Common Ancestry and Relatedness

Most of you reading this blog post must be wondering why I titled my blog this way. I decided that the discussion of common ancestry and relatedness is a commonly misused concept; people often refer to relatedness as a characteristic that occurs just because two species have many similar physical characteristics, or refer to our own most recent common ancestor as the chimpanzees. People constantly refer to some organisms as more advanced than others just because they have more genes in their genome or more appendages that connect their legs, or in the instance of argument that humans are more complex than other animals, we are apparently more complex just because we can solve complicated math problems, write poetry, and play music. This is not the case, and quite frankly, now understanding this concept much better, this irks me every time, and I think it is critical that people understand the errors in these statements so as to see the true pattern of evolution and relatedness between all species - that we are all interconnected in so many ways.

Common ancestry, unlike common belief and the belief of systematists in the early 1700’s, is determined not by the most physiological similarities between species, but by the most recent common ancestor shared by the two species. This could be analogous to a family pedigree: you would not say that you are more closely related to your cousin than to your brother just because both of you have blue eyes, whereas your brother has brown eyes. Instead you would intuitively say that you are more closely related to your brother because both of you share a more recent common ancestor (your parents) than you and your cousin (your grandparents). The same idea applies when determining the relatedness between two species. In the above image, species A and B are more closely related than A and C because A and B share a more recent common ancestor than A and C. A and B share a common ancestor at 3, whereas A and C share a common ancestor at 1, which is much more ancient than the ancestor at 3.

Thus, this model allows us to see that only common ancestry can explain why similar structures in distantly related species occur. Similar structures appear because all species share a common ancestor, and during gene mixing and recombination, some of the genes are transferred to the new population of the species (off topic, but a reason why I do not support genetically choosing favorable traits in a child: it disturbs natural selection and gene recombination), and over time, the traits change along the branches of the tree, and accumulate changes. Hopefully this cleared up the common misconception of relatedness and allowed you to see just how different evolution really is, and how all species are actually interconnected to one another. Once I understood this, my view on the species around me changed drastically! I hope the same happened for all of you as well.

~Valeria

Road to Recovery

Forty-two million Americans have suffered from child sexual abuse. Three million of those Americans are still children. When children are sexually abused, they become three times more likely to develop depression, thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol, and twenty-six times more likely to abuse drugs. With all of these scary statistics, how are victims expected to recover? Believe it or not, victims of child sexual abuse can fully recover and lead normal, healthy lives.

One of the most common forms of recovery is talk therapy. The victims will talk one on one with their therapists. This method of healing, like any, can take years or decades to help the victims fully recover. This is the path that the writer of my second book, When the Piano Stops, took. Catherine McCall was in therapy for over 30 years, from the time she found out she was a victim of child sexual abuse, to the time she decided, as a survivor, that she was ready to forgive and move on with her life.

There are three main phases to therapy.

Early phases of therapy: The therapist and the victim work to build a relationship and gain trust. The therapist will be helping the victim get through telling stories of abuse, though these memories may be jumbled and confusing.

Middle phases of therapy: This step is where the victim must begin reprocessing the trauma, in three steps.

1. The victims must acknowledge that the childhood abuse has had an impact on their (adult) lives.
2. Many times the feelings of the abuse have been repressed until now. The victims must experience then release some of the feelings associated with the trauma.
3. The victims must explore their feelings towards their abusers and the parents or caretakers who did not protect them.
4. The victims must reassess the abuse, asking and trying to answer questions such as “Why did the abuse happen?” and “Who was responsible for these traumatic events?”

These steps must be repeated over and over until the victims confront and process the abuse. The survivors are then able to move past the time of abuse and let the abused child integrate into the older or adult self. Coping strategies, education, and cognitive reconstruction are then experienced and learned. The older or adult survivor can then place a clear line between past and present, which gives them a feeling of control over their own lives.

