A Tree Grows on Campus

That is a tree growing along the side of the Shepard Building on the City College campus. What’s beautiful about life is that it is an amalgamation of methods that necessitate the study of multiple sciences to know how this one goal of survival is accomplished. We can see biology, chemistry, biophysics, environmental sciences, biochemistry and a number I lack the understanding to name. A question I’d pose is how has this building impacted the growth of this tree?

The science of spiderwebs

Caption: Although it is hard to see, the  picture features an intricate and vacant spider web outside of the Shepard hall.

Science: Biochemistry (and architecture)

Spider silk is composed of a special polymeric protein that can be used to create a structure, that looks beautiful and shiny under sunlight (spider silk) , as well as has the ability to attract and trap prey for the host spider’s consumption. A lot can be learned from the spiderweb in terms of spider behavior as well as architecture. Observing this seemingly light and fragile web brave the hot and windy weather conditions makes me wonder how this material can be used or can inspire the manufacturing of a synthetic material that can be utilized for our benefit. In other words, what can me learned from the form and composition of spiderwebs that can be implemented to better human lives?

Science Around Shepard

Description: Stained Glass Windows in The Great Hall.

Science Behind It: Chemistry/Physics

Glass itself is made using science by melting sand at high temperatures. When minerals such as cobalt oxide are added to the melting process ordinary glass obtains its colorful hue. Stained glass has it roots in history, cathedrals and other buildings built in the past are decorated with such colorful panes. The glass obtains it’s color from the the light waves in the light spectrum that can be absorbed by the added mineral. To achieve the color, method to “stain the glass” include mixing the mineral into the sand prior its firing or painting on the mineral, for example silver, and then heating the glass. This latter method was utilized to create shading in a single pane of glass adding depth to these transparent canvases.

Science Question:

How does stained glass stack up to regular glass, strength wise? Does the addition of other minerals and materials change the integrity of the glass itself?

Science Photo

This is a picture of a fly. A fly, being a living organism, represents science, specifically the life sciences, because it is a living creature. Instantly, I thought of biology because of the way that biology analyzes the different aspects of life, including what the diet of the fly is, how it fits into the food chain, what role it plays in its environment, how its body carries out different functions, and so on.

If I had to think of a question that I could apply to the fly, it would probably be related to one of the observations that I have already made. For example, what is the fly population here like compared to somewhere else? What are the mating habits of flies? What attracts them? How do other factors in the surrounding environment affect the fly population?

Of course, many of these answers might seem fairly obvious already, but there is always more information to be found, and something as simple as a fly may be able to spark hundreds of questions and answers concerning the world around us.

Campus Science Kate Scherer

In this photo, I chose to focus on the soil and grass found here at CCNY.  This selection relates to biology because biology encompasses the study of living things such as grass and other environmental factors.  This could additionally be classified as earth science, because of the presence of soil and rocks, one could study the process of the creation of soil. A possible research question could be, what combination of soil and fertilizers would lead to the best growth of grass on the quad. 

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Life after death

This shows a number of leaves grasping to the last few moments of life. After showering the campus, I came to notice this solely because of its vibrant signs of life, as if whether it is on a tree or not is non of the matter. The research behind this picture could ask, “how long do the leaves photosynthesis without a source of water” or  “After how long will the leaves show the signs of decay (becoming brown, brittle, etc)?”.The science related to these questions would be in the fields of biology and chemistry.