The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume VI Issue 2 October 2006
Director's Column
It’s official! The Science in Motion program at Susquehanna University and Susquehanna River Basin Commission received a second grant from the Chesapeake Bay Commission with an increase to $55,000. This grant will be used to fund another year of the SIM-SRBC Water Quality Project. With the increase, we were able to allow eight teachers to participate this year instead of only four. Those involved this year are returning teachers Dan Smith (Juniata) and Sheila Furr (Shikellamy) as well as new teachers Doug VanBrunt (Bloomsburg), Dana Hock (Central Columbia), Greg Laubach (Central Columbia), Karen Avery (Milton), John Slotterback (North Schuylkill) and Tracy Hepner (Selinsgrove). We are making many changes to the Water Quality section of the SIM Web site, so keep an eye out for data from this year’s visits and many photos of last year’s visits.
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| Greg Stout, SIM, with teachers at the Water Quality Workshop held in June. |
Our fourth annual Mole Day Dinner will be held Monday, October 23, 2006, at Susquehanna University. This dinner is a wonderful opportunity to see SIM equipment on display, interact with Mobile Educators and network with other teachers. Invitations will be mailed soon. Please RSVP to Melanie Rohrbach if you are able to attend.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
Science in Motion is off to a flying start in the Bio van. I delivered UV lights to Pam Ulicny at Tri-Valley Jr/Sr High School the very first week of school followed by a drop of surface temperature probes to Arnie Betts at Williamsport High School. All three mobile educators spent the next two days at Juniata College for the annual ME Sharing Workshop. Networking with other ME’s from across the state is exciting. We came back with some new ideas for labs, new uses for equipment we have, and that shared enthusiasm that comes from spending time with colleagues in science education. Paulette Armbruster from Selinsgrove High School requested the Investigating Enzyme Activity lab for her AP Biology sections as my first visit of the year. This lab coordinates with AP Bio Lab #2. Her students did a fine job going the extra mile to thoroughly understand the variable they studied. Teacher Dan Smith of Juniata High School did a fine job of showcasing the SIM digital microscopes at our summer workshop and I took them out for the first time this year to Laura Toth at East Juniata High School. Her Advanced Biology students worked with the microscopes looking for pond organisms. The scopes stayed at the school for the next day when all biology classes had the opportunity to search for organisms and capture images on the computer. Greg Laubach and Dana Hock coordinated the Energy in Foods lab for their Biology 1 classes at Central Columbia High School. I worked with Greg’s students on day one and Dana’s students then used the equipment the next school day. This is a great lab to introduce the students to the computer and Vernier collection probes. I have many more drop offs than in previous years as teachers have become confident with SIM equipment. Bo Meyer of Williamsport High School borrowed the digital microscopes and the equipment for the lab Photosynthesis and Respiration. A final visit before the newsletter goes to press was to Lewisburg High School to work with Geoff Goodenow’s Advanced Biology students on the lab Primary Productivity (another lab that coordinates with the AP lab program – #12 in this case). We looked at algae cultures, elodea, and pond water as the students learned about gross and net productivity.
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Central Columbia High School students perform |
Lewisburg High School student works on the Primary Productivity Lab. |
Jaclyn Basgil, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
Welcome back everyone! I hope your school year is off to a great start. We are getting very busy at SIM so be sure to get your reservation forms in as soon as possible.
I began the school year by visiting Matt Shrader at Berwick High School with our GPS units. I spent the rest of the week with the Science in Motion consortium at Juniata College in Huntingdon. We were able to share ideas and discuss labs with other biology and chemistry mobile educators. We also had to discuss the not-so-fun budget and assessment aspects of SIM.