Termination phase: This phase empowers the survivors to acknowledge that they are no longer victim,s but survivors. They must learn to make decisions and choices without their therapists. This forces the survivors to create other support networks such as friends, family, or support groups.

If you or someone you know has been abused, contact either a local safeplace or national hotline, where you will receive help.

Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse-- 883-HELP (4357)

National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN)-- 1.800.656.HOPE

~Mady

So You Have AML?

If you’re an older adult then maybe, but if you’re a child or younger adult then odds are you don’t, but for the sake of this page, let’s say you do. What do you do? Well, first you get off your computer and go see your closest oncologist. Are you trying to die? All joking aside, if you have AML, then you should know that you do have some options. Cancer is most definitely serious and many times deadly, but not always. The first step is to see an oncologist who will decide the treatment that is best for you, and I’m here to tell you what some of those treatments might be.

First off, your doctors will probably give you a red blood cell transfusion. Because of how the cancer works, odds are good you will probably be a little anemic. This transfusion should help with that anemia and make it a little easier for you to do… well anything that requires oxygen consumption. The second thing your doctors might do is give you allopurinol pills. These are pills that help your body flush out excess uric acid in your body. For those of you who are not as fresh in understanding biology as you’d like to be, uric acid is the stuff your body flushes out in urine.

The next step will be to proceed into induction chemo, which can last anywhere from 5-7 days. After this round of chemo, however, you may get sicker and more anemic. You will then receive a bone marrow transplant. It can take anywhere from 18-21 days for the bone marrow to start working again. Your doctors will then put you on consolidation therapy, which is more chemotherapy that is not quite so strong and is meant to kill any leukemia cells that are left. All this time you will spend in the hospital. This round of chemo will last three cycles, and a cycle depends on the drugs given and several other factors. At this stage, about 23% of cases are cured of the disease, and if you don’t enter remission, then you are in for another cycle of chemo.

Another option is to give you chemo or full body radiation that will destroy all of your bone marrow so that you can’t make anymore blood cells. At that point, your doctors will give you a bone marrow transplant to replace the bone marrow that you lost. If you’re worried about a painful operation that you have to go through for the transplant, don’t be. Bone marrow has a wonderful property of it migrating its way out of your blood stream and back into the bone. They will put an IV in your arm and let the bone marrow work its way to its new home. The good news is that at this point there is a 40-50% cure rate. If the cancer does recur, then the odds are that they didn’t get all of the cells with the radiation and chemo. If you reach this point, they will keep trying until you say you are done, or there is literally nothing left to do for you, or the best of the options, you are cured of the disease and live a long and happy cancer free life.

~Nick

Together We May Stand

Many, wondering if my church leaders were expecting me to apostatize, have asked me if I were allowed to study other religions. At first it seemed ridiculous, but it was asked so often that I began to wonder, myself, if what I was doing was right. I began to doubt whether I should be devoting so much time to studies of other religions, when I already believe wholeheartedly in the truth of the religion I currently practice. Perhaps it was a waste of time.

I was in the midst of this confusion, when I met with Mr. Jenkins, a professor of religion at the University of Idaho. He handed me a book, Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View, and told me had suspicions it would be quite useful to me. It seemed he knew what was troubling me even though I had not told him, because right in the Foreword, my doubts were put to rest.

On the first page, it was explained that Latter-day Saints are often condemned as being intolerant towards other beliefs. The authors admitted that sometimes this may be correct, but only of Mormons who either do not understand or do not trust in their own religion. It pointed the readers to the eleventh Article of Faith in the LDS tradition which states that men should always be granted the privilege to “worship how, where, or what they may” (ix).

Then the authors continued by clarifying that religions can be generally placed in three categories: exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist (ix).

Exclusivists hold that their religion is the only truth and that no other ideas are needed to answer the question of human existence. Pluralists, on the other extreme, claim that no religion has claim to the truth and that all religions are true… Inclusivists take the middle ground, the position asserting that one religion is correct and true but that other religions do have genuine value. This is the position of the Latter-day Saints.

