The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume VII Issue 4 December 2007
Director's Column
Thursday, January 3, 2008, is the SIM Winter Workshop at Susquehanna University Fisher Science Hall. A registration form is included with this newsletter. We have room for 20 Biology/Chemistry teachers and 10 Physics teachers. As always, teachers earn 6 Act 48 credit hours for attending the workshop and SIM will reimburse the school district for a full day substitute teacher.
Please note that on Monday, November 19, 2007, SIM started accepting reservations for Spring semester visits and drops. You can begin to submit your reservation forms on-line for visits/drops during January through June 2008. Biology teachers know Madge’s schedule fills up fast, please note that you can also sign up for Biology visits/drops from Greg Stout. When the reservations are sorted out, the remaining ME available dates will be posted on the SIM Web site.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
What a difference a few days can make! This month brought the change from the extended warm weather to the first snow delays of this school year! In the classroom, AP students from Selinsgrove High School with Paulette Armbruster, Milton High School with Karen Avery, and Lewisburg High School with Jeremy Lauver worked through the AP Photosynthesis lab including the Separation of Plant Pigments. The AP groups from Selinsgrove and Milton also produced glowing bacteria in the pGLO: Bacterial Transformation lab. Karen Avery’s AP group at Milton High School also worked through the second part of the AP molecular biology lab with Electrophoresis of Lambda DNA. Joshua Greene introduced his biology and chemistry students at Bloomsburg Christian School to PCR and DNA electrophoresis of the PCR products in PCR Crime Scene. Bob Hartman at Shamokin High School focused his Biology student’s attention on the effect of pH and temperature in Investigating Enzyme Activity. Jocelyn Bailey at Milton High School also used this lab to engage both her biology students and students in Kathy Bower’s biology classes in studying effects of pH, salt concentration, enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, and temperature on the activity of catalase from potatoes. She also brought Energy in Foods to the ABC students at Milton. Jim Perry’s biology classes at Bloomsburg High School looked at Bacterial Sensitivity using both antibiotics and disinfectants. Seventh grade students taught by Trish Edson at Hughesville Junior/Senior High School solved the Transfusion Confusion lab as they investigated blood typing. Finally I visited Tri-Valley Junior/Senior High School to work with Pam Ulicny’s Environmental Science class on the lab The Effect of Acids and Bases on Biological Materials studying the buffering capacity of a variety of biological and non-biological materials and with the 10th grade biology classes studying pH, temperature, enzyme concentration, and substrate concentration in the lab Investigating Enzyme Activity.
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Shamokin Biology students look at the effect of |
Tri-Valley environmental science students record pH changes |
Many teachers took advantage of SIM equipment loans this month. Gary Stair of Berwick High School borrowed the lab Limitations on Cell Size. Al Zelnick of Line Mountain High School borrowed the AP lab for Cellular Respiration and the Cricket Respiration lab for his biology students. Jocelyn Bailey of Milton High School borrowed equipment for the EKG and Heart Rate activities. Angela Farronato of Mount Carmel High School borrowed the Leica microscopes and materials for Hair Analysis and Fingerprinting. John Slotterback from North Schuylkill Junior/Senior High School borrowed the digital microscopes and Karen Avery of Milton High School borrowed the GPS units.
I enjoyed a day of learning and networking with many teachers from across the region at the annual Biotechnology Workshop at Lycoming College before Thanksgiving break. We worked through several interesting new labs and we got many ideas for possible new labs. Thanks to Mark Temons and the Lycoming College biology department for this annual event! Remember to check your calendars for Spring visit and loan needs and make those requests as soon as possible.
Jaclyn Basgil, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
Hello everyone. Just another reminder that I have changed my name to Jaclyn Todd. Please note the change as you try to contact me. My new e-mail address is toddjm@susqu.edu. Also, again please be advised that we are holding our first SIM Physics Olympics this January. Any interested physics teachers should contact me as soon as possible to be entered. Prizes will be awarded.
I began this month by taking a trip up to Hughesville High School to visit John Tamblin. His chemistry classes utilized our Vernier radiation detectors, nuclear shielding materials and radiation sources to perform the lab Radiation Shielding. His students used the radiation detectors to study how the radiation emitted by a beta source is absorbed by cardboard. Lisa Strouse’s Hughesville High School physics students invited SIM into their classes to do the lab Picket Fence Freefall. Using our Vernier photogates and picket fences, students measure the acceleration of a freely falling body. John Hernandez brought SIM into his classes again this month to show his Sunbury Christian High School students the wonders of our Starry Night software. This stunningly realistic software makes it easy to bring the universe into your very own classroom. The software is accompanied by a guide that offers step-by-step exercises, activities, extensions and resources to cover any astronomy lesson.
Sue Steiner’s chemistry students at Millville High School used our GC’s to analyze the alcohols in solutions. They also used our melting temperature apparatus to determine the melting point of several powders and then compared their findings to the published values in the CRC. They also performed a serial dilution with a 1M copper nitrate solution and then used our Spec 20’s to test the absorbance of each solution. By graphing the standard curve, they were able to determine the concentration of an unknown. Next, I was off to Shikellamy High School. Colleen Ruth’s physics students enjoyed the lab Momentum, Energy and Collisions where students measure energy changes during different types of collisions. Mike McDevitt and Deborah Slattery also put our radiation detectors to use this month as their students performed the lab Lifetime Measurement. The students used the radiation monitors to measure the decay constant and half-life of barium-137. Next I was off to visit the chemistry classrooms of Robin Peterman at Muncy High School. Her students used our gas chromatographs to analyze the alcohols in solutions such as windshield wiper fluid, mouthwash, and rubbing alcohol.
