Splash Biography

What is sound? How do our ears hear the information in sound and send it to our brain to be processed into language? And how might we teach a computer to do the same thing? We'll investigate all of this by diving into phonology and phonetics, the study of the audible components of language. We'll explore what sound is, and look at some ways it can be visualized. We'll talk about all of the different sounds that human languages can use, in English and beyond. Finally, we'll look at patterns in sounds by converting them into pictures called spectrograms. With this tool at our disposal, we can investigate how both computer systems and human brains might tackle the problem of speech recognition. Come learn what you never knew you never knew about sounds!

Is that an orchid, or a mantis? What's the difference between a bug and a beetle? Why does EVERYTHING seem to want to pretend to be an ant? Why do bees cooperate with each other like that? Come learn about insects, the fascinating animals with more than a million species on Earth and a majority of ALL the species we know about! This class will present a whirlwind tour of insects of all sorts. You'll learn how each group is related and how to recognize each group's unique features, as well as some random cool examples of camouflage, symbiosis, and parasitism among insects. As we go, you'll apply your newly-learned identification skills to identify insects yourself!