The Biology Field Station

High School Summer S.T.E.M. Institute - July 15 - 20, 2012

Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Camp

As part of the Thomas More STEM Initiative (TSI), partner high schools may select up to five students to participate in the 8th annual STEM Summer Institute. This weeklong camp will offer a wide array of hands-on STEM activities, including laboratory and field projects led by college students and faculty.

What you’ll gain from the experience

• A real sense of college life
• A stronger STEM background
• A better understanding of STEM topics in the real world
• Contacts with Thomas More faculty and college students
• Friendships with other high school students interested in the STEM areas
• A lot of great memories

What the STEM Institute includes

• On-campus housing and meals
• Classroom instruction with Thomas More faculty and students from the Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics departments
• Laboratory activities at campus laboratories, the Biology Field Station and the Bank of Kentucky Observatory
• Eligibility for Scholarship to Thomas More College

How you’ll spend each day

What you’ll do during the Institute

Monday: Ecosystem Assessment (Biology) with Dr. Chris Lorentz
We will be assessing the health of the Ohio River Ecosystem. First we will define an ecosystem, cover the fundamental components of an ecosystem and discuss the various methods to assess an ecosystem. Next we will discuss the methods employed to measure and sample various parameters of the ecosystem. A particular emphasis will be on the role that organisms play as bioindicators. Following these discussions, we will get out on the River to conduct the field sampling and collect samples for additional lab analyses. In the lab, we will examine our plankton samples under the microscopes and summarize all of our data to draw conclusions about the health of the Ohio River.

Tuesday: Aquatic Chemistry with Dr. Bill Wetzel
A variety of tests can be performed to determine the quality of a water sample. At the TMC Biology Field Station, many simple measurements (including pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and conductivity) are used to indicate the quality of the water in the Ohio River. In a few seconds, these tests provide aquatic biologists with information that indicates the overall health of the river for the plants and animals that are present. When water is taken from the river and purified for human consumption, many other tests must be performed (by organizations like the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Northern Kentucky Water District) to make sure the water is safe for human use.

In the Chemistry session, we will explore one particular test that determines the levels of metals (specifically calcium, iron, and magnesium) in a water sample. Before we perform the analysis, we will discuss how we can identify atoms in a sample by the color of light that is produced in a high-temperature flame. After we have examined how different elements produce light, we will then use an instrument (called an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer, or ICP-AES for short) to actually measure the levels of metals present in our water samples. We will compare the results we obtain in lab with those collected by scientists responsible for monitoring the metal levels in the Ohio River.

Tuesday Evening & Wednesday Morning: Astronomy with Dr. Wes Ryle
During the evening session, we will have a brief introduction on how to find objects in the night sky. Participants will make their own planisphere - a simple device useful for determining which stars/constellations will be up in the sky at certain times of the day/year. Assuming it's clear, we'll go to the observatory that evening. During the day session, we'll talk about solar activity and sunspots. We’ll use sunspots to calculate the rotational period of the Sun.

Wednesday Afternoon: Mathematics with Dr. Harold Smith
Deep, deep Mathematics involves a lot more than just numbers. One of the things Mathematicians care about is symmetry. Besides being aesthetically pleasing to the eye, symmetry in a visual design, pattern, or work of art is an indication that there is an underlying algebraic structure. After observing enough visual patterns, there are several natural questions a Mathematician will ask. What do these patterns have in common? How do they differ? Which patterns are really the same? Can I categorize these patterns in some way for easy identification? Most importantly, a Mathematician will want to know if we can find ALL of them.

Our activity will involve the study of tessellations of the plane (the ways in which we can completely cover the infinite two-dimensional plane with a repeating pattern of polygons subject to certain restrictions). We will learn what regular and semiregular tilings are and the students will use some basic geometry, some new insights, and a little trial-and-error to see if they can `discover' ALL of the regular and semiregular tilings. We will learn what an irregular tiling is so that we can discuss (mathematically) some of the artwork of M.C. Escher. Finally, students will construct a simple yet fascinating pattern made up of a single polygon that has absolutely NO symmetry.

Thursday Morning: Engineering with Dr. Bartley Richardson
Engineering is all about making design choices that influence all aspects of a project. One of the most visible types of engineering is civil engineering. Every time you drive over a bridge from Kentucky to Cincinnati, you benefit from the work of a number of civil engineers. These bridge engineers design every aspect of the bridge from the roadway you drive on to the piers that support the structure. While it is necessary to make the bridge support its intended load, there are other real-world concerns that engineers must consider. Some of these concerns include the availability of land on which to anchor the bridge, the length (span) of the bridge, and the total cost. In this activity, students will gain experience with making design choices to engineer a bridge that meets a given set of requirements. They will use a computer modeling program to design and test several possible candidates, then they will build a model of their bridge out of physical supplies.

Thursday Afternoon: Physics with Dr. Joe Christensen
Entropy: The Physics of Disorder. In this session, we will discuss how one can quantify the organization of a physical system; or, more accurately, the disorder of a physical system. We will consider several "systems" of varying complexity: a pile of pennies, a set of dice, a deck of cards, for example; and look to see what these systems have to say about the state of your school locker, my office, and teen-age life in general. Participants can expect to leave with a reasonable intuition for the second law of thermodynamics.

Friday: Closing Symposium with Student Research Presentations
During lunch, while family members or guardians will return to pick up the campers, students deliver short summaries of the activities conducted throughout the week. It’s a great way to gain valuable experience in public speaking and a great way to conclude the STEM Summer Institute. (Following lunch and presentations, participants check out of the residence halls. The camp is complete at approximately 1:30 p.m.)