Ruben Aldaco Jr
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Research Mentor(s): Karl Jepsen
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Orthopaedic Surgery / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Ruben Aldaco, Erin Bigelow
Session: Session 3: 11:00 am – 11: 50 am
Poster: 70
Abstract
As schools moved their curriculums online due to the pandemic, equity differences became very apparent between well-funded and underfunded schools. Many underfunded schools found it difficult to transition their science curriculums to a virtual interface, which left many unable to give their students a proper science education. The pandemic also saw a shortage of owl pellets available for education, causing them to be cut from the science curriculum. Our goal is to make scientific educational programs about owl pellets as easily accessible as possible, with students only needing an internet connection and a device capable of searching the web. This project began with an initial collection of around 46 different owl pellets collected from the wild, which were then all individually scanned using a nano CT machine (nanotom M, Waygate Technologies USA). The scans were then analyzed on Dragonfly (Version 2022.2, Comet Technologies Canada), and used to create movies and diagrams of the owl pellet. The movies virtually dissect the owl pellets and focus on individual bones and features of the owl pellet as if the students had the owl pellet in front of them and dissected it themselves. This research is still in its beginning phase, with only a few pilot videos completed. Upon completion of these virtual programs, our research team hopes to get them into classrooms and make them accessible to kids anywhere. Future phases of this research hope to connect these programs with various databases to strengthen and broaden the educational content. With a fun and engaging way for them to learn about the world of science, we hope to make as many kids, especially those in underfunded communities, interested in science.
