Education Commons^™

Plants, Pipettes And Pcr, Elizabeth Vierling

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Plants are amazing organisms that provide us with food, building materials, the pleasure of gardens, as well as providing the foundation of critical world ecosystems. Although they may look like they are just stuck in one place and doing not more than growing, they have many, many complex ways in which they respond to the environment. The goal of this STEM Ed session will be to discuss ways that plants can respond to the environment with hands on exercises and exploration of possible classroom activities. Participants will engage in state-of-the art methods of testing plant DNA composition using the polymerase …

Spring 2022 Superhydrophobic Materials, T. Leo Liu

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Many natural surfaces, such as lotus leaves and a water strider’s leg, have shown striking water repellency so that they remain clean and dry even in “dirty” habitats. Such water repellency is called superhydrophobicity, which has stimulated lots of science and engineering imagination for self-cleaning windows, never dirty clothes, drag-reduction swimming suits, etc. In this workshop, we will use superhydrophobicity as a model to guide an integrative teaching and learning experience through hands-on experiments, critical thinking, basic science, as well as a lecture on state-of-the-art research discoveries. The objectives of this workshop are to (1) stimulate student curiosity and imagination …

Spring 2022 Saturday Seminars Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Birds In An Ecological Web, Jeff Podos

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

One great way to learn about nature and biology is to study birds. There are many species of birds, both resident and migratory, and they all have their own habits, colors, songs, and ways of life. The popularity of birdwatching has skyrocketed in the US, especially during the pandemic. This seminar will describe one way to look at birds, and to learn about their ecology, evolution, and diversity. We start by focusing on birds’ feeding habits and food preferences. Many birds have to eat and forage constantly, in order to stay alive and to feed their offspring. From this starting …

Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Abstracts for six Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars.

Bubble Lab Exercise, Peter Beltramo

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

The cell membrane is a ubiquitous component in mammalian cells which control many vital biological functions. It consists of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded protein molecules which serve to transport molecules between the interior and exterior of the cell. Understanding what makes cell membranes so important and how they function requires concepts from physics, chemistry, and of course biology, but it is difficult to learn and conceptualize the structure and function of membranes due to their nanoscopic size and dynamic nature which can’t be properly appreciated in a static textbook. This activity draws analogies between the chemistry and structure of …

Agenda, Revised, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Materials from the seminars. The agenda was revised to include online sessions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Modeling Epidemics, An Introduction, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

• Group discussion of videos watched – Mainly focus on 3Blue1Brown videos

• Discussion of known facts about Covid-19/SARS-CoV-2

• Joint look at news articles and websites – Discussion of exponential growth

• Introduction to SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) model

• Excel demonstration of SIR model

• Other models: SEIR, others

• Modeling using python (time-permitting)

Descriptions, Morton Sternheim

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Accessible Science: The Natural History Of The Connecticut River Valley, Fred Venne

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Many students take an Earth science or geology course to fulfill a requirement, knowing little to nothing about the field. Like all sciences, geology can appear to have ready answers unconnected to other areas of human endeavor, such as art, religion or philosophy. An interdisciplinary approach to teaching can ameliorate this perception for students who are intimidated by the subject and deepen understanding for those who are already excited about geology. We will examine two strategies designed to support the nature of science while scaffolding student learning in geology: research based digital resources use and museum of natural history visits. …

Engagement And Positive Psychology For Stem Learning And Beyond, Mark Tuominen, Lori Tuominen

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Positive psychology is the study of how people flourish. A considerable amount of recent scientific research is now showing how the basic tenets of positive psychology used in schools can boost engagement, learning and wellbeing for students and teachers. These principles apply to any type of learning, including STEM courses. The concepts and practices of positive psychology effectively serve as affective multipliers, enhancing learning success and personal wellbeing. This seminar will introduce a sampler plate of ideas and activities from their course for first-year UMass students, entitled “Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness, Creativity, and Accomplishment.”

18 Years Of Science And Engineer Saturday Seminars, Chris Emery, Morton Sternheim

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

The Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars (SESS) are in their eighteenth year of presenting engaging science and engineering half day seminars to STEM teachers. Offered for five Saturdays once or twice a year, there have been 140 sessions altogether. The average attendance is 30 or so middle and high school teachers. Each teaches about 100 students, so the potential impact is impressive.

Seminar Descriptions, Morton Sternheim

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Environmental Implications Of Nanotechnology, Boris Lau, Joann Mariie Rodríguez

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Wood Studio Workshop, Peggi Clouston, Rommel L Cordova‐Fiori

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Interdisciplinary Science Connections, Fred Venne

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Pollen Biology, Alice Cheung, Hen-Ming Wu

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Everyday Particle Physics, Andrea Pocar

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Colloids And Emulsions, Tony Dinsmore

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Colloids and Emulsions.

These materials are very common and are amenable to some nice demonstrations, yet are not part of the usual curriculum. Topics include surface tension (and why droplets are spherical; why shaving cream acts like a solid even though it's made of liquid and gas); Brownian motion and the microscopic origin of heat; the behavior of many particles (phase transitions, how colloidal particles can spontaneously order themselves – an accurate demonstration of how water molecules form ice crystals); what is inside everyday materials.

Working With The Engineering Design Process, Thomas Gralinski

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Weather And Climate, Rob Snyder

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.