LOGAN – The Logan High School science department has recently expanded its capabilities with new equipment and experiences through funds received through two grants this year.
Now, students taking Advanced Placement Chemistry, AP Physics, or AP Environmental Science will be able to complete labs using new spectrophotometers, thermal imagers and kilowatts.
The high school first purchased a spectrophotometer, which cost $1,000, in 2004 to allow AP Biology classes to measure how color affects photosynthesis. However, with only one to split between the various classes and labs, the science department teachers had difficulty using the machine to its full potential.
In October of last year, science teacher Alyssa Burns applied for a $5,000 General Electric grant, requesting three additional spectrophotometers and 10 new thermal imagers for the use of the entire science department. Earlier this year, the equipment was delivered.
Chemistry instructor Autumn Barry recently used the spectrophotometers in the AP Chemistry class in a lab.
A solution is put into the machine, which projects a wavelength of light through it that allows students to measure how much a certain wavelength of being reflected or moving through a substance.
“The students used the spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance for various concentrations of a solution,” Barry explained. “It is useful in identifying unknown substances and their concentrations.”
Burns noted that the various science classes will have access to the four machines for a variety of labs, where students will be asked to determine unknowns or measure light.
Thermal imagers use a color radiant to display the heat, or lack thereof, of any object the camera is facing. A screen on the back of the hand-held device allows the user to see changes in temperature in real time. For AP Environmental students, the devices will be used to measure energy inefficiencies.
“With the thermal imagers, you can literally watch ice melt in water and monitor the temperature as it changes,” Bums said. “So the ninth grade classes will get to use these, and the AP classes will be able to look at blood flow, among other things.”
In addition to the new equipment made available through the GE grant, the science department also received a Foundation of Appalachian Ohio minigrant of $1,000.
The Foundation of Appalachian Ohio was founded in 1998 that serves 32 counties and strives to create opportunities for Appalachian Ohio’s citizens and communities by inspiring and supporting philanthropy by helping to create and maintain a region full of possibilities.
To accomplish its mission, the foundation has a series of competitive mini-grants that organizations and individuals may apply for. These mini-grants are structured to provide funding for classrooms to learn about businesses in STEMM fields and supporting education for youth in the region.
LHS science educators applied for and received the American Electric Power Access to Environmental Education Fund: From Power Plant to Appliance: Visualizing What it Takes to Power our Homes grant.
This specific grant is focused on providing students the ability to watch the path from power production to use. For LHS students, the cycle began with 35 new kilowatt devices, which plug into a wall, and then to an appliance, to measure the amount of energy the appliance consumes.
Each student took one of the tools home to gather information on the amount of energy they use; the class used this data to determine how much is used for periods of time, such as a week, month, or year.
After learning about the consumption of energy, students from both the AP Physics and AP Environmental Science classes visited the Gavin Power Plant near Gallipolis; the trip was paid for through the FAQ and AEP grant. With the new equipment and the funds to organize a trip, the students learned first how much power they use, then where that power comes from.
The group attended a short lecture led by the engineers of the plant to learn about how the science they had learned was applied to running the facility before splitting into smaller groups for a tour.
“Everyone who gave a tour had a Bachelor’s in Engineering, which is what a lot of our kids want to do, so it was cool for them to see engineers at work in boots and hardhats, and not just behind a desk in an office,” Burns added.
During the tour, the visitors were taken from the lowest level to the highest, and admitted to being surprised by the size of the plant and the intense heat of the furnace; one student commented that he learned the pipes are suspended due to expanding up to five feet a day.
“It was something you definitely don’t see every day,” Michael Downs, senior, commented. “The cooling towers are open at the bottom, which I never expected; it’s just water raining down. It was overwhelming, taking it in at the end of the day.”
“It really makes you think,” junior Kian Dart-Snouffer said. “After getting home, I just wanted to tum everything off. It was crazy to think about how much goes through there, and there are so many everywhere.”
The plant has been updated through the years with various regulation changes, but what were deemed operational or functional remained, including older levers, switches, and lights.
“The engineers told us that our students were the smartest group of students they had ever talked to – they asked the best questions,” Burns said. “It was good to see it (the process) in reality.”
Although the power plant tour was for a small number of the science students, the equipment gained through both the GE and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio will be available to all students, to provide more in-class opportunities and learning experiences.
“Essentially, this equipment will allow students to see things they normally wouldn’t be able to see,” Burns concluded.
The Logan Daily News | May 19, 2017
