The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume VI Issue 3 November 2006
Director's Column
Our fourth annual Mole Day Dinner was held Monday October 23, 2006, at Susquehanna University. Eighteen teachers attended representing Central Columbia, Danville, Jersey Shore, Lewisburg, Milton, North Schuylkill, Selinsgrove, and Williamsport High Schools. Teachers were able to view the new biology spirometer and reflex experiments as well as a GMO lab for the Mastercycler. The Starry Night software was on display for astronomy teachers and the FTIR, with new swap top attachments, was available for chemistry teachers to peruse. A new rocketry lab was on display as well as the water quality equipment for the SIM-SRBC partnership sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Susquehanna University President Jay Lemons stopped by the Mole Day Dinner and enjoyed hearing from teachers who use SIM. A wonderful time was had by all who attended.
 |
| Dr. Courtney Thomas, SIM, and SU President Jay Lemons |
I would like to draw your attention to a new addition to the SIM Web site. Under “Services,” www.susqu.edu/sim/services.htm you will see “Criteria for SU SIM Service”. Please take an opportunity to look at these criteria. As most teachers who use SIM are aware, our program is funded on an annual basis by the state. SU SIM has been operating on the same budget for the past five years. During this time, I have stretched the budget to its limits to hire more mobile educators and purchase more equipment for teachers to use. We are very glad to have so many teachers interested in using SIM. Unfortunately, we currently do not have the resources to serve every teacher as frequently as requested. Thus, we have instituted criteria for teachers to meet who enjoy our service. This is not intended to exclude any teachers desiring our service. However, our contract with the state does limit our service to secondary schools within a fixed radius of the university. The criteria are intended to help improve the speed and quality of service as we strive to meet the needs of area teachers. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding the new criteria.
Beginning November 22nd, SIM will accept Reservation Forms for spring semester visits and equipment loans. Please submit your forms early as schedules fill up very quickly.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
Fall is in the air and the past weeks have been busy ones for Biology at SIM with both visits and drops offs to area teachers. At Milton High School students from classes taught by Kathy Bower and Jocelyn Bailey investigated Neuromuscular Reflexes using the EKG sensor in a new application and Grip Strength and Muscle Fatigue using the Vernier Hand Dynomometers. These labs are found in the Human Physiology Manual. Seventh graders from Trish Edson’s classes at Hughesville Junior/Senior High School studied the Limits on Cell Size as part of their introduction to the study of cells. My next trip was to Shamokin High School with the Investigating Enzyme Activity lab for the Biology 1 classes taught by Bob Hartman. Students collected data on the effects of pH and temperature on the activity of the catalase enzyme from potatoes. I had a first visit to Millville High School with the Bio 2 classes taught by Kirk Seesholtz with the Vernier Photosynthesis #7. This lab uses the colorimeters to measure color changes due to photosynthesis in a spinach homogenate. On Friday this same lab was taken to Selinsgrove High School for the AP Biology classes taught by Paulette Armbruster. This lab corresponds to AP lab #12. At Selinsgrove we also added the chromatography of plant pigments to the lab with very nice results from this group of students! Biology students from Mount Carmel Junior/Senior High School taught by Angela Farronato participated in a Crime Scene Investigation by analyzing fingerprints, hair, and blood samples found at a crime scene. The students continued their considerations by analyzing DNA Fingerprinting gels that had been run the previous week by the upperclassmen. What a great coordination of activities! Switching gears again, I took the EKG and Heart Rate and Exercise labs to Kelly Boyer’s Anatomy and Physiology class at North Schuylkill Junior/Senior High School. This is always a fun lab for the students as they look at their own EKG and heart rate data. A return trip to Hughesville with Trish Edson’s students brought the Human Chromosome Spread labI. The preparation of slides gives the students the opportunity to perform the activity individually with the cooperative help of their lab group. The microscopes stayed with the group for several days to give time to observe the results looking for chromosomes. Next was a trip to Shikellamy High School with Jen Gurski as her students studied How Does Temperature Affect Poikilotherms? The crickets always provide a fascinating format to look at the idea of cellular respiration. A visit to Berwick High School and Gary Stair’s ninth grade Biology classes gave students the opportunity to look at Energy in Foods. We looked at various snack foods and collected data that would permit the students to calculate calorie contents.
 |
 |
|
Milton High School students use an EKG |
Hughesville Junior/Senior High School seventh grade students study the Limits on Cell Size. |
This time period also was very busy with equipment loans. Laura Toth at East Juniata High School borrowed the Energy in Foods lab, Dan Smith at Juniata High School used the digital microscopes and computers, and Angela Farronato from Mount Carmel High School requested the agarose gel electrophoresis equipment to do DNA Fingerprinting. Jen Gurski from Shikellamy High School borrowed materials for Enzyme Activity in Laundry Detergents. Jim Terwilliger from Meadowbrook Christian School borrowed the blood typing lab Transfusion Confusion and the digital blood pressure monitors for the advanced biology students. Kathy Bower from Milton borrowed our Leica microscopes for her Anatomy students and Bo Meyer from Williamsport High School requested the Something’s Fishy about Evolution lab and the protein electrophoresis equipment. The digital microscopes and computers went out to Jen Gurski at Shikellamy for the ninth graders and Geoff Goodenow from Lewisburg High School borrowed the Amino Acid Starter Kits used at the summer workshop. Karen Avery of Milton High School borrowed dissolved oxygen probes for her classes and Dana Hock from Central Columbia requested the Investigating Enzyme Activity lab for his AP Biology students. WOW! As you can see it was a very productive month with Science in Motion!
