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We are currently in a heat wave. It has been intense, although I know that it pales in comparison to heat waves in other regions of the world. Sharing my space with both dogs and cats, I have been very careful to keep them healthy in this weather. Lots of available water, frozen treats, no … Continue reading
I can make a lot of changes to my own diet in order to improve my personal sustainability. Some of these, like reducing animal products are relatively straightforward. I just need to make sure that I meet my nutrition requirements and then cutting back on things like meat or dairy is pretty easy. But, I … Continue reading
Having pets can sometimes seem like a conflict for my other sustainability focused lifestyle choices. I eat mostly vegetarian, but I wouldn’t even consider depriving my cats of meat. I don’t use plastic bags, except to pick up my dog’s poop. But the consequences of pets can go a lot further than just their food … Continue reading
There are lots of reasons why finding ways to decrease the amount of medication that is needed is positive. Reducing side effects is obviously important but there’s also resource use and social equity factors. If we need less medications it can decrease the energy and materials necessary to create those medications. Decreased amounts of drugs … Continue reading
I created this activity for an introductory biology class. It covers Mendelian and Non-Mendelian patterns of inheritance and has some suggest activities for practicing the Hardy-Weinberg equation. Since most of the questions ask you to cross a cat that you found there is no answer key. Teachers, please feel free to use this activity in … Continue reading
I’ve found it quite fascinating to look into cat genetics over the past week. I should have my entire planned activity for my bio students to share by next week, but in the meantime I thought I’d write about the agouti and tabby genes. The presence of a dominant agouti gene affects pigment distribution along … Continue reading
I’m teaching a bio course this term and I’ve been looking for ways to engage students in lab type activities given that we can’t go into a lab. When someone sent me an article about why most of the human genetic traits we like to use in genetics lessons are inaccurate I was, shall we … Continue reading
If you’re like me, you may have had a sudden change of venue for your workday. I’ve been working at home for about two weeks now, since the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the vacating of pretty much every public space around the world. Yesterday I gave in and accepted that this was a long term … Continue reading
Most people who have pets know that they have a pretty significant impact on your life. For me, there is always a feeling of anticipation as I walk towards the door to my house, knowing that the cats will come greet me when I get in. They will purr and climb my legs, and possibly … Continue reading
Connecting with Science 