The Newsletter for Science
in Motion at Susquehanna University
Volume V Issue 3 November 2005
Director's Column
On Monday October 24th, we held our 3rd annual Mole Day Dinner at Susquehanna University. We were honored to have Marel Raub, Pennsylvania Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; Tom Beauduy, Deputy Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission; and Curtis Fay, Legislative Assistant to Senator Roger Madigan present at the dinner. This year, eighteen teachers were able to attend representing Columbia Montour Vo-Tech, Danville, Juniata, Lewisburg, Milton, North Schuylkill, Selinsgrove, Tri-Valley, Warrior Run, and Williamsport High Schools.
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Dr. Courtney Thomas, Science in Motion and Marel Raub, PA Director for the Chesapeake Bay Commission. |
Tom Beauduy, Deputy Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Dr. Courtney Thomas and Greg Stout, SIM. |
The second winner of the reservation form drawing was Ms. Trish Edson from Hughesville High School. Ms. Edson was very pleased to win a Palm handheld. Continue to submit reservation forms for SIM visits/drops and the next winner could be you!
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Trish Edson, Hughesville High School, was October's lucky winner of the Palm Handheld drawing. |
I would like to take this opportunity to announce the SIM Winter Workshop. This year, the workshop will be held on Thursday, January 5, 2006, with a snow day of Thursday, January 12, 2006. The workshop will be held at Susquehanna University Fisher Science Hall. Secondary science teachers are invited to apply for the workshop by filling out the form accompanying this newsletter. If you are accepted into the workshop, SIM will reimburse your school district for the cost of a one-day substitute. Also, teachers who attend the workshop will earn six Act 48 credit hours. This workshop is an opportunity for teachers to gain hands-on experience with SIM equipment and instrumentation. We only have room for 25 teachers, so submit your application soon to guarantee admittance.
Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…
September and October have been months for studies in cell size, enzyme activity, and respiration. I visited Shamokin High School to bring Investigating Enzyme Activity to Bob Hartman's Biology 1 classes and a week later enjoyed my first visit to Central Columbia High School and Dana Hock's AP Biology students with the same lab. We focused on pH, temperature, and substrate concentration in this tried and true lab activity. Jen Gurski at Shikellamy High School requested a grass stain lab from a previous summer workshop for her ninth grade Biology students in which we compared the effectiveness of detergents with and without enzymes in removing grass stain. The Limitations on Cell Size lab was also popular this month. At Hughesville Junior/Senior High School, Trish Edson's seventh grade students were quite successful with their investigation of the cell size model system. Bob Hartman's Biology 1 classes at Shamokin High School and Gary Stair's Biology 1 students at Berwick High School also worked through this straightforward lab with clear results for the students. How Does Temperature Affect Poikilotherms? (or Cricket Respiration) was also popular. I took this lab to Berwick High School for Allison Spencer's AP Biology students and then on to Juniata High School for Dan Smith's biology students. Crickets add an element of excitement to the study of respiration. Paulette Armbruster's College Prep Biology students at Selinsgrove High School used chloroplasts from an extract of spinach leaves and the computers and Vernier colorimeters to measure color changes due to photosynthesis in blue dye (DPIP). This lab parallels one of the AP biology labs. Sheila Furr's Organic Chemistry students at Shikellamy High School looked at the Effect of Alcohol on Biological Membranes using the colorimeters to measure and the release of beet pigment from alcohol damaged cells. Several students recalled their experience with the Chemistry Crime Scene from last spring using the Spec 20's to perform a similar technique. Tracy Hepner and Bill Bechtel joined forces in the Environmental Science classes at Selinsgrove High School to study The Greenhouse Effect on temperature in a model greenhouse and Energy in Fossil Fuels as part of their study of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. For many students these visits were a first experience with the computer
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Trish Edson's seventh grade students at Hughesville High School, investigate the cell size model system. |
Students at Selinsgrove High School study Energy in fossil Fuels. |
Microscopes were a popular drop off item for Al Zelnick's students at Line Mountain High School and Jen Gurski's students at Shikellamy High School. Remember that you can borrow 8 sets of much of our equipment. Microscopes, Spec 20's and electrophoresis boxes are available for hands-on work by your students for your labs, as well as, the labs provided by SIM.
Again, please contact me by email for equipment loans or to check on scheduling. My calendar is almost completely full for the year. Occasionally changes or cancellations are made by teachers so drop me an email to be placed on a list for any openings that become available. The success of this program is good for science education in our area. I appreciate the patience of teachers as I try to maximize my available school visit time. Thanks!
