Teachers Explore Improving Climate Education at Fort Hays State University

Dr. Paul Adams instructing teachers

     This fall, Kansas school districts statewide are in the process of implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).   However, as Dr. Paul Adams, Dean of the College of Education, Anschutz Professor of Education and Professor of Physics at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) commented, “while the vision advocated by the NGSS is a significant step to improving science education in the country, the knowledge and skills necessary to implement this vision lags behind.” So Adams, using his 2015 Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education and Diversity Grant Award, designed a secondary science teacher summer program to address some of these content and teaching strategy limitations.  His five day teacher workshop titled: Improving Climate Education through Field Observations and Data Analysis, had three specific goals:

• to provide Kansas science teachers the opportunity to enhance their content knowledge; 
• to discuss teaching strategies associated with the new NGSS curriculum requirements; and 
• to explore resources that could support their lessons planning as it related to climate and weather.  

So on July 6, 2015, twelve high school and middle school science teachers from across the state of Kansas met at FHSU to work with Adams and to learn more about teaching climate and climate change within the scope of the NGSS curriculum guidelines.

Science teachers collecting data

    The workshop's hands-on activities featured using infrared thermometers and sun photometers as well as researching clouds, precipitation, relative humidity and biomass. In addition, participants were introduced to the worldwide science and education program, GLOBE: Globe Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. GLOBE served as an excellent resource for studying climate observation protocols; exploring tested climate and climate change teaching strategies; and learning how to use data to develop scientific arguments that aligned with the NGSS science and engineering practices. Teachers were also exposed to databases and database analysis tools in MY NASA DATA. This site created opportunities for the learner to develop strategies for arguing from evidence.
      During the workshop, teachers also learned how to define a study site, how to do field studies and how to use technology tools to help students reach NGSS performance expectations. At the end of the workshop, teachers used GLOBE data to produce NGSS lessons and to create course specific NGSS implementation plans incorporating GLOBE-based learning activities. These implementation plans will be made available to teachers across the state at the www.fhsu.edu/smei website.

      This climate workshop was so successful that there is a plan to re-run it as a short course at the Kansas Association of Teachers of Science meeting on Hydrology. There is also interest in doing an elementary science teacher GLOBE workshop and grants are being considered to fund these programs for the future.

The 2015 Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education and Diversity Grants are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of climate or energy research or atomic/molecular/optical science.

Emporia State University collaborates with Flint Hills Technical School to "Energize" Students in the rural Flint Hills region of Kansas

     

Students creating battery circuits

      “Energizing Students” was another successful program funded by a Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education and Diversity grant awarded to Dr. Betsy Yanik, the Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Emporia State University (ESU). Over last spring and this summer, she partnered with faculty at Flint Hills Technical College (FHTC) to create a series of fun, interactive STEM activities specifically targeting the Hispanic youth in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. The main components of the program were two “STEM Day” Saturday workshops, April 4th at ESU and May 8th at FHTC, and a five day summer day camp, June 13-18th, offered jointly by ESU and FHTC.

Students taking measurements

      The Saturday celebrations of "STEM Day" consisted of energy science themed interactive exercises. At the ESU "STEM Day" event on April 4, 2015, eighteen middle school students participated in four hands-on sessions: Induction and the Physics of Motors, Energize your Problem Solving, What is Energy? and Mathematical Modeling.  On the May 8, 2015 "STEM Day" at FHTC, over 300 eighth grade students rotated through 10 learning stations sponsored by the STEM related programs and courses offered at the Technical College.   During the summer camp held at locations on both campuses, sixteen middle school students participated in seminars featuring heat transfer projects, fluid flow activities, electromagnetic induction, small windmill generator construction, analysis of data using a graphing calculator and solar energy ventures. Participants were also invited to tour the WESTAR natural gas plant and the Wolf Creek Nuclear Corporation.

Students in an instructional session and visiting WESTAR Natural Gas.

      The objectives of the program as a whole were to increase Hispanic students’ interest in science and mathematics; to foster awareness of career opportunities in mathematics and science-related fields; and provide Hispanic students with an opportunity to meet and form personal contacts with professionals working in mathematics and science-related careers.  The expected learning outcomes that students to see the value of looking at situations using quantitative skills and scientific inquiry was achieved. All three programs combined to reach 354 middle school students in the Flint Hills area of Kansas of which approximately 45% of the participants were classified as underrepresented minorities.
      Although the program created a great collaborative effort for both the Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia State University, future funding will determine whether or not the program can continue.  As for now, there are plans to possibly incorporate some of the Get Into Energy activities into the already established ESU summer STEM camp for Hispanic students which has enough other funding to continue.


Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education and Diversity Grants focus on encouraging the next generation of Kansas student to consider STEM careers in the areas of climate or energy research or atomic, molecular and optical science and are designed to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Kansas. 

NSF Awards a Kansas And South Carolina Research Collaboration Four Million Dollars

Credit: University of Kansas Center for Research Inc.

     An interstate research partnership between Kansas and South Carolina has received a four million dollar NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement RII Track-2 Award. The research project, titled Catalysis for Renewables: Applications, Fundamentals and Technologies (CRAFT), was one of the eight interstate grants that NSF funded this fall.
     The project's interdisciplinary focus is to develop novel catalysts by combining materials synthesis with structure property relationships. Researchers will explore the fundamental catalytic mechanisms that impact the controlled reconstruction of biomass feedstocks to make renewable chemicals, fuels, plastics and other targeted products.  Specifically, they will address the challenge, "How do you reconstruct naturally occurring liginin, [a complex organic polymer found in plants], to make petrochemical-equivalent chemicals instead of burning it?”
     Bala Subramaniam, the director of the University of Kansas Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC) and the Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering is the lead researcher from Kansas, and John Regalbuto, a professor in the University of South Carolina's Department of Chemical Engineering, is the lead research from South Carolina.
     In addition to the cutting edge science, the grant provides unique educational and collaborative initiatives such as a mentoring program for young, early career professors; the development of a student engaging curriculum at both universities; and, the establishment of across-disciplines and industry partnerships.

To read more about this NSF EPSCoR Award go to:  New NSF grant gives early-career faculty competitive edge 

"Fun in the Sun" with KU and Project CREATE

Project CREATE facilitator Kathy Bowen and Professor Kevin Leonard address the campers

          The Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education and Diversity Grants are designed to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Kansas by supporting activities that will prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of climate or energy research or atomic, molecular and optical science. Last August, Kevin Leonard, assistant professor in chemical and petroleum engineering, was awarded one of five Kansas NSF EPSCoR Education, Outreach and Diversity grants to develop a 3D printer-based solar energy camp for children.  The program titled  Fun in the Sun: Using Solar Fuel Research to Educate, Challenge and Inspire Future Scientists! involves a partnership with Project CREATE, a local non-profit community group.  Project CREATE focuses on "Cultivating Responsible, Enriched, Artistic, Tech-Savvy Enthusiasts," in STEM camps for gifted students in grades 4 - 7. The camp was held June 15 -19 and hosted 43 elementary and middle school students.

        Leonard and his colleague Claudia Bode, Education Director for the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis at KU, worked with Project CREATE educators to develop activities for the camp.  Their main goals were to inspire students, in particular girls, to see themselves as scientists and engineers; to encourage student exploration of the potential uses of 3D scanners and printers; and 3) to expose the students to STEM related careers. 

The 3D printed add-ons and solar car

       All hands-on activities were energy-themed and addressed the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy through the use of custom-built devices, robotics and 3D technologies. The first task for the students was to build solar cars from preprinted 3D pieces and commercial kits. Then, they designed and 3D printed their own add-on items using an online modeling program. Once the cars were complete, the students tested the variations of engineering designs for efficiency.
        A unique feature of the camp was a new 3D printed miniature dynamometer apparatus that was created with the help of Ed Atchison, engineering technician at CBEC.  The children used the “mini dyno” to measure the speed, temperature, voltage and current of their creations, and then used the results to brainstorm ideas for modifying the cars to improve performance.

        Students reported that they enjoyed building the solar cars, visiting labs, using the modeling program and going on field trips. One participant stated “I liked the freedom you have (in free time); They (leaders) embraced our ideas and we got to do a lot of cool things….” The 3D printing was also a major program highlight expressed by all of the students. Overall, the camp was deemed a fun and educational success and the organizers hope to offer it again next summer.

KANSAS NSF EPSCoR Phase VI - First Awards - A Research Program for Tenure Track Faculty Early in their Careers

Kansas NSF EPSCoR has announced a request for proposals for First Awards.

