Symbi, Iowa's first GK-12 Program is a partnership between Iowa State University and the Des Moines Public School District. Symbi is funded by the National Science Foundation to support Iowa State University graduate students (Fellows) conducting interdisciplinary research in areas associated with biorenewables. Each Fellow works collaboratively with a selected middle school science teacher to leverage the Fellow's research experiences as they develop innovative and engaging science activities for middle school students. The Fellows spend one full day every week throughout the public school year in a Des Moines middle school science classroom performing the duties of a "resident scientist" as they interact with their partner teacher and students. Symbi is a response to President Obama's call to the nation's scientists to "spend time in the classroom, talking and showing young people what it is that your work can mean and what it means to you […] to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering."

Friday, November 30, 2012

Fueling Up for the Future

With energy being a big focus of how we're going to push through effectively to the future, Tim Weida's eighth grade science classroom engaged in an experiment put together by the Iowa State Biotechnology Outreach Education Center - all with the help and guidance of Ryan Swanson.

Swanson, a Symbi fellow, felt this experiment worked well with their current science unit on sources of energy. 
Students in Tim Weida's eighth grade general science class
observe their mixture. 

The class mixed together your standard store-bought vegetable oil, soybean oil, methanol, and sodium hydroxide to form their bio-diesel. 

The process became a two day project; day one consisting of the mixing of the reactants and day two consisting of separation of the phases produced. These phases consisted of the bio-diesel and glycerin, a common product found in soap. 

"After a little bit of cleaning up, the bio-diesel formed could be used to run a car," Swanson said. 

This is just another example of how the Symbi Program is helping to influence the minds of tomorrow. 
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