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| Muncy High School students attempt to determine the |
Berwick
students use a Vernier colorimeter to determine |
Another Hughesville High School teacher, John Capwell used our melting temperature apparatus to perform an experiment he designed. That reminds me to tell you to please feel free to utilize our equipment in ways that would better suit your classroom needs. I visited Berwick High School’s Christine Dent this month so that her chemistry students could perform the lab Determining the Concentration of a Solution: Beer’s Law. The students use a Vernier colorimeter to measure the absorbance values of standard solutions they have prepared and then use their results to determine the concentration of an unknown solution. Next I was off to visit Brian Leslie’s physics students at Mt. Carmel High School. They used our dynamics carts to do the lab Newton’s Second Law. The students used a Vernier accelerometer and force sensor to collect data for a cart in motion. Then they analyze the graphs produced to determine the relationship between force, acceleration and mass. Sarah Puderbach’s Loyalsock High School students used our Vernier Gas Pressure sensors this month to measure the pressure of an air sample at several different volumes. They use this data to determine the relationship between the volume and pressure of a gas and to predict the air pressure at other volumes. Tracy Hepner used our liquid nitrogen and supplies to show her Selinsgrove High School students a little bit of cryogenics. Joshua Greene used our UV-Vis spectrophotometers in his chemistry classes at Bloomsburg Christian High School to do the lab Beet Red. He also used them to perform a study on chlorophyll extractions. The rest of my month was spent at Shikellamy High School with the chemistry students of Yvonne Monahan. She invited SIM into her classrooms to perform the Chemistry Crime Scene. 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 and Gas Chromatography using high-tech equipment in a forensic manner.
Don’t forget to check out our Web site to find the equipment list and available labs.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
Since the last newsletter, we have definitely seen a change in weather. As I gaze out the window while writing this, I marvel at the beauty of bright red foliage against the back-drop of the seasons’ first snow fall. The heavy rain in mid-November also caused a postponement of one of our stream visits; the stream was too high to safely take samples and perform analyses. We were able, however, to complete five stream visits in this time period (CBC sponsored water quality monitoring project). We closed out the month of October with visits by Bloomsburg Christian School students (teacher Joshua Greene) to Little Fishing Creek and Milton High School students (teacher Karen Avery) to Limestone Run. The other three visits were completed in the second and third weeks of November. On the 7th, Doug VanBrunt’s Bloomsburg High School students traveled to Hemlock Creek and finished their work just as it started to sleet. The following day, Shikellamy High School students (teacher Sheila Furr) braved cold temperatures to process their data and samples at Shamokin Creek. John Hernandez and his Sunbury Christian Academy students completed their third visit to Lithia Springs Creek, thus fulfilling their requirement of three visits before the Christmas holiday.
I also traveled to three High Schools during this period to conduct classroom labs. At Shikellamy High School (teachers Yvonne Monahan and Tiffany Helmrich), students conducted several labs found in Vernier’s Water Quality with Computers handbook. Results from four of these labs were then used to calculate a Water Quality Index (WQI) for two local streams. Two days later teacher Pam Ulicny and her Tri-Valley High School students performed the same labs and WQI calculation on local streams of interest to them. The third school visited was Milton High School where several of Karen Avery’s classes conducted an Acids and Buffers lab. In this lab, students learn about different buffering capacities when they add hydrochloric acid to distilled water, pH 7.0 buffer and a potato homogenate.
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Milton High School teacher, Karen Avery, and students |
Sheila Furr's Shikellamy High School students |
I was also privileged to attend the annual Biotechnology Conference at Lycoming College. In addition to learning about four new labs and picking up a lot of free instructional material, I was also able network with many teachers, professors and conference presenters. It was great to see many of you there!
Please check your calendars for requests that you may have regarding SIM visits or drop-offs for the spring semester. In addition to facilitating Environmental or Ecology labs, I will be available to conduct Biology Labs.
Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy your much deserved time off!
Experiment of the Month
Photosynthesis and Plant Pigments
The lab Photosynthesis and Plant Pigments provides a more chemically based method to measure the rate of photosynthesis and gives students an opportunity to think more in depth about chemical reactions and techniques to study those reactions. Students follow the photosynthesis reaction in a preparation of chloroplasts using a blue dye (2, 6-dichlorophenol-indophenol, or DPIP) to replace NADPH in the light reactions. When the dye is oxidized, it is blue. When reduced, it turns colorless. Since DPIP replaces NADPH in the light reactions, it will turn from blue to colorless when reduced during photosynthesis. This color change is measured with the Vernier Colorimeter and data points are plotted to obtain a rate of photosynthesis. The use of the colorimeter as a spectrophotometric tool is an important benefit of this lab. In performing this lab students are first confronted with the practice of calibration of the colorimeter and just what that means in spectrophotometric technique. They are also challenged with the idea of a time course of data collection.
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| Set-up
for Vernier Biology Lab |
Students must plan to work together cooperatively as they coordinate the collection of data points in their time course and strive for consistency in treatment of all the conditions of the experiment. The lab looks at chloroplasts in the light and in the dark and also at boiled chloroplasts as the three conditions of the experiment. Students could also be challenged to devise their own test conditions. This lab correlates with AP lab #4. Plant pigments may be separated using paper chromatography to complete the AP requirements for this lab. Each segment of the lab requires about 40 minutes to complete and works quite well in a double period. Although the lab is an AP lab and not a lab to introduce photosynthesis, it would work well in other academic biology classes completing their study of photosynthesis.
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If you wish to receive
this newsletter in electronic format, please send us your e-mail address at
sciencemotion@susqu.edu or phone
us at 570-372-4779.
Courtney
Thomas
Director, Science in Motion
570-372-4778
thomasc@susqu.edu
