The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume V Issue 10 June 2006
Director's Column
In anticipation of continued funding for the SIM SRBC Water Quality Project funded by the Chesapeake Bay Commission, I am inviting high school science teachers interested in participating in the project to contact me at thomasc@susqu.edu. This is an opportunity for students to learn professional data collection techniques while contributing to the health of the Chesapeake Bay. We ask that teachers commit to six stream side visits during the 2006-2007 school year. SIM will reimburse school districts for half-day substitute teachers and travel costs. We are planning a training workshop for Tuesday June 20th and Wednesday June 21st at Susquehanna University. Eight teachers will be accepted to participate this year, twice as many as last year.
Capitol Day, held Wednesday May 3, was a wonderful opportunity for legislators to see Science in Motion in action where they work. Six Danville High School students, Amberlee Taylor, Andrea Wintersteen, Katie Mazol, Andrew O’Rourke, Lance Richardson, and Troy Tanner as well as two teachers, Mrs. Erica Merriett and Mr.
 |
 |
|
Representative David Millard with Danville
High School students and teachers |
Representative Russ Fairchild and Director of Science in Motion, Dr. Courtney Thomas. |
Brandon White, joined the SU SIM staff at the Capitol. Our display was visited by Representatives Russ Fairchild, Merle Phillips, Adam Harris, and David Millard and Senator John Gordner. Representative Phillips spoke at a press conference in support of the Science in Motion program. Representative Millard took the Danville students and teachers on a tour of the House floor and Senator Gordner showed the students the Senate floor. We had a wonderful time sharing SIM experiences with legislators and other visitors to our display. Photos can be found on our Web site at www.susqu.edu/Programs/SIM/What’sHappening.htm. Several visitors stopped by the SU SIM display to try the Novel foot pressure plate, obtain FTIR spectra of a plastic bag or examine pond life with the digital microscope. We hope our presence will encourage legislators to fund SIM for 2006-2007 as well as many years to come!
This month’s winner of the Palm Drawing was Jim Dodge from Bloomsburg Area High School. Jim was excited to be the final winner for this school year!
 |
|
Jim Dodge, Bloomsburg Area High School,
|
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
This year has certainly gone by quickly! It is hard to believe that May is passing and another school year is drawing to a close. Mt. Carmel High School was my first May visit as the Biology classes taught by Angela Farronato worked through the pGLO Bacterial Transformation lab and the Anatomy and Physiology classes investigated EKG. On May 3 the Science in Motion team traveled to Harrisburg for the annual Capital Day demonstrations. This year was especially rewarding as we had Danville High School students with teachers Erica Merriett and Brandon White accompany us to Harrisburg and the displays from all Science in Motion sites had many visitors learning more about our program. The next day it was back to travel in the Bio van dropping EKG and Heart Rate equipment to Richard Burkholder at Juniata High School and bringing the Protein Fingerprinting lab to Tracy Hepner’s students at Selinsgrove High School. Tracy’s class did a great job of extracting the fish muscle and loading the polyacrylamide gels. Gary Stair’s biology students at Berwick High School brought a variety of water samples to class for testing of water quality using the Vernier probes. Each student group worked through 8 stations to learn more about the characteristics of their chosen water sample. Our GPS units have been put to good use by Karen Avery and her students at Milton High
 |
 |
|
Selinsgrove students load gels for the Protein Electrophoresis lab. |
Bloomsburg students remove samples from Thermocycler for a PCR Crime Scene analysis. |
School and by Mike McDevitt and his students at Danville High School. Karen will use them again later in the month and Dan Smith and Richard Burkholder at Juniata High School will borrow the units the beginning of June. Sheila Furr at Shikellamy High School brought the Investigating Enzyme Activity lab for her Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry students as part of their study of proteins. AP Biology students taught by Jim Dodge at Bloomsburg High School worked through the PCR Crime Scene lab using the thermal cycler as one of their post-AP test activities. The labs completed by these students this year with SIM and with Mr. Dodge in their own classroom have given them skills and confidence in electrophoresis techniques. Kathy Bower and Jocelyn Bailey at Milton High School organize a large scale Crime Scene Investigation for all their students each year in May. This year Science in Motion provided DNA Fingerprinting materials, GC Analysis of Alcohols, and the Novel Pressure Plate for footprint analysis for their Crime Scene. I am always amazed at the level of student interest generated by this well-orchestrated event! A final trip to Shikellamy High School brought EKG and Heart Rate and Exercise to students in classes taught by Yvonne Monahan and Colleen Ruths. These labs bring the study of the cardiovascular system to a personal level as the students see their own data generated by the Vernier EKG sensor and HR monitor. A final trip to Selinsgrove High School with Tracy Hepner gave students the opportunity to investigate Household Acids and Bases using the Vernier pH sensors.
I would like to thank all the teachers
and students for a terrific year with the Science in Motion Biology van. I think
that we all have accomplished a great deal this year and I hope the students
have gained not only knowledge but enthusiasm for biology and for science in
general. I hope that I will be able to continue and extend our Biology program
next year for veteran users of Science in Motion as well as new schools and
teachers.