Download and read the full RFP at : http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/pdf/RFP-FirstAwards_2016.pdf

The First Award Research Program is designed to help early career faculty become competitive for funding from the research directorates at the National Science Foundation (NSF) by: 1) encouraging early career faculty to submit proposals to the NSF (or other federal funding agency) as soon as possible after their first faculty appointment, and 2) by accelerating the pace of their research and the quality of their subsequent proposals.  Kansas NSF EPSCoR helps Kansas build its research capacity and competitiveness in science and technology.

Only projects with research in areas that are related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR initiatives of Climate or Energy Research (http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/ph6.html) or Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science (http://www.nsfepscor.ku.edu/rii_t2_2014.html) are eligible for First Awards. Other eligibility requirements apply so please read the RFP carefully.

Submission Deadlines:

• Letters of Intent Due by 5:00 pm on TUESDAY, September 8, 2015.        
• Proposals Due by 5:00 pm on MONDAY, October 26, 2015. 

New series of videos address growing water issues in Kansas

 http://knrc.weebly.com/the-waters-of-kansas.html

     Kansas Natural Resource Council (KNRC) and the Biofuels and Climate Change: Farmer’s Land Use Decisions (BACC-FLUD) project have teamed up to produce a series of videos telling the story of water in Kansas from border to border.  Each film discusses the history of how the various water sources have been utilized in the past; how the present day competing interests are affecting water supplies and how community efforts or failures to manage water sources will impact the future. The videos are unique because they feature interviews with people from across Kansas. The Kansans featured in the film tell their personal accounts of how they are directly effected by groundwater, surface water, reservoirs or rivers.  

     The intention of the series is to facilitate a community conversation about Kansans' relationship with water using personal narratives. While the initial project has only produced three videos so far, the ultimate goal is to produce multiple short films, ten to twenty minutes long, that continue to address how water has been used to build and sustain Kansas and what needs to be done to preserve it for the future.  

     The completed films and detailed descriptions can be found on the Kansas Natural Resource Council’s website and are titled Cheyenne Bottoms, Farming over the Ogallala, and Our Shrinking Reservoirs.  The videos were produced by Christie Scanlin Dobson of StormDoor Productions.

The BACC: FLUD (Biofuels and Climate Change: Farmer’s Land Use Decisions) project is embedded within a much larger research project examining climate change and renewable energy, which represents Phase VI of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR (KNE) program. The National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) as a way to promote scientific progress in states that have traditionally received lesser amounts of NSF research and development funding.

Fort Hays State University student explores Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics at Kansas State University

     Brett Chrisler found his way to a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) by first exploring the aspects of computer science and graphic design.  He tried these two majors before he discovered the Physics Department “and fell in love with the field.”

Brett Chrisler

     Brett is from Hays, Kansas where he has lived his entire life.  He completed his sophomore year at Fort Hays State University last spring; serves as the secretary for the Fort Hays State University's Physics Club; and has just completed a summer REU in Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) Physics at Kansas State University (KSU).
     His interest in pursuing an AMO Physics REU began when the Physics Department at Fort Hayes State distributed information from the KSU AMO Physics group about summer REUs to their students. Brett had never done any research in physics prior to this summer's REU, so he thought this program would be the best mechanism for “discovering what part of the wide field of physics he would be most interested in.”
     Brett worked with Dr. Vinod Kumarappan, Associate Professor of Physics at KSU and a researcher involved with the Nebraska and Kansas NSF EPSCoR Track 2 grant titled "Collaborative Research: Imaging and Controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanostructures." Brett's project, funded by the educational initiatives embedded in the collaborative grant, involved stabilizing "the carrier-envelope phase from a laser oscillator.” Basically, the experiment “involved the alignment of a laser through optics.”

Brett Chrisler and Dr.Vinod Kumarappan conducting experiments in the James R. Macdonald AMO Physics Lab at Kansas State University

    Two valuable lessons Brett stated he learned from his AMO REU were: first, "research doesn't always go the way you want it to"; and second, “you have to be creative when it comes to solving difficult problems that may arise.”  In addition, to these lessons learned, Brett said he also developed some “amazing friendships that I know will last beyond this program.”  When asked to sum up his summer AMO Physics REU, Brett indicated that he has “gained so much knowledge from Dr. Kumarappan's group and the program’s physics lectures as well as made great social connections that “have bettered me not only as a student, but also as a person."
      As for his future, Brett says he has two more years of undergraduate work to complete and hopes to continue to participate in physics related summer internships at other institutions as well as additional research experiences at his home campus.  Following graduation, he may attend graduate school to study medical physics and then possibly go on to medical school to study radiation oncology.