October Sky

During a unit day, we watched the movie October Sky. This movie is full of scientific and character ed connections. For instance, Homer and Quentin had to apply Newton's Laws and aerodynamics when building the rockets. Also, Ms. Riley had Hodgekins Disease, a type of lymphoma, a cancer that originates from white blood cells. In addition, Coalwood Mining Company was digging through the Earth's crust to mine coal. And the Sputnik flight, which occured in the beginning of the movie, had to do with astronomy for it was the first object launched into space.

Character ed was present in this movie many times. First of all, Homer, Quentin. Roy and Odell all have to overcome their differences to work together in buildding the rockets. And Homer's father becomes more accepting of Homer's new passion to build rockets towards the end.

Response to Genetic Disease

After I learned about Patau's Syndrome for my genetic disorders blog, I looked around for other people's blogs and I found an emotional blog regarding Downs Syndrome. Apparently, people with Down Syndrome can never perfect their fine motor skills. In addition, Downers have shorter lives and take longer to develop language skills and speaking abilities. They also have lower I.Q.'s, but that is not there fault. Some people that I have seen with Down Syndrome have odd faces, for the extra chromosome they recieve that causes Down Syndrome can do that. This blog made me feel sad. These people are born with different features and phycological abilities which make them a deviation from most kids. Unfortunately, they are bound to be mocked. I give credit to all of the people with Down Syndrome who continue to go out into the world and face life. They are saying, "Hey, I might be different, but everyones different, so come at me."

Reflective off of http://hershey96.blogspot.com/

Patau's Syndrome

Of all the horrible abnormalities, Patau's Syndrome takes the top. Patau's Syndrome was discovered in 1657 by Eramus Barthalon. The cause for this is that a fetus has three copies of chromosome 13, as opposed to the normal level of two. This random genetic accident can result in many abominations. The symptons include incomplete eyesight and smelling nerves, deafness,cleft lip and/or palate, a flat face, lowered or malformed ears, extra fingers or toes along with deformed hands and feet, respiratory difficulties and heart defects, severe organ deformities, and basically anything else that could be wrong with someone. In addition, the brain may not divide into lobes or hemispheres and would be unusually small. And the child is almost always mentally retarded. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this terrible syndrome that mars the patient's body severely. However, surgery can be done to try to mend some of these deformities, yet this is more for the patients comfort than anything else. The mortality of Patau's Syndrome is truly sad. 82% of the patients that survive being born die within the first month of infancy. 5-10% pass away after one year. The oldest known person with the Syndrome survived up to 33. About one in every twelve-thousand infants have Patau's Syndrome and survive to their first birthday. One in every sixteen-thousand fetuses have Patau's and result in a miscarraige. No fetus is more vulnerable or safe from Patau's Syndrome then the next. The presence of the extra chromosome is just a random genetic accident. Hopefully, scientist will be able to find a cure, but there is nothing that could prevent Patau's at the time.

Valuble Info From: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2601/is_0010/ai_2601001030/