Stephen Vermette/Stephanie Finn
Buffalo, NY
Abstract:
Many important components of the atmosphere are unseen. Our experiment addresses the question: can the deployment of an atmospheric net allow us to see some aspects of what normally cannot be seen? We are casting a net into the atmosphere to capture a variety of particulates drifting above the Earth’s surface, to identify a few of them using electron microscopy, and to show how they differ with altitude. Using stratospheric ozone as an example, we also will show how gases vary in the atmosphere. This project involves two groups of students: six college students from SUNY Buffalo State (BSC) registered for an Atmospheric Science course, and five 8th Grade students from the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet School, an inner-city school partnered with the Buffalo Museum of Science (BMS). We are supported, in part, by a joint University of Buffalo / BSC / Buffalo Public School Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Partnership (ISEP), funded by NSF DUE 1102998. The students will be working together as a team to prepare the experiment, and to share their findings. Results will be displayed in a BMS museum kiosk, along with the development of a teaching module to be shared with local science teachers.
Check out our progress at: