The Newsletter for Science in Motion at Susquehanna University

Volume III Issue 4 Summer 2004

Summer Workshop - It Really was a Three-Ring Circus - Chemistry, Biology and Physics!

Wow, what an incredible week we had. This year’s format was a little different due to the late start for the program. Madge Schworer, our Biology Mobile Educator, with the help of Dr. Courtney Thomas from Susquehanna University, headed a section of biology teachers. Mrs. Deb Slattery, from Danville High School, was a lead teacher for a group of chemistry teachers. Dr. Chris Janzen taught us all how to use the FTIR. Mrs. Tracy Hepner and Mrs. Faye Hinson worked with a group of physics oriented teachers. Mike McDevitt, our equipment manager, got to work with everyone! We had 20 teachers who were first-time summer workshop participants. Due to a fair number of returning teachers, we spent more time this summer developing new labs for use in your classrooms. The new teachers learned several of the favorites but everyone got involved in piloting new technology. For next year we will have experiments for the Infrared Spectrophotometer, newly purchased with a grant from Merck (see below), many more experiments using handheld PDA technology, a host of new physics experiments, several new experiments and scenarios to be added to the Crime Scene Series, and a whole new program on Amusement Park Physics. Please check our Web site for specific experiments and details at www.susqu.edu/sim.

Political Update - We are in the 2004-2005 Budget

Many thanks for the hard work of our area legislators, Representatives Merle Phillips, Russ Fairchild, Adam Harris, David Millard, Bob Belfanti, Steve Cappelli, Brett Feese and Senators John Gordner, Roger Madigan and Jake Corman. We made it! We were included as part of the Math and Science Education line item in the state budget. The good news is the entire consortium has been funded at the same level as we have been for the last 3 years. The bad news is several of the sites had been hoping for an increase so they could expand their programs. We are okay for another year but we, as a group of politically active educators, need to continue to press for inclusion of Science in Motion Funding as part of the education budget. When that happens the entire consortium should have a stable source of annual funding which will mean more time spent on developing good secondary science programs and less time spent worrying about continuation of the program.

Amusement Park Physics - It’s not Science…It is an Adventure! (It really is Science)

Who says public school teachers take the summer off? Tracy Hepner, Jack Deal, Mike McDevitt, Faye Hinson and Deb Slattery worked very hard at Knoebel’s Amusement Park this summer. They were there for a day in May to pilot some physics experiments using the amusement park rides as data sources. It worked so well that the entire summer workshop spent one day at Knoebel’s Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA, fine-tuning those experiments, as well as, developing some human physiology experiments for use on many of the rides.

Using the sensors available from Vernier, Logger Pros and PDA (palm pilots) devices it is now possible for physical science teachers to take their class on a field trip to Knoebel’s and measure motion and acceleration in three dimensions, centripetal force, periodicity and other physical characteristics of many of the rides at Knoebel’s while riding on them! Not to be left out of the fun, the biology teachers worked on using the pulse rate probes, the respiratory rate probes, and blood pressure monitors to see how our bodies react as they are being hurtled through space. I will admit after riding the pendulum pirate swing twice in a row to gather pulse rate data, I didn’t need sensors to tell me my inner ear was connected to my sympathetic nervous system, specifically components of my GI tract. I was told I looked a little green. Anyway, amusement park rides and the effects of aging on middle age educators are probably not of real interest to your students.

The good news is teachers do not have to ride the rides if they don’t want to. Jack Deal and Tracy Hepner have written protocols, data collection tables, and background information for all of the rides we piloted. Each packet is designed for a specific ride at Knoebel’s with all of the pertinent physical information about that ride so that students can take data measurements and do all kinds of calculations. At this point, with the experiments in hand and the instrumentation from SIM, it should be possible for you to take your class on a field trip to Knoebel’s. While they think they are getting a day out of school, you know they are really doing science.

