New England Association of Chemistry Teachers

New England Association of Chemistry Teachers

77th Summer Conference

Chemistry, Naturally!

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

North Adams, MA

August 8-11, 2016

General Information:

• For driving directions to MCLA, 375 Church Street, North Adams, MA 01247, please go to: http://www.mcla.edu/Admissions/visiting_mcla/directions/
• All general sessions will be held in the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation Auditorium (FCSI; #26 on map). Laboratory workshops will be in FCSI Chemistry Lab 301/309 and other workshops will be in Bowman Hall classrooms 204, 206, and 208 (#1 on the map).
• Those who are seeking Professional Development Points (PDP) or Contact Hours should complete the required form at the time of Registration or during the conference. Dr. Donna Trainor is our new Contact Hours/PDP Chair and she can be contacted via e-mail: .
• Accommodations will be in Hoosac Hall (#10 on map) and most places on campus are a short walk away.
• Parking is permitted only in those lots designated as “Resident Student” parking.
• On Tuesday evening, August 9, you have an opportunity to attend the Williamstown Theater Festival. This theater often features well-known actors and is affiliated with the Drama Department of Williams College. The featured play on August 9 is AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER by Wendy Wasserstein Directed by Evan Cabnet, featuring Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Grace Gummer, Roe Hartrampf, Stephen Sunken, Carson Meyer, Darren Pettie, Richard Poe, Will Pullen, Deborah Rush, Kate Walsh. Grace Gummer is the daughter of Meryl Streep. Attendance is optional. If would like to reserve tickets, we ask you to call the box office (Tel: 413-597-3383) as soon as possible as there are only a few seats remaining. The cost is $68 per person for all available seating. Tickets will not be available from NEACT.
• A trip to Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA), one of the largest such museums in the country, is planned for Wednesday.
• Also planned is a trip to Clark Museum on Thursday, August 11th. There will be a guided tour with the education specialist. Visit the footpath to view the installation of the huge outdoor sculpture “Crystal!!”

• Participants can purchase a combo package for several museums ($35) usable any day the museums are open (Clark, Williams, Rockwell, and Mass MOCA).
• All museums are closed on Mondays.

Other Activities in the Berkshires

North Adams also boasts the state's highest mountain peak, Mount Greylock, and numerous state parks and natural wonders. In nearby Pittsfield, take in a show at the Colonial Theatre or Barrington Stage Company. There's always a stimulating exhibit at the Berkshire Museum. Then, enjoy a great meal on North Street in Pittsfield. Tanglewood is a short drive away in Lenox.

77th Summer Conference Committee

Meledath Govindan, Chair

Jerusha Vogel

Mary C. Madden

Kathy Siok, Registrar-Treasurer, Scholarships

Donna Trainor, Contact Hours/PDP

77th NEACT Summer Conference

Schedule

Monday Aug 8, 2016

Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations (# 26 on map)

10:00 am – 12:00 pm / AM Registration
Lobby, Hoosac Hall (#10 on Map)
PM Registration in FCSI Lobby / 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
NEACT Executive Committee Meeting
Hoosac Hall, First Floor
12:00 - 1:00 pm / Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 pm / Opening Remarks (FCSI Auditorium)
Dr. Meledath Govindan, President of NEACT
Dr. Robert Harris, Chair, Department of Chemistry, Mass College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Monica Joslin, Dean of Academic Affairs, Mass College of Liberal Arts
1:30 – 2:20 pm / Lecture Presentation: "Reflections on the Chemistry of Soap and Sauerkraut"
Sue Klemmer, Camden Hills Regional High School; NEACT, Northern Division Chair
2:20 – 3:10 pm / Lecture Presentation: “How WebAssign’s Analytics Can Help You Tailor Your Classroom Experience for Improved Success,”
Mark Santee, Vice President for Development and Marketing, WebAssign, Raleigh, NC
3:10 – 3:30 pm / Break
3:30 – 5:00 pm / Workshop 1: FCSI 301
"Soap Making"
Sue Klemmer
Camden Hills Regional High School , Maine. / Workshop 2: B 204
“Design of interactive and dynamic videos for online courses and flipped classrooms”
Dr. Jayashree Ranga
Salem State University, Mass / Presentation: B 206
(3:30 – 4:15)
"Organic Chemistry Course at Billerica Memorial High School"
Esther Hines
Billerica HS, Mass.
Presentation: B208
(4:15 – 5:00)
“Chemistry of Champagne”
Jason Bachand
University of Connecticut
5:30 – 7:00 pm / Dinner (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
7:00 – 8:30 pm / Lecture Presentation: "The Amazing Array of Secondary Metabolites in Plants – An Introduction with Focus on Materials used for Medicinal Purposes "
Dr. Stefan Gafner, American Botanical Council, Austin, TX
(FCSI Auditorium)
8:30 pm - / Welcome Social (Hoosac Hall, 2nd Floor)

