Although Saint Mary’s students are on break until January 17, the Science Hall is busy with activity this week. Chemistry professor Toni Barstis is conducting labs with 10th grade students from Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, IN.
Some Trinity School at Greenlawn students
perform an experiment on pretzels.Traditionally, at the beginning of Trinity’s second semester students spend one week out of school pursuing a topic specific for each grade level. The 10th grade students are studying chemistry. Barstis and John Lee, headmaster at Trinity, designed the sophomores’ week to be investigation-based so that they develop experimental thinking habits in all the sciences.
During the weeklong lab experience, students will perform a handful of different experiments on campus. From testing the chemical components of aspirin and other medicinal tablets to experimenting with the caloric and fat content of various foods, the students have been involved in each phase of the design and execution of their experiments. Each student will experience approximately 20-25 hours of actual lab time during the week.
“When our chemistry students ask us questions about how something works we don't just tell them, we want them to be part of the process in discovering answers and proposing ways to find answers,” Lee explained. “The purpose of having the labs at Saint Mary's is to utilize their facility and Toni's expertise.”
Several experiments were
performed by Trinity students
at the Saint Mary's Science Hall
in early January.The idea to hold the labs at Saint Mary’s came out of conversations between Barstis, a Trinity parent, and Trinity teacher Katy McShane. They sought to provide students with more lab experience. McShane passed away on October 9 from cancer. Up until a week before her death, she and Lee had been team teaching Trinity’s two chemistry classes. The plans for this week’s investigations at Saint Mary's were finalized in December.
“Trinity is excited that we have this opportunity to collaborate with Toni and Saint Mary's College,” Lee said. “Toni is a dynamic teacher and obviously passionate about science. We want to give all our students as much laboratory experience as possible, so having our entire sophomore class conducting investigations and helping design experiments is terrific.”