Thursday, October 27, 2016

Mole Day at Woodstock Academy


We had a grand time celebrating mole day in Chemistry Honors this fall. I am absolutely sure no one enjoyed the day more than I did. This was the first time I've actually taught the mole concept in time for mole day in many years. With the mole concept under our belts, there was no way I was going to miss another mole day celebration this year.

Mole day part one: the target mole day lab (thank you Flinn for the great idea, Chem Fax Publication 91660)

Mole Day Craft showing mole equivalencies
My students were challenged to use the mole concept to predict the final mass of a product from a chemical reaction. They started with a piece of zinc. With the help of 6M hydrochloric acid, they transformed their zinc into zinc chloride. This was the first time they have seen this reaction, but certainly not the last! They will use it again for a target gas law lab later in the term. This exothermic reaction produces a vigorous stream of hydrogen bubbles (we did not ignite the hydrogen this time...) that lets you know when the reaction is done. My students enjoyed watching the reaction and observing the heat produced. After the bubbling stopped, they placed their reaction mixtures on a hot plate to boil off the water, any excess acid, and leave behind only the zinc chloride. While this is all happening, they were busy determining the final mass of the beaker and the zinc chloride. The big moment came when they presented their beaker to me for the official weigh-in. If their prediction was within 0.20g of their final mass they got a prize from the coveted prize beaker. Many prizes were won that day.

Mole day part two: mole day craft

Student wearing her sunglasses prize while making a mole day craft.
After that, my students made a mole day craft to visually display all the mole equivalencies. I was inspired by a video a friend posted on Facebook of a similar craft project that featured a mouse as the cut away and random colors in the background. My mind went immediately to the mole concept and we now have a fun way to remember the mole road map.

Mole day finale: Flying moles (another great idea from Flinn, Chem Fax Publication 91749)

The finale for mole day was the Flying Moles demonstration. Once again, thanks to Flinn for sending out great ideas for mole day. This demonstration helped us end mole day with a bang!  In the jar I poured a small amount of water and then added few pellets of calcium carbide. The cute stuffed moles were attached to rubber stoppers that fit snuggly in the plastic jars. The chemical reaction produces acetylene gas, which we can ignited through the hole in the side of the jar. The moles took to the air with a dramatic bang and flash.
This little pink pig took flight today in honor of breast cancer awareness day.
The moles weren't the only critters who took a turn flying on mole day. In honor of Woodstock Academy's all school pink-out for breast cancer awareness day, we also showed the kids that pigs really do fly in chemistry class.



It was a really fun day of moles and chemical reactions, all in honor of our special chemistry unit. The Mole!
My partner in pink and mole day enthusiast.

Mole Day part three: extra credit mole creations

In the spirit of mole day, I decided to give my students the opportunity to earn a small bonus on their test by making a mole. I provided the mole pattern that I used, but I encouraged them to use their own ideas and designs. Several students produced fun and creative moles to add to my collection.

A fun concert poster loaded with mole puns.

Student mole day poster

Look closely at this poster for 6.02
Mole day creations
Three looks at the mole day craft project showing all the mole equivalencies.





Monday, October 17, 2016

A Fresh Look at the Nuclear Model; NEACT Meeting Dec. 3rd

A Fresh Look at the Atomic Model
Saturday December 3r d , 2016 
 
9:00 am to 12:00pm
 
Woodstock Academy, Room 215 Woodstock, CT
Schedule for the Morning
8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 Welcoming Remarks and Introductions
9:15 Misconceptions about Quantum Concepts with Emily Allen Hoffman
10:45 Interactive Activities to Develop the Atomic Model with Caroline Chute and Mel Gronski 11:45 Wrap up and Closing remarks

