Enkephalin On My Wrist?

[Sean Nash]

"DNA makes RNA and RNA makes proteins and proteins make us."
~Francis Crick

In the space below... add your comments, questions, discussions, etc., regarding your sharing of the:

"genetic bracelet"
"painkilling keychain"
"mRNA accessories"
"enkephalin jewelry"
"tiny polypeptide string

...with three other people.

Be sure to record the things you say to your interviewees, such as questions, setup for the discussion, etc. Record at least some of their responses followed by a basic summary of the information you gave to them about your strand. It will be interesting to see what kinds of things each of you ended up "taking with you" from this lesson last week. Also pay particular attention to any questions you get later in the discussion as well... after you get into the content of the talk. Even better... any question you might get, but cannot immediately answer, but have to look up for the next time you see them.

Enjoy... and feel free to have fun in conversation. Record images, etc. and bring them back here if you wish.
;-)

[Sean Nash]

and just in case you need to find it in a convenient place quickly while discussing.....

[kristen sheehan]

Well I will have to say my experiences were pretty dry. The first person I told was my mom. She is 45.

I asked her what she thought it was. This was her response:

"Is it your family tree?"

Now cut her some slack, she knows that I am in three science classes, and she was trying to make an educated guess. :-) Then I proceeded to tell her what it represents, and she didn't ask any further questions. She just said "that's pretty cool!"


The second person I asked was my grandma. My grandma is 68.

I asked her what she thought it was. This was her response:

"Is it a friendship bracelet, or something you made in art class?"

Wow grandma :-) just kidding, but when I told her about she was like wow, I never even knew that. It was a great discussion! She is usually telling me she knows what's going on, but not now! Gotcha grandma!! :-)

The last person I asked was my little brother. He is 13.

I asked him what he thought. This was his response:

"Is it something to do with science? Should I know what this is? I have no idea..."

After I explained all of this to him, he realized that this was a very important part of his life. Of course being the wonderful sister I am, I had to give him crap! :-) I go this is what kicked in when you ran into that tree and split your lip open :-) ha ha!!

I really think that this bracelet is one of the coolest things. It really made it easier for me to understand. I think it's crazy that if a person does drugs that make them high or something, their body stops making enkephalin, because the enzyme likes the drug more, and doesn't see a need to make this anymore. That's why it's so hard to break an addiction.

[Sean Nash]

Those are awesome responses!

The experience you had in doing this was worth it all.
Very cool stuff.

Excellent point to your bro... but also remember, it binds to opoid receptors. So not all drugs will trigger the same response. Those sites are pretty specific. Pretty interesting that botanically synthesized chamicals can pull off a near match, eh?

Any surprises? Final thoughts?

[Kaylee Burris]

The first person I asked was my brother, Corbin, he is 20. When I asked him he said "its some kind of DNA, right?" At first I was shocked he got that close, I mean I know he likes science but that was a good guess. Then I asked how he guessed that. I realized his guess was very educated, for that fact that he made one just like it when he went to Benton. I hope this still counts as a person. After he said DNA, I did tell him what it was exactly.
The second person I asked was my dad, he is 49. When I asked him he said "its a keychain." That was the most "no duh" response I have ever gotten. So after that response I let him have the whole thing, he knows it all now. :)
Then third I ask my cousin, she is 18. When I asked her she said "Is it a friendship bracelet, if so those are odd colors." So Kristen your grandma is not the only one to guess that. I told my cousin that it was a protein that makes you feel less pain. Then I told her about how it can be messed up whe you use certian drugs.
The people I asked just seemed to listen to me talk and they sadly didn't ask any questions. I wanted them to ask me questions to test my knowledge.
My favorite response will always be "its a keychain" lol

[Sean Nash]

1) "I wanted them to ask me questions to test my knowledge." I love you guys... you know that, right? ;)

2) Holy Moly. Corbin is your brother. Makes perfect sense now. Smart genes in your little fam! Why did you never mention that? Wow. I'm dumb... and you're shy.

