Education Commons^™

Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Abstracts for six Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars.

Arduino Microcontrollers In The Classroom: Teaching How To Phrase Effective Science Questions And How To Answer Them With Original Data, Tony Dinsmore

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Arduino microcontrollers in the classroom: teaching how to phrase effective science questions and how to answer them with original data. Prof. Tony Dinsmore, UMass Physics This workshop will develop course modules that address a challenge in the science curriculum: how do we teach basic problem-solving and curiosity-based research skills in a classroom setting? The standard science curriculum teaches concepts and theory quite well but leaves rather little opportunity for students to take the lead in designing and implementing their own investigations. The workshop will use the Arduino, an inexpensive microcontroller that is simple to set up. A huge range 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.

Solar Cells, D. Venkataraman

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Solar cells convert the sun's energy into electrical energy. In this workshop, I will discuss the processes involved in solar cell and various types of solar cells that are being developed as an alternative to silicon solar cells. I will also demonstrate how students can build a solar cell from readily available materials.

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. …

Air Pressure, Clouds, And Weather, Laura Shofield

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

1) What are basis characteristics of the atmosphere?

2) What is the horizontal and vertical movement of air in a “High” and “Low?”

3) How do clouds form and what can they tell us?

4) How are temperature, pressure and clouds related?

5) Applying concepts to real-time data

Concentration, Amount And Counting By Weighing, Julian Tyson

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Concentration, Amount and Counting by Weighing

UMass Amherst STEM Ed Institute Saturday Workshop 2/3/2018

Julian Tyson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry. Tyson@chem.umass.edu

Session 1. Introductions.

Ice-breaker: The elementarity contest.

Setting the scene: “How much arsenic do we eat?” Why do we want to know? The Consumer Reports articles (Nov 2012 and Nov 2014)

Dealing with really big and really small numbers.

Session 2. Amount, concentration

Solids, liquids and gases. The “parts per” concept.

Session 3. Counting by weighing

The count equation. Rice grains (the bottle content problem), atoms and molecules.. Chemical formulas and balanced chemical expressions. The numbers in the …

Superhero Robotics, Frank Sup, Brian Umberger, Nick Sawyer

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Producing Electricity With Solar Cells, Chris Emery, Rob Snyder

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Interdisciplinary Science Connections, Fred Venne

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

How Much Arsenic Do We Eat?, Julian Tyson

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Air Pressure, Clouds And Weather, Laura Schofield, Tina Ciarametaro

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Everyday Particle Physics, Andrea Pocar

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Wind Power, Susn Reyes

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.

Using Solar Energy, Peter Talmage

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

• Best energy source for the environment • It’s getting more economical every day • Easy to maintain • Cuts down on foreign oil imports

Mapping Missions And Geographic Positioning Systems, Rob Snyder

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Weather And Climate, Rob Snyder

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.