Cellular Respiration: 2

This past week I finished researching the subject and have looked at quite a few different illustrations gathering ideas to put together the animation. Some of the illustrations we might even be able to use in the animation, that I believe will help give a big picture of things in a better way than I thought we could do by ourselves. I have also put together a list of the main steps in cellular respiration that are necessary to cover at any level, I tried to keep things simple enough for a large target area to understand the information provided. I haven't and won't be able to meet with the rest of my group until next week, due to work conflicts, but I will be trying to sending an e-mail to them so that they can use the information I have gathered to start working on a story board....which the last I knew will be the basis for the animation.

Service Learning - Day 1

Monday I started my service learning project at the YMCA in Stevens Point. I got to help kids ages 3-12 use weight lifting equipment. I thought this was dangerous, as I had always been taught that lifting before puberty was detrimental to growth and could make people permanently short. Marissa, the person in charge of the Family Prime Time fitness section, showed me that the kids cannot lift more than their own body weight. The machines are designed to convert the weight of the kids to a certain level of resistance so the kids cannot strain of otherwise injure themselves. Some of the kids are pretty new to the machines, so Marissa had to take them through every machine and show them how to do the exercise correctly. This actually took quite a long time. I had to try it, as it looked like it would be really easy. It wasn't. It is actually a good workout. I also learned that the YMCA has a large family event planned for Earth Day and I will be able to work with them during the entire activity, so I am pretty excited. I really enjoyed my couple of hours in the Y and am looking forward to doing it again next week.

Deer Project

As I mentioned in my first post I am working with The Wildlife Society and the deer project in specific. I may have to find other opportunities however, as deer trapping may soon be coming to an end as the weather gets warmer and does begin to drop their fawns. The goal of the deer project is to monitor and learn more about the deer herd that lives in Schmeekle and the nearby areas. This is done in large part through radio collaring. Radio collaring allows for tracking of the deer which can tell a lot about its habits and life style. Right now we are trying to get more radio collars on deer through trapping. There are two types of traps that the deer project uses to try to capture deer. The first is a basic box trap. The trap has doors on both ends and is baited in the middle with corn, when the deer enters so far into the trap it trips a wire that closes both doors. The box traps are left open nearly all week and we check them at 7am and 8pm. The other type of trap is a drop net. This type of trap takes a little more work. It is a large net held up on ten foot poles. Volunteers sit in a nearby blind and when the deer move to the bait in the center of the net it is dropped. The deer must then be tackled, blindfolded and radio collared. So far I have not been present for the collaring of any deer although we had deer near the net one night only to be scented by a doe that had moved down wind of us. Overall, it is a very exciting project and I am hopeful that I will get to tackle and collar a deer.

Cellular Respiration On Track

This week we acquired a new teamster to help out with the service learning project. Steph will now be apart of our Cellular Respiration project and we are happy to have the addition. The past two weeks have been spent doing more specific research on the steps of cellular respiration in hopes of finding difinitive stages that are clear-cut and easy to understand. Stephen and Liz are mapping out how to animate these steps by making each slide a PDF file. Since we now have another group member we will meet next week again to make sure everyone is on track with their assigned work. Our goal is to have the steps planned out by next week as accurately and efficient as we can and continue work on steps to animation. Once we have an outline of exactly what we are showing on the slideshow, we will be able to come up with a script for the educational component of the animation. This is definitely going to be a lot of work but the end product is going to be great!

Cellular Respiration-new group

I just switched groups due to a problem with volunteering at the humane society. I will now be working with Cody, Liz, and Steven. We have not meet yet but plan on meeting this week to catch me up in what they have already started. We will be doing a animation video of cellular respiration. We will be using video and photo shop to create this presentation. The presentation can be used to help many people of all ages to better understand how the process works. We hope this will help teacher so they can use it in there classes to present to the students. I am starting to look up information and diagrams on cellular respiration to help the group. I hope I learn and master how this processes works myself. I also hope I learn some more technology of computers so I can make more videos. This should be very interesting and helpful to many.

Bingo!

For my project I am working with people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Alzheimer's happens in stages, and at this place most of the residents are in the final stages. They can't function on their own and need help with bascially everything: bathing, eating, and dressing. They can still talk, but a lot of the time it doesn't make any sense because they talk about past events and people as if they are happening now. A good way to picture them is think of a toddler in an elderly person's body. It is extremely hard to see people like this, its sad and frustrating at the same time. It's very hard to remember they are still people, and they once had lives just like you and me.

I played bingo with the residents for activity last week. I was nervous because I didn't think they would understand what to do. They did really well though, especially one resident in particular. She can't dress herself, feed herself, or even move herself. But when it came to bingo she was a pro. She put all the chips in the right places without me helping her, and it was great seeing that she still had some cognitive ability.