Misconceptions about Quantum Concepts
Emily Allen Hoffman is a science educator primarily interested in student learning of abstract topics in the physical sciences. In the past she has done research examining the source of misconceptions about quantum concepts, as well as the development of self-paced curriculum for introductory science courses. Aside from researching, Dr. Allen Hoffman is an advocate for K-12 STEM education with experience teaching secondary science and working with Boston University’s Upward Bound program. In her free time, she enjoys being active (skiing, cycling, hiking, and soccer), painting, drawing, jewelry design, and travel.
2008 B.S. Trinity College (Physics)
2009 M.S. Yale University (Applied Physics) 2015 Eh.D Boston University (Science Education)

Interactive Activities to Develop the Atomic Model
Caroline Chute and Mel Gronski are master chemistry teachers at Woodstock Academy. They work collaboratively to design a student-centered chemistry curriculum for standard and advanced chemistry students. Caroline and Mel will share their three step approach to teaching the atomic model using a physical model, augmentation with technology, and analysis of evidence. Participants will get to try their hand at “Atomic Bowling”, explore a PhET simulation, and interpret evidence to support the nuclear model of the atom. Through this multifaceted approach, Caroline and Mel’s students have access to the atomic model concept through several learning modes, leading to a more complete understanding of the current model of the atom. Participants will leave the workshop with several ideas that they can implement in their classroom immediately.
Location
The meeting will be held in the newly renovated chemistry lab at Woodstock Academy. Parking is located in the faculty lot behind the school.
Woodstock Academy, Room 215 57 Academy Road
Woodstock, CT 06281

Click Here for Google Map 

Friday, October 7, 2016

Student-Centered Learning in Chemistry Class at Woodstock Academy

Students working on their personalized periodic tables.

What does "student-centered" look like in chemistry class? In my class, students are facing each other and talking about chemistry. Not everyone faces the "front" of the classroom because the action happens all over the room, not just at the front board. Kids use the whole room to form different study groups or lab teams. I move around and sit amongst the small groups, or step aside altogether sometimes to get out of the way of the conversations. I'm continuing down the path of student-centered learning, but I am always looking for better ways to actively engage my students in the learning process.
Students working on an a lab to investigate ionic compounds.

I'm not a big fan of educational jargon or "boxes", so I hesitate to label myself. But you can use a few descriptors for my methods like blended learning, flipped classroom, or constructivist.  The beginning of the Flipped Classroom Experiment in the fall of 2012 opened my eyes to the possibilities of a student-centered classroom. By taking out the lecture, I freed myself (and my students) for more active learning opportunities during our class time. Students access the content on their own outside of class, at their own pace and using their preferred learning style. Gone are the days of waiting for a student to copy down my notes from the board.  I always hated that awkward pause as the slow student would try so hard to keep up with the notes. Especially because I knew that this student wasn't actually learning anything at that moment by copying my words.  However, if you use the definition of a flipped classroom, I'm not sure my class would fit. My teaching style goes beyond the classic idea of doing the homework in class and the lecture at home.
White board work is great for planning a lab or doing practice problems.

Technology is a vital part of my student-centered model. At Woodstock Academy the students all have an iPad to use for school. Easy access to class content is critical for my work in the student-centered classroom. I can post class activities on our iTunesU class that each student can download directly onto their device. With everything we do posted on the iTunesU course, the students can make good use of class time by transitioning from one activity to another at their own pace. Sometimes we work as a whole group, other times the students work with a partner or a small group. With all of my class content on the iTunesU course, my students have access to a everything from class whenever they need it. I'm really happy with the iPad in class. It's a fantastic tool to use for just about everything I've wanted: easy access to class activities, science lab simulations, videos, ALEKS work, and chemistry apps like the molar mass calculator.
These students are working on a POGIL activity in small groups.