These words rang true to me. I had already seen the “genuine value” existent in Hinduism and Buddhism. It didn’t make sense to discard the truth within other religions when, as Palmer points out in the book, Latter-day Saints are commanded by the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants 88:79-80 to learn [o]f things both in heaven and in the earth...things which are at home, things which are abroad… and a knowledge also of countries and kingdoms-That ye may be prepared in all things… (3).

Certainly, then, studying other religions was more than just all right. It taught me valuable truths, truths that at first were hidden from me because of my prejudice, but were eventually revealed as I earnestly strove to understand. I will outline some of these traditions that I came to appreciate:

The Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan, seemed cruel and austere at first, as an entire month where food and water is forbidden from sunup to sundown compares to torture in my mind. As I began writing about the tradition, I recognized how prejudiced I was being, and had to stop myself. Instead of looking through my eyes, I tried to look through eyes of a Muslim. I tried to understand why they would do something like this.

Instantly, the practice became beautiful, in a way. The fact that so many people have the faith and diligence to set aside an entire month where their main focuses are to purify their hearts and their minds is touching. They are putting their god, their beliefs, and their wish for a better world and a better self, above their immediate desires.

Fasting, actually, is an important aspect of the LDS religion, as well. Although the only time set aside for it is the first Sunday of every month, Mormons, too, practice it in an attempt to purify themselves. According to the official LDS web site, “the fast day is a special day for us to humble ourselves before the Lord in fasting and prayer. It is a day to pray for forgiveness from our sins and for the power to overcome our faults and to forgive others.” It is “a source of spiritual strength,” just as it is to the Muslims (Why). I knew this before I studied about Ramadan, and I observe the law of the fast myself as I believe it is important, but because an entire month of fasting was a foreign idea to me, it was not until I consciously broke down my biases that I was able to see the holiness of the month.

The Hindus’ use of many idols was absolutely abhorrent to me at first. I still do not agree with the practice, but I now understand why the Hindus do it. They are trying to fill their lives with reminders of what is important so they do not get distracted by less significant things.

I relate to this concept as Latter-day Saints are also encouraged to have many reminders. The term “eternal perspective” is commonly used in the Mormon culture as a reminder to put the majority of one’s efforts into things that are not confined to just this life, such as knowledge, family, and good works. Just as Hindus often have pictures of their gods in their homes, Mormons often hang pictures of Christ. Just as Hindus designate times to worship their gods in the form of idols, Mormons designate times to go to church, go to their temples, spend time with family, and do other activities that serve as faith builders and reminders.

Zen Buddhism first appeared incredibly strange to me. I cannot say that it is something I would ever pursue, or that I agree with the methods practiced. What I can say is that I appreciate their belief that some things cannot be understood logically or conveyed with words. Buddha himself seemed to be a strong believer in this concept, as he did not waste words trying to describe nirvana. Zennists, in their own way, believe that “the things of God are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14) and that “that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:67).

Another concept that I came to appreciate was the Hindu and Buddhist belief that there are several realms a person can be reborn in. There is not just a heavenly realm and a hellish realm, but realms in between for those who did bad things, but were not bad people. The Hell realm is reserved only for those who did the worst of things, not those who simply did not believe or did not worship as they should. Latter-day Saints also believe that there will be several realms in the life after this that people will eternally live in, based on their actions.

Continuing with the belief in rebirth, I recognized the worth in the Hindu belief of the “real self” or Atman. For one, the Atman is incorruptible. It is the infinite part of a person that always remains pure. This is similar to the LDS view of a person’s spirit. The Atman is also hidden behind one’s “ego.” The “ego” is called the “carnal” or “natural” man in the LDS religion, but is the same idea. I appreciate this belief as it encourages people to repress unhealthy, selfish desires and strive to strengthen their “true being” as a Hindu might say.