I also gave the residents a snack, a vanilla wafer bar. Their response to these bars was overwhelming. They all thanked me and some said "Oh I love you!" It was such a little gesture, but I felt like I made their whole day because they were so excited. One resident however looked at me with confusion when I gave her a bar. She asked me, "Waht do I do with this?" I told her to eat it, but she still didn't get it, so I had to motion a gesture as if I were eating, and she understood and ate it. It was hard to see this old woman not understand how to eat, but seeing the other residents so excited about the snack really makes this project enjoyable and meaningful to me.

Dorm Awareness

Research is going really good on our common dorm sicknesses. The amount of information is a little more than expected but we are getting through it ok. The hard part is finding the information that we want to convey to our fellow students that is understandable. We are making good progress and our bathroom pamphlets are almost ready to go up. We are thinking of ways to make it a little more appealing to the eye and also to make it a little more fun to read. I think throwing in some fun facts along with it will help. Other than that everything is going really good and we are working really well together.

Cleaning Schmeekle

Due to the weather, we are not yet able to fully help out at Schmeekle until it gets warmer. But Sarah and I figured we could at least do a little help, even if it isn't official. We went to Schmeekle and took some observations and thought of some ideas that we could do to help. One big thing we notice and wasn't really expecting, was the amount of litter. I am sure we will find even more when the snow melts. The effect of pollution on the environment can be devastating so we want to do as much as possible.

Another thing we noted was the return and awakening of some animals. Along the trail we noticed many birds chirping and a lot of rabbit droppings. This is definitely a sign that spring is on its way. Catching the eye of some ducks swimming in a puddle of what use to be a nature trail, certainly tells us that we have got some work cut out for us.

Humane Society Day One

Yesterday I went to the humane society with Lynnea Chelmo for my fist volunteer opportunity. We stayed for about an hour in a half. When we got there Lynnea and I did not know where to start. When we looked around there were so many animals that just looked like they needed some love. So what we did was we spent a little time with all the different types of animals they had. First we started with the kittens. We played with them and made sure to get them all moving. Lynnea played the with the wild one of the bunch as I held the lazy super cute one. The next thing we did was move onto the bunny. The bunny was a little skirmish so after a while we put him away because he seemed to want to go back into his cage. The cat cages are right by the bunny room so we hit that up next and let some cats out to play with they were all very social and nice. The last and most exciting adventure we went on was walking the two puppies they were so cute and innocent looking. But they were naughty Lynnea was practically wrestling with them in the cage trying to get there collars on which we never quite got and one of the dogs almost escaped. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself. I learned how to take care of these animals and just exactly how much attention these animals really need. I am looking forward to Thursday, which is the next time we will be going to the Humane Society.

Hospice Volunteering: Take One

On Saturday morning I arrived at the nursing home which I was going to be volunteering at. I had to go through a brief training session, which basically explained to me what was acceptable/unacceptable to talk to these patients about, what I should expect, and some general information about the patients that I would be encountering. The typical patient that is put on hospice is expected to live 6 more months or less. The first patient that I visited and talked with was an elderly woman who was very friendly and glad to see me. I learned that she was not diagnosed with anything specific; she was just dying of old age. In other words, her body was just giving out after having worked so hard for so long. In my training I learned that when patients are dying of old age an obvious sign that they are slipping is that they stop drinking and their body produces very little urine and it is not diluted at all. The lady that I was talking with told me that she had suffered from 3 minor strokes within the last month, which made it a little bit hard to understand her but I was able to make out what she was saying after I got used to it. It was disheartening to think that this nice old woman may die before the next time I get to see her.

A Little Cooking and A Big Parachute

On Friday morning I made my way over to the health care facility. When I got there I was told that we would be making cookies for the first hour. I went around and rounded up as many of the residents as I could that wanted to participate. I'm starting to see that the same residents are the ones coming to the activity times. It does not seem like many of the others really want to even bother coming because they either see no point, or they just have no idea what is going on and cannot comprehend anything. After making the cookies we made our way over to the larger activity room to play with a huge parachute to get their upper muscles working. Every one of the residents that I've met so far are confided to a wheelchair, so the nurses and staff try their hardest to make sure that the residents exercise some part of their body. While playing with the parachute I was talking with one of the staff members about one of the residents that was particularly enjoying this activity. He seemed so happy and had the biggest smile across his face the entire time. I pointed this out to the staff member, after which she informed me that he suffered from something called sundown. Sundown is a condition very common in dementia patients, it occurs when it starts to become dark out and the patient will start to become very aggressive and moody. They get sad and depressed and do not understand where they are or why they are there. I really enjoy spending time with the residents but it is starting to take a toll on my emotions. It’s really hard to watch these people suffer like this.

Volunteer with Children

On Friday April 11th I finally got the chance to go to the daycare in the CPS building. It was so cool to walk into the classroom/daycare. It is set up like a classroom but is like a daycare. I walked in an immediately talked to the head teacher who is Lorrie Richardson. My title is assistant teacher but I basically just play with the kids and help them go to each little area. There is play time at first when the children arrive and then there are many different areas for them to go to and you just walk with them and work in the area with them. It is so nice to see the children get amazed by the smallest things, it really makes me smile. Right when I began to play with all of the little children two little girls got connected to me right away. This was a great way to start off volunteering there. I cant wait for the next time.