The lab program is an obvious part of the student-centered model for chemistry class. Labs are the perfect opportunity for kids to get into the learning. I have tried to move my labs away from the "confirmation lab" model in which my students are trying to get the right answer. For example, a classic chemistry lab determining the value of the ideal gas constant (R). What teenager cares about that number, you can look it up on line in every possible combination of units. Instead, I like to do labs that have a real-world application and a unique answer. Instead of deriving the value of R experimentally, I ask my students to use the gas laws to design an airbag. Even something as simple as density can be used to answer an interesting question. I like to have my students create a calibration curve for the density of known sugar solutions so they can determine the sugar content in a drink.
Growing alum crystals for the US Crystal Growing Competition.

White-boarding is also a critical part of my classroom model. I believe in the benefit of white board activities for practice and review. I love the formative assessment opportunities that I get from the white board. Students can work at their own pace and I have time to conference with individuals who have questions. The iPad is a great tool for my white boarding activities because I can post a list of problems for the class for self-paced problem solving. Once again, I have figured out how to remove myself from the center of the activity, giving ownership to my students and freeing my time to work one-on-one with my students.
My colleague and partner in Friday Fun, Caroline, also uses a student-centered approach.

This year I have added in an extra element of fun into my classes. In addition to all of my favorite labs and demos that I do with my students, I have decided to add in Friday Fun to my regular weekly program. Friday Fun is a nice way for me to pull out demos or activities that may not "fit" in the content of the course, but provide an interesting and entertaining look at science principles. My hope is that I will also turn this over to my students at some point during the year. I have asked for suggestions for Friday Fun from all of my classes. Slowly they are starting to come up with some ideas and suggestions. I hope we aren't far away from students showing the class something cool they found on the internet and setting it up in the lab.
Student-centered learning is not always the first choice for these high achieving students.

An interesting wrinkle in the student-centered classroom is the response from the students. My honors students are not only used to a traditional classroom but also happily succeeding in the teacher-centered model. They don't always take to the change with enthusiasm. Even though these high achieving students are good at performing in a traditional classroom, I feel that they deserve the challenge and responsibility that comes with a  student-centered approach.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Sorting out the Atomic Model

Discussing the Plum Pudding model.
I am a big fan of sorting activities to help my students learn new concepts. I have several "card games" I use for nomenclature and for writing chemical formulas.  I also have a set of cards for identifying chemical and physical change and chemical and physical properties. I like to use the sorting games to help teach new concepts or to practice difficult skills like naming acids. The article "Learning By Sorting" by Michael Lovrencic and Laurie Vena in The Science Teacher, Feb. 2014 gives a nice explanation of the technique.

This year I decided to add a sorting activity for the development of the atomic model to my repertoire. The traditional atomic model lesson boils down to a vocabulary-heavy history lesson. Even with a demonstration of the cathode ray tube and a Phet simulation on the gold foil experiment, it is hard for students to understand the important points of the story. In an effort to make this lesson more student-centered, I've moved the content delivery portion to a homework video the night before they do the sorting activity. In class, I placed pictures of the five atomic models around the room. Each student received a set of two or three cards with terms, phrases, or names that relate to one of the models. The first challenge was for each student to identify the model that fits their set of cards. Once they have gathered around the model, the students then had to work in a group to sort their cards and generate an explanation of the words, phrases, and names on the cards for their model. I gave the groups about fifteen minutes to discuss their model and make a plan for their presentation. Each group gave their explanation of the atomic model to the whole class, starting with Dalton and working in chronological order through the Plum Pudding model, the nuclear model, the Bohr model, and finally the quantum model. After each group presented to the class I showed the kids the cathode ray tube and then we worked with the Rutherford Scattering PhET simulation. The final event of the day was a review of the information. I presented each small group with a full set of the atomic model cards to sort. Although they knew the ones from their presentation, they needed this chance to think through the other important discoveries and scientists associated with the whole picture.
The full set of cards for the Atomic Model Sorting Activity

I was pleased with outcome of this sorting lesson: shifting the learning into my students hands with the card sorting and the class presentation. I think that with a more interactive lesson the atomic model was more accessible to my students. The small group activity generated thoughtful discussions as they tried to piece together the facts and explain the experiments that led to new discoveries.