Jaclyn Basgil, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
The school year is quickly coming to an end. I’d like to thank all of the teachers who made it a fun and positive experience to work for SIM this year. I look forward to working with many of you again next year. Please feel free to send me any suggestions or ideas that you may have.
This month I visited the chemistry classes of Deb Smeltzer at Milton High School. Her chemistry students used our Vernier Colorimeters to experimentally determine the equilibrium constant, KC, for a chemical reaction. Mike McDevitt of Danville High School borrowed our gas chromatographs to use in his chemistry classes. His students were
 |
|
Danville students pack capillary tubes
with their suspect's |
able to analyze the components of different alcohol solutions. In Jocelyn Bailey’s classes at Milton High School we analyzed the frequency and amplitude of various sounds. We experimented with sound waves using our Vernier microphones. The students were able to create and observe beats produced from two tuning forks. Erica Merriett’s classes at Danville High School used our radiation monitors, shielding and sources this month to do our Radiation Shielding lab with students. Milton High School’s Jocelyn Bailey borrowed our Vernier UVB sensors and sources to analyze and determine the amount of UVB light allowed through various sunscreen samples. This allows them to analyze the trend of UVB light versus SPF values. That is a great lab to do just before the upcoming summer months. Brett Criswell used our UV-VIS spectrophotometers in his Central Columbia chemistry classes to conduct the gold nanoparticle synthesis and characterization experiment that he demonstrated at last year’s SIM summer workshop. I spent a week with Deb Slattery and Erica Merriett’s chemistry classes at Danville High School where students attempted to solve the crime: Who stole the Bucknell Bison mascot uniform?
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. Mike McDevitt of
Danville High School used Science in Motion’s FTIR’s
in his chemistry classes to perform organic analysis of liquids. His students
utilized our Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometers, which are frequently
mentioned on the popular television show, CSI. The students were 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. I also visited Knoebel’s
Amusement Park this month with students from the classes of Mark Peterman
from Montgomery Area High School and Tracy
Hepner from Selinsgrove High School. We had fun performing
the experiments in the Knoebel’s Physics Day packet. Danville’s
Jack Deal and Mike McDevitt then used the Knoebel’s
Physics Day equipment at the amusement park. I look forward to seeing many of
you in June at our annual SIM summer workshop.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
As my colleagues have already mentioned, Capitol Day in Harrisburg was a big success. We were privileged to have some of our State Senators and Representatives stop by our booth and talk with us. It was also great to be able to attend the press conference and listen to the words of support and encouragement provided by our elected officials.
 |
 |
| Jodi Kramer's Shikellamy High School students at Sunbury Water Filtration Plant. |
Sheila
Furr's students at Shikellamy High School measure flow rate and collect samples from Shamokin Creek. |
May was again a busy month for Water Quality (WQ) testing. In SIM’s joint venture with the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River Basin Commissions, we were privileged to be able to work with all four of our participating High Schools this month. Stream visits were made to Shamokin Creek Shikellamy High School on 5/9/06, Bull Run Lewisburg High School on 5/22/06, Muncy Creek Montoursville High School on 5/24/06 and Lost Creek Juniata High School on 5/25/06. These were the last visits of the year for Montoursville and Juniata, whereas the other two schools will finish their assessments in June.
 |
 |
| Juniata High School teacher Dan Smith and students in Lost Creek. |
Montoursville
High School teacher Steve Tressler in Muncy Creek. |
On May 11, Dr. Courtney Thomas and I traveled to Shikellamy High School to work with two classes of teacher Jodi Kramer. Students had completed pre-labs for Ms. Kramer and had collected water samples in preparation for our visit. The students used Vernier Water Quality equipment and software to analyze these samples for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and turbidity. Water Quality indices for each sample were then calculated based on their measurements. As a follow-up to this, students met at the Sunbury Water Filtration Plant the next day to conduct the same measurements on water samples taken from the Shamokin Creek.
Biology Experiment of the Month
Photosynthesis and Respiration
Are you looking for a basic reliable lab to introduce photosynthesis to your students or perhaps to serve as a culminating, review activity? The Vernier lab Photosynthesis and Respiration using the CO2 Gas Sensor to measure the amount of carbon dioxide consumed or produced by a plant during respiration and photosynthesis has worked out quite well for several biology teachers in our area. Spinach leaves are placed in a respiration chamber and a microenvironment is created when the CO2 Gas Sensor is put in place. Time is allowed for equilibration of the system and data is collected by the computer first in the dark (chamber covered with foil) and then in the light. The rates of the reactions are reflected by the slope of the data lines generated as the gas is consumed or produced. The slope is determined by a computer generated linear regression of the lines. Students save each data collection run and are rewarded with a graphic clearly demonstrating the increase in CO2 levels in the dark isolating the respiration reaction and the decrease in CO2 levels when the light is turned on and photosynthesis is ongoing. These relationships can serve as a jumping off point for discussion of the types of variables that could influence each reaction. This lab can be comfortably accomplished in a 42 minute period by students and could be expanded by measuring the effect of one or more variables if more time is available.
 |
|
C02 Gas Sensor |
Save a Tree
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