It was great to see so many teachers at our Mole Day Dinner on October 23rd. Remember to begin to check your planning for spring semester as reservation forms for the second semester will be accepted beginning on November 22nd. I hope to be able to visit many more students in the spring!
Jaclyn Basgil, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
My month began with a visit to Hughesville High School with Lisa Strouse’s unified science classes. In the lab Graph Matching the students analyze their motion as they walk toward and away from a motion detector. They learn how to predict, sketch and test position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs.
Another Hughesville High School teacher, John Capwell, utilized our melting temperature apparatus this month to test a variety of unknown solids. John Tamblin’s chemistry classes at Mt. Carmel High School were introduced to our popular gas chromatographs. His students experimented to determine the alcohols in various solutions. Our gas chromatographs also spent some additional time with Brett Criswell’s chemistry students at Central Columbia High School. Brett’s students tested a variety of alcohols found in mouthwash, washer fluid and a solar fish mixture. In addition, Brett’s students learned about the operation of the infrared spectrophotometer and also tested samples that they themselves had prepared. Deborah Slattery of Danville High School borrowed our radiation monitors and isogenerators to do the radiation lab Lifetime-Measurement. I visited Ralph Smith way out in Jersey Shore High School to do two labs this month. His organic chemistry class performed the gas chromatography lab where students experiment to determine the alcohols in various solutions. His academic chemistry students performed the lab Freezing and Melting of Water. The students collect temperature data with our Vernier temperature probes and then analyze the graphs produced to determine the relationship between the freezing and melting points.
 |
 |
|
Hughesville High School students analyze their motion |
Jersey Shore High School students freeze water and examine the graph produced. |
Corey Kyle of Milton High School used our Vernier motion detectors to perform the lab Graphing Motion. His students also used the motion detectors to measure the velocity and acceleration of objects down an inclined plane. Bloomsburg Christian School’s Josh Greene brought SIM into his physics classes. His students performed three different labs this month. They used our Vernier motion detectors, force sensors, Pasco carts, and tracks to do the labs Work and Energy, Momentum, Energy and Collisions, and Impulse and Momentum. Steve Tressler of Montoursville High School borrowed our popular gas chromatographs this month. His students studied the alcohols produced by fermentation. Shikellamy’s Sheila Furr used our radiation materials to perform each radiation lab that we offer with her chemistry classes. Her students worked efficiently to finish the six Vernier labs such as Distance and Radiation and Radiation Shielding. My last visit of the month was at Milton High School to see Jocelyn Bailey’s students. We performed the lab Household Acids and Bases with her chemistry students. The students use litmus paper and a pH sensor to determine pH values of household substances.
It was a pleasure to see those of you that attended our annual Mole Day Dinner. Don’t forget to visit our Web site to find available days as well as the equipment list.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
SIM Water Quality testing was in demand the first week of October as four different streams were evaluated for various parameters. First we visited Central Columbia and worked with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to provide training and assistance on our first official visits for that high school. Teacher Greg Laubach and his students are monitoring Green Creek while teacher Dana Hock and his students are sampling and running analyses on Ten Mile Run. In this CBC funded program students conduct five analyses on-site and collect samples which are sent to the DEP lab in Harrisburg where they undergo ten additional analyses. Teacher Sheila Furr returned to the program this year with a new class of Shikellamy students as they made their first visit to Shamokin Creek. The week ended with a trip to Tri-Valley High School with teacher Pam Ulicny and her students. We took advantage of their environmental shed to set up laptops and Vernier water quality probes to analyze water from nearby Pine Creek.
 |
 |
|
Central Columbia High School students, teacher Dana Hock and |
Teachers discuss water quality monitoring with Greg Stout, SIM, at the Mole Day Dinner. |
Two additional teachers also took advantage of SIM’s Vernier Water quality equipment to test water from streams close to their high schools. Kirk Seesholtz and his Millville High School students traveled to nearby Little Fishing Creek where we conducted flow rate, pH, conductivity, temperature and Dissolved Oxygen (D.O.) measurements. Two days later I traveled to North Schuylkill High School where John Slotterback’s students took Nitrate, Turbidity, D.O., pH and alkalinity measurements of two stream samples they had collected.
The month ended with Central Columbia’s second CBC-water quality visit to Green Creek and Ten Mile Run. Thus began our next round of visits for the schools participating in this program.
Finally, I enjoyed meeting and talking with many of the teachers who joined us for our annual Mole Day Dinner. It was good to get input into the types of experiments, equipment and services that you are interested in exploring with SIM.
Biology Experiment of the Month
Spirometer
One of the new purchases made this summer was a set of 4 Spirometers that can be used in several labs from the new Vernier Human Physiology manual. The spirometer can be used to perform a variety of tests related to air flow and lung volume. Labs include Lung Volumes and Capacities, Respiratory Response to Physiologic Challenges, Analysis of Lung Function, and Oxygen and Aerobic Metabolism (using both the spirometer and an O2 gas sensor). Lung Volumes and Capacities was featured at the October Mole Day
 |
|
Spirometer |
Dinner. Measurement of lung volumes provides a tool for understanding normal function of the lungs as well as disease states. In this experiment, students will measure lung volumes during normal breathing and with maximum effort and will correlate lung volumes with a variety of clinical scenarios. From the LabPro data collection, students will determine tidal volume, inspiratory reserve, and expiratory reserve and from these numbers will calculate vital capacity and total lung capacity. One group of teachers will initiate these sensors next month– we look forward to hearing the student response!
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
