The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume VII Issue 9 May 2008
Director's Column
Just a reminder, if you are interested in attending the SIM Summer Workshop on Monday, June 16th through Friday, June 20th, return the registration form sent out with the April newsletter. A limited number of positions are available and they fill up fast!
Tuesday, March 25th, I visited Representative Merle Phillips (R-108). Rep. Phillips stated that SIM is “the best science program out there.” He went on to say that “no other program makes such an impact on an individual.” As a long time supporter of the program, Rep. Phillips feels that HB 1227 will run pretty easy once on the floor. He is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Monday, March 31st, I visited Representative Tim Seip (D-125). Rep. Seip, a graduate of Mansfield University, was very interested to hear how other universities could become part of the SIM consortium.
Also on that day, I visited Representative Steven Cappelli (R-83). Rep. Cappelli feels that there is broad support for the SIM program and that “we will get funded” for 2008-09. He is also a co-sponsor of HB 1227.
I briefly visited with Representative David Millard (R-109). He continues to support SIM and will vote to put funding in the state budget. Rep. Millard is a co-sponsor of HB 1227.
Lastly that day, I visited Representative Neal Goodman (D-123). His advice was to get SIM in as a line item, so that we don’t need to fight for funding each year, then work to expand the program. Rep. Goodman is a co-sponsor of HB 1227 which will add SIM as a line item to the state budget under the Department of Education.
Tuesday, April 1st, I visited Representative Russell Fairchild (R-85). Rep. Fairchild was concerned about the role the economy will play in this year’s budget proceedings, but he felt there will still be a strong commitment to fund the SIM program. Rep. Fairchild is a co-sponsor of HB 1227.
Also on that day, I visited Senator John Gordner (R-27). Senator Gordner felt the budget process would not be as bad this year as it was last year. He also mentioned there is strong support for the SIM program in all four caucuses. Senator Gordner is a co-sponsor of SB 472.
I also met with Mr. David Broderic for Senator James Rhoades (R-29). He assured me that there will be movement on SB 472, of which Senator Rhoades is a co-sponsor, in the next few weeks. SB 472 is the companion bill to HB 1227 to put funding for SIM as a line item in the state budget under the PDE.
I met with Representative Robert Belfanti Jr.’s (D-107) assistant. She told me that Rep. Belfanti continues to support SIM and is a co-sponsor of HB 1227.
Later I met with Ms. Jennifer Smeltz for Senator Jake Corman (R-34). She felt SIM has done a great job and our diligence has always paid off in the past. Senator Corman is a co-sponsor of SB 472.
On Wednesday, April 9th, Mr. Arnie Kriner, Executive Assistant to Senator Roger Madigan (R-23), visited me at SIM. Senator Madigan, who is retiring after this year, supports the SIM program and is a co-sponsor of SB 472.
Monday, April 14th I visited Representative
Garth Everett (R-84). Rep. Everett, a co-sponsor of HB 1227, thinks
SIM will be funded this year. He plans to contact his colleagues on the House
Appropriations Committee to inquire about movement of HB 1227.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
April has been the month for Crime Scene Investigation! Al Zelnick of Line Mountain High School brought the Biology Crime Scene to his Biology classes and the Crime Scene PCR to the AP Biology class. In Biology students analyzed fingerprints, hair, and fabrics from the suspects and crime scene and performed blood typing and DNA fingerprinting to solve the murder of teacher Edward Coli. Using students to portray suspects and donate fingerprints and hair samples added another element of excitement to the lab. AP Biology students took the crime scene idea to another level by performing PCR reactions and using gel electrophoresis to analyze the PCR products. This same format was repeated at Danville High School with teacher Donna Wood. CP Biology students worked through the Biology Crime Scene adding footprint analysis to the list above. The Forensic Science class added to their understanding with the Crime Scene PCR. Both weeks were exciting and fun for all of us! Yvonne Monahan from Shikellamy High School brought the EKG and Heart Rate and Exercise labs to her classes in early April. Students worked well together to gather data for changing the heart rates with different activities. At Selinsgrove High School, Paulette Armbruster’s CP Biology classes studied the effect of temperature on carbon dioxide release by crickets in How Does Temperature Affect Poikilotherms? using the Vernier carbon dioxide gas sensors. At Lewisburg High School the AP Biology students taught by Jeremy Lauver performed the AP Transpiration lab using the gas pressure sensors to measure the rates of transpiration in small brussel sprout plants. A final visit before this newsletter was to Shamokin High School to do the AP Primary Productivity lab with Bob Hartman’s AP biology students.
