Judging a science fair makes an impact
About chickens and rocket science Editor’s
note: Ralph Zehnder held a postdoctoral appointment at Los
Alamos for more than two years. His mentors were David Hobart
of Chemistry (C) Division and David L. Clark of the Seaborg Institute
in the Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT) Division.
Zehnder’s early research focused on the dissolution of uranium
oxides using peroxide and alkali media in support of the development
of the new fuel cycle initiative. More recently he studied the stability
of lanthanide inorganic complexes in his research of potential nuclear
waste forms. Because the same synthesis properties most likely apply
to both lanthanides and actinides, the lanthanides serve as surrogates,
and the procedures developed for the lanthanides are intended to
then be applied to the actinide elements. He also has been involved
in the synthesis of uranium organometallic compounds as an effort
to extend the understanding of fundamental uranium chemistry.
Zehnder received his Ph.D. from the University of Siegen, Germany,
and conducted his doctoral research in organometallic chemistry
at the University of Idaho, Moscow. This fall he will join the
faculty of the University of Louisiana at Monroe as an assistant
professor of chemistry.
Earlier this spring Zehnder was one of about a dozen Los Alamos
scientists recruited by
Alan Gurevitch of NMT-12 to judge an elementary school science
fair. Here, in his own words, he describes that experience and
the impact it has had on his view of the importance of fostering
the next generation of scientists. When Alan Gurevitch asked for volunteers to help judge a science
fair at Carlos Gilbert Elementary School, I jumped at the prospect.
I am always open to new things, and I thought it would be good training
for the position I had just accepted as a chemistry professor. As
I drove to Santa Fe on the morning of March 28, I had no idea of
the impact the events of that day would have on several people’s
lives, including my own.
The first project I judged was about the stretching behavior
of rubber bands at different temperatures. The second was about
the reliability of different packing materials for moving companies.
I was looking around for a new task when I ran into a group of students
who had three little chickens in a cage. The birds were really cute,
and I knew they had to be my next judging assignment. Unfortunately,
another judge was already there. He must have noticed that I was
very excited about the birds because he stepped away and let me
take over.
The chicken project was a team effort of eight students ranging
in age from 11 to 13 who were part of a special education class.
I had no idea what the subject of the presentation was because so
far I had only looked at the little birds, so I asked the students
to tell me something about it. I hadn’t even finished my sentence
when a barrage of information was launched at me simultaneously
from the six students present. After a teacher enforced a little
discipline, each child proceeded to tell me about his or her individual
part of the project.
The students had obtained several fertilized chicken eggs from
a nearby farmer and then scientifically simulated and established
the conditions for hatching chicks. They placed the eggs in an
incubator at the specific temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (99
degrees Fahrenheit) and used a rotator to regularly turn the eggs.
After twenty-one days three chicks were successfully hatched under
laboratory conditions. The birds (two hens and a rooster) were
seven months old at the time of the science fair.
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