Presenting the Bohr model to the class as another step in the atomic model.


The nuclear atom resulted from Rutherford's famous gold foil experiment.

It's hard for kids to believe that The Plum Pudding model was the best explanation at that point in history.

Dalton's atomic model didn't really come with a picture of the atom, I had to ad-lib a little.

The quantum model of the atom proved to be difficult to draw. I captured the strangeness of it in this picture.


The extra large white boards are great for sorting activities. Here are the physical/chemical change/properties cards.

White board humor during a metals and non-metals sorting activity.

I am happy to share the templates for my card sets. Please email me directly if interested at sharongeyer68@gmail.com.


Monday, September 19, 2016

I'm in Love with the Excel iPad App

A student works on the Excel iPad app to plot lab data.
That seems like an extreme position to take about a mobile app, but the Excel iPad app stole my heart this week. It was the third and final stop in my journey to plot lab data and generate a linear trendline. I'm probably not going to touch Google sheets or Numbers with my students for a while.

Last Tuesday I had my students do a two part density lab. I had three goals in mind when I planned this lab: learn how to take good measurements, use significant figures from lab data in a calculation, and make a calibration curve using a spreadsheet. The third part of this goal statement occupied most of my attention this week.

Google Sheets makes nice data charts, can do calculations, but no graphs. So annoying.

I started the first block of lab day the way I usually do: make a google sheet, rename it, share it with your lab partner and me. I love the share feature in the Google products. The kids all loaded the Google Sheets app on their iPads before the lab, so what could go wrong? Everything was going along just fine until we realized that the moblie app for Sheets does not make graphs. What?! How could Google do this to me? Why make a spreadsheet if you can't generate a graph?!

Numbers allows for sharing in the new iOS-10, but no trendline for the graph. Grrrr.

My backup plan was to transfer the data to Numbers. This is an Apple product that is designed to work well with iPads and other Apple devices. And to my delight, the new iOS-10 update enabled a share feature in Numbers just like Google Sheets. Hurray, my problems were solved. The iOS-10 update started on Tuesday and took another day for everyone to complete, so we lost another day in the journey to good graphs. By Wednesday we were ready to transferthe data over to Numbers where the kids were able to share the spreadsheet with each other and with me. This was looking very promising. We plotted the data to generate an x-y scatter plot, hurray, but Numbers does not plot a trendline. Ugh. Why? The class ended without a full analysis of the data.

The Excel App allows for all the functions of a full spreadsheet program, but no sharing.

On day three of this lab analysis journey I asked my students to download the Excel app to their iPads and transfer their data into a third spreadsheet program. I begged for their patience with me as I learned what tools to use for the tasks have to accomplish. They were good sports about the transition to Excel, especially when they got very nice graphs with a trendline and an equation without much fuss. I am so grateful Hans Mundahl for making the YouTube video that saved the day. Graphing in Free Excel App for iPad with Trend Line & R Value (No Office 365 Subscription Needed!) His short video was the key to success with this excel app because he showed me the hidden trendline with equation graph format in the charts menu. With the fx format our graphs came out very nice. The Excel app is very much like the full program I use on my computer. Working on the app felt very comfortable and we were able to get the answers we wanted from our data analysis. My only complaint is that I can't use the share feature with Excel like I can with Sheets or Numbers. In the end I prefer the robust features available in Excel over Sheets and Numbers, and I'll just have to live without real-time sharing. Unfortunately, this story doesn't have a completely happy ending. I showed my students how to submit their Excel workbooks to iTunesU which seemed very easy and convenient. However, the graphs did not make journey unharmed. When I opened them up to grade their work using our iTunesU class, the graphs had turned into a sad mess. Every small step forward requires a lot of tinkering and sometimes includes steps backwards. The iPad transition continues...

