Expressing gratitude for home, family and tradition is a yearly ritual in many communities nationwide. These timely STEM resources from the NSDL community present health issues related to the amount, type and even the aromas of the foods we eat as well as one significant computational aspect of this all-American holiday celebration.
A traditional roast turkey leg. © 2004 Carol Minton Morris
From the Directory of Open Access Journal, BioMed Central, and PubMed Central
The effect of the Thanksgiving Holiday on weight gain
More people than ever are considered obese and the resulting health problems are evident. These facts highlight the need for identification of critical time periods for weight gain. Therefore the purpose was to assess potential changes that occur in body weight during the Thanksgiving holiday break in college students.
From the Internet Scout Project
Thanksgiving Biology Topic in Depth
These eight resources focused on the biology of our favorite Thanksgiving foods include (1) a short, readable introduction to the biology and natural history of wild turkeys in the US. Wild, or domesticated, turkey meat known for its soporific power. Visitors to the Web site from International Anti-aging Systems (2) can learn all about tryptophan, the amino acid responsible for the post-Thanksgiving dinner nap. The third Web site from Centers for Disease Control Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (3), offers a reliable source of information about salmonellosis. Environmental Health and Safety Online (4) offers some facts and figures about contaminated turkeys, citing studies from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The fifth Web site (5) from the University of New South Wales introduces the Australian Brush Turkey.The Cranberry Institute offers a brief introduction to the history, botany, and harvest of cranberries (6). The University of Illinois Extension provides an in-depth Web site devoted to nothing but pumpkins, including a recipe for Traditional Pumpkin Pie (7). The final Web site, from iVillage, clears up in a brief explanation the confusion about yams and sweet potatoes (8).
From the Math Forum@Drexel Problems of the Week
“Grandmother Brown is going to host a huge family gathering on Thanksgiving Day. She has eight grandchildren, and this year she has decided that they will all help with serving or cleaning up. The kitchen is small, so she must select four of the children to wash dishes after the meal. The others will help with serving during the meal.” Find out how Grandma Brown solves the age-old clean-up problem. Free trial registration required.
From the Engineering Pathway
Few people are aware of how crucial the sense of smell is to identifying foods, or the adaptive value of being able to identify a food as being familiar and therefore safe to eat. In this lesson and activity, students conduct an experiment to determine whether or not the sense of smell is important to being able to recognize foods by taste.
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