Our Gas Chromatographs spent some time with Brett Criswell at Central Columbia High School. His students experimented to determine the alcohols in various solutions. His students also tested out new experimental procedures that Brett wanted to try with the GC’s in lab. Deborah Slattery and Erica Merriett at Danville High School borrowed our GC’s also to analyze the alcohols in solutions. Deborah Slattery also borrowed our High Performance Liquid Chromatographs to analyze the caffeine content of coke, diet coke, sprite and mountain dew. Mike McDevitt of Danville High School borrowed our Vernier force plates to experiment with his classes. Another Danville High School teacher, Brandon White, used our Vernier microphones to perform two different labs: Tones, Vowels and Telephones and Sound Waves and Beats. His students analyzed the frequency and amplitude of various sounds made by tuning forks and voices. They were also able to determine the way that the telephone company knows what numbers they are dialing when making a call. The students were also able to create and observe beats made by two tuning forks.
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Mobile Educators at the Science in Motion Sharing Workshop experiment and discuss ideas. |
Bob Everly of Selinsgrove High School put our new Vernier Motion Detectors to use in his physics classes. His students analyzed position-time, velocity-time and acceleration-time graphs displayed as a basketball is tossed up and down in the lab Ball Toss. They also determined how the terminal velocity of a falling coffee filter is affected by air resistance and mass in the lab Air Resistance. Randy Moyer’s students from Selinsgrove High School borrowed our laptops to experiment with acid titrations. Kim Yousey’s students at Juniata High School used our UVB lamps, Vernier UVB sensors and sources to analyze and determine the amount of UVB light allowed through various sunscreen brands and sunglasses. This allows them to analyze the trend of UVB light versus SPF values. This is an interesting lab to do just after the summer months to test the amount of protection students received. I then visited Christine Dent at Berwick High School to perform the lab Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions. Her students observed the reactions between citric acid and baking soda as well as hydrochloric acid and magnesium.
Check out our Web site to find available days as well as the equipment list. I anticipate working with many of you again this year.
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says...
As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we are pleased that we have doubled the number of teachers from last year that are involved in our Chesapeake Bay Commission (CBC) funded Stream Water Quality (WQ) Monitoring Project.
I officially started my school year by visiting Doug VanBrunt’s Bloomsburg High School classes. In those classes, I gave an overview of the WQ project, showed still photos taken of last year’s participants and demonstrated equipment that will be used in our stream surveys. These “pre-visits” are intended to familiarize the students with project goals and requirements and to explain the function of each apparatus that will be used in this project.
Other CBC-WQ “pre-visits” conducted in September were with John Slotterback’s North Schuylkill High School students, Tracy Hepner and Bill Bechtel’s Selinsgrove High School students, and Dana Hock and Greg Laubach’s Central Columbia High School Students.
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"Pre-Visit" with North Schuylkill High School students. |
Doug VanBrunt, Bloomsburg High School, and his students at Fishing Creek (Fernville). |
Dan Smith’s Juniata High School students were the first to do the official stream survey this year on September 13th and were followed by Bloomsburg and Selinsgrove High Schools on September 18th and 21st , respectively. North Schuylkill and Milton High School’s Karen Avery finished off the month with their stream visits on September 25th and 27th.
Don’t forget that I am also available to work with you on Vernier Water Quality labs. These labs utilize Vernier probes as well as their integrated LoggerPro software to test for numerous WQ parameters. Please contact me for further information on what labs and equipments are available and to schedule a visit.
Water Quality Experiment of the Month
The ProScope - from Vernier
The ProScope™ is a digital USB microscope that makes it easy to magnify and examine objects on your Macintosh or PC computer screen. The built–in white LEDs allow for easily lighting specimens, and the device is completely powered from the computer’s USB port. The included USB Shot software allows you to capture still images, time-lapse photography, or QuickTime™ movies. The kit comes with a fixed 50X lens and a variable 1-10X lens, depending on your needs. It was used at our SIM Water Quality Workshop this past June to capture images of macroinvertebrates collected from Penns Creek.
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The ProScope |
The ProScope uses the same Logger Pro software already installed on our SIM laptops. Easily add images to an experiment or lab report to illustrate a concept. Or use the video capture and analysis tools to show live footage of an experiment with the easy-to-use software.
If you need more magnification you may use the C-Mount Adapter and Lens Tube Adapter to connect the ProScope to your regular microscope and capture digital images at whatever magnification you like.
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