Saturday, September 10, 2016

My First Week at Woodstock Academy

I love my new school! And take a look at my chemistry team! The picture says it all. Caroline and Mel are enthusiastic about everything and so much fun to be around. These two women have helped me with everything from finding the coffee to taking attendance. They have helped me figure out all those little things that you just know how to do at work, with a huge amount of patience and kindness.
The chemistry team at Woodstock Academy! 
I suggested that we do the classic copper and nitric acid demo on the first day as an exciting introduction to chemistry. Caroline jumped on the idea and decided to do it with her classes too. I've done this demo many times without a hitch, so we decided not to try it out before class. Doesn't this sound like the start of every failed demo story? 

We started the demo on the bench, just like I've always done before...
Caroline and I set the demo up on the lab bench for her A-block class first thing on the first day of school. We decided to do it together the first time through so she could learn how to do the demo. We got the apparatus set up and made the basic solution for bubbling of the brown gas. The first problem we noticed was that the reaction was going too slow. We had the wrong concentration of nitric acid. This demo requires concentrated nitric acid to work. I ran back to the acid cabinet and found the big bottle with the partially corroded label. "Let's try this one, it smoked when I took off the lid. It must be the right stuff."  Caroline added the concentrated to the reaction flask causing a vigorous reaction to start right away. Check, this is the strong stuff.

Right away I noticed a big problem: the brown gas started leaking out of the flask rather than bubbling through the solution in the graduated cylinder. We made the decision to relocate the whole thing to the fume hood. Working together, Caroline and I picked up the whole set-up and moved it to one of the hoods, where we conducted the reaction for the rest of the day.



We decided to move to the fume hood when the brown gas started leaking out of the flask.
We quickly realized that the tube was clogged. Caroline decided to prep another round bottom flask to run the demo again, meanwhile I cleaned out the tube. Note to self, check the tube next time! (This never happened before, so I didn't think to check the tube.) Our second run worked great and the kids were excited to see the penny react to form many beautiful colors. At the end of the day the three of us had a good long laugh about the crazy start to the day, and our total commitment to making the reaction work.


The view from inside the fume hood.
Taking a photo of the demo with iPad for the write-up.
Woodstock Academy is a one-to-one iPad school. Much of my week was spent figuring out how to do all the things I used to do during class with my computer from my new iPad. I made frequent visits to the tech office to tackle technology questions every day this first week. The guys in the office showed great patience with me as I worked through all the stages of the iPad transition. They were also extremely helpful with the adoption of my iBook this year. Getting the iBook ordered and on everyone's iPads turned out to be quite a journey. I learned all about the business office, the tech office, iBooks, Apple's ordering system, and more.

First Day selfie of my A block class.
The best part about my week was getting to know my students. These delightful young people are curious and eager to learn.
My D-block class, minus many of the international kids who arrived late.
My enthusiastic C-Block class, not shy even on day one.

I started the kids on a lab design activity on the first day. They jumped right into the first experiment in which they designed their own procedure to isolate and measure the mass percent of mixture of sand, salt, and water.

We jumped right into a group activity to design an original experiment.
Before we started doing lab work the kids went on a lab equipment scavenger hunt. They had to go through the lab looking in drawers and cabinets to find lab items they will use this year. It was a hunt for me too because this was the first time I had a minute to look around the lab myself. I couldn't give them much help finding things because I was still learning the locations myself. In the first block no one could find the first aid kit. By the third block of the day of the scavenger hunt we located it in the cabinet by the door. B-block had a good laugh when we found the faux cabinets at the top of the lab that don't open. No chance I could use them anyway because they are way too high to be useful to a short person like me. Several times I exclaimed things like, "Hey, we have a whole set of condensers." I was very excited to find a cabinet full of 1000 mL graduated cylinders, my favorite lab glassware.

Fake cabinets? We found these during the scavenger hunt.

