Questioning the Coogs!

Fonville 8th grade students! I hope that you have been trying your best and behaving in class so that you'll get to go on the field trip to the University of Houston this coming Friday, May 14 or Monday, May 17.

While there you will get to see an environmental research laboratory where we'll examine some pond water, a concrete testing lab, and a facility where they are researching the technologies to make very small electronics like your iPod.

I have gotten some students together that have been going to school here for awhile to answer any and all questions that you might have for them. You can ask them ANYTHING. Just ask yourself, "Is there anything about college life at the University of Houston that I would like to know and have never been able to ask before?" NOW is your chance. So go to this very brief quiz that I made for you online and submit up to five questions. If your question is a good one, we'll pick it and ask the panel what they think.

Waterborne Pathogens!

Hey Gang!

This week we will be talking about waterborne pathogens, which if you don't know what they are already you soon will. The reason is that one of the researchers you will be meeting at University of Houston studies pollution patterns in one particular type of waterborne pathogen in Houston.

Here is an example of a microscope-enhanced image of one of the pathogens that you may encounter this week. It is GIARDIA, and they can exist in untreated waters even waters that you think are clean. One example is even in cool-mountain streams, this protozoa can survive as a cyst for weeks just waiting to make ill the weary hiker.

This week we will actually be playing a game in groups. You group will face off against all of the other groups. What you'll need for the game is this spreadsheet that I've created. With it you will know as much as anybody who has a PhD in waterborne pathogens. :-)