Jaclyn Basgil, Chemistry/Physics Mobile Educator Says…
I’d like to thank all of the kind and welcoming teachers that I have had the pleasure to meet in my first month here at Science in Motion. I revisited Deb Smeltzer at Milton High School for another round of High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The students attempted to analyze the caffeine content of beverages such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Red Bull energy drink. Mike McDevitt and Deb Slattery put our nuclear materials to work with their classes at Danville High School. Brett Criswell of Central Columbia utilized
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Jaclyn Basgil, SIM
and Steve Shadel, Columbia Montour Vo-Tech School, discuss equipment at Mole Day Dinner. |
our Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometers which are frequently used on the popular television show,CSI. His students used the FTIR’s to collect infrared spectra of various liquid samples to identify unknown compounds. Our popular Gas Chromatography equipment was utilized by the Juniata High School Chemistry classes of Kelli Strawser. The remainder of the month was spent with Doug Van Brunt and Todd Davis at Bloomsburg High School where students performed a full week of forensic analysis experiments in our Chemistry Crime Scene. The students performed an array of experiments such as infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography, fabric analysis and visible spectroscopy to try to determine the guilt or innocence of their assigned suspect. I’d like to thank classmates Allen, Andrea, Sandy, Mike and the rest of the students who participated in the crime scene for being so helpful, cooperative and careful. The Bloomsburg Press newspaper visited our crime scene as well. Reporter Mike Lester wrote a wonderful article documenting our week in his column October 24th.
It was very nice to speak with
and meet all of the teachers that took time to have dinner with us at the
Annual Mole Day Dinner. I do have some availability left on my calendar so
please take a look at our Web site and fill out a reservation form as soon
as possible. Thanks again to all for a great first month at SIM!
Greg Stout, Mobile Educator Says…
On October 13th and 14th, I made a visit to Shikellamy High School to work with Colleen Ruths, Yvonne Monahan and their sophomore chemistry classes. Over that two-day period, students were able to work at nine water quality stations. Analyses performed were pH, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Salinity, Dissolved
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Tom Beauduy, Deputy Director, SRBC and Greg Stout, SIM. |
Greg Stout, SIM and Marel Raub, Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission. |
Oxygen, Temperature, Nitrates, Ammonium and Calcium. These experiments were conducted using Vernier probes with Logger Pro software and are found in the Vernier Water Quality with Computers handbook. The students were able to get hands on experience measuring the water quality parameters of water samples collected by their teachers.
If you have any interest in conducting
the Vernier Water Quality experiments, please use our reservation form on
our Web site. I will then contact you regarding your specific needs and scheduling.
On a related note, I am always glad to discuss our pilot CBC/SRBC/SIM Water
Quality program with interested individuals. Check out the Water Quality link
on our Web site to read more about this cooperative study.
I was pleased to meet many new faces at our Mole Day Dinner on October 24th.
We exhibited some of our equipment and had some great discussions regarding
existing experiments and interest in new programs. It was also a pleasure
to meet our guests from the CBC, SRBC and the PA Senate. We had nice discussions
about their involvement in and support of our Water Quality program.
I do want to make one correction to the October newsletter. Under the “Greg says” section, I incorrectly identified the stream that Lewisburg High School students were sampling as Buffalo Run. It was actually the Bull Run and I send my apologies to Elizabeth Sterling and her students for that error.
Finally, additional responsibilities
this month were equipment drops, repairing lab equipment and troubleshooting
several SIM laptops that developed software or hardware problems. Please remember
to notify your specific Mobile Educator of any problems you encounter with
any of our equipment. If you discover a problem during an equipment drop,
please be sure to write down the specific symptoms and send that documentation
back with the equipment. This helps us to repair equipment more efficiently
and avoids us unknowingly shipping out any questionable apparati.
Chemistry Experiment of the Month
UV-VIS Spectrophotometer
The Experiment of the Month highlights the UV-VIS Spectrophotometer. A UV-VIS spectrophotometer can measure the absorbance of a solution in both the visible (VIS) and ultra-violet (UV) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The lab, Testing the Effectiveness of Sunscreens, focuses on the UV region and compares various sunscreen brands at the same SPF or various SPF values of one brand. Students test several different sunscreens to determine the wavelengths of UV radiation absorbed by each product.
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Mike McDevitt, SIM
and Brian Landis, Mifflinburg High School, discuss the UV-VIS Spectrophotometer at the Summer Workshop. |
Students can bring their favorite sunscreen to class to determine its effectiveness. Many data sets can be collected and different graphs can be plotted. For example, students can begin by collecting and plotting the absorbance versus wavelength for one sunscreen. This will allow students to determine at which wavelength the sunscreen absorbs best. Students can then compare the effect of SPF or brand on absorbance. This versatile lab allows students to decide which aspects they would like to test and design their own experiment! A class period the day before to cover background information and design an experiment, will set the stage for the SIM visit with the UV-VIS Spectrophotometers.
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