It was a scavenger hunt for me too! This was my first look into most of the cabinets.
Separating and massing a mixture of sand, salt, and iron.
It felt good to get into the lab with my students on Wednesday this week. Being in the lab is where I do my best work with students. I enjoyed watching them work through the separation steps and consider the purity of their samples as they worked. We ran out of time for the last step so we put the salt water in the drying oven overnight. In the morning we were greeted by beautiful salt crystals. They were so gorgeous that some of my kids were inspired to enter the Nation Crystal Growing Competition that starts in October. (more to come about that later)

I couldn't resist a first lab day selfie.
Serious about evaporating off the water to recover his salt.

These beautiful salt crystals formed overnight in the drying oven.

I ended the week with a fun demonstration of the distillation of cherry coke. The result of the simple distillation also surprises the students. The strong smell of the cherry flavoring in the first fraction is impressive. This demo finished off our discussion of separation techniques and gave us a good platform for discussing physical properties.
Demonstrating distillation with cherry coke.
It took my several days to figure out how to get coffee.
Starting a new job is exhausting! I sighed with relief at the end of each day this week. I'm still figuring out the daily schedule, the layout of the building, and many other day-to-day things that everyone else knows. It took me until Wednesday to find the Keurig machine in the faculty room. But just as I was celebrating this small victory, I discovered that the machine doesn't work. I was on the verge of giving up on coffee altogether for that day, but Mel and Caroline encouraged me to go down to the cafeteria to use the good Keurig. Getting that cup of coffee felt like a huge accomplishment on Wednesday morning. Friday afternoon came and I was completely spent from the four-day work week. When I got home my dear husband asked me out for dinner to try a new place in town. Much to my delight, three of my adorable new chemistry students were working at the restaurant. It feels good to be more integrated into the community with this new teaching position. After a good nights sleep and a morning with my spinning guild, I feel refreshed and ready to jump into week two.


This interesting mushroom family was growing right by the parking lot exit.






Thursday, July 14, 2016

NEACT Summer Conference August 8-11



New England Association of Chemistry Teachers
77th Summer Conference

Chemistry, Naturally!

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts North Adams, MA
August 8-11, 2016 

*Go to http://www.neact.org/summer-conference to register for the conference.

General Information:
  •   For driving directions to MCLA, 375 Church Street, North Adams, MA 01247, please go to: http://www.mcla.edu/Admissions/visiting_mcla/directions/
  •   All general sessions will be held in the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation Auditorium (FCSI; #26 on map). Laboratory workshops will be in FCSI Chemistry Lab 301/309 and other workshops will be in Bowman Hall classrooms 204, 206, and 208 (#1 on the map).
  •   Those who are seeking Professional Development Points (PDP) or Contact Hours should complete the required form at the time of Registration or during the conference. Dr. Donna Trainor is our new Contact Hours/PDP Chair and she can be contacted via e-mail: drtainor@wellesley.edu.
  •   Accommodations will be in Hoosac Hall (#10 on map) and most places on campus are a short walk away.
  •   Parking is permitted only in those lots designated as “Resident Student” parking.
  •   On Tuesday evening, August 9, you have an opportunity to attend the Williamstown Theater Festival. This
    theater often features well-known actors and is affiliated with the Drama Department of Williams College. The featured play on August 9 is AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER by Wendy Wasserstein Directed by Evan Cabnet, featuring Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Grace Gummer, Roe Hartrampf, Stephen Sunken, Carson Meyer, Darren Pettie, Richard Poe, Will Pullen, Deborah Rush, Kate Walsh. Grace Gummer is the daughter of Meryl Streep. Attendance is optional. If would like to reserve tickets, we ask you to call the box office (Tel: 413-597-3383) or reserve on-line as soon as possible since there are limited seats remaining. The cost is $40-68 per person depending on seating. Tickets will not be available from NEACT.
  •   A trip to Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA), one of the largest such museums in the country, is planned for Wednesday.
  •   Also planned is a trip to Clark Museum on Thursday, August 11th. There will be a guided tour with the education specialist. Visit the footpath to view the installation of the huge outdoor sculpture “Crystal!!”
  •   Participants can purchase a combo package for several museums ($35) usable any day the museums are
    open (Clark, Williams, Rockwell, and Mass MOCA).
  •   All museums are closed on Mondays.

