On Halloween, a little science goes a long way

Halloween doesn’t need to be all about ghouls and goblins. In fact, it can be all about science. Here are 3 tricks to make this Halloween a science treat:

Put dry ice on center stage

            Dry ice is actually frozen carbon dioxide, which makes it an extra fun tool for special Halloween effects. As it melts, it immediately turns to CO2 vapor. Use this trick to make your jack o lantern ooze white smoke, or to carbonate a bowl of punch.

1)    Place a cup of warm water inside your jack o lantern. Using tongs or gloves, drop a piece of dry ice in the water and stand back as the vapor pours out of the pumpkin’s mouth.

2)    Drop a few pieces of dry ice into a bowl of punch. The punch will bubble and gurgle until the ice is gone, leaving behind a carbonated drink.

Photo courtesy of chemistry.about.com

Make your own lava lamp

            Supplies:         1 bottle vegetable oil

                                    Water

                                    Alka Seltzer

                                    A plastic or glass jar, with lid

           

Use the polar properties of oil and water to make a quick and easy lava lamp. Fill the jar ¼ full with water. Fill the rest with oil. Add a few drops of food coloring and then toss in half a tab of Alka Selzter. The colored water will form droplets as the Alka Seltzer pushes them into the vegetable oil. These droplets will bounce up and down in the oil while the Alka Seltzer works its magic.

Make your Jack o Lantern glow like a rainbow

            Supplies:         hand sanitizer

                                    Boric acid (or Borax, both available at hardware stores)

                                    1 carved pumpkin

Rub the hand sanitizer on the outside and inside of the carved pumpkin, and then dust with the boric acid or Borax.

Place the pumpkin on a fire-safe surface and then light it with a match. A rainbow of colors will dance across the pumpkin’s surface. Here’s why:

The alcohol in the hand sanitizer turns the flame blue. The boric acid makes it green. Sodium in the pumpkin flesh tints it yellow, and the hollowed out pumpkin glows orange. Wa-la! Rainbow flaming jack o lantern.

The flame will die out fast, thanks to the alcohol.

By Manasseh Franklin

Sources:

http://www.science-sparks.com/2012/09/20/spooky-lava-lamps/

http://chemistry.about.com/od/halloweenchemistry/a/Rainbow-Fire-Halloween-Jack-O-Lantern.htm

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/awesome-dry-ice-experiments

Faces of SRAP: Holden Bindl

Holden Bindl, a senior from Fort Bridger, Wyoming is spending his summer studying his favorite subjects – math and science.

“I love knowledge,” he says. “And I also love the ability to understand how things work and behave and why.”

Holden (left) and Dr. Franco Basile

Holden gets to apply his love of knowledge this summer as he works with Dr. Franco Basile in the Chemistry department.

“For my project, I’m studying what is released after bacteria are infected with a virus,” he says. “I hope to learn how to determine different substances based off of what they decay into.”

Researchers typically use mass spectrometers to detect molecules that exist within a sample. The size of the mass spectrometer makes it impossible to use in the field or in other locations outside of the lab, but Holden and Dr. Basile are working to make a smaller unit powerful enough to detect bacteria.

“The one that we want to use is much smaller,” says Dr. Basile. “We need to come up with a way to make the analyses possible with this smaller device.”

Holden’s project has many real world applications and can be used in many areas of study.

“The project itself has the potential to have a lot of impact,” says Dr. Basile. “It’s a real need.”

Holden was a student in the SRAP program last summer, working in the Computer Engineering department.

After he graduates from high school, Holden hopes to attend Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California to study both math and physics.

SRAP is a six-week, intensive research program for high school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and is sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR. To learn more about the program, click here, or search "SRAP" in the archives. 

By Robin Rasmussen

Photo by Robin Rasmussen

Summer Trainings Available for Wyoming Teachers

Imagine spending a week of your summer with University of Wyoming scientists, using state-of-the-art equipment to learn all about lakes, rivers, and streams. Picture yourself testing water quality, examining near- and sub-surface hydrology, and analyzing watershed ecology.

This summer, Wyoming teachers have the opportunity to take part in three separate teacher trainings, including the Field Research Campaign, where teachers will spend time on Fremont Lake, learning about near-surface hydrology, sub-surface hydrology, and how lakes work.

Teton Science School, Wyoming EPSCoR, the Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics (WyCEHG), and the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center (SMTC) will be hosting these trainings.

“These trainings bring this real, exciting, and relevant science to classrooms in Wyoming,” says Gina Graziano, a graduate student assistant in the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center.

The trainings will cover separate topics, ranging from watershed ecology, to sub-surface hydrology, to water quality monitoring.

Combining Research and Education in Science Teaching (CREST) (June 26-29) is designed for middle and high school teachers who want to learn more about integrating water research into their classrooms.

The Wyoming Stream Team (July 13-18) training is a classroom and field based course that allows Wyoming teachers to learn more about water quality monitoring and opportunities for citizen science in their classrooms.

The Field Research Campaign (August 11-14) gives teachers an opportunity to learn about the process of near-surface and sub-surface hydrology through hands-on experience with University of Wyoming scientists.

“You can get your students involved in collecting water quality data near your school, wherever you live in Wyoming,” says Gina. “With Wyoming Stream Team, the data goes into a database and is actually used by decision makers, so it’s a great citizen science project.”

The fee for each course is $150, and participating teachers will be given a $200 stipend at the end of each training they attend. These trainings also provide Wyoming Professional Teaching Standard Board (PTSB) credits and University of Wyoming credits.

“These trainings are great opportunities for teachers to make learning relevant for their students,” says Gina. “It’s empowering and important for teachers to know how to teach their students about water. Once you have the knowledge, you can start to figure out the solution.”

