The Newsletter for Science in Motion at Susquehanna University

Volume IV Issue 2 October 2004

 

Busy time meeting with legislators...

Since classes began, time has been flying by! I have been busy meeting with Representatives David Millard, Robert Belfanti and Russ Fairchild, as well as, Senators Jake Corman and Roger Madigan. Each legislator expressed to me his belief in the value and importance of the Science in Motion program at Susquehanna University. I, in turn, thanked each legislator for his continued support as we approach budget season. I have not yet introduced myself to all of the legislators for the area we service, but I plan to by the end of November. As long time supporter of Science in Motion Representative Belfanti mentioned, “It is nice to put a face with a name.” The legislators I have met with were very interested in our upcoming events. Our most recent upcoming event, the Mole Day Dinner, is rapidly approaching. I look forward to putting faces to names for many of the area teachers I did not meet at the SIM Summer Workshop. I also look forward to seeing old friends.

Erica Merriett, Chemistry Mobile Educator Says…

Science in Motion has kept me quite busy throughout my first month here. The Science in Motion sharing workshop that Madge and I attended at Juniata was very informative and gave us some great ideas, especially for developing a crime scene that is more Chemistry related.

It seems that chromatography and analytical chemistry is quite popular at the beginning of the school year, since I have been running all over with GC and HPLCs for the last few weeks. For my first visit, I was off to Danville High School to do Gas Chromatography of Alcohols with Deb Slattery’s College Prep and AP Chemistry classes. While I was there, the AP Chemistry students also analyzed the caffeine in chocolate samples using the HPLC. Mike McDevitt’s Organic Chemistry class also utilized the equipment to do the same labs while I was there. The equipment stayed at Danville for a few days and Tracy Hepner’s chemistry students got a chance to check them out as well. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there with her classes because of the flooding that Ivan left us. After leaving Danville, the GCs and HPLCs traveled with me to Milton High School where Deb Smeltzer’s Chemisry II Honors students had the experience of analyzing alcohol samples with the GC. They also used the HPLC, but this time to analyze caffeine in carbonated beverages. At the end of September, I got a break from taking the GCs out as they went on loan to John Tamblin’s classes at Mt. Carmel High School. I spent some time getting the new HPLCs up and running (we now have five) just in time to take them out to do the caffeine in beverages lab with Jen Kelly’s Honors Chemistry classes at Lewisburg High School in the beginning of October. One more visit has been scheduled for the GCs and HPLCs in the beginning of November with Sheila Furr’s students at Shikellamy High School.

Now that we all have chromatography out of our systems, I am looking forward to some different labs in my upcoming visits including Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions with Jocelyn Bailey’s Biology and Introduction to Chemistry and Physics classes at Milton High School and Evaporation and Intermolecular Attractions with Sheila Furr’s Organic chemistry classes at Shikellamy High School.

In the days that I have not been out on visits, I have been working on setting up the new FTIRs and writing a lab to go along with them. Our plan is to showcase the new equipment and have a lab ready for the Mole Day Dinner. I think the lab will be great for looking at organic molecules and seeing some of the basics of spectroscopy.

I have been scheduling more and more visits for the upcoming months, but still have many dates available. Plan ahead to get the dates you want! I am looking forward to seeing and meeting many of you at the Mole Day Dinner!

Until next time…remember: if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate!

Madge Schworer, Biology Mobile Educator Says…

Biology and Science in Motion have gotten off to a great start! Erica and I traveled to Juniata College in early September for the Science in Motion Consortium Sharing Workshop. This gave us the opportunity to meet our colleagues in the Science in Motion program and to experience a few labs that were new to us. Potential flooding shortened our stay but we left inspired and full of new information. My first visit of this school year was to North Schuylkill Junior Senior High School in Kelly Chernago’s Human Physiology class. We investigated the effect of Exercise on Heart Rate and analyzed EKG. The local reporter who came to take some student photos was hard to convince that – yes indeed, those were the students’ heart rates and EKG tracings on the computer screens.

Shifting gears, I brought the Primary Productivity lab (Do Plants Need Oxygen?) to Geoff Goodenow’s Advanced Biology class at Lewisburg High School. We got good results as we compared productivity in pond water, algae culture, and Elodea under varying light conditions in this lab that utilizes the Vernier dissolved oxygen probes and computers as data collection tools. A special thanks to student teacher Corrine Novetti for her help with the students! Bob Hartman’s biology classes at Shamokin High School spent two days Investigating Enzyme Activity. Students prepared potato extracts and measured the rate of catalase activity under varying enzyme concentration and pH conditions using the gas pressure sensors and the laptop computers. On our third day together the students studied the Limitations on Cell Size: Surface Area to Volume in a simple model using agar cubes prepared with a high NaCl concentration to simulate cells. We compared the rates of ion exchange measured with the conductivity probes versus increasing surface area in the agar cubes cut into smaller and smaller pieces. Yes, it is possible to get 64 cubes from a 2 cm3 cube of agar! The resulting graph shows clearly the relationship of exchange and surface area and provokes logical thought about the efficiency of material exchange in cells. It was enzymes again at Milton High School in a visit with Kathy Bower’s biology students. We set up the experiment so that each lab group tested a base line reaction rate of the catalase and then one variable; pH, temperature, substrate concentration, enzyme concentration, or the effect of salt. I really appreciate the excellent pre-lab preparation by Kathy’s student teacher, Megan Blitzer, as well as her help with student questions during the lab. With the sharing planned for the following day, each class should have a good understanding of the variables that can affect enzyme activity. Finally, Allison Spencer’s AP Biology students at Berwick High School investigated the effect of temperature on cricket respiration using carbon dioxide sensors and computers. At room temperature, our crickets were a lively bunch!

In addition to the visits made so far, we have loaned a great deal of equipment to teachers across the region. I have many visits scheduled so far throughout the school year but still have open days. Please use the new reservation form that we now have available on the Web site using the “services” link and fill it out completely. We really need those section and student numbers to help us with preparation for your visit, as well as, the grade level of the students participating in the labs for our service reports. Thank you for your cooperation. I look forward to seeing many of you soon!

 

Upcoming Events

Response cards for our annual “Mole Day” Dinner on Wednesday, October 27, have started flowing in! Come speak with our Mobile Educators about your specific classroom needs and sign-up to have a van visit at your school. There will be an informal get acquainted session starting at 6:02 p.m. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., a buffet dinner for all secondary science teachers and other special guests will be provided by Science in Motion. Following dinner, there will be more time provided to talk with the Science in Motion staff and to network with other teachers. So get those responses back to us and come out and join us for an exciting evening!

Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for our one-day teacher workshop on January 6, 2005. Details will follow as the date approaches.

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