John drove us to Holmes Hall where we checked in and got our backpacks and info for our stay.
We stayed in room 410 East Holmes. The bed was very high - Alexander managed to bump his head on the ceiling a couple times!!
After check in and lunch, we were welcomed at the MSU Auditorium.
Sparty even showed up and led us in a couple cheers!!!
Our afternoon class was the first part of The Unseen Microbial World. Professor John had sent us collection tubes and vials to get samples of where we might find bacteria to culture. Alexander used the swab on the inside of a toilet bowl at home here (cleaned about a week ago) and then another swab on the inside of the toilet bowl in the dorm room (freshly cleaned!?!)
He got a vial of kitty litter and I got a little sample of goo from inside the rubber at the opening of the garbage disposal.
Stu helped Alexander transfer our samples to agar dishes to see what would grow.
Alexander got to heat the swab each time he spread the sample in the dish.
Stu said he did very well.
Professor John also had some pond water for us to look at in the microscope. We saw lots of little bugs and tiny worms.
There were 9 MSU students to help - with pictures, too.
Our evening activity was a tour of the WKAR radio and television facilities.
Thursday morning we had a class at the Engineering Building - Scanning Electron Microscope.
The kids did some other experiments with materials that were either hydrophonic or hydrofobic - water came right off these pants. The experiments with a ball that had been in liquid nitrogen........it shattered when dropped, but returned to it's rubbery form when it cooled.
The young man with Alexander is Peyton Brogan - I used to babysit for his dad!!!! He was there with his brother and a cousin - and both grandparents. It was nice to visit with Pat and Dave - been too long.......... We enjoyed walking back to lunch with Pat and Peyton - the boys ate together at lunch and we adults got to visit.
After lunch we went to Wells Hall for our "What's in the Water" class. There were samples from the Red Cedar river. The kids scouped critters into their dishes and had to decide what kind of bug it was and if the bug lived in excellent, good or poor water. Believe it or not - based on the living organisms in the water, the Red Cedar is good to excellent!!!!!!!! 
That evening we had a session called SeaGrant - Super Sleuthing - Nab the Aquatic Invader. It was about aquatic invaders in the Great Lakes - zebra mussel, fishhook fleas, sea lamprey, purple loosestrife, ruffe and goby fish.
The closing ceremony was after lunch. One of the evening activities was to "Paint the Rock" - and of course we had to get our picture taken.
Professor John also had some pond water for us to look at in the microscope. We saw lots of little bugs and tiny worms.
There were 9 MSU students to help - with pictures, too.
Our evening activity was a tour of the WKAR radio and television facilities.
This is Alexander at the radio broadcasting desk that Mark Bashore uses for his local spots on All Things Considered. He led our tour of the radio area.
We switched groups and went to the television studios. Out tour guide was a young gal that is a producer for some of the local shows - Quilz Bowl for one.
We switched groups and went to the television studios. Out tour guide was a young gal that is a producer for some of the local shows - Quilz Bowl for one.
The only set that we could see was for Off The Record - a Michigan political commentary show. There were no other sets up at this time.
We went to the game lounge after we came back. We played Uno with our suite-mates - Terrell and Pat.
Late night - lights did not go out until after 10:30. Too late for a 10 year old!!!
Thursday morning we had a class at the Engineering Building - Scanning Electron Microscope.
The kids were allowed to use a half million dollar machine!!!!
Alexander focused on the leg of the ladybug.
The kids did some other experiments with materials that were either hydrophonic or hydrofobic - water came right off these pants. The experiments with a ball that had been in liquid nitrogen........it shattered when dropped, but returned to it's rubbery form when it cooled.
There was another machine that cut thru or bent metals - don't know what that was called.
The young man with Alexander is Peyton Brogan - I used to babysit for his dad!!!! He was there with his brother and a cousin - and both grandparents. It was nice to visit with Pat and Dave - been too long.......... We enjoyed walking back to lunch with Pat and Peyton - the boys ate together at lunch and we adults got to visit.
Later the boys were seen in the game room playing Sorry together.
After lunch we went to Wells Hall for our "What's in the Water" class. There were samples from the Red Cedar river. The kids scouped critters into their dishes and had to decide what kind of bug it was and if the bug lived in excellent, good or poor water. Believe it or not - based on the living organisms in the water, the Red Cedar is good to excellent!!!!!!!! We went to the river and talked about it some more and played a game on the grass about the ecosystem.
That evening we had a session called SeaGrant - Super Sleuthing - Nab the Aquatic Invader. It was about aquatic invaders in the Great Lakes - zebra mussel, fishhook fleas, sea lamprey, purple loosestrife, ruffe and goby fish.
Alexander is holding a sea lamprey.
This is Emma helping Alexander make a gram stain on the slide.
Friday morning we returned to the micro-biology lab. Students helped the kids make slides from their cultured bacterias.
Alexander had great bacteria from the kitchen disposal, the kitty litter, and the toilet bowl in the dorm. The sample from the toilet bowl at home had no growing bacteria!!!!!!!!!
We got to look at these bacteria with the microscopes and one of the students is going to email us pictures soon.
This is Emma helping Alexander make a gram stain on the slide.
The children also made a Winogradsky Column - it is a miniature ecosystem made from mud, soil and water and driven by sunlight. It was a method used to study microbial communities. It is sitting on the window ledge in the kitchen. We do have to watch it because over time it will show the layers of the microbial communities - but also produce a lot of gas - much of which is hydrogen sulfide. The cap will remain loose, but taken out every once in awhile to vent the built up pressure.
The closing ceremony was after lunch. One of the evening activities was to "Paint the Rock" - and of course we had to get our picture taken.
We had our stuff packed up, so called John and checked out. He picked us up and brought us home. Back to reality - fix dinner, do laundry, grocery shop, etc.
It was really a good time. We both learned many things, met old and new friends, didn't get much sleep, and had this special time together. That's what it's all about.
It was really a good time. We both learned many things, met old and new friends, didn't get much sleep, and had this special time together. That's what it's all about.
3 comments:
Looks like you had a great time and learned a lot, too. Never had things like this, when I was a kid --- we just did our scooping of river water (and wading, too) --- never knew exactly what was in it! Congratulations on the clean toilet! ...and, do I know what it is to return to reality --- oh yes!
what a brilliant thing to do....sounds as though you had a great time and I bet Alexander did too.....!
I see the glasses were on about half the time...?
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