Where Debot Goes

For my service learning project that I am doing with Tyler G. and Adam G. is "Where Debot Goes." We are making a model of the digestive system and going to be telling people about what happens when you eat food from Debot. We will be set up in the HEC and telling people that stop by our area where the model is. I am working on this project to help people better understand what happens to the eat they eat from Debot and tell them whether the food they are eating it health for them or not. We are planning to show and tell people this in the HEC when most students are heading to lunch and dinner that are walking through the HEC. I hope to learn more about how our digestive system absorbs nutrients and to learn more about what foods we need to eat to keep it us and our digestive tract healthy.

Central Wisconsin Children's Museum

The Central Wisconsin Children's Museum, is located within the Stevens Point "Mall". Together with Tyler Nigon and Adam Schultz we will be going each week to inform young children of different types of animals. Basically what we will be doing is having a short (30 mins. at most) presentation of something relating to animals. We will then follow up the presentation with an activity of some sort. Our first week we were thinking of discussing the migration of birds or something relating to birds. Then for our activity will be making pine cone bird feeder for them to hang outside in spring. Our main objective is to let the kids have fun, while still learning interesting facts. I am especially excited to work with children because I am hoping to be in the dentistry field working with kids someday.

Teaching at the Children’s Museum

For my service-learning project, I will be volunteering at the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum with Amy Simmons and Adam Schultz. We will be using our time to teach the children about basic animal concepts such as the things different animals eat and where they like to live. Since they are younger children, we are also planning several short activities we could do with them such as different arts and crafts projects. Personally, I think I will get a lot out of this volunteer work because when I help others in the community, I usually get a great feeling of gratification. I believe this experience will especially help me after I graduate, because it will give me a different perspective on how I talk to younger children to maybe get them interested in the profession I am pursuing. I am definitely looking forward to working with these children, and I think it will be a great experience for everyone in our group, and most of all I think that the children will really like it.

Fun at the childrens museum

For my service learning project i will be going to the childrens museum in downtown Stevens Point with amy simmons and tyler nigon. we will be going there to teach the children about animals in a fun ways. i think that this will be a fun project getting to work with kids and all. this will really help out in my career choice as well. i want to become a teacher after college so working with kids in this project will look really good on an application. we plan on teaching the kids about various animals from birds to cows and we will have projects for them to keep them excited and interested.

Volunteer with Children

My service project is not for sure yet because I am waiting to hear back from the hospitals, and I may have to call a few daycares. I would love to work with children and volunteer reading books or playing games with them at hospitals. I would like to do this because in my future career I would like to work as a physical therapist that specializes in pediatrics. Growing up children have always been a part of my life and I would like to keep it that way. I plan on going to a hospital or even a daycare at least once a week and just playing with the children. I hope that this helps me figure out that this is what I really what I would like to do in the future. I am really excited to start volunteering where ever that may be.

Living with Dementia

For my service-learning project I will be volunteering at the Portage County Health Care Center. Here I will spend time with older people who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Many of the people in the home are very unaware of where they are and how they got there. Also because they are getting along in their later years many of them have difficulty hearing. So what I hope to get out of this experience is to have a better understanding of how people get dementia and how they have to live with it. I want to get to know the residents of this home and spend some good quality time having fun and trying to enjoy life with these people. Also hopefully learning to be heard by a deaf person.

Dorm Sickness

For my service learning project, I am teaming up with Chris, Eric, and I now believe Kyle. We are going to help inform people living in the dorms of common infections students and fellow peers can’t contract while living in close contact in a dorm. We are looking to enhance the knowledge and understanding of not only other people, but ourselves as well. We want to inform people of the symptoms that go hand in hand with many of the sicknesses so people can quickly recognize influenza, or mono, or in worst case scenarios possibly STD’s. We look to achieve this by first doing some research and then making posters which we will post on doors and walls or dorms. We also look to put up bulletins in the stalls of the bathroom because if you’re taking care of business reading our bulletin is inevitable. I hope to learn more about sicknesses through this project and at the same time, better other people as well.

Cellular Respiration

I am collaborating with Cody Linjer and Liz Westberg for this service learning project. The plan for this project is to create an animation video of cellular respiration, taking it step by step in an entertaining presentation complete with voiceovers from the three of us and using Photoshop along with a video player. This animation will be used to help students at various ages to understand cellular respiration and to help teachers with an easy to use presentation to help explain the process. I will learn several things by the end of this project: understand more about cellular respiration, gain the ability to use a few new computer programs and the ability to make a useful presentation that will more likely than not help me in the future.

This week I have been researching cellular respiration more in depth and have been going over the basic functions and uses of the programs we will be using during development. Also, I have been thinking about the different ways in which we could present the information….thinking about different animations and ways to keep everyone’s attention.