Vernier Software & Technology and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) awarded seven educators, including two middle school teachers, four high school teachers and one college-level educator, with 2013 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards.
Each winner will be formally recognized at this year’s annual NSTA Conference in San Antonio, Texas on April 12, 2013, and receive $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products and up to $1,500 toward expenses to attend the conference.
This year’s Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards’ winners include:
Middle School
Christine Herald, Eisenhower Middle School, Manhattan, KS
Herald’s students use pH sensors to investigate the pH of different cake mixes and chemical reactions in the ‘Easy Bake Oven® Heat Transfer Lab.’ She will add Light Sensors for physics investigations, as well as Temperature Probes.
Kristy Schneider, La Center Middle School, La Center, WA
Schneider’s engineering students work with a local scientist to construct and to wire control boxes for underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). From monitoring and analyzing nitrate levels to conducting water quality tests at wetlands, students use Vernier sensors and LabQuest 2 devices to conduct experiments with their ROVs.
High School
Cara Hale-Hanes, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Long Beach, CA
Based on the World Water Monitoring project that delivers potable water to people around the world, Hale-Hanes’ ‘Design a Biological Buffer for Water Treatment’ lab challenges students to design a buffering system that allows water to be consumable for humans and animals. As part of the investigation, students use the Vernier pH sensor and LabQuest data-collection interface to test the buffering capacity of their selected buffer.
Crystal Sengstaken, The Archer School for Girls, Los Angeles, CA
After the study of the anatomy and physiology of the muscular system, students in Sengstaken’s System Biology and Disease class design their own unique experiment utilizing the Vernier EKG Sensor in order to answer a question of their choice about muscle function and neuromuscular reflexes.
Darrell Coston, Goldsboro High School, Goldsboro, NC
In ‘The Effects of UV Radiation on Bacterial Cell Growth’ lab, Coston’s chemistry students use Cell Theory with a wide variety of Vernier sensors to conduct an inquiry-based investigation that involves the utilization of UV radiation and its effects on cellular growth.
Katherine Schenkelberg, West High School, Torrance, CA
In Schenkelberg’s Muscular System unit, anatomy and physiology students complete a series of technology-based, inquiry labs using Vernier’s EKG Sensor and Hand Dynamometer to investigate the electromyogram (EMG).
To learn more and to find details for the 2014 application, visit http://www.vernier.com/grants/nsta/.
