CeMaST Newsletter CeMaST Newsletter

MAY–JUNE 2012

S ara McCubbins, Project and

Office Manager at CeMaST, and

Angie Codron, chemistry teacher at

Normal Community West High

School, recently published Forensics

in Chemistry: The Case of Kirsten K.

through the National Science

Teachers Association (NSTA) Press.

The book highlights a year-long

f o r e n s i c s - b a s e d c h e m i s t r y

curriculum where students collect

data and evidence throughout five

different performance assessments

and assemble it to solve the case by

the end of the year.

The book includes details about each

of the five performance assessments,

teacher notes for common student

misconceptions or data collection

errors, and helpful hints for teachers on how to imple-

ment the curriculum into the classroom. Each chapter

includes a teacher guide, student handout, sample

student work, and grading rubrics. The last chapter

summarizes the methods used to synthesize the

f i v e p e r f o r m a n c e

assessments in the

classroom, discussing

what worked and what

didn’t for the students.

Sara and Angie have

been working on this

project for over 4 years.

The project began when

Sara was a GK-12 fellow

as part of the PRISM

project at ISU, which

p a i r e d g r a d u a t e

students in the fields of

science and mathematics with practicing teachers.

After countless requests from workshop attendees to

publish the material, Sara and Angie submitted a

Forensics in Chemistry: The Case of Kirsten K. An NSTA Press publication by Sara McCubbins and Angie Codron

Upcoming Events:

June 5-14 — Formative Assessment in Elementary

Mathematics Summer Workshop

June 11-22 — Real Numbers Summer Workshop

June 25-29 — Illinois Summer Research Academy

July 18-19 — American Solar Challenge

More information can be found at our website:

CeMaST.IllinoisState.edu

proposal to NSTA Press in the Fall of

2011, which was accepted.

The book was published in April 2012

and is now available in both paper-

back and e-book formats at the NSTA

store at www.nsta.org; the paperback

is also available at www.amazon.com.

Sara and Angie continue to promote

the book at various regional and

national conferences and look

forward to working on future projects

together.

“Forensics seems to have the unique

ability to maintain student interest

and promote content learning…. I

still have students approach me

from past years and ask about

the forensics case and specific

characters from the story. I have never had a

student come back to me and comment on that unit

with the multiple-choice test at the end.”

— from the introduction to Forensics in Chemistry: The

Murder of Kirsten K.

For more information, please visit

www.nsta.org/store/

Page 2

CEMAST NEWSLETTER

Expanding Your Horizons—April 14th

On April 14th, the 22nd Annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference took place.

The Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Conference is an annual, fun-filled day

intended for girls in grades 5 through 10, and their parents and teachers. The

conference is held on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, IL. The

Bone Student Center on the ISU campus serves as Conference Headquarters.

This year’s keynote address was "The Power of Positive Thinking" with

Amanda Ritzler.

Family Science Day—April 22nd

CeMaST, along with the Children’s Discovery Museum and Challenger Learning

Center, hosted Family Science Day as part of Sibling Weekend on Sunday, April

22, 2012. The event attracted over 1,200 attendees and more than 80 exhibits,

including NASA speaker Jim Simek, the St. Louis Science Center, and a transpor-

tation showcase of everything from classic cars to electric and solar vehicles. The

event was geared towards pre-K through 8th grade students and their families,

and this year’s focus was on sustainability and energy conservation in honor of

Earth Day.

Benjamin Mee—April 23rd

On April 23rd, CeMaST welcomed Benjamin Mee, author of We Bought A

Zoo, to campus in conjunction with Milner Library and the Sage

Foundation as part of the ISU Speaker Series. Benjamin Mee spoke about

his experiences in purchasing and running the Dartmoor Zoological Park,

which is located in Devon, England. In addition to the main presentation at

7 p.m., which was attended by over 200 people, the event also included a

3 p.m. Q&A session, 5:30 p.m. family fun carnival, and a special free movie

showing at the Starplex Cinemas on April 24th of We Bought A Zoo,

starring Matt Damon and based the novel by Benjamin Mee.

