Stonehill Science Saturdays

March 11, 2008

NSF Grant Funds Program
The College has provided facilities, equipment, instructors and round-trip bus transportation for the students as part of a five-year, $813,486 grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at increasing the number of students earning degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Collaborating with Local High Schools
Professor Craig A. Almeida, director of the Biochemistry Program at Stonehill, said the collaboration between the College and local high schools is mutually beneficial.

"It's great for us as a college to be able to reach out to the local communities and help them in areas where they're struggling," Almeida said. "It can be difficult for high schools, because of limited facilities, equipment and budget constraints, to offer these AP courses."

At Brockton High School, eight students in AP Chemistry take the class online through a "virtual high school." Their labs, a major component of the Advanced Placement exam, are simulated, and the students observe them on a computer screen, said Richard Poirier, chairman of the Science Department.

"It's not as good as the hands-on experience they're getting" at Stonehill, said Poirier. "That's why I'm thrilled to have the kids involved."

Two students from Brockton, Steven Sprague, 16, and Kelsey Quimby, 17, both juniors who want to study forensics, worked on an acid-base titration experiment. They put hydrochloric acid in a beaker, added distilled water and a base, and collected data with a pH sensor and a graphing calculator. Later they used the information to create an Excel spreadsheet on a computer.

"This is a lot more hands-on and has a more physical concept to it" than watching the experiment on a CD, said Sprague.

For Randolph High School juniors An Le and Michelle Leung, both 17, the chemistry lab at Stonehill marked their first encounter with a pH sensor and a graphing calculator.

"We've never seen this kind of stuff before," said Le.

At Randolph High, "we can't do as many labs, and we don't have as much equipment," explained Leung.  more...