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Danville teacher, Donna Wood, works
with biology students |
Shikellamy students use Vernier hand
grip Heart Rate |
Loans this month were largely physiology equipment. Jeremy Lauver of Lewisburg High School and Al Zelnick of Line Mountain High School borrowed the EKG, Heart Rate, Respiration, and Blood Pressure monitors for their AP classes. Karen Avery of Milton High School also borrowed the same list of equipment adding the Spirometers to measure lung volumes. In addition, Sheila Furr of Shikellamy High School borrowed the Investigating Enzyme Activity lab for her Biochemistry students and Paulette Armbruster of Selinsgrove High School did the Genes in a Bottle lab with her CP Biology students.
It is hard to believe that the year is drawing to a close. We hope that you will consider the summer SIM workshop for teachers. It is always a good week of interaction, trying out new things, and refreshing and strengthening skills in the lab.
Jaclyn Todd, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
The end of the school year is quickly approaching. I am glad to have been able to visit many of your classrooms so far. This month Mike McDevitt and Deborah Slattery utilized our liquid nitrogen supply and materials at Danville High School to investigate cryogenics with their chemistry students. They demonstrated the behavior of materials such as racquet balls, bananas, balloons and metals at very low temperatures. Clark Sarge’s Williamsport High School physics students performed the lab Momentum, Energy and Collisions. In this lab, students measure the energy changes that occur as carts collide. They classify the collisions as elastic, inelastic or completely inelastic. Montoursville High School’s Daniel Tucker brought SIM into his classrooms to study GPS orienteering and topography for science and technology in society. John Tamblin’s chemistry students at Hughesville High School utilized our nuclear radiation monitors this month to perform the lab Lifetime Measurement. In this lab, students measure the decay constant and half-life of barium-137. They also performed the lab Radiation Shielding. In this lab, the students use the radiation detectors to study how the radiation emitted by a beta source is absorbed by cardboard. You can read more about this lab in the Experiment of the Month section. Next, I was off to South Williamsport High School to visit the chemistry students of Matt Eisley. He brought SIM into his classes to do the Chemistry Crime Scene where students attempt to solve the crime: Who stole the Bucknell Bison mascot uniform? The students performed a variety of crime scene investigations over the course of the week such as melting point analysis, fabric analysis, infrared spectroscopy and paper chromatography using high-tech equipment in a forensic manner.
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South Williamsport High School students attempt to determine who stole |
Matt Eisley also
utilized our Vernier gas pressure sensors, temperature probes and interfaces
this month. His chemistry students performed the lab Pressure Temperature
Relationship in Gases where they study the relationship between the temperature
of a gas sample and the pressure it exerts. They also used the sensors to
determine the relationship between pressure and volume of gases in the lab
Boyle’s Law. Muncy
High School’s Robin Peterman brought SIM into her chemistry
classrooms to do the Chemistry Crime Scene with her students this
month. Deborah Slattery also utilized our FTIR’s this
month at Danville High School to perform the lab FTIR
of Plastics. Her chemistry students used our Fourier Transform Infrared
spectrophotometers to examine organic compounds using Infrared Spectroscopy.
