The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume VI Issue 9 May 2007
Director's Column
Monday April 2nd, I met with State Representative Merle Phillips (R-108). Representative Phillips is a long time supporter of the Science in Motion program and described the program as “wonderful”. He did mention that this was going to be a tough budget season, but that letters from SIM supporters to legislators will be instrumental to obtaining 2007-2008 funding for the SIM program. Please keep those letters to legislators coming!
Wednesday April 4th, I met with State Representative Adam Harris (R-82) who described the Science in Motion program as “great” and said that we need to “spread the word” to nail down funding. Representative Harris suggested educating state legislators from larger metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh about the SIM program might help with funding.
Monday April 9th, I met with State Representative Garth Everett (R-84). Newly elected Representative Everett was excited to learn about the Science in Motion program and its impact on schools in his district. He thought SIM sounded like a great program that hopefully will continue to be funded.
The same day, I met with State Representative Russ Fairchild (R-85) who has supported the SIM program for many years. Representative Fairchild described this budget year as “horrendous”, but said that he would support continued funding for SIM. He suggested teachers write letters to legislators thanking them for past SIM support and asking for continued support during this difficult budget year.
Friday April 13th, I met with State Representative Steven Cappelli (R-83). As a strong supporter of the SIM program, Representative Cappelli felt that the House will probably use last year’s budget as a starting point for this year. Since SIM was funded last year, he was “confident SIM will be funded” in the 2007-2008 budget and we might even see a cost-of-living increase.
The same day, I met with Mr. Arnie Kriner, executive assistant to State Senator Roger Madigan (R-23). Mr. Kriner and I discussed Senator Madigan’s continued support of the SIM program and his desire to see SIM service expanded to include all of Pennsylvania especially North Central Pennsylvania. Mr. Kriner suggested we “get the word out” about SIM to gather support for continued funding. We can do this by asking local media to cover SIM visits to area schools as well as reach out to local school board members for their support.
Wednesday April 18th, I met with State Representative David Millard (R-109). Representative Millard was disappointed funding for SIM was not included in the Governor’s budget and offered to put forth an amendment to include funding for SIM in the 2007-2008 state budget!
The same day, I met with State Senator John Wozniak (D-35). Senator Wozniak was interested to learn about the SIM program and asked what he could do to start a SIM site in his district.
I also met with State Representative Robert Belfanti Jr. (D-107) later the same day. Representative Belfanti told me he would “do his darnedest” to include funding for SIM in the 2007-2008 state budget. He also suggested I meet with Dr. Roebuck (D-188), majority chair of the House Education Committee to discuss legislation including SIM as a line item in the state budget.
State Senator John Gordner (R-27) was also able to meet with me that day. Senator Gordner feels that this budget season will be the most difficult he has seen in his fourteen years of service in the Senate. However, he spoke with a representative of Senator Pileggi’s (R-9, Senate Appropriations Committee) office and received word that there is a good chance a program like SIM will continue to be funded. Once again, SIM funding is a priority for Senator Gordner.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to all of the legislators for their continued support of the SIM program!
