F16W5&6

I'm behind a week, so this is weeks 5 and 6.

Last week in Intro to BioAnth, the students were comparing the lower limbs and pelvic girdle of humans to the chimpanzee with thought to locomotion in particular. They also looked at human male and female pelvic girdles for sex differences. There were some horror stories told about narrow birth canals and broken coccyx. I guess 1 in 100 births results in a broken tailbone. (Not something I experienced.)

This week, the students are working on an assignment outside of the lab. It's an animal behavioral observation/experiment lab. They are supposed to create an experiment to test a hypothesis with a pet or some other animal or watch zoo webcams and create a lab write-up answering questions about their observations. In the past, a lot of people observed their dogs or cats doing something like eating or meeting new people. The addition of zoo webcams to the assignment should be interesting. I like to read what they come up with. Everyone's is different, unlike the lab write-ups where they are all comparing the same bones. (Although this week someone told me that the male pelvic girdle allows for "things to dangle down there.")

Next week is the bone practicum for Intro to BioAnth. Since there is no lab class this week, the lab is open for students to come in and study the bones. A lot of students are taking advantage of the time. I am also in the lab for my office hours. 

My osteology practicum is two weeks from tomorrow. We are finishing up with the bones in the skull. All we have left is the mandible, the lacrimal bones, and the nasal bones. Our last quiz is tomorrow on the occipital and palatine bones. My quiz average is still 9.something. After the practicum, we move on to forensics. At the end of the quarter, the grad students (all two of us) have to give a presentation. Mine will be on my thesis. 

This is the bone lab, I live here for 4-5 hours a day/5 days a week and a couple of hours on the weekend. 

These guys are magnetic skulls. They are awesome! I stink at putting them back together, but my lab partner Hayley is an expert at it. I know where the bones go, I just can't get them to stick where they are supposed to. 

Kelly was here again. This time he was here to pick up Grace. We decided that she was not getting enough socialization through her online school, so she started back at public school today. They took her cat home too, so I am all by myself and the apartment is way too quiet. 

Smudge was worried that Grace might leave without him when he saw us packing her suitcase. 

We took Grace to see the ocean before she left. It was windy and rainy, but that's fall in Bellingham. 

 This is at Marine Park in Bellingham. 

This is near Pioneer Park in La Conner, WA. 

Grace took some of the pics and I took the rest. Here she is taking a photo of the bridge. 

She likes to take photos of me and Kelly walking. This is our best sides. 

I still haven't been home since right after school started. I miss my kids. I am going home Veteran's Day weekend.