To register for these trainings, visit the Teacher Learning Center. There is no registration deadline for these programs, but space fills up fast, so register early!

For questions and comments about any of these courses, please contact Leslie Cook leslie.cook@tetonscience.org or Gina Graziano at ggrazian@uwyo.edu. 

By Robin Rasmussen

The science behind the Olympics

Dr. Sarah Konrad talks with NBC Producer Kaleb Medders

When it comes to the Olympics, images of star athletes, fierce competition and epic wins come to mind, but what about science? While it may be the last thing most people think about, science is deeply embedded in the Games. It explains how the half-pipe works, how an ice skate skims across the ice and why some snow conditions are faster than others

 As the 2014 Olympic winter games in Sochi, Russia draw near, NBC is gearing up to not only talk about the athletes, but also to explore the science behind the Games. On Tuesday, August 27, an NBC film crew visited Laramie, Wyoming to talk with Olympian Sarah Konrad, Wyoming EPSCoR’s Associate Project Director. Konrad competed in Biathlon and Cross-Country skiing in the 2006 Turin, Italy and is currently the chair of the US Olympic Committee’s Athletic Advisory Council. Athletics, however, isn’t Konrad’s only area of expertise. She is also a scientist, with a doctorate in geology and a specialization in glaciology. Her knowledge of glaciology helps her understand the snow conditions and what to expect when she begins a race.

NBC interviewed Konrad about her experience in the Olympics and racing, but also about snow, how it is formed, what factors influence it and how artificial snow is made. This interview will be part of an NBC Learn series about the Olympics and science, which will be available online to the public before the Olympics begin. More science videos can be found on the NBC Learn website. 

By Kali S. McCrackin

Photo by Kali S. McCrackin

Diary of a Gimpy Kid: The story of Dawn Allenbach

Deciding on a career path is a daunting choice for many college students. There are so many options, and at eighteen years old, it’s hard to know what path will be most fulfilling. Sometimes, finding a direction is straight-forward, and other times, inspiration comes from unexpected places. For Dawn Allenbach, currently a PhD candidate at the University of New Orleans (UNO), the inspiration for pursuing a degree in biology came from her required public speaking course at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas.

“It was the poaching speech I gave that really sealed the deal for me,” says Dawn. “I think that was actually where mentally I went, ‘Oh, I’m going to be a biologist’. But I think growing up in the country where everything that we had around us was somehow tied to nature is what made me sympathetic to the whole anti-poaching cause.”

Dawn’s childhood setting with hay fields, livestock and the howling of coyotes at night may not be that unfamiliar to many in the western United States. Her life, however, hasn’t been like most. At three years old, Dawn was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), as were her younger sister and brother. SMA is a genetic disorder which causes skeletal muscle strength to diminish over time, necessitating the use of a wheelchair. Despite the barriers others have put up because of her disability, Dawn has followed success after success from high school through her PhD work in conservation biology. On April 25 and 26, Dawn came to the University of Wyoming to share her experiences as a scientist and to offer suggestions on how to make science more accessible in the classroom and the field.

Adaptability, Dawn says, is the key to inclusion. Unfortunately, thinking outside the box when it comes to disabilities isn’t always easy for others.

During her interview at UNO, her future advisor asked, “How can you do research when you can’t do the most basic of physical actions?”

Dawn replied with her characteristic well-grounded logic and dry wit. “Have you ever heard of something called a lab assistant?”

This type of question is one Dawn has faced time and time again. It illuminates the limits that others see people like Dawn facing, but Dawn dismisses them time and time again.

“The mental is there,” she says. “I may not be able to clean the fish tank, but I can help direct an undergraduate assistant in how to do it, because I have a brain and I can speak. Do what my parents do: don’t treat people with disabilities like they are broken. Don’t treat them like there is something wrong with them, because there isn’t.”

Dawn advises all students, regardless of disability, to overcome any barriers and pursue degrees of interest, because finding happiness in what you do with your life is what matters.

“Do something that you care about, because if you are stuck doing genetics and you don’t want to do genetics, you’re going to be miserable,” she says.

Finding the thing you care about in science fields may not happen during an undergraduate career. Rather, it takes having hands-on experience, Dawn says, to really know that the area you are studying is right for you.

“I feel like the master’s degree, where you’re in the lab more than in the classroom, is where you’re really learning what it is about to be a scientist,” Dawn says. “I feel like it is easier to change gears either during the master’s or after, than it is with a PhD.”

While the trend is moving towards going straight from undergraduate work to a PhD, Dawn maintains that the master’s in an important step. A PhD requires a lot of dedication and students have to be mentally ready for that commitment.

“I feel like people shouldn’t be rushed, especially when you’re twenty-three,” Dawn says. “You have to be in a place in your life where you are ready to handle that amount of work. If you’re not sure, don’t do it. There is no time limit at all, I think.”  

For Dawn, her master’s degree really helped her focus on what she wanted to do, which has made her more successful in her PhD work. As her PhD defense grows nearer, Dawn is looking towards the future and what options are available.

“I’d like to do a post-doc first, if I can find something that is related to what I’m doing, but that will teach me something new,” Dawn says.

Eventually, she would like to work at a university. As with all of her pursuits, Dawn is looking at the future with a healthy mix of energy, optimism and realism.

“I don’t think I’m going into it with any illusions that things are great,” she says. “I definitely don’t have any illusions that it’s going to be easy. It’s going to be a ride and I just have to see where it takes me.”

With her energy and enthusiasm, her intellect and work ethic, Dawn is sure to reach her goals and inspire others as she has inspired us with her research and outlook on life. 

By Kali S. McCrackin