There are many other practices and beliefs that I can to appreciate throughout my studies. There are aspects of karma, chanting the name of a deity to grow closer to him or her, and the Amitabha Buddha that I came to love.

I understand why my church leaders encourage members to become acquainted with all cultures and religions. It is vital that we strive to understand one another, because as the Latter-day Saint First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated, “as we acknowledge one another with consideration and compassion we will discover that we can all peacefully coexist despite our deepest differences.”

Although there are still many aspects of the Eastern religions that I studied that I do not agree with, I stand with Russell M. Nelson, a member of the Latter-day Saint Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, when he says, “together we may stand, intolerant of transgression but tolerant of neighbors with differences they hold sacred,” and this ELI has helped me to do just that.

~Annica

Astronauts

One of my goals this semester was to write a Future Problem Solvers (FPS) Scenario. It is a short story that presents a problem related to one of the five FPS topics for the year and then gives a solution to the problem. It must be no longer than 1500 words long and set at least 25 years in the future. This is the scenario I wrote this year. The topic is Space.

Astronauts

Nicole was dozing on the table. Next to her, her brother Ardent, reading.

A soft chime sounded through the lounge and in unison, both looked towards the screen embedded in the wall of the lounge.

“Good morning, Doctor Kirin,” Ardent said as the image of a woman appeared.

“Morning, ISS Angel. I can’t say I’m having a good one. We’ve had fifty new cases of the Cold and four deaths since last night in Houston alone. Three of the new cases were participants in the immunization trials last week. It doesn’t work: we have to start over.”

“What about you?” Ardent asked. “Will you be safe?”

“We’ve taken every precaution, of course, but we still don’t know how the pathogen spreads.” Kirin closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry to be so brief, I should get back to work. Without a treatment, I don’t think I can say that anyone’s safe.”

The screen blinked off.

“We’re safe,” Nicole mumbled. “It can’t reach the space station. Isn’t there anything we can do?”

Ardent shook his head. “You’re an astrophysicist, and I’m a pilot. There’s nothing.”

Kirin’s reports grew worse. Seventy-eight new cases, 15 dead, then 104 new cases and 26 dead. The symptoms were hard to spot. A headache for a few days, a sniffly nose. Then after a week, the fever appeared and with temperatures of 41C or above, the sick didn’t last very long, no matter what the doctors did.

The chiming alert woke Nicole from a dream.

“I’ll get it,” Ardent grumbled from the next bunk. He shuffled into the lounge to receive the call from Earth.

Nicole waited, but Ardent didn’t return. Eventually, she got up and went into the lounge.

Ardent was making himself coffee.

“What happened?”

“They’ve made a breakthrough.” He didn’t smile.

“What?”

“They found the cause of the epidemic, but it isn’t a pathogen. It’s radiation.”

“Radiation? From where?” Nicole frowned.

“The sun, she said. The virus they found was just a regular cold. It’s highly contagious and probably made the symptoms worse, but it’s not what kills people.”

“Why did they wake us up to tell us?”

“In a few hours, we’ll be meeting the Japanese station, Amateratsu, and transferring over.”

“Why?”

“Amateratsu is capable of deep space flight.” Ardent paused apprehensively.

Nicole was silent.

“Together, we have more than enough supplies, and Amateratsu has plenty of space. It’s a much newer craft with cryo and hyperdrive–”

“How long?”

Ardent sat silently

“Ardent, tell me.”

“We’re not coming back. They’re sending us to scout a Goldilocks planet. We go now, and they’ll follow us in a couple of years.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Ardent was shocked. “You’re not going to fight? You hate space. You’re only here because you wouldn’t let me go without you.”

She shrugged. “If you’re going, I’m going.”

Ardent put a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, well then we’d better pack.”

Amateratsu came into sight just over an hour later. She was three times larger than Angel and covered in reflective solar panels.