    1. 77th Summer Conference Committee
      Meledath Govindan, Chair
      Jerusha Vogel
      Mary C. Madden

      Kathy Siok, Registrar-Treasurer, Scholarships Donna Trainor, Contact Hours/PDP 
77th NEACT Summer Conference Schedule
Monday, Aug 8, 2016
Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations (# 26 on map)
10:00 am 12:00 pm
AM Registration
Lobby, Hoosac Hall (#10 on Map)
PM Registration in FCSI Lobby
9:00 am 12:00 pm
NEACT Executive Committee Meeting
Hoosac Hall, First Floor
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 pm
Opening Remarks (FCSI Auditorium)
Dr. Meledath Govindan,
President of NEACT
Dr. Robert Harris, Chair, Department of Chemistry, Mass College of Liberal Arts Dr. Monica Joslin, Dean of Academic Affairs, Mass College of Liberal Arts
1:30 2:20 pm
Lecture Presentation: "Reflections on the Chemistry of Soap and Sauerkraut"
Sue Klemmer, Camden Hills Regional High School; NEACT, Northern Division Chair
2:20 3:10 pm
Lecture Presentation: “How WebAssign’s Analytics Can Help You Tailor Your Classroom Experience for Improved Success,”
Mark Santee, Vice President for Development and Marketing, WebAssign, Raleigh, NC
3:10 3:30 pm
Break
3:30 5:00 pm
Workshop 1: FCSI 301
"Soap Making"
Sue Klemmer
Camden Hills Regional High School, Maine.
Workshop 2: B 204
“Design of interactive and dynamic videos for online courses and flipped classrooms”
Dr. Jayashree Ranga
Salem State University, Mass
Presentation: B 206
(3:30
4:15)
"Organic Chemistry Course at Billerica Memorial High School"
Esther Hines
Billerica HS, Mass.
Presentation: B208
(4:15
5:00)
“Chemistry of Champagne
Jason Bachand
University of Connecticut
5:30 7:00 pm
Dinner (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
7:00 8:30 pm
Lecture Presentation: "The Amazing Array of Secondary Metabolites in Plants An Introduction with Focus on Materials used for Medicinal Purposes "
Dr. Stefan Gafner, American Botanical Council, Austin, TX (FCSI Auditorium)
8:30 pm -
Welcome Social - Amsler Campus Center Patio (Murdock Hall Garden Level hallway in case of rain)
Tuesday, Aug 9
Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations
7:00 - 8:30 am
Breakfast (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
8:30 - 9:30 am
Lecture Presentation: "Cranberry Power: Compounds that Can Keep You Healthy"
Dr. Catherine A. Neto, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA
9:30 10:30 am
Lecture Presentation: "Medicinal Properties of Honey: How Sweet It Is!" Dr. Susan Meschwitz, Department of Chemistry, Salve Regina University, RI
10:30 11:00 am
11:00 - 12:00
Discussion Break
Lecture Presentation: "Microbial Natural Product Drug Leads from Host-microbe Symbioses"
Dr. Marcy J. Balunas, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
12:00 1:00 pm
Lunch
1:00 - 2:45 pm
Workshop 3: FCSI 301 "Dye-sensitized Solar Cells"
Dr. Gonghu Li
University of New Hampshire
Workshop 4: B206 "Introducing Equilibrium with Ease, Simplicity, and Fun"
Mary C. Madden
Quinebaug Valley Comm. College, CT
Workshop 5: B208 "Redox Application: Metabolic Biochemistry Guided Inquiry Lessons"
Cheryl Lavoie Simmons College, MA
Field Trip:
Natural Bridge State Park
2:45 3:00 pm
Break
3:00 5:00 pm
Workshop 6: B204 "Analyzing the Flavor Profile of White Wines"
Kathy Siok
Rhode Island College Steve Siok
Workshop 7: B206 "Green Chemistry: Innovative & Sustainable Materials Derived from Nature"
Kate Anderson
Beyond Benign, MA