High School Research Symposium—April 27th

On Friday, April 27th, 227 students arrived on campus to

participate in the 12th Annual High School Research

Symposium at Illinois State University. Students from eight

high schools and one middle school presented their

research to ISU professors, ISU students, and their peers in

poster sessions. In the afternoon, two Illinois State faculty

members gave their own research presentations. Dr. Kevin

Laudner shared his research on the Treatment of Shoulder

Injuries Using Clinical and Biomechanical Measurement

Models, while Dr. Rachel Bowden presented on Turtle

Research at ISU: Ecology and Physiology. After the judges’

scores were tallied, the top three students in all categories

were presented with awards. Congratulations to all of the

Spring 2012 Event Recap

A young participant at

Family Science Day 2012

High School Research Symposium 2012

Benjamin Mee Presentation

Page 3

MAY–JUNE 2012

Ways to Get Involved

students who placed in the top three of each category. We would also like to congratulate the winners of the fol-

lowing special awards: the Edison Award – S. Bearman, Niles North High School; the DaVinci Award – M. Mattus,

Washington Community High School; the Student's Choice Award – F. Phan, Niles West High School; and the

Director's Award – H. Daum and T. Endress, Stark County High School. The High School Research Symposium

trophy, which goes to the top performing school overall, was taken home by the students from Niles North High

School.

American Chemical Society High School Chemistry Contest—Wednesday, May 2nd

This year, 408 students arrived at Illinois State University for the 35th Annual American Chemical Society High

School Chemistry Contest, sponsored by the Department of Chemistry, the Center for Mathematics, Science,

and Technology (CeMaST), and the Chemistry Club at Illinois State University, with additional support from the

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois), and the Illinois Heartland

Section of the American Chemical Society. The contest is broken up into two groups for the First Year Chemistry

Exam, 325 students, and the Advanced Chemistry Exam, 83 students. The students hailed from 18 central Illinois

high schools. The exams are graded and then awards are presented to the top five students in each group. Con-

gratulations to the winners of the First Year Chemistry Exam Contest: A. McCann – Dunlap High School, T. Kuen-

neth – Normal Community High School, D. Leman – Normal Community High School, R. Butler – Morton High

School, and A. Rohlfing – Dunlap High School. Congratulations to the winners of the Advanced Chemistry Exam

Contest (two students tied for 5th place): D. Jeffs – Peoria Richwoods High School, D. Boley – Washington Com-

munity High School, J. Zhang – Peoria Richwoods High School, T. Cheng – Peoria Richwoods High School, J.

Boyle – Peoria Richwoods High School, and A. Lee – University High School.

Volunteer your time by participating in one of the following

programs or events:

Mentor students in the High School Research

Symposium or Summer Research Academy

Get involved with the MIST student organization

Volunteer to help out at the American Solar Chal-

lenge Normal Pit Stop, or other events

Be a mentor for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Partici-

pation (LS-AMP)

The LS-AMP program is in need of faculty mentor

for students in the STEM disciplines

(cdplatt@ilstu.edu or 8-3714)

Visit the website to learn more about the program

http://ucollege.illinoisstate.edu/lsamp/

Contact Us: CeMaST@IllinoisState.edu

More young participants visit different exhibits at Family Science Day 2012

Center for Mathematics, Science, and

Technology

210 W. Mulberry St.

Campus Box 5960

Normal, IL 61790-5960

Phone: 309-438-3089

Fax: 309-438-3592

E-mail: cemast@ilstu.edu

For m ore new s a nd i n form at i on ,

V i s i t our w ebs i t e :

C eMa ST . I l l i no i s S t a t e . e du

Illinois Summer Research Academy—June 25-29th

The 2012 Illinois Summer Research Academy will bring high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to cam-

pus to spend a week with ISU professors and other high school students from across Illinois working on various

hands-on research projects. Students are introduced to current research projects ISU faculty are working on and

are exposed to the tools and techniques that are being used to accomplish this research. Students then make

contributions to these research projects and/or work on their own research projects with their peers. This year’s

opportunities include: Biology – Physiology and Ecology of Aquatic Turtles, Field Wetland Biology and Biogeo-

chemistry, and Field Biology and Ecology of Birds; Biochemistry – Biochemistry; Chemistry – Chemistry; Ge-

ography/Geology – Geomapping & Stream Field Experiment; Information Technology – Computer Program-

ming; and Mathematics and Physics – Mathematics and Physics.

American Solar Challenge—July 18-19th

On July 18th-19th, the American Solar Challenge will return

to Illinois State University. The American Solar Challenge

is a competition to design, build, and drive solar-powered

cars in a cross-country race, covering a 1,200-1,500 mile

course. The race is hosted by the Innovators Educational

Foundation, an organization devoted to educational oppor-

tunities where students are challenged with “hands-on”

learning experiences in the areas of science, engineering,

and technology. The 2012 race will run from Rochester, NY

to St. Paul, MN with an overnight stage stop here in Nor-

mal.

Illinois State's Team Mercury is, quite literally, counting

down the seconds to the American Solar Challenge. You

can follow their progress on Facebook or Twitter. To find

out more information about the upcoming race, check out the official site of the American Solar Challenge.

Summer 2012 Event Preview