TAR HEEL LESSONS
Getting To Know…
Putting thermal energy to work
Gertrude Belle Elion
Materials:
Born: January 23, 1918 Known for: Winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Accomplishments: A biochemist and pharmacologist, Elion developed important drugs using innovative research methods. Born to immigrant parents in New York City, Elion earned her chemistry degree from Hunter College at age 19. Although she graduated with honors, she received no financial aid from any of the 15 graduate schools to which she had applied. After obtaining a Masters of Science at New York University in 1941 (the only female in her graduating class), Elion couldn’t obtain a graduate research position due to her gender. However, Elion eventually transferred to Burroughs-Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Her work led to the development of the AIDS drug AZT, and her inventions include Purinethol (the first treatment in leukemia) and Imuran (used for organ transplants). In 1991 she became the first woman to be inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Elion lost a fiancé to a heart infection and never married. She loved the opera and traveled widely. She died in Chapel Hill in 1999 at age 81.
“I had no specific bent toward science until myy grandfather g died of stomach cancer. I decided nobody should suffer that much.” Quote:
Plastic 1-liter bottle Large balloon Bowl of hot (not boiling) water Bowl of ice water
Steps: 1. Cool the balloon and the bottle in the freezer for 5 minutes. 2. Fill the bowl with hot, not boiling, water. 3. Put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle making sure that the air has been squeezed from the balloon. Place the bottle into the hot water. 4. The air inside the bottle should expand and inflate the balloon. After it is inflated, put the bottle in the bowl of ice water and observe it deflate.
Discussion questions: What are ways that thermal energy can be made to do useful work? What devices convert thermal energy into motion? Source: National Energy Education Development Project (NEED), a nonprofit association that promotes energy education programs. NEED is based in Manassas, Va. (703) 257-1117 or www.need.org
To learn more about Gertrude Elion, visit http://nobelprize.org/nobel_ prizes/medicine/laureates/1988/ elion-autobio.html
A new exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh shows how scientists are reinterpreting theories of dinosaurs: what they looked like, how they behaved, how they moved and why they became extinct. “Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries” includes a
classroom
C huckle Teacher: What does a gorilla learn in school?
Student: His Ape BC’s
Dinosaurs walk the earth once more
To learn more about Thermal Energy, visit www.thermalenergy.org
• 60-foot-long model of an Apatosaurus skeleton. • full-size cast skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. • robotic six-foot-long mechanical T. rex skeleton walking in place. • large “trophy wall” of mounted dinosaur skulls. • 15-by-10-foot re-creation of a collection of sauropod and theropod dinosaur prints unearthed in Texas in the 1930s and ‘40s. “Dinosaurs” is on view at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences through March 2, 2008. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors and $5 for children (5–11). (919) 733-7450 or www.naturalsciences.org.
Know of a great field trip? Or an interesting person from North Carolina for our “Getting To Know” feature? Tell us! We want to hear your suggestions and comments. E-mail editor@carolinacountry.com or call (800) 662-8835, ext. 3036. Or write us at Carolina Country Tar Heel Lessons, P.O. Box 27306, Raleigh, NC, 27611. Carolina Country DECEMBER 2007 21