Presentation: B208 "Using the Mystery of Matter Video Library in the Classroom"
Susan Klemmer
Camden Hills Regional High School , Maine. Steve Lyons
PBS Project Director
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Dinner (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
7:00 10:00 pm
Williamstown Theater (Ticket charge is extra)
Wednesday, Aug 10
Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations
7-8:30
Breakfast (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
8:30 9:30
Lecture Presentation: "Eureka! Key Moments in the History of Science" Dr. Rebecca Kinraide, Boston University
9:30 10:00
Lecture Presentation: "A History of NEACT 118 Years of Involvement in Chemical Education"
Dr. Meledath Govindan, Fitchburg State University, MA; President, NEACT
10:00 10:30
Break
10:30 11:30
Lecture Presentation: "Ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) and invasive insect pest emerald ash borer (EAB): What did we learn in past fifteen years?"
Dr. Sourav Chakraborty, Central Connecticut State University, CT
11:30-12
Annual Meeting
12-1:00
Lunch
1:00 2:00
Lecture Presentation: "Wasabi?... The role of glucosinolates in plant-insect resistance"
Dr. Erin Rehrig, Fitchburg State University, MA
Samantha Glaze-Corcoran, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
2 3:30
Workshop 8: B204
" Wasabi?...The Role of Glucosinolates in Plant Resistance against Insect Herbivory"
Dr. Erin Rehrig and Samantha Glaze-Corcoran
Workshop 9: FCSI 309 "Vial/Vile Organic: Synthesis of Banana Oil"
Dr. Steve Miller
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MA
Field Trip:
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
Museum visits require payment for admission. Private cars will be used for transportation.
Sign up at registration
3:30 3:45
Break
3:45 5:15
Workshop 10: FCSI 301 "Towards Understanding ‘Hot’ Food: A Thin-Layer Chromatographic Separation of Capsaicinoids from Food"
Dr. Sourav Chakraborty
CCSU, CT
Workshop 11: B206
"The Pizza Box Spectroscope Lab Project"
Sharon Geyer
Pomfret School, CT
5:45 6:00
Conference Photo
6:10 - 7:00
Pre-Banquet Reception: Cash Bar. Church Street Center Social Hall (#19 on Map)
7:00 - 8:00
Banquet (Pre-registration is required)
8:00 - 9:00
2016 Timm Award Presentation and Lecture: Dr. Mark M. Turnbull, Professor of Chemistry, Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, MA
9:00 -
Informal gathering in Hoosac Hall after session
Thursday, Aug 11
Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations
7-8:30
8:45-9:45
Breakfast
(Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
Checkout of Residence Halls
The Best of Biomolecule of the Week”
Dr. Robert Harris
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MA
9:45-10:00
Discussion Break
10:00-11:00
“Chemistry of Curcumin and Its Biological Stability”
Dr. Goudong Zhang
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
11:00-12:00
“Marijuana – The Wonder drug”
Dr. Mathangi Krishnamurthy
Fitchburg State University, MA
12-1:00
Lunch
1:00 2:30
Workshop 12: FCSI 301 "Using Demonstrations as Review"
Jerusha Vogel
Greenwich High School, CT
Workshop 13: B204 "Do The Students Really Understand Chemistry Concepts? Some New Approaches to NGSS Implementation. "
Christopher Koutros, Nancy Curtin, Linda Schleicher Oliver Ames High School, MA
Field Trip:
Clark Art Institute
Museum visit includes a special guided tour
Museum visit requires payment for admission. Private cars will be used for transportation.
Sign up at registration