Month:

How Many Cells Does It Take to Cross the Road?

  • September 9

DNA is the molecule used to store genetic information in living things. Despite the vast amount of information it stores, DNA is physically very small, curled and bunched up thousands of times – in fact, if DNA was fully stretched out, it would be incredibly long! We make calculations of just how long here. Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING

How Tall is this Imaginary Person?

  • September 9

The sculpture Undulating X is constructed from metal in the shape of a giant chromosome, a discrete spool of DNA within a cell. But if a chromosome were actually this size, rather than microscopic, how big would the person who it belongs to be? Math can help us figure that out. Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING

How Many Circles Make Up this Pattern?

  • September 9

There’s a pattern of overlapping circles in the ground pavement around the medical center – but is there any way to estimate how many circles there are? We investigate a few different methods of figuring it out! Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING

Why is There a Gap in the Building’s Facade?

  • September 9

This building has a unique design element – there is a gap in the facade of the building. Why would there be one? In this video, which is geared for high school students and older, Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, discusses temperature changes that we are used to, here in Dallas. He goes on to explore the mathematical relationship between change in temperature and the expansion factor of aluminum. Supplementary Activity Guides fo... CONTINUE READING

What Size is the Sports Field?

  • September 9

We visited the Staubach Sports Field to determine if other teams could use the field for a regulation sports game. We use non-standard units of measurement, like arm span, to estimate the length of the field. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here: https://talkstem.org/talkstem-activity-guides/ We invite all interested groups... CONTINUE READING