3) I love how you "let your Dad have it." Awesome. I only wish the lesson was recorded.

[Ryne Relford]

My experience was kind of funny, and reminded me of days in Kindergarten when a teacher would ask a question and we would just yell out the most random things.I actually kind of felt bad because the people I asked were so wrong, but so was I when we did this activity in class.

I only asked my parents, but I asked them both at the same time so my mom tried to cheat and use my dad's guesses to better hers. My dad was just throwing out the obvious saying its a necklace, a bracelet and things of that sort. My mom on the other hand was saying it resembled some type of animal.

I gave them about a minute just to straight up guess and then I told them it had to do with science and every three beads made up a piece of the whole, my dad then said DNA, and my mom pretty much gave up. Finally they both just gave up and asked what it was and I began to explain it was enkephalin and they were both followed me on this pretty good understanding what the body uses it for and why certain drugs hurt the production of enkephalin. My dad actually knew a little bit about it and how it worked.

So I will give them a break because I really didn't give them any information before I showed them the bracelet and they both were pretty good sports about the whole guessing game. It was kind of cool to actually play this little game with someone else and actually being the one teaching the lesson.

[Sean Nash]

"...I will give them a break because I really didn't give them any information before I showed them the bracelet and they both were pretty good sports about the whole guessing game."

You guys have no idea how far you have come this year. Seriously. You conducted a "mini-lesson" with as much constructivist flair as you could at the moment... much like we do in class... and you nailed it. Learning is SO much more powerful when you bring people into the fold on their own terms, and when honoring their own background knowledge and experiences. Isn't it?

"I gave them about a minute just to straight up guess and then I told them it had to do with science and every three beads made up a piece of the whole, my dad then said DNA, and my mom pretty much gave up. Finally they both just gave up and asked what it was and I began to explain it was enkephalin and they were both followed me on this pretty good understanding what the body uses it for and why certain drugs hurt the production of enkephalin."

See... you only tossed in what they needed to know... when they needed a "hand-up" so to speak. That is good coaching.

I tell you what- you are good, solid, raw teacher material. Don't forget that. That will be big whether you are a professor... or a parent. (or both)

Awesome.

[Rachel Huntsman]

I ran into the same kinds of responses as the other three people who have posted did. The first person I asked was 18, the second 13, and the third 44. None of them really had any idea what the bracelet was suppose to be. I think it's difficult to guess what it is if you don't have a general idea of what it could be.

Once I began to explain what we were studying in class, they had a general idea that it was suppose to represent some kind of "genetic pattern" for something. In the end I just had to have a basic enkephalin/heroin lesson with them, and they understood it and thought it was really neat.

My mom said she could tell it was suppose to be a specific pattern, but she had no idea what the pattern stood for. My brother is in seventh grade and he's also studying about genetics and DNA he said, so once I told him there were twenty-one beads he knew it had to stand for a specific thing, he just wasn't sure since there were only 21 and not 23.

All in all my responses were a bunch of boring blank stares. I was hoping for more ideas, but if you are just given beads and told to analyze them, what are you honestly going to come up with? I don't think I could have come up with what I did when we did the same thing in class if we weren't studying this topic at the moment.

[Sean Nash]

Fully agreed. However, it is smart to always give the maximum amount of "credit" before asking most anything to someone you wish to spill forth a bunch of information upon.

There is nothing to feel bad about having to skip to a really direct approach to teaching. Really- you got the practice 3X over what you did in class. Success.

All of this focus on the "pattern" or sequence of beads, color and count is interesting isn't it? It challenges what people think of as "random" doesn't it?