Tuesday Aug 9, 2016

Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations

7:00 - 8:30 am / Breakfast (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
8:30 - 9:30 am / Lecture Presentation: "Cranberry Power: Compounds that Can Keep You Healthy"
Dr. Catherine A. Neto, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA
9:30 – 10:30 am / Lecture Presentation: "Medicinal Properties of Honey: How Sweet It Is!"
Dr. Susan Meschwitz, Department of Chemistry, Salve Regina University, RI
10:30 –11:00 am / Discussion Break
11:00 - 12:00 / Lecture Presentation: "Microbial Natural Product Drug Leads from Host-microbe Symbioses"
Dr. Marcy J. Balunas, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
12:00 – 1:00 pm / Lunch
1:00 - 2:45 pm / Workshop 3: FCSI 301
"Dye-sensitized Solar Cells"
Dr. Gonghu Li
University of New Hampshire / Workshop 4: B206 "Introducing Equilibrium with Ease, Simplicity, and Fun"
Mary C. Madden
Quinebaug Valley Comm. College, CT / Workshop 5: B208
"Redox Application: Metabolic Biochemistry Guided Inquiry Lessons"
Cheryl Lavoie Simmons College, MA / Field Trip:
Natural Bridge State Park
2:45 – 3:00 pm / Break
3:00 – 5:00 pm / Workshop 6: B204 "Analyzing the Flavor Profile of White Wines"
Kathy Siok
Rhode Island College
Steve Siok / Workshop 7: B206
"Green Chemistry:
Innovative & Sustainable Materials Derived from Nature"
Kate Anderson
Beyond Benign, MA / Presentation: B208
"Using the Mystery of Matter Video Library in the Classroom"
Susan Klemmer
Camden Hills Regional High School , Maine.
Steve Lyons
PBS Project Director
5:30 - 6:30 pm / Dinner (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
7:00 – 10:00 pm / Williamstown Theater (Ticket charge is extra)

Wednesday Aug 10, 2016

Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations

7-8:30 / Breakfast (Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12)
8:30 – 9:30 / Lecture Presentation: "Eureka! Key Moments in the History of Science"
Dr. Rebecca Kinraide, Boston University
9:30 – 10:00 / Lecture Presentation: "A History of NEACT – 118 Years of Involvement in Chemical Education"
Dr. Meledath Govindan, Fitchburg State University, MA; President, NEACT
10:00 –10:30 / Break
10:30 – 11:30 / Lecture Presentation: "Ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) and invasive insect pest emerald ash borer (EAB): What did we learn in past fifteen years?"
Dr. Sourav Chakraborty, Central Connecticut State University, CT
11:30-12 / Annual Meeting
12-1:00 / Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 / Lecture Presentation: "Wasabi?... The role of glucosinolates in plant-insect resistance"
Dr. Erin Rehrig, Fitchburg State University, MA
Samantha Glaze-Corcoran, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
2 – 3:30 / Workshop 8: B204
" Wasabi?...The Role of Glucosinolates in Plant Resistance against Insect Herbivory"
Dr. Erin Rehrig and
Samantha Glaze-Corcoran / Workshop 9: FCSI 309
"Vial/Vile Organic: Synthesis of Banana Oil"
Dr. Steve Miller
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MA / Field Trip:
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
Museum visits require payment for admission. Private cars will be used for transportation.
Sign up at registration
3:30 – 3:45 / Break
3:45 – 5:15 / Workshop 10: FCSI 301
"Towards Understanding ‘Hot’ Food: A Thin-Layer Chromatographic Separation of Capsaicinoids from Food"
Dr. Sourav Chakraborty
CCSU, CT / Workshop 11: B204
"The Pizza Box Spectroscope Lab Project"
Sharon Geyer
Pomfret School, CT
5:45 – 6:00 / Conference Photo
6:10 - 7:00 / Pre-Banquet Reception: Cash Bar
7:00 - 8:00 / Banquet (Pre-registration is required)
8:00 - 9:00 / 2016 Timm Award Presentation and Lecture: Dr. Mark M. Turnbull, Professor of Chemistry, Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, MA
9:00 - / Informal gathering in dorm after session

Thursday Aug 11, 2016

Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (FCSI) Auditorium is the site for all lecture presentations