We still have a few openings for teachers interested in attending the SIM Summer Workshop. Also, please e-mail me if you are interested in joining or continuing with the SIM-SRBC Water Quality Project.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
The past month has been a busy one for Biology at Science in Motion. At Shikellamy High School, students in Sheila Furr's Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry classes looked at The Effect of Alcohol on Membranes, testing the effect of various alcohols on membranes of beets using the colorimeters as a method for assessing and quantifying membrane damage and Limitations on Cell Size measuring the effect of changing surface to volume ratios on the rate of diffusion in cells by measuring the appearance of sodium chloride from agar cubes with the Vernier conductivity probe. The first in a series of Crime Scene Investigations was taken to East Juniata High School and Advanced Biology students taught by Laura Toth. This group looked at Blood Typing (as a loan) and DNA Fingerprinting (as a SIM visit). SIM Director, Dr. Courtney Thomas, joined me at Selinsgrove High School as CP Biology students of Paulette Armbruster studied The Effect of Temperature on Poikilotherms (or Cricket Respiration) using the Vernier CO2 sensors to determine changes in rate of respiration in the cold blooded crickets as the environmental temperature was altered. Geoff Goodenow's Advanced Biology students at Lewisburg High School engaged in a Crime Scene Investigation studying Spectrophotometric Analysis of Kool-Aid, Hair Analysis, Blood Typing, Traditional Fingerprinting, and PCR of DNA with analysis on agarose gels. Hats off to these students who worked hard in two block periods to complete the crime scene analysis from introduction to solution! Pam Ulicny from Tri-Valley Junior/Senior High School invited SIM to participate in her crime scene with the Academic Biology class to do Hair Analysis and DNA Fingerprinting. This class also borrowed the SIM Spec 20s to perform the Spectrophotometric Analysis of Kool-Aid in solving the Tri-Valley crime. I was happy to help bring this technology to Pam's creative story line. Continuing the CSI mode, I spent the week before the spring break at Millville High School with Kirk Seesholtz and his Biology classes looking at Fingerprinting (including balloon fingerprints of students), Hair Analysis, Fabric Burn Tests, Blood typing, and DNA Fingerprinting. It was a great way to challenge the student's data analysis skills. Following a welcome spring break, Colleen Ruths and Yvonne Monahan of Shikellamy High School brought the Heart Rate and Exercise and EKG labs to the Chemistry in the Community classes. Great teamwork allowed the groups to look at changes in heart rate brought on by change in activity and to see and learn more about each student's EKG. Merging two teacher's schedules into one SIM visit by teamwork and room trading was an efficient use of time! Returning to Selinsgrove High School, Paulette Armbruster's CP Biology classes performed the Genes in a Bottle lab resulting in each student leaving class with a DNA necklace made from their individual DNA. My final visit before the newsletter was to Bloomsburg High School for a Crime Scene Investigation performed by Honors Biology and Biology students taught by Donna Wood and Jim Perry. Again, teacher teamwork was in place as I set up in Mr. Perry's room and the students from all participating classes came to the "Crime Lab" to analyze evidence. Even though the week began with a 2-hour delay (in April .. snow!), we were able to look at fingerprints, hair, blood, fabric, and DNA evidence to solve our crime. Honors Biology classes used PCR to analyze their DNA evidence and the Biology classes looked at DNA restriction fragments through gel electrophoresis. As you can see the Biology Crime Scene Investigation was quite popular this month and can be customized to fit the needs of students and time available. Good Job to all CSI investigators!
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| Millville students perform fabric burn tests in Crime Scene Investigation |
Learning use of the automatic pipette is a part of the blood typing portion of the Crime Scene Investigation undertaken by Bloomsburg High School students. |
A number of equipment loans also went out this month. Al Zelnick of Line Mountain High School and Geoff Goodenow of Lewisburg High School borrowed the materials and equipment for the pGLO (Bacterial Transformation) lab. Karen Avery of Milton High School borrowed the dissolved oxygen probes and computers for the AP Biology Primary Productivity lab. Digital microscopes went out to John Slotterback of North Schuylkill Junior/Senior High School. Steve Tressler of Montoursville High School borrowed a thermal cycler for student projects. Thanks to teachers and students for patience in snow delays and reschedules. I look forward to some warm spring days for Bio van visits as we complete another year with Science in Motion.