Ardent piloted Angel into docking position, and Nicole waited by the airlock. She knew they had docked successfully when the doors slid open and Amateratsu’s pilot stepped through.

She extended a hand. “I’m Cora Nogitsune. Nicole Faeleigh?”

Nicole shook her hand. “Ardent is upstairs. Our gear’s all packed.”

“I’ll help you stow it.”

Ardent met the women by the bunks. Each collected a bin to transfer over. Cora lead them to storage unit on Amateratsu, where they stowed everything they could salvage from Angel.

As Cora and Ardent programmed and refitted the ship for deep space, Nicole said goodbye to Angel, who would never fly again now that Ardent had taken her batteries and core processors.

Then Ardent called her back to Amateratsu. They had just disengaged when a call came from Earth.

The NASA director apologized for the rush and stressed the importance of their haste in the mission to scout the new planet.

Nicole bit her lip to keep from saying something rude. The director made it sound as if they were on an honorable quest to rescue humanity, but it felt like they were being given a hopeless task so that the government couldn’t be blamed for not trying.

Nicole’s attention drifted as the director discussed details with the pilots, but she interrupted before he signed out.

“Wait, sir. Can I talk to Kirin? Please.”

The director frowned. “I’m afraid you can’t. She has begun to show symptoms. She’s been placed in intensive care.”

“What! But—” She began to protest, but he signed off, and the screen turned black.

Ardent and Nicole stared at each other in shock.

“Is Kirin a friend?” Cora asked.

“Yeah,” Ardent said.

“I’m sorry,” Cora said. She stood and quietly left the room. She began to prepare the cryo stations. She was nearly done when Ardent and Nicole rejoined her.

She showed them how the cryo stations worked, and they all changed into their cryo suits.

Nicole went first, then Ardent. Cora checked everything again, sent a final report to Earth, and then followed them.

Amateratsu dropped out of hyperdrive into the Goldilocks System one year and 254 days later for them, four years for Earth. Using focused electromagnetic radiation, the hyperdrive created a shortcut, like a wormhole, for the ship to travel through space, but Amateratsu couldn’t escape the effects of relativity.

Cora woke to alarms. The sound brought her gasping to consciousness. She stood and stumbled towards the cockpit. The sensors complained loudly of unusual readings.

Ardent followed Cora in. He tripped and caught himself on the doorway and looked around. “What’s wrong?”

“Gravity.” Cora pointed to the computer readout. “It’s way too high!”

“So that’s why I feel so heavy.”

Cora slumped into a chair. “I don’t know what’s happening. This planet’s only a little bigger than Earth.” She frowned at the numbers on the screen. “According to Amateratsu, it’s hundreds of times denser, and there’s no reason it should be!”

“What do we do? If we feel the gravity all the way up here, going to the surface will kill us!”

“I’ll try to contact Earth. Check the other sensors.”

Ardent leaned against the dashboard and fiddled with controls, trying to make sense of the readings.

A loud thump startled him. He staggered into the hallway to find Nicole lying on the floor.

“Why do I weigh a thousand kilos?” she groaned.

“Gravity.”

“Right.”

Ardent left her there and returned to the cockpit. “Anything?

“I can’t contact Earth. We can’t go down; the planet’s uninhabitable. We have to go back,” Cora said.

“But…”

“Earth has to know not to come. We can’t live here.”

“We just got here,” Ardent protested.

“Is staying going to do anyone any good? What do you propose we do?”

Ardent sighed. “Okay. But give us time to stretch our legs.”

Over the next two days, they studied the planet and exercised and relaxed. By the 48 hour mark, they had all begun to get restless, so Cora programmed a course back to Earth. and one-by-one, they each went back into cryo.

“How many years has it been?” Nicole asked as she looked down at Earth.

“Eight. It’s May 2329 now.”

“Are you sure?”

Ardent glanced at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Cora joined them. “A shuttle will be here in a couple of hours.”

