Author: jaclynw

Blame Education

For my blog, I wanted to share with you some of Ken Robinson’s views on how education kills children’s creativity.

We all know how important it is to get an education. After all, we are raised to believe that we will not obtain a job without one. Our every step seems to be already planned out: first, go to school and then begin a career. But we do not know what the future will bring. Then why should we plan for the next 40+ years of our lives when realistically we do not know how the world will look in five years?

Schools are teaching children to meet the future by what they did in the past. Mathematics, languages, and humanities were considered more important than the arts. However, this method is not practical anymore, for the world has drastically changed. The arts such as music, theatre, and dance now rival the once important subjects. Also, in the past kids went to school because they knew they would get a job afterwards. But nowadays, kids do not believe that they will secure a job once they finish high school or university. This is largely due to the struggling economy and thus observing how unemployment rates have sky rocketed. Therefore, what is the point of going to school if the probability of getting a job is not very high?

Robinson defines creativity as the original ideas that have value. What happened to adults’ creativity? The saying “making mistakes helps you learn” seems to be lost in adults. This is because today’s society penalizes people’s mistakes so harshly that adults are afraid to be wrong. And as a result their pure sense of creativity is lost. On the other hand, have you noticed what a child does when they are uncertain the answer? They will say something, anything that they believe to be correct. They are not afraid to take chances.

At birth, every parent has big dreams for their child. For example, they may want their child to achieve the highest academic standing in school. However, they fail to realize that children are naturally very creative and innovative. If a child is struggling in school, many parents think that they have a medical problem. For example, many of these children are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Often times, they are required to take potentially harmful medications like Adderall and Ritalin to help them focus and calm down. But is this the solution? Is it their fault for being so distracted? Probably not. Children are surrounded by a flood of exciting things to do, like watching TV, going on the computer, or playing with iPhones; as such, to them, the subjects they learn at school are boring and pointless. And yet society is still penalizing children for getting distracted during school. Instead they should be reworking how the curriculum is taught. These medications deaden children’s senses, making them unable to fully be themselves; thus their creativity is being killed.

In addition, the structure of the education system restricts the potential of some children. For example, children learn in a variety of ways. Younger children may be smarter than older children, yet they are strictly placed into grades based on their age. Also, some children learn better at night than in the morning, and some children learn better on their own as opposed to working in groups. Our education system requires a strong level of conformity from children. Furthermore, children spend ten years in school programmed to think that there is just one answer to a problem. They steadily lose the ability to think outside the box.

Whether it is trying to find a quick fix for a distraction problem or the basic structure of how schools are run, children are not getting the individual attention they require. Robinson says that it is time for us to “…[see] our creative capacities for the richness they are and [see] our children for the hope that they are.”

You Tube Video:

How Can We Nurture Creativity In Educational Contexts?

Reference:

Robinson, K. (2006). Do schools kill creativity? Retrieved November 2, 2011, from

Tags children, creativity, education

Biological Sciences Environment Science Communication

True Heroes: African Pouched Rats Trained to Detect Landmines

Post author By jaclynw
Post date October 16, 2011
6 Comments on True Heroes: African Pouched Rats Trained to Detect Landmines

All it takes is one more step, a resounding click for it to be your last. In Africa last year, 6000 people walked on landmines. Sadly, there was no way of knowing what was below the surface. A simple and sustainable solution for Africa’s real world problem has now been found. Bart Weetjens, a Buddhist monk, developed a program called APOPO (Anti-Personnel LandMines Detection Product Development). This program trains African Giant Pouched Rats, Cricetomys Gambianus, to detect landmines to save human lives.

Bart Weetjens holding an African Giant Pouched Rat. Source: APOPO's website

Why rats?

It is true that dogs have already been trained to detect landmines; but, it costs five times more to train demining dogs than rats. This significant difference allows APOPO to use the remaining money to expand training programs. Also, like dogs, these animals are highly sociable with humans. However, unlike dogs, rats have more genetic material allotted to olfaction (sense of smell). They have an amazing capability to map smells and communicate them to us. In addition, African Giant Pouched Rats are a native species to sub-Saharan Africa, which allows them to be easily caught and trained. Additionally, they are smaller in size, thus they do not activate the landmines; whereas large dogs may be at risk. Furthermore, rats differ from dogs because they do not get emotionally attached to a specific trainer. This is important because it allows for multiple trainers to handle the rats.

The Training Begins

Around four weeks of age, the rats are weaned, handled by trainers, and exposed to many different surroundings. The purpose of this is to reduce the rats’ easily startled instincts to run and hide.

Training then proceeds by teaching the rats to recognize a specific clicking sound followed by a food reward. This process is known as Classical Conditioning Methodology. Once the rat automatically associates the click sound with the food reward (a mixture of peanuts and mashed bananas) they move on to the next stage of training.

Next, the rat is placed into a cage with a single hole in the bottom. Directly below this hole, a target sense is placed. The target sense consists of five drops of aqueous TNT, trinitrotoluene, solution. The rat’s goal is to learn to put its nose in the hole for five seconds until it can receive a food reward. Once this task is achieved, the rat moves on to the next level.

APOPO rats sniffing out the target sense in the cage's holes. Source: APOPO's website.

The subsequent step places the rat in a cage with ten holes, with only one containing the target sense. If the rat can continuously locate the target sense and hold its nose in the hole for five seconds, it can move on to conquer the next task.

