Learn Something New Every Day

Day 2- Heliotropism

letslearntogether — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 06:46:58 +0000

I have been house sitting while my parents and my sister have been away on vacation. I have been watering my 9 year old sisters Sunflower plant on the kitchen windowsill.

I have been turning the plant every day in odrder to have it grow straight becuase it has been bending towards the window (the light source). I wondered if sunflowers always turn and face the sun. I googled Solar Tracking and Sunflowers. I found out that solar tracking is called Heliotropism. Now, I’m sure that I learned about this in 6th grade science class but it was nice to do some online research and really find out if sunflowers solar track all the time. I found a great resource at : http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion/movements/tropism/solartrack/solartrack.html

I really recommend checking out the amazing video on the link above. Here is a quote from their site:
“Many people are under the misconception that the flower heads of the cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) track the sun. Certainly, when you see a field of cultivated sunflowers, the flower heads face in more-or-less the same direction. However, if you view a field of sunflowers in the afternoon, it will be apparent that the flower heads are mostly facing east, where the sun rises each morning. *The image here shows that as the sun was setting in the west, the flowers are facing east as they do all day one the flower heads are open.

Immature flower buds of the sunflower do exhibit solar tracking and on sunny days the buds will track the sun across the sky from east to west and by dawn the buds will have returned to face eastward, like the leaves in the movie above. However, as the flower bud matures and blossoms, the stem stiffens and the flower becomes fixed facing the eastward direction. Flowers of the wild sunflowers seen on roadsides do not follow the sun and their flowering heads face many directions when mature. However, their leaves exhibit some solar tracking.”

*The image they are talking about is of a field of sunflowers with the sun setting behind them- they are not facing the sun.

I thought it was interesting that once a sunflower matures it always faces east. I thought that it always tracked the sun…..

You learn something new every day…..

Day 1- The Deafblind Manual Alphabet

letslearntogether — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:16:10 +0000

I learned the ASL manual alphabet as a child and I took ASL courses all though college but I have always wanted to learn how to communicate with a Deafblind person. I wondered if you just signed ASL into their hand or if there were different symbols.

I found a great resource at http://www.deafblind.com/card.html

Here is what I found on their site-

and then I watched this great vido on youtube:

My three year old niece saw me watching the video so we learned together and practiced on each other. It’s totally different from ASL- not what I expected. I learned that there are many ways that Deafblind people communicate depending on the nature of their condition, the age of onset, and what resources are available to them. You can read more about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deafblind

Welcome

letslearntogether — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:57:57 +0000

Welcome to my new blog. My goal is to learn something new every day. I hope that others will join me on my journey. Please feel free to leave comments!

I believe that I have learned more from reading and having discussions with well read friends than I ever did in college. I am thinking of home schooling my son– we love reading together and I love watching him discover and learn new things every day. You can check out the blog I have set up for my son at www.adventuresofbabyjack.wordpress.com.

I don’t have a plan but I hope to update this blog every day.