CHEMISTRY IN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Professor in Charge - Professor Adília Charmier
Description: the aim of this action is to introduce young people to laboratory activities of a scientific nature. The synthesis of BIODIESEL, from used oils, will allow equating some environmental issues of bioenergy, its limitations and impact in the future.
- Production of BIODIESEL.
BEER PRODUCTION
Professor in Charge - Professor Adília Charmier
Description: The production of beer began around 8000 BC, spreading, in antiquity, among the peoples of Sumer, Babylon and Egypt. The drink was also produced by Greeks and Romans during the height of these civilizations. Beer was developed in parallel with the fermentation processes of cereals and spread with the cultures of corn, rye and barley in ancient societies. With the cooperation of Industrial Microbiology, it was found that from the laboratory it is also possible to brew the various types of beer that exist today on the market. With this activity it is intended that the students manufacture their own beer in the laboratory, carrying out the processes of: Brassage; Fermentation; Guard and Filtration. At the end there will also be a test of the samples made by the students.
MICROBIOLOGY OF FOOD
Professor in Charge - Professor Elisabete Maurício
Description: Microbes are part of man's daily life. They are present everywhere, they are in the air, soil, water, food, some visible and others not really. It is intended that students experience some of the basic techniques of a microbiology laboratory and their applications, leading students to learn how to isolate, how to cultivate and how to identify various types of microorganisms obtained from various samples and to know a little the microorganisms that surround us.
- Microbiological analysis of yogurt and kefir: Gram staining and microscopic observation.
GENETICS/MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Professor in Charge - Professor Susana Santos
Description: With this activity, it is intended that students become familiar with the basic techniques of culture and handling of bacteria in the area of genetics, that they carry out the process of transforming bacteria with plasmid DNA and that they observe the result of the expression of a recombinant fluorescent protein (GFP). Students will also be able to familiarize themselves with the process of DNA hydrolysis, agarose gel electrophoresis and identification of DNA restriction patterns. In short, with the “DNA fingerprinting” technique and its use in the most diverse areas of biology and biotechnology.
- DNA fingerprinting – Where is the criminal?
EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE CHICK: THE BASIC ORGANIZATION OF VERTEBRATES
Professor in Charge – Professor Doctor Stephane Besson
In a two-hour session, students will watch the hatching of fertilized chicken eggs at different stages of development, observing the method of isolating the embryo from the egg yolk. The images of these live embryos, after being placed in Petri dishes for better visualization, will be projected onto a high resolution monitor, so that all those present can distinguish the following phenomena:
- Differentiation of the heart;
- Start of heartbeat;
- Blood circulation system through the surrounding membranes;
- Early brain development;
- Differentiation and growth of the three compartments of the embryonic brain;
- Initiation and development of mesoderm segmentation into somites.
Examples of data analysis collected in experiments and critical and creative thinking in biology will also be demonstrated.
SEA URCHIN EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT: FERTILIZATION AND THE FIRST CELL CYCLES
Professor in Charge – Professor Doctor Stephane Besson
In a two-hour session, students will be able to observe and practice themselves the method of collecting eggs and sperm from sea urchins and then observe their collections under a microscope, in a simple drop of water, with the live material . Then, they will see directly under the microscope the phenomenon of fertilization, in which the following steps will be followed:
- Recognition of unfertilized eggs;
- Addition of a semen droplet to seawater containing these eggs;
- Observation of the arrival of spermatozoa to the area of the drop where the eggs are found;
- Recognition of sperm binding to the plasma membrane of the egg;
- Observation of the formation of the fertilization membrane around the fertilized egg and estimation of the time elapsed between the previous step and this one.
Students will also observe several stadiums of dembryonic development resulting from previously fertilized eggs which illustrated the following steps:
- Morula formation;
- Morula cavitation;
- Blastula formation;
- Start of archenteron invagination;
- Gastrula Formation
- Start of independent movement of the blastula;
- Finalization of archenteron formation;
- Formation of the pluteus larva.
GENE CLONING: INTRODUCTION TO BASIC TECHNIQUES OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Professor in Charge – Professor Doctor Stephane Besson
Description: In a two-hour session, students will cultivate and transform cultures of Escherichia coli bacteria with the pGlo® plasmid and analyze previous transformations carried out in the different culture media used. With these demonstrations we intend that students are exposed to important concepts of molecular biology such as:
- Genetic organization of prokaryotes;
- Growth and selection of bacterial strains;
- Replication, transcription and translation;
- Regulation of transcription;
- Host strains and checkmarks;
- Cloning vectors;
- Genomic databases;
- Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR;
- Restriction Enzymes;
- Transformation of E. coli HB101 with the pGlo® plasmid.
These concepts are intended to be useful for understanding the experimental procedure and for the respective analysis of the results, serving for the development of critical and creative thinking in biology.
PSYCHOLOGY
Professor in Charge - Professor Doctor Pedro Gamito
Description: The laboratories of the School of Psychology and Life Sciences of the ULHT have produced several studies in the area of Virtual Reality, with a focus on the development of virtual scenarios for the treatment of anxiety disorders (phobias) and for the cognitive rehabilitation of patients with cognitive deterioration resulting from substance abuse, traumatic brain injury and stroke. The evaluation of intervention results often includes the use of psychophysiological measures (heartbeat, for example) and cognitive tracking (eye tracker) During the visit, students will be able to immerse themselves in some of the virtual worlds, and get in touch with some options designed for intervention and clinical evaluation."
MY FIRST WEBSITE
Professor in Charge - Professor Doctor Pedro Alves
In this activity, students begin to understand what a computer scientist does and the importance of their work in various areas of society. The remaining part of the class will focus on one of these areas: Web programming. Students will learn the language used to build websites and "get their hands dirty" by designing and developing their first web page, which will be available after class to share with friends and family.
Session duration: 3 hours
Notes:
- The Psychology activity is only carried out on Wednesdays;
- The activity Embryonic Development of the Sea Urchin is only carried out in the month of May;
- The activity My First Site is only carried out on Tuesdays and Thursdays and lasts for 3 hours.
