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A Trip to The Museum: Paleontology

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The visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science Paleontology Hall was a very good experience. There is a lot of knowledge held within those walls and though I had been there before multiple times, there are still many things that I have yet to learn and that are interesting.  I thought that the trilobites were very interesting and to see how well they were excavated from the rocks that they were fossilized in was amazing. The people that process these fossils must spend lots of time and must be very careful in releasing these creatures from there rock coffin. I found it interesting how the oxygen levels relate to the size of the animals that exist on the planet. This sparked a greater interest and I would like to learn more about oxygen affect on life. This trip was very interesting and I learned much more than I mentioned here. I look forward to the new energy hall coming next year in Fall 2017 and gaining more knowledge in the realm of paleontology.

A Trip to a Museum: Manioc

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Bitter manioc is a plant in the Amazon jungle that many of the tribes depend on for survival. This plant contains a chemical in its leaves, flesh, and skin that turn into cyanide (poison) when digested. The people of the Amazonian tribes have created many tools to make this plant edible. Bitter Manioc   Manioc Grinder Manioc Stirrer (left) and Strainer (right)  Preparing Manioc 1. The people would take the manioc and skin it. Taking the poison from the skin, but leaving the poison still inside the flesh. 2. They will then use a grinder to turn the manioc flesh into mush. 3. The mush is then put into a manioc strainer to fully remove the liquid that contains the chemical/cyanide. Chinese Finger Trap The manioc strainer is like a Chinese finger trap. It is squeezed together and the manioc mush is added inside. Then it is constantly pulled apart and inward, squeezing the manioc mush repeatedly and taking out the liquid. Manioc...