Kokopelli Research

Who is Kokopelli?

(PG ver.)

A mythical character often portrayed as a hunchback flute player. The legend originates from ancient beliefs of American south-west natives. He is thought to be a symbol of fertility, joy, feast and long life.  He is also a musician, storyteller, rainmaker, healer, teacher, joker-magician and seducer.

“This merry traveler has a lesson fro everyone. the most important seems to show us that we shouldn’t take life too seriously.”

(Whimsical figure)

In certain myths, Kokopelli carries seeds or medicinal  artefacts in his hump which some say is a sack. He would sow the seeds, and blow life into them by playing his flute. He is most welcome during planting season. Others say that Kokopelli talks through the wind and his flute can be heard in the breeze of spring, bringing warmth. In this version, he brings fortune and prosperity to those who listen to his songs.

https://www.harpo-paris.com/en/legends-and-stories/8-kokopelli.html

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/kokopelli.htm

How do we hear?

(Vibrations and Hair!)

Sound waves travel into the ear canal to the eardrum. The eardrum passes the vibrations through the middle ear bones (ossicles) into the inner ear. In the inner ear is the cochlea that has thousands of tiny hair cells that change the vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the hearing nerve. The brain then interprets the sound you are hearing a sound.

Frogs also have the Tympanic membrane that stretches across a ring of cartilage similar to that of humans. There is rod that is connected to the ear drum (Columella Auris), which vibrates by sounds that come at the frog. That sound passes through as pressure waves and the rod sloshes around in the inner ear fluid, which causes microscopic hairs to move (similar to human!), which send signals to the frog’s brain to be interpreted.

Essay on Frogs

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/virtualexhibit/2howdowehear.html

http://frogsaregreen.org/tag/frog-hearing/

Body Part 1: Belly

There are 3 layers of muscle in the abdomen. The first is the external abdominal oblique followed by the Rectus abdominis and the Internal abdominal oblique and lastly we have the transverse abdominis.

http://www.innerbody.com/anatomy/muscular/lower-torso

Out of the Ordinary

Inspiration

KEY WORDS:  fold, ripple, resonance, inflate, pinch

Body Part 2: Face

(So many muscle!)

Facial muscles can be divided into 3 groups – Orbital, Nasal & Oral.

The orbital group of facial muscles contains two muscles associated with the eye socket – Orbicularis Oculi (performs closure of the eyelid) and Corrugator Supercilii (draw brows together, creates vertical wrinkles on the bridge of the nose).

The nasal group of facial muscles are associated with movements of the nose and the skin around it. (serve little importance to us humans) The nasalis is the largest of the nasal muscles – split into 2 parts; transverse and alar.  The two parts compresses and opens the nares. The next nasal muscle is the Procerus. The contraction of the procerus pulls the eyebrow downward to produce transverse wrinkles over the nose. The last nasal muscle is the Depressor septi nasi which pulls the nose inferiorly to open the nares.

The oral muscles include Orbicularis Oris (used to purse the lips), Buccinator (pulls the cheeks inwards against the teeth, preventing accumulation of food in that area) and others that can be further classified into the lower and upper group.

http://teachmeanatomy.info/head/muscles/facial-expression/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIImGwTVXuQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aDCrYUKIMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agmm3P2tUTs

KEY WORDS: Elastic

 

 

Author: Ying Hui

Hello :)

One thought on “Kokopelli Research”

  1. Some good research here! Do find out more specifically how sound is passed from the outer to the middle to the inner ear for humans… & there’s more to what we have in common with the frog… 😉

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