UW-Madison Using Ant Gardens to Advance Biofuel Studies

Ants: no matter how mindless and insignificant the tiny critters may seem, they're doing big things and advancing science at the same time! What am getting at? Biotechnology Calender, Inc. reported that bioresearchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison are taking note of ants maintaining gardens of fungi as we speak and are translating how their inquisitive habits may aid humans in their search for sustainable energy sources.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Geoff Gallice.

For example, leaf-cutter ants share a cyclical symbiotic relationship with the fungus L. gongylophorous that starts when the ants bring leaves to the function. In other words, the fungus breaks down the leaves into sugars it can digest, and then it produces fruiting bodies full of nutrients that are valuable to the ants. This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Because of their relationship, both organisms get access to a source of food they would be unable to attain on their own.

What interests researchers most about this relationship though, isn't the relationship itself, but rather how the fungus L. gongylophorous handles the leaves that are brought to it. The breakdown process the fungus goes through is very similar to the goals of researchers like Garret Suen, who investigates ways to break down cellulosic commodities like corn stalks and grasses and turn them into biofuel. 

To read a statement from Suen on how he plans to learn how humans can mimic the fungus on a much larger scale and to learn more, check out the full Biotechnology Calender, Inc. article here.

This read more about the funding for the University of Wisconsin, Madison and its studies, click here.

Summer Science Experiment: Ocean in a Jar!

Heat waves are affecting everyone this summer and nothing sounds better than hitting the beach to relax and cool off. If you can't go to the beach, make this ocean in a jar with your kids this weekend - complete with lessons about density and waves. The catch? They'll be having so much fun they won't even realize they're learning at the same time.

The lesson: water is denser than oil and the two liquids never mix. So, when the water in your ocen jar moves, it pushes the oil around making shapes like waves.

Here's what you'll need:

• Clear jar or bottle with lid
• Water
• Blue food coloring
• Glitter
• Baby Oil
• Plastic floating toys

Now get started on bring the ocean to you:

1. Fill the jar or bottle halfway with water.
2. Add drops of the blue food coloring until your like the color you see. Shake in a little glitter to add a little pizazz to your ocean water.
3. Pour baby oil into the jar until it's three-quarters full.
4. Place a floating toy or multiple floating toys on top of the oil, and then screw the lid on until it's pretty snug and tight.
5. Shake the jar gently to make some waves and set your ocean in motion! Think about this: when you shake the jar side to side are the waves produced different than those you see when you shake the jar in an up-and-down motion? 

Chocolate Chip Cookies: Science-fied!

The following recipe for chocolate chip cookies was adapted from a recipe that appeared in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN, June 19, 1995, p. 100). It was attributed to Jeannene Ackerman of Wico Corp. The recipe was published in Fisher Science Education's March/April 2013 issue of Headline Discoveries.

Ever wonder what a chocolate chip cookie looks like from a chemist's perspective? 

The ingredient list will probably look a lot like this:

• 532.35mL (283 grams) finely milled wheat grains
• 4.9mL NaHCO₃
• 4.9mL refined halite
• 226.8 grams (2 rectangular prisms) partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
• 177.45mL crystalline sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁)
• 177.45mL sucrose-molasses mixture
• 4.9mL vanillin-ethanol solution
• Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
• 473.2mL theobroma cacao

And here's how a chemist would go about making these ooey-gooey favorites:

1. Add the finely milled wheat grains, NaHCO₃ and refined halite to a 2L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) equipped with a sir mechanism.
2. In a second 2L reactor vessel fitted with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, app the triglyceride, sucrose, score-molasses mixture and vanillin-ethanol solution until the mixture is homogenous.
3. Add the encapsulated albumen-coated protein followed by three equal portions of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1. Add the theobroma cacao slowly with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction.
4. Divide the resulting slurry into spheres each approximately 65mL in volume. Place individual spheres on a 316 SS sheet (300 x 600mm). Heat in a 450°K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston’s first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown.
5. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 300°K heat-transfer surface allowing the product to come to thermal equilibrium.

Want to take this recipe (or yummy experiment, whatever you'd like to call it) to the next level? Think about these discussion points: 

• If you wanted to add peanuts or dark chocolate to your cookies, what would you add to the list of ingredients?
• Write your own chemist's recipe for a baked treat using the format above.

Summer Science Experiment: Homemade Flubber!

Yes, you read that correctly: I said flubber! Your children will be thrilled to have a bag of their very own flubber to show off the rest of the neighborhood kids and will enjoy squeezing it and playing with it even more! 

Just grab a few things from around the house and you'll be ready to get started. When you're all finished, you and your kiddos will have some awesome green flubber to play with (minus all the super bounce power that it possesses in the movie!) 