Jaclyn Basgil, 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. I began the month at Milton High School. New to Milton but not to Science in Motion teacher, Faye Hinson, brought SIM into her chemistry and physics classrooms. Her chemistry students worked on Acid-Base Titrations where they use our Vernier pH probes to monitor changes in pH as sodium hydroxide is added to a hydrochloric acid solution. Her physics students performed the lab Work and Energy where they used our Vernier motion detectors and force sensors to measure the position and force on a hanging mass, a spring and a dynamics cart. I went back to Milton High School to visit Faye Hinson’s classes again. This time we performed the lab GC of Alcohols. Her students analyzed various compounds using our gas chromatographs to determine their various components. Brett Criswell of Central Columbia also did the lab GC of Alcohols with his classes. Mike McDevitt, Erica Merriett and Deborah Slattery of Danville High School borrowed our liquid nitrogen demonstration equipment to perform cryogenics with their students. Erica Merriett also borrowed our FTIR’s to perform the lab FTIR of Fatty Acids with her students. Kevin Horton of Selinsgrove High School put our conductivity probes to use this month. Shikellamy High School’s Colleen Ruths used our Vernier gas pressure sensors to perform the lab Boyle’s Law. Her students used the sensors to determine the relationship between pressure and volume of gases. Her students
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| Milton students use our motion detectors and force sensors in the lab Work and Energy. |
Lewisburg students use our Spec 20's to determine the concentration and absorption of light for different samples of Kool-aid. |
also 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. Sheila Furr of Shikellamy High School utilized our liquid nitrogen equipment this month. I was then off to Lewisburg High School to visit the chemistry classes of Angela Gockley. She had SIM into her classes to do the Chemistry Crime Scene where students attempted 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. They also performed the labs FTIR of Organic Liquids and Melting Temperature Analysis during the week. Muncy High School’s Robin Peterman also utilized our equipment to perform the popular Chemistry Crime Scene. Brett Criswell of Central Columbia used SIM again this month to perform FTIR of Organic Liquids with his chemistry students. His students used our Fourier Transform Infrared spectrophotometers to examine organic compounds using Infrared Spectroscopy. I ended the month visiting Bloomsburg High School. Jim Perry also had his chemistry students perform the Chemistry Crime Scene.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
In my previous two columns, I explained that bad weather or unsafe stream conditions had been hampering efforts to complete stream visits for our CBC funded stream monitoring project. We apparently have put the worst of that behind us as we were able to complete nine visits in late March and the month of April.
In March, High School students from Juniata (Dan Smith), North Schuylkill (John Slotterback), and Shikellamy (Sheila Furr) conducted their surveys. In early April, students from Milton High School (Karen Avery), and two classes from Central Columbia High School (Greg Laubach, Dana Hock) were able to complete their latest round of analyses and sampling of their respective streams. In mid-April, Tracy Hepner’s Selinsgrove High School students completed their fourth of sixth visits. Shikellamy and Juniata ended the month by completing their fifth surveys. In addition to performing the on-site measurements (pH, D.O., temperature, conductivity and flow rate), students collected stream samples which were prepared (filtered, acid treated) and sent to the PA DEP lab for inorganic analyses.
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| Shikellamy students determine flow rate at Shamokin Creek. |
I was also able to squeeze in a few Biology visits. On March 20th, I traveled to Tri-Valley Junior/Senior High School to conduct Vernier’s Energy in Foods lab. Pam Ulicny and her Life Science students were able to determine the energy content of different snack foods by burning a portion of it and capturing the heat released to a known amount of water. This technique is called calorimetry. On April 24th I traveled to Milton High School and conducted Ward’s Bacterial Sensitivity lab with several of Debbie Kurtz’s Biology classes. This lab is featured in our experiment of the month.
I was also able to spend some of
the day on Saturday, April 21st with Williamsport High School teacher
Bo Meyer, 73 Boy Scouts and their leaders. This was at the
Northwood’s Boy Scouts Spring Camporee near Hughesville, Pa. The scouts
observed several demonstrations that weekend, one of which was water quality
from the perspective of safe drinking water. SIM’s involvement there
was to provide some equipment to do an aquatic macro invertebrate survey of
a stream that passed directly through the camp.
Experiment of the Month
Bacterial Sensitivity Lab
In this lab, students learn the importance of antibiotics and antiseptics in inhibiting the growth of bacteria. After non-pathogenic species are spread onto Tryptic Soy Agar, students use aseptic technique to place various antibiotic and antiseptic disks onto these plates.
After an overnight incubation at 30° C, zones of inhibition are observed, measured and recorded by students. Group results are pooled, and trends are noted. Based on the experimental data, students decide which compounds are most effective against the gram positive (Bacillus subtilis) and gram negative (E. coli) bacteria used in this lab.
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| TSA Plate showing the effects of various disinfectants on B. subtillis. |
In addition to learning about the varying inhibitory effects of disinfectants and antibiotics, students are exposed to different bacterial species and an understanding of sterile technique (not as easy as it seems). Some are even challenged by the manual dexterity required to manipulate the disks onto the proper location on the plate!
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
