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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Detection Of Psilocybin Mushroom Analogs In Chocolate: Incorporating Current Events Into The Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory, Brandon Huskins, Christopher Dockery Dec 2009

Detection Of Psilocybin Mushroom Analogs In Chocolate: Incorporating Current Events Into The Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory, Brandon Huskins, Christopher Dockery

Faculty and Research Publications

In this experiment, tryptamine is used as a psilocin analog and is dispersed onto a Fisher brand cellulose laboratory sponge to simulate dehydrated mushrooms. The resulting “mushroom” material is ground, molded into chocolate, and presented to student groups for real-world and applied analyses. Students isolate the tryptamine from the chocolate using their knowledge of drug chemistry, solubility, pH, extractions, etc. Qualitative analysis is conducted by comparison to standards (Thin Layer Chromatography or Gas Chromatography) and quantitative analysis is conducted by Gas Chromatography using the method of internal standards.


Indirect Gravimetric Determination Of Waters Of Hydration, Marina C. Koether Dec 2009

Indirect Gravimetric Determination Of Waters Of Hydration, Marina C. Koether

Faculty and Research Publications

An alternate gravimetric experiment is described that can be employed in the general chemistry or the quantitative analysis laboratory course. The procedure takes less time than conventional methods and introduces students to waters of hydration and indirect determinations.


Enhancing Ocean Literacy Using Real-Time Data, Lisa G. Adams, George Matsumoto Jun 2009

Enhancing Ocean Literacy Using Real-Time Data, Lisa G. Adams, George Matsumoto

Faculty and Research Publications

No abstract provided.


Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee Mar 2009

Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee

Faculty and Research Publications

On a recent autumn afternoon at Harmony Leland Elementary in Mableton, Georgia, students in a fifth-grade science class investigated the essential process of classification--the act of putting things into groups according to some common characteristics or attributes. While they may have honed these skills earlier in the week by grouping their own shoes or school supplies, this class provided the unique opportunity to classify objects that are inherently fascinating to students--shark teeth fossils! This article describes how by using the teeth to estimate the length of ancient sharks, students got a classification activity they could really sink their teeth into.


Do Students Use And Understand Free-Body Diagrams?, David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, Eugenia Etkina Jan 2009

Do Students Use And Understand Free-Body Diagrams?, David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, Eugenia Etkina

Faculty and Research Publications

Physics education literature recommends using multiple representations to help students understand concepts and solve problems. However, there is little research concerning why students use the representations and whether those who use them are more successful. This study addresses these questions using free-body diagrams (diagrammatic representations used in problems involving forces) as a type of representation. We conducted a two-year quantitative and qualitative study of students’ use of free-body diagrams while solving physics problems. We found that when students are in a course that consistently emphasizes the use of free-body diagrams, the majority of them do use diagrams on their own …