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IN THIS ISSUE Exploring
Themes in American Art Newsletter/Publications Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 is required to view PDF files. (Download free program) Newsletter: Publications:
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Bellamy Middle School Students Learn About Nanotechnology in UMass Labs The following article was sent by Dr. Irene Czerwiec, a teacher at Bellamy Middle School in Chicopee, and one of the participating teachers in the STEMTEC project. Leading her students through a unit on nanotechnology, Irene began a search for college faculty who were working in the field. Mark Tuominen and Greg Dabkowski from UMass Amherst responded, and invited her to bring her students for a field trip visit to UMass.
Greg Dabkowski from the
Department of Polymer Science, and five of his students, led the
Bellamy students through several hands-on experiments to learn about
the properties of different types of polymers. Their investigations
included comparing the different reactions when baby diapers are
soaked in salty water and non-salty water, and inserting wooden
skewers through balloons without breaking them. They experimented
with silly putty and discussed why it breaks when pulled suddenly,
yet stretches when slowly pulled. Many students claimed they would
no longer include milkshakes in their fast food orders after seeing
how polymer additives cause food products such as certain milkshakes
to solidify. From meeting top notch university professors and graduate students from around the world to viewing equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the students agreed it was a memorable field trip! REACH (Resources for Enrichment and Advancement in Chicopee) was established to challenge academically advanced students in the sciences. Owls Enthrall Fifth Graders Christine Goonan, Science Resource Teacher at the Frederick Harris School in Springfield sent us the following about her program using owls for the study of bones and skeletons.
The first to take center
stage was not an owl at all, but rather a falcon. A truly handsome
and supremely well behaved guest, the falcon was used by Ms. Collier
to point out to the students what owls are and are not. Interestingly,
the falcon represents just the opposite of what an owl really is. Our third visitor, the Barn Owl, came out of its box rather reluctantly. However, it proved to be well worth the wait as the students were able to experience up close the softness and thickness of the Barn Owl's feathers. This species as well as all the others presented are found in the Pioneer Valley. The final guest, a Great Horned Owl, entered with a great deal of excitement and flair. As it exited its box, this owl dramatically whooshed out and flipped upside down where it proceeded to hang on its tether until Ms Collier was able to "coax" him to sit right side up. The Great Horned Owl, with its large body size and awesome wing span, was truly the most spectacular owl to grace the stage this day. Ms. Collier's hour long presentation enticed, enthralled, and captured the interest of all those who were in attendance. Everyone learned something new that day. This presentation was sponsored by the Frederick Harris School PTO, STEMTEC, and Ellen Hurley, Principal of Harris School. You can reach Wingmasters, Inc locally at 413-782-8164 and visit their web site at www.wingmasters.net.
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Forty-five
students from the REACH Program at Chicopee's Bellamy Middle School
recently had an opportunity to learn more about nanotechnology,
the interdisciplinary science of creating molecular devices one
atom at a time. The sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students took
a field trip to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to meet
with two researchers who are tops in their respective fields and
engaged in cutting edge research. Nanotechnology research has the
potential to impact several areas including electronics, medicine,
energy production, and defense. 
Mark
Tuominen from the Physics Department gave a Power Point presentation
explaining how it is possible to work with nanomaterials which are
one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair. Meeting with the professor
and several graduate students, the Bellamy students toured a variety
of physics labs to see the equipment needed to work with nanoparticles.
They saw electroplating materials, electron microscopes, the newly-developed
scanning probe microscope, as well as an electron-field-free room
where experiments can take place without contamination from cell
phones and radio waves. The favorite part of their lab tour was
the cryogenics lab where they witnessed a demonstration of what
happens to a flower that is brought to temperatures approaching
absolute zero by being dipped in a vat of liquid nitrogen.
On
March 20, the Frederick Harris School in Springfield played host
to Ms. Julie Anne Collier from Wingmasters Inc. Ms. Collier, a raptor
rehabilitator, brings her birds to schools for enrichment education
and provides her audiences with a first hand demonstration of the
special features of her feathered friends. Over fifty fifth grade
Harris students attended the live owl presentation as a wrap-up
to their study of Bones/Skeletons using owl pellets.
The
students were on the edge of their seats awaiting their next visitor…
a Screech Owl. This owl elicited many oohhhs and ahahahs for its
beauty, presence and size (it's the smallest of the bunch). The
audience soon learned that the screech owl likes to take refuge
inside things and that it mostly eats insects.