"basic enkephalin/heroin lesson" ...sounds like a lesson you'd learn "on the street," huh?
;)

[Chris Michaels]

Well i started this whole journey, to find something new, by talking to my mother, my father, and my cousin. Now my mother is 40+ my dad is 50++, lol, and my cousin is 20 or so... and the only one that has any knowledge of biology is my cousin who is a science teacher in texas up here for the weekend. Now i started the discussion right off by just throwing the bracelet on a table and saying "What is it." Immediately my dad answers "A bracelet" hahahaha right, no. So then i say "no what do you think it stands for." He asks well why, is this for school, what class is it for. I Tell him the routine because, yes , and DC Biology. He says o well then this is easy what r u studying ( Now my mom and my cousin have not said a word are just looking at this bracelet like it is going to magically grow lips and tell them what it really is) but i tell him we study alot of things plants animals genetics cells alot of things and immediately i see the light bulb go off in his head. So now i say wait dont tell me, Write it on this paper so you dont skew anyone else's answer. so he does. Then i look at the other two and say " You got it" and my mother says of course and writes her answer. My cousin well she seems to be kind of spectacle about the whole situation, but turns and writes her answer. So i collect the answers and open them for my enjoyment. My dad's says Obviously it is the inner structure of a worm that has eaten something in the last few days the first two red are his head the three whites are organs that have lost blood and the black is the last thing he has eaten and the the brown is the stomach because they eat dirt. The last brown is what he is about to Poop out. He asks " how close was I," I said "Wow. umm not very close." my Mothers is next she used her schema and hers says " it is one of the healing bracelets that people wear and believe that they help avoid pain and if you have pain somewhere then you wear it there and the pain is lessened in seconds." she asked the same question and i Say" wow mom thats pretty close. Hearing this my cousin snatched her paper back and erases everything she wrote and writes her answer, laughing I take the paper back and there is one word on it Enkephalin. i laugh and i ask how did she know, she said she read a book once where a group of scientist are traveling down a river and one of them is making a necklace from a museum and two of them end up coding for Enkephalin and trying to get the other people to believe a story and never realize they were lying, and because you said your mom was close with the pain bracelet, so i figured your teacher might have read the same book." I said "Wow your exactly right like that is the exact book he read and this is from, and Enkephalin is what it stands for each bead is an Amino Acid and every three is a Protein."


So basically i didn't have to tell them what it was because she got it right, i thought it was awesome that she had read the same book that Mr. Nash explained and that this is actually from... I asked if she went to your conference and she said nope just read the book cause it was interesting. I was kind of in a bad mood after this because i was going to let my dad have it, i was going to rub it in his face that mom got closer then e did and after my cousin got it right i was so intrigued to ask her questions i kind of just forgot about the other two that were at the table.

Her first answer that she erased was, well she said that it was a bracelet made by the teacher to remember him or her forever. She is a 7th grade science teacher going to college for more degrees to try and become a professor @ University of Texas Corpus Christi. It is a marine College for people that are interested in a career in anything to do with marine life.

[Sean Nash]

WOW. Seriously- I have never met another human who has read that book. That is WAY too weird. You should send her to The Synapse! I'm betting she'd get something out of that site. Wow. I have to admit, I'm still a bit skeptical on this one. But I could be convinced with a bit of conversation. Trust me- I didn't see that outcome occurring whatsoever. Weird.

It sounds like they were all good sports! That is awesome. I still with you would have had to "tell the story"... but I'm sure you interjected things as they needed to be said.

Your dad's explanation is funny... I like it!

This also is comedy gold: "...my mom and my cousin have not said a word [and] are just looking at this bracelet like it is going to magically grow lips and tell them what it really is."

[Erin McAndrews]

My experience with this was surprisingly funny. The first person I asked begged me not to mention her name. She had no idea what it was and just kept staring at it until she grabbed the bracelet and started moving it like a worm and she said, "is it an earthworm?!"

The next person I asked was my dad and he guessed it was DNA. I was surpised he got even that close, since he hasn't been in school for about 35 years.

The last person I asked was my sister. As soon as I asked her what the bracelet was she said, "they're beads." So I had to rephrase my question, "no, I meant, what does this bracelet represent?" It was so funny because she took genetics last year and she knew what it was, but she couldn't think of what it was called. After staring at it forever she said, "it's mRNA!"

After they all guessed, I gave them a little summary about Enkephalin and how the mRNA codes for it. They understood it pretty well after I explained it. But, they didn't ask any questions, so I'm not really sure.