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heat loss vs. evolution
John Hansen (jhansen@snowcrest.net)
27 Nov 1995 00:25:11 GMT
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a high school student that attends Mt.Shasta High School. My lab
partner and I are doing a science project on: is there a biological
advantage of being short and squatty in the arctic and long and lean and
living in the tropics with respect to heat retention or heat loss? We have
already researched that as your blood temperature rises above thermostat
setting, the blood vessels near the skin surface are dilated. This means
the supply of blood to the skin increases. If the air is cooler than the
body surface, heat can transfer into the air. Animals that live in the hot
climates have more exposed surface areas than animals that live in cooler
climates.
We have found that the surface area to volume ratios are important in
understanding this question . What we were wondering is what materials we
could use to test our hypothesis. We can't use live animals and want to
model this problem using something else. Any information you could give
us would be a lot of help, and would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely Tim Fredenburg and Cassie Hansen
Please write me (Cassie) at jhansen@sisnet.ssku.k12.ca.us
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