The students are able to determine the identity of unknown samples by comparing
the wave-numbers of their peaks in the spectrum produced to a table of known
values. Ed Kelley put our liquid nitrogen supply and materials
to use this month at Williamsport High School. Be sure to
let me know if you would like to reserve any equipment soon before it’s
too late.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
What a difference one month can make when it comes to the weather! In our last newsletter, I described record low temperatures that affected the performance of our equipment. This year, at least, the old adage about March coming “in like a lion and out like a lamb” rang true. This lead to beautiful conditions starting the second week of April which made Vernier water quality field trips and CBC water quality stream visits very productive and enjoyable!
Before I made those excursions, I traveled to Tri-Valley High School and worked with Pam Ulicny’s students on conducting Vernier’s Biology Acid Rain experiment. In addition to seeing how Carbon Dioxide (from their own breath) lowers the pH of distilled water, they were able to observe the effects of sulfuric acid on different types of water (lake, ocean, distilled) as well as a pH 7.0 buffer. This classroom was the first to use our new Vernier LabQuest units, which are durable touch-screen interfaces with built-in software. These units provide intuitive data collection in the field, as well as in the classroom. The students were able to perform this lab without having to offload this data to a laptop.
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Tri-Valley High School student uses new LabQuest |
Shikellamy High School students measuring |
Later that week, Brad Peace’s Warrior Run High School students were the first to use these units in the field as they measured pH, turbidity, D.O. and nitrates in nearby Warrior Run Creek. The unique water resistant and portability features of the LabQuests really came into play in this field trip environment. We had some initial issues with bright sunshine and our ability to view the screen, but we were able to easily change the brightness of the screen to compensate for that condition. The data collected was used to determine the physicochemical quality of the stream using Vernier’s water quality index. Additionally macroinvertebrates were collected and identified to determine the biological health of the stream.
We were able to complete six of our Chesapeake Bay Commission funded water quality monitoring surveys during this time period. Shikellamy High School students from teacher Mary Dahlmann and Sheila Furr’s classes were able to complete their fifth surveys at Little Shamokin and Shamokin Creeks, respectively. Also completing their fifth, of six, stream visits were teacher Doug VanBrunt’s Bloomsburg High School (Hemlock Creek) and teacher Greg Laubach’s Central Columbia High School students (Ten Mile Run). Completing their sixth and final survey of the school year were John Slotterback’s North Schuylkill High School students (Little Mahanoy) and John Hernandez’s Sunbury Christian Academy students (Lithia Springs Creek). These latter two classes were also able to do some extensive macroinvertebrate sampling to further complement a very productive season of surveys.
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pH and conductivity measurement of Little Fishing Creek by |
In writing this, I realized that I missed mentioning in last month’s newsletter a March 25th stream visit (#5) with teacher Joshua Greene’s Bloomsburg Christian School Students. But I am pleased to note that I was privileged on April 14th to attend a presentation these students did to the Fishing Creek Watershed Association located in Columbia County. The students blended pictures, video and text into an excellent PowerPoint presentation and described/showed the actual equipment they used. Each student involved in the program was able to present some aspect of their project; i.e., Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion. Was I proud of them? “You betcha”!
Experiment of the Month
Radiation Shielding
The experiment of the month for April is Radiation Shielding. In this lab, students will use a radiation monitor to study how the radiation emitted by a beta source is absorbed by cardboard. They will use a small source of beta radiation consisting of fast moving electrons or positrons, an antimatter electron. We use a strontium-90 source which is a pure beta source. Some materials, such as a sheet of cardboard, can absorb some beta radiation but will allow most to pass through. The students will measure the absorption of beta radiation using a radiation monitor as they insert layers of cardboard between the source and the monitor.
The cardboard will allow a certain
fraction f of beta rays to pass through. The fraction depends on the density
and thickness of the absorber, the cardboard. The fraction will be constant
for identical absorbers and fixed beta ray energy. If the number of counts
detected in a count interval is No when no absorber is in place, then the
counts N with the absorber is N = f No. The students will create a more general
expression for the absorption of radiation by additional layers of cardboard
absorbers. Then, they will test the model against their own experimental data
to determine its validity.
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