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup liquid Elmer's glue
• Liquid food coloring (Blue and yellow to make a nice green color or any other color that you'd like!)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon borax (you can find this in a box in the laundry aisle)
• 2 bowls

Directions:

1. In bowl one, mix together the cold water, glue and food coloring. Once mixed, set aside.
2. In bowl two, mix together the hot water and borax until the borax is completely dissolved.
3. Slowly add the glue mixture to the borax mixture. Mix well and pour off any excess water.

After that all you have left to do is enjoy! (And clean up, of course.)

STEM Schools the Topic of New Town Hall Series!

STEMconnector and Next Steps Institute are joining forces to host three Virtual Town Halls this summer on the topic of STEM schools. The online webinars will serve as pre-conference workshops in advance of the Next Steps for STEM Schools Conference in Charleston, SC on Sept. 30-Oct. 2. 

Revolving around STEM schools, each Town Hall will focus on engaging key stakeholders in supporting STEM schools and identifying resources and best practices. The three-webinar series will kick off tomorrow, July 9, at 5 p.m. ET with, "Leveraging Federal and State Resources to Support STEM Schools." 

The following speakers will offer their unique institutional perspectives on the topic:

• Danielle Carnival, Ph.D., Senior Advisor - White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
• Jim Colby, Division of Human Resource Development, Education and Human Resources Directorate - National Science Foundation
• Jeff Weld, PhD., Executive Director - Iowa's Governor's STEM Advisory Council
• Tom Peters, Ed.D., Executive Director - South Carolina Coalition for Math and Science
• April M. McCrae, Education Associate, Science Assessment/STEM Coordinator - Delaware Department of Education

You can join in on the Town Hall by registering here. You can also keep up with the action by joining in on the Twitter Chat using #NS4STEM.

The second Town Hall of the series, "Engaging Industry - Promising Models of Corporate Engagement in STEM Schools," will be held on July 30. Speakers at this webinar will discuss promising practices of industry engagement in STEM school support. "Field Report: STEM Schools in Action," will wrap up the Town Hall series on August 20 and offer perspective from STEM school supporters, administrators and teachers.

Make a Patriotic Density Column in Honor of the Fourth of July!

Trying to figure out what you're going to do in between the morning parade and the evening fireworks tomorrow? Right before you head out to grill some burgers or join some friends at the park, intrigue your children (and yourself) with a patriotic science lesson!

This July 4th chemistry lesson celebrates America and ends up being a red, white and blue display of density layers. (Note: Kerosene lamp oil is toxic and flammable. Because this experiment includes using kerosene lamp oil, adult supervision is required.)

Here's what you'll need:

• Milk
• Red Kerosene Lamp Oil (Sold at your local home improvement store)
• Light Corn Syrup
• Blue Food Coloring
• Clear column or cup

Here's how you'll do it:

1. Mix blue food coloring into the corn syrup until the desired color is attained.
2. Slowly pour the same amount of the colored corn syrup, kerosene lamp oil and milk (in any order you wish) into a clear column or cup. Here's a hint: You get minimal mixing by slowly pouring each liquid over the back of a disposable plastic spoon.
3. Now observe and enjoy! The most dense liquid is at the bottom of the column or cup and the least dense liquid is at the top. Were you predictions about the order of the colors correct?!

To make the density column more exciting, light the top layer (the lamp oil) on fire!

*Fuel kerosene is also sometimes available in a blue color, so if this is what you have, use it and just make the light corn syrup red with food coloring.

Check out this video for a demonstration of a patriotic density column. 

This woman makes her's in a shot glass!

Summer Science Experiment: Mystery Markers!

Summer heat is officially taking over. Since your youngsters can't spend all day outside, bring them inside and embrace their inquisitive side with another summer time experiment that you can do right inside your kitchen. Even better, you'll enjoy this experiment as much as your kids will.

Here's what you'll need:

• Bowl of water
• Plain white paper towels, cut into strips
• 3 or more different markers, including black (non-primary colors work best)

When you have all your materials together, get started!

1. Draw a wavy line an inch from the bottom of each towel strip, using different color markers on each one. Make sure you note which color is on which strip.
2. Dip each strip in to the water so that the bottom edge of the paper towel is submerged, but not the line of marker ink. Hold the strip in place as the water creeps up the paper towel.
3. The marker ink will spread, revealing the different types of dye that make up each color. The young minds around you will this it's magic!

The lesson here is that most colors are actually made up of several different colors or dyes. Science-ly speaking:  as the paper towel draws the water out of the bowl, the water molecules bond with the different ink molecules and spread them. The process of separating these dyes is known as chromatography. 

To make it really interesting, have your young scientist cover up their eyes while you draw a line on a fresh paper towel strip. Dip it in the water and, once the ink has spread, have them open their eyes and try to guess which marker you used!

