or glass cups (per group), three Alka-Seltzer-type antacids (per group), baking soda, a teaspoon.
Instructions: First, make an indicator solution. Chop up two cups of purple cabbage and pour about four cups of boiling water onto it. Let it sit for about half an hour. You should get a dark purple liquid. Purple cabbage contains a chemical that changes color depending on pH. In an acid, it turns reddish or rose. In a base, it turns blue or green. In a neutral solution, it stays purple.
Now test some antacids. Pour a quarter cup of vinegar into each cup. The vinegar represents stomach acid. Add enough cabbage juice to each cup to turn it a red color.
In Cup 1, add one Alka-Seltzer tablet. Alka-Seltzer contains sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, which react with each other and with the vinegar. What color is the liquid in the cup now?
In Cup 2, add two Alka-Seltzer tablets. What color is the liquid in the cup now?
In Cup 3, add a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). What color is the liquid in the cup now? Which antacid do you think neutralizes the stomach acid best?
To provide an opportunity for student inquiry, vary the amount of antacid that students place in the cup to see if there's an ideal solution. Students can also research upset stomach cures on the Internet and bring in remedies or other antacids from home and test them using a similar procedure.
Assessment: 3 points for correctly measuring the amount of vinegar; 5 points for sharing results of the experiment. Additional Inquiry Assessment: 3 points for correctly documenting new experiment so that it can be replicated (includes exact measurements); 5 points for sharing successes and challenges.
COSI's Boys Discover…Engineering!
A day-long career exploration program for boys in Grades 6-8
Saturday, February 13, 2010 (8:15am–3:15pm) at COSI
Boys will explore careers in engineering, guided by engineers. Scholarships are available and registration open now; $25. Visit www.cosi.org/boys-discover for details.
COSI's Girls Discover…Health, Medicine, & More!
A day-long career exploration program for girls in Grades 6-8
Saturday, March 20, 2010 (8:15am–3:15pm) at COSI
Girls will explore careers in health and medicine, guided by women in the field. Scholarships will be available; registration will open in January; $35. Visit www.cosi.org/girlsdiscover for details.
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