Madge Schworer - Experiment of the Month

One of the experiments teachers attending the summer workshop completed was the Fish Protein Fingerprinting Lab. Proteins are extracted from a variety of fish from the local supermarket. Protein electrophoresis is then performed on these samples using precast polyacrylamide gels and vertical gel chambers. After staining and destaining, protein bands from the fish muscle can be analyzed. Muscle protein consists mainly of actin and myosin, which is highly conserved across species, however the other proteins making up the muscle tissue vary from species to species. We were able to see similarities in the proteins from a variety of fish as well as a number of differences in the banding patterns. Standards run along with the fish protein extracts allow us to pick out the bands of the size of the actin and myosin and to approximate sizes (molecular weights) of the remaining bands seen on the gel. The sizing process is made more straightforward using the graphical analysis program.

This lab introduces students to the extraction and electrophoresis of proteins – widely used techniques – and size analysis of the resulting protein bands. One can use this experiment simply to determine the differences in proteins in different types of fish. One could also use the approach of food identification. See if students can figure out the composition of imitation crab by comparison to other samples such as real crab, shrimp, scallops, and true fishes. Protein and DNA profiling are used in the seafood industry to detect adulteration or mislabeling of processed seafood products. A recent NPR spot revealed a college class’s finding that 75% of fish labeled as red snapper in their sample was actually a related species. One could extend this thought process to the evolutionary tree to postulate which fish species should look most alike when analyzing their muscle protein through electrophoresis. With this lab we have the fun of taking a familiar product (fish from the store) and moving into analytical science. Students can challenge their ability to construct a hypothesis and test it by their analysis of data they generate. This is science in the “real world” laboratory!

Madge Says…

The summer workshop was quite an event for me as I got to know many new faces and we tried out old and new lab protocols. We started with the tried and true respiration in crickets and pea plants and then moved onto two variations of protein electrophoresis laboratories and the pGLO DNA transformation lab. After observing our glowing bacteria colonies under UV light we extended the experiment by growing up a glowing colony, extracting the protein from the resulting culture, and isolating the glowing fluorescent protein using column chromatography. This allowed us to go from DNA to resultant purified protein as is done in the world of biotechnology in both industry and research. Our contribution to the day at Knoebels Amusement Park was trying out water quality tests using the palm pilots and Vernier probes and wiring ourselves for measuring respiration and heart rate as we rode the rides. After my ever so attractive photo was featured on the front page of the Daily Item, one comment was “How can you measure respiration if you are not breathing!” Returning to SU the next day allowed teachers the opportunity to pick a lab to try – we had the transpiration lab, the energy in foods lab, the photosynthesis lab (Vernier biology #7), and diffusion through membranes (Vernier Biology #4) happening at the same time, as well as, the opportunity to investigate the pressure plate foot print activities that the physics group had been working on. Friday was Crime Scene day. Steve Bressi from Mt. Carmel shared elements from his summer camp crime scene and Jocelyn Bailey from Milton shared her spring crime scene experience, which even included law enforcement officers. We came away with many new and exciting ideas to try for the future.

Much of the new equipment ordered has arrived. I will be spending time this summer incorporating these new items into labs to bring to you as well as updating and expanding the Crime Scene and making revisions to our current curriculum and lab handouts. Scheduling for the upcoming school year has begun. Call Madge Schworer at 372-4780 or email at schworer@susqu.edu to save your dates!

New equipment purchased during 2003-2004

A number of new items have been added to our equipment list. We now have 4 FTIR “Infrared” Spectrophotometers and associated printers, 2 Genesys 10 UV-VIS spectrophotometers, and an Eppendorf thermal cycler, which will provide the opportunity for some totally new lab offerings. Our physics equipment list continues to grow and the purchase of additional sets of equipment already available will allow for more lab groups and more availability for popular loans. Check out the complete list below.

