"Thing" Presentation

Hey!
So on Thursday in recitation, each student presented a short 2-minute presentation describing his or her "thing," three length scales, and comparisons to other objects. It's hard giving a two-minute presentation; I was so caught up in making sure that I remembered to say everything that I wanted to that I didn't even notice my 30-second warning! As I was writing my presentation, I came up with new comparisons for comparing my bookstore to the brain; I'll post what I said during my 2-minute presentation (give or take a few phrases).

"I chose to analyze the Penn bookstore. I chose it mainly because of the way in which its primary functions compare to the functions of the brain, rather than because its substructures look like something else (it's physical structures are not that interesting). To break the bookstore down, I chose three lengths: the meter, the centimeter, and the millimeters. Compared to the structure of the brain, the wall (measured in meters), is like the skull - it protects all the information and valuables on the inside of it. The book (measured in centimeters), is like a section of the brain. For example, if wanted to learn about American history, you would find an American history book just like when you want to remember something, the place were memories are stored in the brain is needed. The word (measured in millimeters), can be compared to a neuron in the brain; it is a very specific piece of information which carries that piece of information from one thing to another. For example, a word can carry the author's name from the front of the book to the reader. Another similarity between the bookstore and the brain is that both structures are sometimes taken for granted. For example, it would be really annoying if the bookstore wasn't there to get Penn apparel, course books, or Starbucks coffee. Also, think about how different life would be if you had a different brain; we all should learn to never take things for granted no matter how simple they may seem. So even though the bookstore may be just a building enclosing books you don't want to read, it is the "brain" of campus unique to Penn. Next time you enter it, think "I'm in a brain" - but don't say that out loud!"