Thursday, November 8, 2012

Oroville High teens share science fun with fourth-graders


Denstity Columns

This post was created from an article that was originally published in the Mercury Register by  Barbara Arrigoni  


OROVILLE — Chemical reactions, density and outer space were translated into hands-on fun Friday for 33 grade-school children with the help of Oroville High School's teenage Science Ambassadors.


Dry Ice Bubbles
For more than two hours, Allen Kreitzer's students made bouncy balls out of glue, blew bubbles from a mixture of dry ice and liquids, and used dry ice to inflate balloons.
They also learned about space, particularly supernovas, which they painted on silk squares.



Density of Bubbles vs Dry Ice 














Leading the class were Oroville High School chemistry teacher Shane Johnston and the high school's student club, Science Ambassadors.In its fourth year, the club goes to different schools and grade levels to help make science more fun and interesting.


Crystal Ball



Learning Moment

Conservation of Mass

Johnston said recently the Science Ambassadors got a grant from the Lassen Foundation that paid for the Ambassadors to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park and take 15 teens there."The kids are going to take what they learned at the park and build a teaching, hands-on activity to do with elementary school kids," he said.


Creating rubber balls














Three of the Science Ambassadors now want to become teachers, after teaching younger students."We're seeing a lot of benefits from this program," he added.
For Kreitzer's students, the focus was on learning about density, chemical reactions and space.





The space section of the class involved teaching the children about stars and supernovas, as well as a painting activity.
Before painting, Oroville High School science chairman Rich Hogan told the children that the project had never been taught to elementary students before.
Johnston said one of the purposes about having the children paint supernovas is to get them thinking about what each layer of the stars are and what the different colors mean.


what do you know about space?

silk painting supernovas


















A supernova is a star, bigger than the sun, that explodes at the end of its life. Johnston told the class that although people generally can't see the colors in a supernova, colors and swirling patterns have been recorded through computer technology.
Given printouts of different supernovas, which showed a wide array of patterns and colors, the students picked the example they wanted.Several steps were involved in the process. First they made swirls on the silk with a substance called resist-all, which separates the colors of the dye.



After drying the resist-all, the children then painted in blues, pinks, greens, yellows and other colors with dye.With the 33 students separated into groups, two Science Ambassadors were assigned to help each group.Some of the children worked quietly, but many chattered and showed off their work, and all appeared to have a good time.


Kreitzer has had the Science Ambassadors in the classroom before, and indicated how pleased he was to have the teens return."The best part about this is they're doing experiments that aren't available to do in elementary school," Kreitzer said. "It gets my kids excited about science."
Staff writer Barbara Arrigoni can be reached at 533-3136, barrigoni@orovillemr.com, or on Twitter @OMRBarbara.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Science Ambassadors New Kayak Trailer

Mr. Hogan and Mr. Johnston have just purchased a kayak trailer. This trailer is going to be used for future Science Ambassador outings. The auto and welding shop are planning on repacking the wheel bearings and sanding and repainting the trailer. I will post some pictures of the trailer as this project comes along. I would like to thank Chico State Adventure Outings for selling this trailer to us.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Butte Lake Science Exploration

On September 27th thru the 30th Oroville High Science Ambassador had the great pleasure to go on a camping and science expedition. We stayed four days at Butte Lake in Lassen National Park. I would like to thank the Lassen Park Foundation, Lassen National Park and Oroville High School Site Council. Without this support our trip would have not been possible. 







During this trip we explored the underground network of lava tubes at Subway Caves. 





Subway Caves were formed from a lava flow that formed 20,000 years ago from the hat creek flow.














The Lava flowed through these tubes and over time drained away leaving behind Subway Cave. 












After leaving subway caves we headed to Butte Lake located in the north east corner of Lassen National Park.



The early part of the afternoon was spent setting up camp. Many of our students had never had the experience of setting up a tent before, so this was a great learning experience.







After setting up camp it was time to explore. As a group we hiked to Bath Tube Lake. During this trip we collected water samples and explored the ecology of the lake.


When we returned from Bath Tube Lake we looked at our collected water samples.  


                                                                                 
                       On the morning of the 28th the Science Ambassadors hiked  up  Cinder Cone volcano. For many of our students this hike proved very challenging but also very  rewarding. This hike is very steep (~30% grade)  and footing is like walking on a sandy beach. Even with these challenges, every Science Ambassador was able to make it up to the top of Cinder Cone. The view from the top was very rewarding. The view provides sights of four different volcano types. It is one of the few places on Earth where four types of volcanoes can be viewed in one vista. For Mr. Johnston it was a great opprotunity to lecture about volcano types and how each type was made.  
Cinder Cone
The Long Hike Up

Inside the Caldera of Cinder Cone


Painted Dunes Fantastic Lava Flow

View from Cinder Cone Lassen Peak and Snag Lake

Lassen Peak


Science Ambassador and Cinder Cone




 During the afternoon we had the great pleasure of welcoming Steve Zackery to our campsite. Steve gave us an overview of Lassen National Park and talked about fire ecology. Thank you very much Steve.




On Saturday the 29th the Science Ambassadors spent the day exploring Butte Lake by kayak. Kayaking the lake gave the Science Ambassadors an view of the fantastic lava and a chance to explore the lakes ecological web close up.






On sunday the 30th the Science Ambassadors packed up camp and headed back to Oroville. What a great trip. Thank you everyone that helped with this trip.