Pharmaceutical Chemist visits Grade 8 Science!

Dr. Kailash Sumathi (father of Dhruv), visited the Grade 8 Science classes on Friday, November 6.

Dr. Sumathi with 8th grade Science teachers (from L to R): Jody Salisbury, Steve Boardman & Janice Corley.

He launched his talk by talking about lab safety and discussed the current class topic of chemical and physical changes.  He challenged students as to the state of matter of a tomato, then froze it in CO2/water and shattered it.  He showed how CO2 gas (made from dry ice and water) could put out flames and made a flame using nothing more than a battery and fluffy steel wool!

He lit magnesium and extinguished with CO2, made a precipitate with silver nitrate, blew and bent glass, made thin drawn pipettes and created foam with soap/water to challenge students to think about what state of matter foam might be. This began a great discussion of how foam was a hot area of research right now- NASA has a product that is so light it floats in air but can withstand the blast of a blow torch!

Live Action Action Potentials!

The juniors and seniors in Anatomy and Physiology get physically familiar with ion movement during an Action Potential.  Students imitate Sodium Channels, Potassium Channels and the Sodium/Potassium Pump as they physically move ions (crumpled paper balls) across the membrane to simulate an Action Potential traveling down the axon.

Mock Board of Selectmen Meeting in Honors Biology!

Michele Grzenda, Weston's  Conservation Commission Agent came to Ms. Kresl-Moffat's Honors Bio classes to lead the students in a Selectman's meeting concerning the use of bow hunting as a means to limit the deer population in the town.  After a short presentation, students were assigned roles of town committees or residents and had the opportunity to present their arguments to the "Board of Selectmen".  In both classes, the board voted for the restricted use of bow hunting.

        Town Boards Meet to Organize their Arguments 

Presentations by the boards

Michelle Grzenda presents

Rocks Beneath Our Toes (RoBOT) - A Collaborative Program with HS Chemistry and Boston University!

Ten of Ms. South’s CP Chemistry students are participating this year in the “Rocks Beneath Our Toes” (RoBOT) Program with Professor Ethan Baxter of Boston University. This educational outreach program engages high school students in a hands-on study of the rocks and minerals and is funded by the National Science Foundation. Students work with Boston University undergraduates to analyze the mineralogy and unravel the unique story that each rock holds about its geologic past. The goal is to provide high school students a unique window into modern scientific methods of geochemistry and mineralogy and to unlock for them the exciting information about Earth history that all rocks preserve. The program started in early October with a visit to the High School and a talk by Professor Baxter. Students recently completed the field research portion of the program, visiting and taking samples from four sites in Weston.

Rare, Stinky, but Beautiful Fungus!

This fungus is called "Red Cage Fungus" aka "Lattice Stinkhorn" and smells like rotting flesh!  Anyone want to keep this in their yard???

• Fungi and LichenKingdom Fungi
• BasidiomycetesPhylum Basidiomycota
• ClassAgaricomycetes
• Order Phallales
• StinkhornsFamily Phallaceae
• Genus Clathrus
• Red-cage FungusClathrus ruber

Top 10 Reasons to Be an Engineer!

Give it some thought. . . . . 

1. Engineers work to solve global problems such as world hunger, clean water, protecting the environment and improving the quality of everyday life.
2. Engineering allows you to use your creativity every day.
3. Engineering gives you the chance to collaborate with other professionals such as lawyers, doctors, government officials, scientists, statisticians and more.
4. Engineering is a global endeavor, frequently affording the opportunity for travel.
5. Engineers have the opportunity for rapid advancement in their companies.
6. Engineers frequently have a high level of responsibility and autonomy in their positions
7. Engineering salaries remain high.
8. Engineering degrees provide excellent preparation for other professional degrees such as medicine, law or business.
9. While working as a scientist frequently requires advanced degrees, engineers are very employable with a bachelor’s degree.
10. Engineering has more impact on the world than any other profession.

Cool Article on STEM . . . .

Article on STEM