Does listening to classical music enhance performance in school.

Does certain genre of music have a greater affect on brain development?

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

About 150 words

In appendix II I was reading about their journey in Antartica. In this section of the book they are describing each day that they experience and the hardships they go through. As they were headed towards the glacier, they had to move inward more and they were concerned because doing so could lead to them falling through hidden crevasses. Everything was going fine until one of the scientist fell through a crevasse that he didn’t see. He was able to hold himself up with his arms and get out but when they looked down they couldn’t see where the crevasse ended.

This part of the passage doesn’t necessarily relate arts and sciences however it does make me curious as to the safety precautions that are taken by these researchers when they go on these expeditions. As they are exploring lands that are foreign to them they have to really understand the geography around them along with out the environment and its conditions in order to be safe.

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

About 150 words

In the article “The Therapeutic Effects of Singing in Neurological Disorders,” the scientist believe that singing has a positive effect on neurological disorders and theres the potential that singing could become a treatment for these disorders. The act of singing or producing musical sounds can result in treating speech motor deficits. Researchers ran a study and took group of patients who struggled with singing and asked them to sing for ten minutes. When they were done singing they saw that singing reduced the frequency of stuttering by ninety percent. However, singing therapy isn’t only  effective for patients with stuttering. Parkinson’s Disease,  Aphasia, and Autism can also be treated through singing treatments.

This really interested me because I had no idea that Neurological problems could be reduced through the technique of singing therapy. I enjoyed this piece because I’m interested in music and learning that theres a connection between singing and treatments for patients is something that I find fascinating.

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

About 150 words

In “Whisper of the Wind” by Kim Tingley, she begins to describe her trip to the ridge above Hines Creek. She mentions that the purpose of their trip was to capture the acoustic data of raw nature. However, this was going to be a difficult task because of the disruptive noises coming from themselves. Tingley then states that this aroma of “natural sound” is all disrupted due to the civilization of humans. We have planted ourselves across the world and have been focused on living through jobs and school that we forget to take a minute to stop and listen to the pure sounds of nature. Tingley says “…scientists have so little information about what landscapes should sound like without human interference…” after this she goes to explain that in order to really understand the pure sound of nature we have to separate our sounds from natures.

In Josie Glausiusz article, “Land Divided, Coast United,” she talks about the problems that the Gaza and Israel people face due to their conflicts between each other. The drinking water of the two countries is at risk of pollution after the dumping of a lot of human waste. Also, there is electricity shortages. This is a result of the war between the two countries. To resolve these vital issues, it is important for the two countries to work together so that the people can meet their basic needs to live a healthy life. This situation is similar to when people were using fertilizer that was seeping into a nearby lake which polluted the water and killed a majority of the fish. However, unlike Gaza and Israel, the community worked together to switch the kind of fertilizer they used that had the least impact on the ecosystem surrounding the lake.

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

About 200 words

In “The Clan of the One Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest Williams, she begins by telling her readers that she is a Mormon and belongs to the group known as One Breasted Women. She gives a background of her family and explains to the readers how she knew multiple people in her family who suffered from breast cancer. Her main point of her essay is how she blames the United States government for the harmful effect that nuclear testing has on the people, especially the ones in Utah. She states that she tried protesting against nuclear testing however, every time she attempted to protest against it she would fail.

When reading Williams piece it really opens your mind to the whole situation and it takes you back for a second while you think about the tragedies these people went through. Williams use of a personal story in her essay allows the reader to connect to it on a more emotional level rather than analytical. This technique allows her point to become more relatable because as the reader you put yourself in her situation as if you experienced the trauma as well.

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

About 200 words

Unusual Bird-Human partnership runs even deeper than scientists thought

In this article, the scientist reveal that the relationship between honey hunters and the greater honeyguide bird has evolved resulting the two to be able to communicate and work together. The honey hunters send out a call and the birds then respond until the honey hunter has found the nest that the bird has directed him to. The reason the two partner up and work together is due to the fact that the nest are embedded way up in the trees making them hard to come by. After the greater honeyguide directs the honey hunter to the nest, the honey hunter then smokes out the tree to get rid of the bees and then cuts it down. Once he collects the honey he then leaves the broken honeycomb pieces for the birds to then eat. One of the biologists said “It suggests that the honeyguide and human behavior have coevolved in response to each other.” I believe that this is a good public-facing article because they keep it short and readable for any level. They don’t use big scientific concepts to get their ideas across, instead they thoroughly explain the research that the scientists have done.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/unusual-bird-human-partnership-runs-even-deeper-scientists-thought

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

In Cronons essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” he argues that we need to realize the true meaning behind the term wilderness and that we need to open our eyes to realize that everything in nature is important to keep protected. In my essay I argued the point that we need to take in consideration all different kinds of scenery and nature that is right in front of us. Some may argue and say that we see the nature in front of us everyday and therefore, it has less of a meaning to us. Some would say that theres something more spectacular when looking over the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls. I agree, however, if we don’t try to protect the nature around us then in the end while we’re trying to save these national sites we will have damaged the beauty of the nature in our own backyards.

Aubrie Cross About 150-200 words
INTD: Science Writing
ac46@geneseo.edu

In William Cronons piece, “The Trouble with Nature,” he argues that we need to change our viewpoint on the wilderness. He believes that all nature is important and we shouldn’t just focus on monumental sites being the only “nature” around us. “In its raw state, it had little or nothing to offer civilized men and women.” Cronon argues that before we made something of the nature around us, it had no purpose in relation to humans. During the 18th century Cronon said that humans were afraid of the wilderness, that there was this separation between humans and nature. Nowadays, things are very different because there isn’t that division anymore. However, we have taken nature for granted.

On the Geneseo campus there is a tree that sits in the middle of the buildings and it is known as the Greek Tree. The reason it has been given this name is because for many years now sororities and fraternities have been in competition trying to paint the tree to its highest point possible. Before this became a tradition, the tree was just like any other tree. Since the tree wasn’t planted on a monumental site we didn’t see its beauty or significance. Therefore, when this tradition started the sororities and fraternities figured they could just impose themselves on it. No harm, no foul. If this tree was placed in a state park would people still damage it and paint themselves all over it? Cronons ideas correlate with the tree because it shows that unless the nature around us is in a popular place we don’t see a problem with imposing ourselves on it.