7-8:30 / Breakfast
(Centennial Room Dining Hall in Amsler Campus Center #12) / Checkout of Residence Halls
8:45-9:45 / “The Best of Biomolecule of the Week”
Dr. Robert Harris
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MA
9:45-10:00 / Discussion Break
10:00-11:00 / “Chemistry of Curcumin and Its Biological Stability”
Dr. Goudong Zhang
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
11:00-12:00 / “Marijuana – The Wonder drug”
Dr. Mathangi Krishnamurthy
Fitchburg State University, MA
12-1:00 / Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 / Workshop 12: FCSI 301
"Using Demonstrations as Review"
Jerusha Vogel
Greenwich High School, CT / Workshop 13: B204
"Do The Students Really Understand Chemistry Concepts? Some New Approaches to NGSS Implementation. "
Christopher Koutros, Nancy Curtin, Linda Schleicher
Oliver Ames High School, MA / Field Trip:
Clark Art Institute
Museum visit includes a special guided tour
Museum visit requires payment for admission. Private cars will be used for transportation.
Sign up at registration

Scientific Program Descriptions

Monday, August 8, 2016

1:30 – 2:20 pm. "Reflections on Soap and Sauerkraut"

Sue Klemmer, Camden Hills Regional High School, ME

Abstract: I first tried out the “big batch” collaborative strategy years ago with making sauerkraut from an old “Bottle Biology” recipe. That product proved less than ideal, and I put it aside for several years. The rise of excellent DIY videos on YouTube encouraged me to rethink this project, and next year I will reintroduce that activity with the help of advise from an excellent video posted by the Alaska Cooperative Extension. In the meantime, I returned to soap-making, utilizing a 20-student batch strategy and tying it into the effect of temperature on the speed of a reaction (an NGSS performance indicator), limiting reagents, acid-base chemistry, and a touch of organic chemistry. In this session I will share the nuts and bolts of both activities, as well as my philosophy for why I think consumer chemistry is a valuable use of the limited time we all have in our courses, my collaborative teamwork structure, and my reflections on what’s working and what work still needs to be done to optimize both engagement and deep conceptual understanding of the related chemical concepts.

Speaker Info: Sue Klemmer earned BA in Chemistry at Wesleyan University in 1975, and over the last few decades has spent several years in graduate school in several universities in several programs: she’s currently finishing a master’s thesis in Science Ed at the University of ME on particulate modeling. She has taught science for thirty two years, twenty-two of them at Camden Hills Regional High School on the coast of Maine. In addition to chemistry (honors, college prep, tech prep, alternative, and adult ed) she has taught physics, earth-space science, and an integrated course for special needs freshmen. Sue’s special interests are the use of history of chemistry to teach content and scientific methods, the use of concept mapping to both help students learn and to help teachers understand what students are thinking, and submicroscopic representations and modeling in chemistry. She serves as the Northern Division Chair of NEACT and is always looking for new ways to connect our often geographically isolated teachers in ME, NH, and VT.

2:20 – 3:10 pm. “How WebAssign’s Analytics Can Help You Tailor Your Classroom Experience for Improved Success”

Mark Santee, VP Marketing and Business Development, WebAssign.

Abstract: The increasing adoption of online assessment systems, like WebAssign, in higher and secondary education is transforming the classroom experience. With features such as instant grading, 24/7 access to practice materials, and multimedia resources that help clarify concepts, teachers and students are realizing time savings, improved learning retention, and increased student motivation. One of the next big things in education technology is the integration of analytics to give faculty and students better insight to performance. WebAssign’s Class Insights gives you an analytical view of your students’ performance on questions and topics throughout the course. You can use that insight to see which topics are confusing, pinpoint questions that students had trouble with, compare homework and test performance, and much more. In this session, you will see how WebAssign’s analytics works, how you can customize settings to meet your course goals, and how you can tailor your teaching, assignments, and tests based on how class and individual student needs.

Speaker Info: Mark Santee leads WebAssign’s marketing, partner relations, and business development teams. Mark has worked in the educational publishing industry for more than 20 years. His career began in faculty support and he has contributed in a variety of roles spanning sales, marketing, administration, editorial, and technology. Prior to WebAssign, he was the executive editor, digital products for Macmillan Publishing, and he has held senior positions at Cengage Learning, LearningExpress LLC, and W.H. Freeman and Company.

3:30 – 5:00 pm. Workshop 1: “Soap Making”

Sue Klemmer, Camden Hills Regional High School, ME

Abstract: This workshop is for those who would like to practice making soap before they go home. Participants will enact the roles in my collaborative whole-class strategy. You do not need to have attended the lecture, but we won't be going over the content of the lecture in the workshop. (I will have handouts available.) On day 1 we will make two batches of a simple olive and coconut oil soap: one cold-processed and the other hot-processed. One or two days later we’ll unmold each batch and cut them into bars for you to take home. The hot-processed soap can be used right away, while the cold-processed soap should cure over 4-6 weeks. Those who bring an iPad or iPhone will also earn how to make and share blogs with text, pictures, and video using the free app “Storehouse.”