Atwood Machine (8)
Blood Pressure Monitors (8)
Centrifuges (mini) (2 additional – 8 total)
DC power Supply (8)
Digital Video Camera (1)
Dry Block heater (1 additional – 2 total)
Fluorometers (2)
Forensic Kits for crime scene expansion
FTIR “Infrared” Spectrophotometers (4)
GPS unit (8)
Hanging Weight sets with hooks
Horizontal Electrophoresis Units (4 additional – 14 total)
HPLC (2 additional – 5 total)
Jugs Radar Gun (1)
Leica Stereomicroscopes (4)
Micropipettors (2-20 ml – 8 additional, 20-200 ml – 8 additional)
Spring sets
Palm Pilots (16 additional – 36 total)
Super Dynamics (cart) Track System (8) with all accessories
Teaching Stethoscope (8)
Thermal cycler (1)
Vertical Electrophoresis Chambers (4 additional – 8 total)
Zire 72 Palm Pilots w/ camera capability (3)
UV-VIS Spectrophotometer (2)

Merck Grant - We Receive a Generous Donation

The Riverside plant of Merck Incorporated has awarded Science in Motion a grant for $76,000 to purchase new equipment. To date we have purchased three FTIRs with the money. Future plans included buying a thermocylcler and more physics equipment. We are very fortunate to have a community minded company like Merck in the Central Susquehanna Valley. When industry can partner with higher education to benefit public education it is a shining example of how everyone benefits when we work together. We applaud Merck for their generosity and foresight.

Changing Leadership - A New Director of Science in Motion

It seems that nothing ever stays the same. I will be stepping down as Director of Science in Motion at the end of July. I truly regret having to leave Science in Motion. Public school science education has been one of my passions and I think this program has so much potential. If I feel so strongly, why am I leaving? My position at Susquehanna University for the last two and a half years has been half-time Director of Science in Motion and half-time teaching. Last fall Susquehanna University decided to create a new position, Assistant Professor of Healthcare Studies and Biology. This new slot was a full-time tenure track position, including teaching the 3 courses I currently teach for SU. After a national search I was offered the position. I knew it meant resigning from Science in Motion but for me personally and my family, this new position was the best possible course. Since I am not leaving Susquehanna University I hope to stay involved with the program on some level.

We have hired a new director, Dr. Courtney Thomas. Some of you met her at the workshop this summer. Dr. Thomas has a Ph.D. in Genetics from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from St. Ambrose University. I think it is clear that she is well qualified to lead the program into the next school year. Please give her all your help and support as she adjusts to her new position.

I would like to thank all of you for your support and enthusiasm during my tenure as director. I have truly enjoyed my experiences with you and knowing that you were behind me and Science in Motion. You were sustaining influences when things were hitting bottom.

The Mole Day Dinner has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 27, 2004. Since Mole Day, October 23, is a Saturday this year we felt it was important to avoid the weekend. There will be more details to follow.

SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY Chemistry Mobile Science Teacher

Susquehanna University invites applications for the position of Chemistry Mobile Science Teacher to work for the Central Pennsylvania Basic Ed/Higher Education Science Partnership administered by Susquehanna University.

Duties include working with high school teachers in surrounding counties by visiting with a van equipped with modern chemistry equipment, aiding resident teachers in demonstrations and/or directing students in the use of this equipment, helping to coordinate day conferences and summer workshops for participating teachers and maintaining the equipment and supplies in the van. PA teaching certification in chemistry or related secondary science are required. Other qualifications include high school chemistry teaching experience and the ability to work successfully with teachers at all levels of career development. Previous experience in science outreach is desirable. This is a full-time twelve-month grant funded position.

The initial contract ends on June 30, 2004 with one-year renewals possible contingent upon continued state funding.

Please send a letter of application, resume, and letters of reference by January 31, 2004 to:

Dr. Jan Reichard-Brown - Director, Science in Motion
Susquehanna University, 514 University Avenue, Selinsgrove, PA 17870
Type: Administrative Months: 12