MaryLou Andrews

About me!

My suitemates!

Me with my suitemates from last semester:
(From the left) Me, Toni, Emily, Sally

Here are a few of my favorite things!

Passing Swift trucks on the Interstate
The Crete exit
Winding roads off in the distance
Road trips with my friends
Stargazing and sharing secrets (what you should have said was...)
Getting on song kicks
Living life as it should be: Life is a musical (aka, randomly bursting out in song and dance)
Running at night
Frolicking under the midnight sun

Career Goals

I am a senior this year, which kind of means I should probably start figuring out my life! But really, I'm graduating from Concordia in May with a B.A. in Communications - Journalism/Public Relations and Interpersonal Comm. I will also have a minor in Graphic Design. I love my major and minor and hope to use my writing and design skills for a mission organization, sharing the story of what God is doing in the world. I am in the process of applying for more education, but we'll see where that goes! I trust that God will use all of my talents and skills and even if I don't know what it will look like, I am moving forward and excited to see where God leads!

Want to know more about me? Send me an e-mail !

Check out my science links!

What is Science? Unit 1
Laws and theories from About.com	This page is a good, easy-to-understand source on the difference between laws and theories. The examples given help clarify this often confusing topic.
Laws and theories from James Freeman	This page gave several specific examples of laws and theories and described how laws can be demonstrably false in certain situations.
How stuff works	This page is a basic science page because it has a ton of information for anyone interested in the world around them. Curiosity is one of the foundations of science!
Warning: Gravity is only a theory	This author is very opposed to teaching the theory of gravity as a good theory. It is kind of fun to read her urgency in making sure we don't teach gravity as a fact, and she separates the terms "fact" and "theory."

Color: Unit 2
How 3D glasses work	This "How Stuff Works" page describes how 3D glasses work, including the common red/blue glasses as well as the polarizing glasses available.
Kuler	This really doesn't have anything to do with science, but it is so much fun to mess around with different color themes!
Color test	Another art page--see how good your eyes are at spotting slight differences in hues!
Are black and white colors?	This page gives different answers to this question, based on if you are looking at it from additive or subtractive color mixing.
Creating flame colors!	Learn how to make colorful starters for your fireplace by adding different chemicals! It can be like your own Fourth of July!
How the Rainbow works	Another "How Stuff Works" page that explains how the rainbow works, by bending white light to show "all the colors of the rainbow!"

Kinetic Theory, Gas Laws, Phases of Matter: Unit 3
How did the Atom obtain its name?	These two answers explain the Greek origins of the atomic model, which was philosophical in nature, then a more modern look at the atomic model, which was more scientific in nature.
The smallest and largest atoms	Most of the mass of atoms are found in the protons and neutrons, so this page explains that the smallest atom in mass is hydrogen, and the larger atoms typically fall apart in radioactive decay.
How dry ice works	I wanted to know about an substance that sublimates, that is, goes directly from a solid to a gas. Turns out that's why dry ice is so cool!
The first pictures of atoms!	This article talks about the recent discovery of how to take pictures of atoms. Although the article doesn't say this directly, it kind of alludes to the fact that being able to see the atoms takes the atomic theory and moves it to a law.

Phase Changes and Heat Transfer: Unit 4
How the sun heats the earth	This CNN article in the archives talks about how the sun is actually at the farthest point away from the earth during the summer. Since we receive heat from the sun by radiation and not convection, it makes sense that we have the hot summer months not because of being closer to the sun but because of how many hours of sunlight we recieve!
The sun, weather, greenhouse	More about the sun and the UV radiation to heat the earth, plus how the ground absorbs that heat and then radiates it back out and how the greenhouse gases act as a barrier that keeps the heat from escaping to space. I wanted to know if the air pollution would reflect the sun's light and would make the earth cooler, but I think that the pollution isn't reflective, so the sunlight still comes through and then the pollution acts like a big blanket that stops any convection from the earth from escaping, so it would keep the earth warmer.
The best insulators by Marshall Brain	One. This guy's last name really is Brain. That's kind of funny. He would have a whole site about having "science on the brain." What a guy. Two. He explains that an insulator keeps "hot things hot and cold things cold." No discussion of how heat transfers or the heat conductivity of different materials. Shame on you, Mr. Brain. But it is kind of fun to watch his science experiment and see what works as an insulator, although his result shows the reflectivity properties of aluminum foil rather than its insulating properties.
Heat transmission properties of building materials	I was trying to find a site that talked about the heat conductivity of roofing materials because in Italy, they have beautiful rock slab roofs, and they have been around for hundreds of years. This site is a search tool where you can choose the material from a list and see its thermal conductivity. Still no answer on my rock slab roof in Italy, but still a cool site to see the conductivity of different building materials, even from different manufacturers.

Pressure: Unit 5
Pressure and the weather	This site explains how a mercury baromoter works and measures atmospheric pressure, plus how that pressure affects the weather. (The javascript applet is pretty cool!)
How SCUBA diving works	A "How Stuff Works" page on SCUBA diving--does a great job of explaining atmospheric pressure on sea level and then going under the water, plus how pressurized gasses act in the water (like carbonation.)
How Vacuum cleaners work	Another "How Stuff Works" page but interesting because vacuum cleaners work with the same principles as sucking from a straw, but it gets a bit more complicated to make it work.
Experiment for sucking through a straw	This page talks a little about sucking through a straw and how it works, but I'm interested to try to experiment they suggest. Would the air pressure inside the jar be enough to make the straw work? Is it only when the jar is filled completely with water, then sealed, that the straw will not work? I'll have to try it out!

Mass, Density, Weight, Buoyancy, Etc.: Unit 6
How does a ship float?	How can it be safe to float on a ship when the materials used are more dense than water and should sink? It has to do with the design and overall density.
Eureka! Fact or Fiction?	Although most of the stories say Archimedes solved the gold and the crown problem with measuring the volume, this article mentions how the real world gets in the way and that it is much more likely that Archimedes used his laws of buoyancy and the scale to determine whether the crown was pure gold or not.
Can a canon ball float?	So this has a sweet animated gif of archimedes principle. But it also has a guy with a crazy accent (that I can't really understand) and a whole vat full of mercury. Sweet.
Bernoulli's Principle while driving!	You can see Bernoulli's principle while driving! 1. Convertibles, when closed, look like the top is puffing out. 2. When driving by semi trucks, it can feel like the car is getting pulled into the truck. All thanks to the pressure differences!

Science and Religion: Unit 7
Creation Myths	Answers in Genesis is in the Theistic Science category as a Creationist Evangelism, and this page addresses some of the attacks people have for this type of thinking.
Can we argue creation without the Bible?	This newsletter from Brian Young's Creation Instruction Association (also Theistic Science) addresses the issue of whether we can argue creation without the Bible. He has many other resources on the page, but this one especially caught my eye.
Progressive Creationism from Hugh Ross	A Frequently Asked Questions page about Hugh Ross and his assertions of Old Earth or Progressive Creationism.
Intelligent Design	The whole page is good, but the Frequently Asked Question page was an introduction into the Intelligent Design standpoint.