Having just attended to the Widow’s Spring teaser, their musical talents has inspired me. I looked into the possibility of connecting biochemistry and music.
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/01/there_once_was_a_man_from_corv.html
According to Professor Kevin Ohern at the Oregon State University, these two very different topics can be united to make musical biochemistry. He teaches a lot of the biochemistry material, including learning the 20 amino acids and the functions of amino acids using popular songs (including tunes from the Beatles and a parody of YMCA). There is a strong correlation between musical sounds and memory, and music brings back memories. Using this technique maybe biochemistry won’t be as daunting as predicted by other students in the past. It can fun and engaging as well!
I LOVE his songs, so much so that I had actually purchased his Biochemistry songs CDs a few years ago so that I could play in class. Some students were as enthusiastic as I was, but I felt some didn’t fancy it so much, so I stopped playing them. But if you guys have any interest, I would be more than happy to play a few of the songs.
Haha that’s awesome Emily!
As a Biochemistry major and a Music minor, I LOVE THIS!!! One of the most enjoyable ways to learn is through song! Also Oregon represent! (Portland is my hometown, Oregon my homestate)
This is somewhat tangentially related, but here is a really cool TED Talk on “hearing color.” Neil Harbisson was born color-blind, but a device helps him hear color. He also relates color to music and vice versa, which is why I remembered this now.
http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_harbisson_i_listen_to_color.html
Charlotte, they showed part of that TED talk during TEDx Wellesley. His speech and his experiences are so interesting, especially when he turned the speech of two prominent figures into color!