The three of them waited by the window. They didn’t need to pack. It seemed to Nicole just a few days since they’d boarded Amateratsu.

The shuttle arrived and docked. The door opened, and a young man bounded out. He stared open-mouthed at the three astronauts.

An older woman followed him. “Welcome back,” she said. “I’m Linda Areva, director of NASA.  You’ve been gone a while.” She smiled encouragingly, but none of the three replied, so she continued,” Why don’t we get you back to Earth? Follow me.”

They followed her to the shuttle.

Nicole gaped at the interior. It resembled a private jet.

Linda turned to face them. “Mr. Faeleigh, Ms. Faeleigh, Ms. Nogitsune, you left in 2321 to scout a new home for the human race. Do you know what year it is now?”

“2329,” Nicole said.

“Not quite. Today is August 9th, 2592.”

“Oh!” Nicole sounded like the breath had been knocked from her. “Gravity-time dilation! I’m so stupid!” She buried her face in her palms.

“What about the radiation!” Cora protested.

“We survived,” Linda smiled. “They developed treatments and protection. They struggled, but they lived. It’s thanks to you.”

“How?” Ardent asked.

“You gave them hope. They knew they only had to survive until they heard from you.

“But we didn’t do anything,” he said.

“It didn’t matter. By the time you got to the planet, we’d developed protection. In the end, hope made the difference. We all learned your names in history.”

“Wait,” Nicole said. “You thought we died?”

“Yes.”

“We’re actually famous?”

Linda’s smile widened, and then she laughed. “Yes,” she said.

~Jill P.

Is it really just looks?

So last time I left off I was pretty charged up. I have simmered down since then. When I first started my ELI, I was very sure of what I was going to be doing, however, since then it’s been getting harder to stay on course. Beauty, history, politics: these were the three main fields I wanted to focus on. What I didn’t consider was the different angles I could tackle them from.

Beginning with beauty, my initial plan was to focus on beauty standards in America and show how they can affect people. But through the course of this, it seemed necessary to expand, so I did. I began comparing beauty standards within different cultures. The only problem is, I didn’t consider the weight of it. There were so many different angles I could explore. Media, history, psychology, and on. In the end, I focused on how wealth and power could influence the culture of one group, such as in India.

India was colonized by Britain, and it wasn’t until colorism was implemented by the British in order maintain control of the larger population that the beauty of a person depended on the color of her skin. Colorism is a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. Professor of anthropology Fuji Lazada states, “Before the 1990s, the Indian beauty industry was not very large. Advertisements for beauty products were found mainly in women’s magazines. The primary products of the beauty line were hair care, skin creams, soaps, and powders. Most of the skin care products were geared toward helping women get fairer skin, in accordance with the colorism that has dominated the country since the British invasion”  All of this fascinated me and that’s when I began connecting the dots.

It seemed to all fit, how beauty is based off what society deems as successful, smart, and well-off. Gathered from the things I’ve read, here’s what I’ve come to believe as to why we set and strive for beauty standards in our society.

It’s no secret that people who are more attractive tend to get better treatment. But, why are they considered attractive? Recent studies have shown that beautiful people are generally viewed as more intelligent and healthier. Perhaps it all comes down to our animalistic instincts. Before there was technology, medicine, and transportation, as humans, our chances of survival were slim. So, in order to guarantee we lived on through our offspring, we tended to select mates who were skilled and healthy. Mates that would pass on their skills and health to offspring. Skip thousands of years later and that way of thinking is still ingrained within us but has just been adjusted to fit our modern society. Think about it. In today’s society the rich and famous are what we strive to be because we believe they live better lives. A common ideology in America is that you work hard enough and you can have the picket white fence. We’re not a country of haves and have nots but a country of haves and soon to haves. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. The people with the most are the people who have better access to food, clothing, medicine, and pretty much everything else. So what do we do? We try to emulate them, in order to be acceptable.