Indiana Making STEM Count

Earlier this month, Bob Rivers told Louisa Murzyn of nwi.com that if there was a silver lining to business innovation in Indiana during rough economic times it would stepping up STEM. "Our businesses have sounded an alarm because they have to hire people from our of state," the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Education at Purdue University Calumet relayed to Murzyn.

Creating a pipeline of strong STEM students is easier said than done, though. The U.S. Department of Labor cites that only five percent of U.S. workers are employed in STEM fields despite the fact that they are responsible for more than 50 percent of sustained economic expansion. To go even deeper, STEM careers have garnered 26 percent more earnings than their non-STEM counterparts.

STEM job growth was three times that of non-STEM jobs in the past decade and is the runner up to health care as the fastest growing occupational category, but the growth still isn't enough. River communicated that Indiana really needs to step up their game and raise the bar all around. Key STEM fields in Indiana include advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, engineering and information technology.

Not enough STEM professionals isn't a problem in Indiana alone. In fact, it doesn't come as a huge surprise to many that the problem extends itself nationwide. Commentary on the STEM problem usually leads to discussions of testing and holding students, educators and institutions alike accountable for teaching science and getting students prepared to tackle higher level science courses. Rivers explained to Murzyn that an imperative part of the process is assessing student ability in science over the long haul and starting these assessments at the upper elementary level.

Also part of the discussion is exciting students about STEM fields. Since STEM degrees and certificates are not keeping pace with the growth of STEM jobs, many think that students are simply lacking excitement about the subject matter. In Indiana, Rivers thinks that lighting the fire in elementary school is essential because that's "where the pipeline starts." 

Rivers also told Murzyn that the composition of the STEM pipeline needs to include more women and underrepresented minorities. This argument has faced opposition recently, but the statistics still show that men dominate the STEM playing field. Nonetheless, Indiana is looking to solve these problems a step at a time with small improvement after small improvement.

Check out Murzyn's full article on building a STEM pipeline in Indiana and view more of Rivers' commentary on the issue.

Myth vs. Fact: Where STEM Really Stands

Earlier this week, a panel of educators and STEM advocates at the 2013 U.S. News STEM Solutions conference in Austin, Texas debunked what they deem to be myths about STEM. Though fixing the state of STEM in America is a hot topic, there are more misconceptions and misunderstandings about what's really happening than many realize.

Here's a look into the myths the panel discussed.

There are massive shortcomings across all STEM fields.
Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, said on Tuesday, "Not all STEM fields are created equal. If I look at biology and chemistry classes, they are probably 60 percent female, and there are a lot of students of color in those classes." 

This addresses the notion that STEM fields lack diversity and aren't particularly female-friendly.

Boosting STEM education is a matter of finding as many teachers as possible.
Before we produce an overload of qualified STEM educators, many in Tuesday's panel think we need to be aware of where the shortages fall. The problem now: colleges are producing gobs of elementary school teachers and not enough science teachers.

Testing can be a great thing.
How much should the education system really rely on testing? According to educators and STEM advocates, "teaching the test" can be incredibly counterproductive to helping students learn and grow educationally.

STEM has to seem "cool" for kids to be good at it.
The panel stressed that putting young students through the "uncool" basics of match and science may be mundane and frustrating at times, but these steps are crucial. A young student must understand these concepts and understand them before he or she can move of to the more exciting elements of science.

Read the full U.S. News & World News Report by Danielle Kurtzleben here. It's complete with quotes from the panel and more discussion topics.

Summer Science: Ivory Soap Explosion

Your kids are home for the summer and when bad weather keeps them from playing outside or heading to the pool, back up plans can be few and far between. Cue science experiments you can do with them in your kitchen! Why not do something that's fun and teaches your young ones a thing or two about science?

The Ivory soap experiment will do just that. In fact, it will probably produce a reaction neither you or your child were expecting. 

Here's all you'll need:

• One bar of Ivory soap
• A microwave
• Paper plate or towel

Now, prepare yourself to be amazed. (Okay, maybe not amazed, but you will be surprised - as will the young scientist in your midst.)

1. Cut the bar of Ivory soap in half and then cut each half in half, so that you have quarters.
2. Put one quarter (one piece) of the soap bar into the microwave and heat for 1-2 minutes. You might want to put the soap on a paper plate or towel to minimize clean-up after the experiment.
3. Now observe what happens! The reaction happens relatively quickly; around one minute, but definitely less than two.
4. After you've seen what happens to the first quarter of the bar of soap, do it with the other three pieces you have left. Watching it react it in the microwave never gets old!
5. After the soap has reacted, explore it through touch, smell and play. It will be dry and soft and have a texture similar to tissue paper.

To enhance this experiment even more, try adding water to the reacted soap and see what happens!