3:30 – 5:00 pm. Workshop 2: “Design of interactive and dynamic videos for online courses and flipped classrooms”

Jayashree Ranga, Ph.D. Salem State University, MA.

Abstract: Flipped classrooms and online classrooms are an integral part of the current teaching methodologies. In STEM areas, interactive and dynamic videos provide an engaged learning platform for students. In this workshop, I propose to illustrate the utility of an inexpensive App in designing interactive videos. Once the videos are created, I will present the advantages of hosting and analyzing student viewing habits of videos on YouTube site. (a) Use inexpensive iPad App to design interactive and dynamic videos (b) Host these videos on YouTube and analyze student learning habits (c) Redesign course materials based on student feedback. [Participants: please bring iPad with Explain Everything App]

Speaker Info: Dr. Ranga has been working as a chemical educator in higher education for 9 years. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry & Physics at Salem State University where she teaches general and inorganic chemistry courses. She is passionate about design and implementation of active learning and uses many learning pedagogies in her classrooms. Dr. Ranga is proactive in promoting STEM careers through student advising and science outreach programs.

3:30 – 4:15 pm. "Organic Chemistry Course at Billerica Memorial High School."

Esther Hines, Billerica High School, Billerica, MA.

Abstract: The high school organic chemistry course taught at Billerica Memorial High School, Billerica MA, was offered for the first time in fall 2014. This course is open to all students as a semester elective. The students who selected this course in the past two years have been interested in pursuing careers in the medical or health fields after high school. The lecture portion of the course starts with a vocabulary lesson in which the familiar terms used in general chemistry is “translated to organic chemistry language”, a practice that continuous throughout the term. We have adopted a textbook, purchased with a generous donation from a local company. The course has a laboratory component. The selection of laboratory experiments was determined by the laboratory infrastructure at our high school, the budget (both from our STEM department and grants), and the topics of interest by the students (based on surveyed results). I will share our course curriculum, laboratory experiments we currently do, sources from which we obtained our lab kits, and the inclusion of green chemistry experiments. We look forward to your input since it is a work in progress

Speaker Info: Esther Hines has been teaching chemistry at Billerica Memorial High School, Billerica MA for the past 11 years. She had previously taught college chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and in Europe for the University of Maryland University College and the City Colleges of Chicago at their campuses in Aviano, Italy. She received the BS in Chemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire.

4:15 – 5:00 pm. “Chemistry of Champagne,” Jason Bachand, Nursing Program Student, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

Abstract: Despite champagne’s simple beginnings, it’s the sine qua non of high class living; a symbol of success and glamour, a mark of status and class, a beverage that can cost thousands or even millions of dollars to acquire. It’s the centerpiece of many of life’s rites of passage: uncorked at weddings for the all-important toast, delivered on ice for romantic getaways, imbibed as the drink that seals a big business deal or marks a sporting team’s victory. Of course, it’s also the drink of choice on New Year’s Eve. Since champagne is such a powerful icon in Western culture, it’s also a worthy subject for chemical analysis, and this presentation takes a light-hearted look at the organic compounds in this iconic beverage.

Speaker Info: Jason Bachand is a nursing student at the University of Connecticut and former researcher at the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biological Psychology and an insatiable curiosity for the studying the natural world.

7:00 – 8:30 pm. Plenary Lecture: "The Amazing Array of Secondary Metabolites in Plants – An Introduction with Focus on Materials used for Medicinal Purposes," Stefan Gafner, Ph.D. American Botanical Council, Austin, TX 78714.

Abstract: Since the beginnings of mankind, plants have served as sources for medicine. Medicinal plants have been found in the personal effects of Ötzi the Iceman, or in the tomb of King Tut. Herbal medicine is still used in ca. 80% of the world for their healing properties despite the fact that allopathic medicine has replaced it to some extent in developed countries. Researchers have investigated many of the plants used in herbal medicine, and have characterized over 200,000 compounds to date. These compounds show a wide variety of chemical structures, including nitrogen-containing compounds (e.g., alkaloids and alkylamides), sulfur-containing compounds (e.g., thiosulfinates), phenolic compounds (e.g., flavonoids, tannins and lignans), terpenes, polyacetylenes, iridoids, and many others. In addition to the use in herbal medicine, plant-derived compounds have also provided life-saving therapies in allopathic medicine, e.g., the antimalarial sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin or taxol, an alkaloid which is used in cancer treatment. This presentation will provide an overview of the chemistry of secondary metabolites found in plants, their use, and some of the challenges involved in quality control of herbal ingredients used in phytotherapy.