As the undertakings get gradually more difficult, the rat usually accomplishes them more quickly. It must now face the job of learning to walk on a leash in the fields and find targets. They must learn to systematically move up and down on an axle and search the land. They are strapped to a harness and are gently directed in the correct direction by two trainers. Once this is accomplished they must discover real mines in real mine fields. The trainers know the rat has discovered a mine because they dig, bite and sniff at the ground for five consecutive seconds.

On average, it takes 252 days of training in the cages and fields to ready a rat for the final test.

The Test

Finally, once the rat has passed all its training stages, it is sent to The International Mine Action Standards. This test consists of 400 m² and 5-7 mines placed blindly under the surface. The team of trainer and rat must detect all the mines to get licensed and once this is accomplished the rat becomes an accreted animal to the operation in the field. If the rat fails this test, they must start their training again.

APOPO's rat detecting landmines in the field. Source: APOPO's website.

Why is this important?

Currently, the rats are being trained in Morogoro and Tanzania. They are then shipped, along with their trainers, to Mozambique where more people are recruited to become trainers. For safety purposes, trainers are fully equipped with protective gear and two different rats always examine the same area to guarantee accuracy. Moreover, once the rats have indicated the same spot contains a mine, the area is further checked by a metal detector. The landmines are then disposed of by trained de-miners. In 2009 within nine months, APOPO’s team cleared 199,317 m² in Mozambique and discovered 75 landmines and 62 other explosive remnants of war. From this, 750 families were allowed to return to their land, to their home.

Already 11 African countries have adopted this skill. It allows them to be less dependent on foreign aid. In conclusion, these hero rats are saving many people’s lives. They empower vulnerable communities to tackle difficult and dangerous tasks at a feasible price.

Fun Fact:

Weetjens and APOPO have also trained rats to detect tuberculosis and they are in the process of training them to detect victims of earthquakes.

You Tube Video: HeroRAT being trained to sniff out landmines in Tanzania

Further Reading:

APOPO’s Website
Using Giant African Pouched Rats (Cricetomys Gambianus) To Detect Landmines – Research Article
Giant rats put noses to work on Africa’s land mine epidemic – CNN article

Tags landmines, rats

Biological Sciences

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the smartest animal of them all?”

Post author By jaclynw
Post date September 25, 2011
5 Comments on “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the smartest animal of them all?”

Self-awareness is an ability that was previously thought to be unique only to humans. For example, how many times have you stationed yourself in front of a full length mirror (alone) and checked yourself out? If you are a guy, maybe you are flexing your muscles; or if you are a girl, perhaps you are examining your blemishes. I know we are all hopelessly guilty of this! After all, we are experts on self-awareness.

However, it has been discovered that humans are not alone in their ability to self-recognize.
Animals such as select chimpanzees, dolphins, magpies, and elephants have all
been observed to comprehend their existence as individuals separate from
thought, other individuals and the environment. In addition, a recent study
conducted on the Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta) has successfully added another mammal onto the growing list of self-observers.

With the use of a surgical implant, several mirrors, and a mark test, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin tested these monkeys for the ability to self-recognize and thus be self-aware. The first experiment began by implanting an electrophysiological device into the monkeys’ skull to aid in physiological recordings of their brains. A mirror would then be placed inside their cages and the observations would begin. Researchers observed the monkeys grasp their new mirrors with one hand and tilt it at specific angles to groom the area around the implant. Similarly, researchers noted that the monkeys always turned to face their mirror and use it to guide their grooming process. Equally important, the monkeys did not try to groom the image in the mirror; they accepted the image to be their own reflection. Meanwhile, monkeys that had not been implanted were seen to not use the mirror. This suggests that the implant acted as a stimulus which prompted them to examine the location of the implant in the mirror. Therefore, this experiment was a success because the monkeys used the mirror as a tool to look at their reflection.

Self-recognition caught on camera! Rhesus Monkeys examining themselves in the mirror.

(The red arrow in A and B show which hand is used for grooming and the implants are masked with the black square for discretion in A, B, and C.)

Furthermore, another experiment the researchers conducted was a test of self-recognition through different mirrors. A small, a large, and an all black mirror (covered in a non-reflective plastic) were placed outside the Rhesus monkeys’ cage. The monkeys were found to use both the large and small mirrors but not the black mirror. Also, with the use of these mirrors, they were seen to inspect body parts that normally would be out of direct sight. As a result, the monkeys’ rate of touching and grooming was determined to be 10 times greater with mirrors than without. Therefore, this experiment was a success because the monkeys demonstrate self-directed actions.

Despite both of the above experiments showing the capability of Rhesus Monkeys self-recognition, one test failed in its objective. This failed test consisted of applying marks on the animal’s faces and observing their behaviour in front of a mirror. The hypothesis was that the Rhesus Monkey would look into the mirror, acknowledge the presence of the marks and touch them. This would conclude that the animal recognized itself in the mirror and therefore was self-aware. Unfortunately, this test failed because there was no attempt by the monkeys to touch the markers. This result could suggest either that they had observed the markers but made no attempt to touch them, or that they had not recognized them at all.

In conclusion, with two successful experiments and one failed experiment, the University of Wisconsin research team determined that overall the Rhesus Monkeys can recognize themselves in the mirror and therefore can be considered self aware.

Although in the past humans selfishly considered themselves the only species capable of self-recognition; science has one again proved us wrong. Thanks to advances in scientific research, we now have another common characteristic linking us to different species. The Rhesus Monkey is only one of a handful of animals that can acknowledge their own reflections as being unique. Before too long, maybe we will even discover these creatures checking out their appearances in the mirror in hopes to fix their hair or flex their muscles.

http://youtu.be/w4nM4Gd7ybg