St. Mary's High School physics class attended Augustana Science Day last Friday. This event was held in the Gilbert Science Center on the campus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in order to provide hands-on experiences for high school students. Areas of science included were: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Mathematics, Nursing, and Physics.

Some of the Science Day Sessions included: Alchemy at Work - Copper converted to Silver and Gold; Artificial Intelligence; Chemistry Demonstrations - Almost Magic; Heartbeat: Taking an Electrocardiogram; Math-Magic; Polymers - The Magic of Big Molecule; and 21 other various sessions. Each student could choose to attend any two of the 28 sessions available. There were 275 registered students in attendance with many sessions averaging 10 - 15 students.

The morning started off with a keynote speaker, Dr. Craig Spencer, who spoke on "Using mud, mules, and satellites to study the effects of timber harvest on water quality in the Rocky Mountains." After the keynote address, students attended their hands on sessions. At noon Dr. John Larkin provided a demo of science experiments for students to see and some to participate in. Lunch was served at 1:00pm and students were dismissed afterwards.

St. Mary's students attended many of the available sessions. Here are some of their thoughts on the Science day at Augustana College.

Mary Kersenbrock, senior at SMH: "The trip to Augustana University was very interesting. The campus was very beautiful and the seminars were exciting. The professors seemed very in-touch with the students. There were also separate panels. I went to Artificial Intelligence and the Uses and Misuses of Memory. The A.I. professor gave us some hands on problems, then we turned it in an equation that the computer could solve. In the Uses and Misuses of Memory the Psychology professor showed us the uses of our active memory. We took little demonstrations to chat our groups memory. Then we compared it to the average persons. The last session was very hands on. The professor was good at getting us involved. He had many experiments that held our attention. The trip recalled past lessons we learned at Edgerton, and also added some new thoughts."

Christopher Bahrij, senior at SMH: "Rise and shine, 4:30 in the morning we were headed out to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We rode during the morning and saw a beautiful sunrise over the prairie. Once we arrived we walked around the Gilbert Science Center at Augustana campus. We then proceeded to go to a lecture about mud, mules, and satellites and how it affects the timber line in Montana. This was an interesting talk about how scientists go to lakes and sample the bottom of it and collect information on sediment layers. After the lecture was over the crowd split up in to many groups to go explore science. I went to "Polymers" and "Math-Magic" and learned about plastics, leathers, rubbers, and number games. I also learned that in ancient times mathematicians were thought of as people that made deals with the devil. After that some 300 high school students came back in to the same room as in the morning and were amazed and thrilled to see a wonderful display of how some of the mysteries of the universe were revealed. We learned how radio waves work, telecommunications work, and about lasers. The day ended with a late lunch at the cafeteria, which was tasty. Then we hit the road back for home everyone being exhausted from the fun day of learning."

Dan Haggerty, junior at SMH: "The field trip to Augustana College was very educational. I went to a session on alchemy which was very interesting. I got some history on alchemists and how they did stuff to try to change regular copper into gold or silver. We then changed a penny into silver and also gold. But it was just a fake covering. Then I went to a math magic show which was fun to see how math is part of magic."

Brent Kelly, senior at SMH: "I thought that the trip to Augustana College was very entertaining and educational. All of the activities throughout the day followed the philosophy of hands on learning. The professors explained and lectured a topic, and then demonstrated the concepts. The demonstrations consisted of everything from magic tricks to explosions. If there is one thing that will keep my attention through a chemistry lesson, it is an explosion."

Steve Binkerd, senior at SMH: "Friday October 12, I participated in a field trip to Augustana's Science Day. Besides getting up at 3:45 AM. I enjoyed the day very much. During the course of the day we saw Craig Spencer who presented a show on investigating mud to study the effects of timber harvest on water quality in the Rocky Mountains. We also saw a presentation by John Larkin called "Mysteries of the Universe Revealed." I enjoyed this experience very much. We saw much more stuff in the two sessions between these two presentations like how to read an electrocardiogram. Such fun."

Aaron Troester, senior at SMH: "On October 12th we (the St. Mary's Physics Class) went to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We listened to the College professors lector on topics such as sediment deposits on the bottom of lakes to the way waves move through outer space.

I also went to an hands on experiment on alchemy. We talked about how it wasn't possible to make gold or silver out of other elements. We did however zinc plate some pennies and later on brass plate them. And we learned how that was possible.

Also I went to another hands on experiment on polymers. I learned why polymers are so important in this day and age and how you can use them to make anything from insulation to car tires.

The physics field trip was a fun and exciting way to spend a day away from school but still be about to learn a lot about the field of physics."

Shannon Holz, senior at SMH: "The physics trip to Augustana College in Sioux Falls was very informative and interesting. We began by learning about the testing of the different layers of mud or soil in bodies of water. Each layer would signify a year and the amount of erosion or what was happening with our land and water at that time.

We then split into our separate sessions. My two sessions were "Chemistry at Work" and "Math Magic." In the chemistry session it dealt with various gases and chemicals. A man did many different experiments and showed the effects on different objects and mixtures. It was extremely interesting and it helped that we were able to visually see what he was doing.

The "Math Magic" session was amazing. The man had a mathematical explanation for almost all of his tricks that he performed for us. He would show us the tricks and then explain how he did them. A couple of his tricks weren't explained which really makes you wonder if there is always an explanation or if it really is "magic"!

Our last group session had to do with applying your knowledge of physics. It dealt with Newton's laws of motion and reaction. We were able to participate in the experiments and try to figure out their solutions. It helped to explain why things are what they are and how things are affected by different elements.

Overall the trip was very fun. It was a good experience, especially since we could participate and actually see what was being done and how things were explained. It's amazing what I learned and the sessions all held people's interest. The day was a really good learning experience for myself and the others."

For more information and some pictures of our students at Science Day Event, you can find links on St. Mary's High School webpage, www.esu8.org/~stmarys/school.html , or you can go directly to the page at the following Internet address: http://www.esu8.org/~stmarys/augustana/physics.html