All in all, our beauty standards are constantly changing depending on who we believe is on top, who holds the power. And a great outlet for where we find out the latest trends is the media. Today it’s tans, beach waves, and skinny jeans. Tomorrow it’s polos and slacks. I don’t know. All I know is that it’ll change again and again and again.

~Ivonne

Credibility: a Necessity

The focus of my ELI has been reviews, analyzing and writing them. Reviews are written to persuade their audience of something, whether it is that they should buy a product or avoid it. But in order for a review to convince a reader, the reader needs to believe that the review is credible. This is the big reason that blurbs from groups like Kirkus and ALA and authors like George RR Martin and Neil Gaiman are so commonly found on the back of books by the big publishing companies. Trust is the foundation of any relationship between reviewers and their audiences.

Professional review writers begin with credibility. The same thing goes for popular authors. Publishing companies often send advance copies of their books to these people so that they can print the book with their blurbs on the back. The power of a favorite author recommending a book has often led to people picking it up. If the reader likes the book as well, trust increases, which can lead to a feedback positive cycle.

Customer reviews are found on consumer sites. Although the reviewers often have few to no credentials, looking at a large number of customer reveiws or ones that are rated highly by the other customers often gives reliable information. Many people use customer reviews to determine if they should buy a product or not. Sites like Amazon have also been adding new features to their reviews, whether it be the ability for customers to rate reviews or the new Vine feature, all in an effort to make them more reliable. Customer reviews have become an integral part of online shopping for this reason, and many people don’t trust a site that doesn’t tell them what other consumers thought about the product.

Besides the pros and the customer reviews, there is also the rapidly growing number of smaller reviewers who post their thoughts on their blogs, Youtube, Facebook, or wherever else. They usually have smaller audiences, but some people use this format to make themselves better known to their audiences. I am still working on a Wordpress blog on which to post all of my reviews. Some people produce other attractions and then link to their blogs to gain larger audiences. For example, Howard Taylor, author of Schlock Mercenary, has his blog located on the front page of his webcomic. However, most people who do this never really gain a large audience.

The many different ways that people go about writing and broadcasting reviews doesn't change the purpose of their reviews. As I mentioned above, reviews are persuasive writing. To persuade someone, you must gain their trust.  Despite the huge disparity between someone like me and a writer for the New York Times, all reviewers try to increase their credibility with their audiences through their writing. It is what we do.

~Kaleb

Observing Developmental Learning

After much in depth research on child development this semester, I was able to work on what I believe was the most important part of my ELI, where I could observe students as they solved a range of developmental mathematical tasks. I was lucky enough to work with some very supportive teachers from Lena Whitmore Elementary School. Mrs. Pannkuk, who teaches first graders and Mrs. Ringo, who teaches third grade, were graciously willing to help me with my ELI. There were several steps I took in order to complete this component of my ELI. These steps are listed below.

1. Go through the book of Common Core State Standards and choose a common mathematical practice that third and first graders would both cover in their curriculum.

I eventually chose measuring (ruler usage, conversions, etc.), as it was one of the few shared concepts. Other similar practices would have been too easy for the third graders and too complicated for the first graders.

2. Come up with a way to observe and record how the students tackle each task presented to them.

After some trial and error, I was able to come up with a chart that enabled me to quickly access the questions I needed to ask and write down the students responses (picture to the right). I also voice recorded most of the students and took occasional pictures so that I could go back to them when I was finished.

3. Observe the students.

As expected, there were several small complications with the testing. Regardless, the students were wonderful participants and overall, the testing went fantastically.

4. Organize and analyze data.

To get a better look at my results, I sorted the data into tables that showed how well the individual students had “mastered” each task. This made it easy to look over the outcomes.

I am so thankful that I was able to work with the students at Lena. It gave me a great insight as to how helpful an understanding of child development can be in education curriculum.

~Laura