Oregon daily emerald., January 05, 2004, Page 6, Image 6

APPLY NOW FOR FA AND RA POSITIONS
APPLICATIONS DUE 5:00 P.M. JANUARY 28
Applications available at Area Desks/Housing Office
By Hire Date:
FA candidates must have a minimum GPA of 3 2
RA candidates must have a minimum GPA of 2.5
SAVE $$S
BUY USED TEXTS
Students study avalanches
with realistic experiments
FIG science students
use hands-on examples
to bring learning to life
in ‘Chemistry of Skiing’
By Caron Alarab
News Reporter
When freshman Marnee Mello't
arrived at the last day of her "Chem
istry of Skiing" class in December,
she didn't expect to have the best av
alanche experiment compared to
her fellow students. She just knew
she would do her best to pack down
the fake snow.
After spending nine weeks study
ing the chemistry of warm clothing
and learning how to make
snowflakes, Mellott said she is glad
she enrolled in the specialized fresh
man interest group last fall term.
"It sounded interesting compared
to all the other FIGs," Mellott said.
"I love to ski as well."
Mellott is one of the 21 freshmen
who learned about the chemistry of
skiing through real-life models, ex
periments and students projects in
the fall-term FIG. From investigating
materials used to manufacture skis
to exploring the chemical properties
of water, the course covers a wide
range of topics related to the role of
the chemist in the skiing industry.
"I would love to have more of this
hands-on learning in a lot of other
FIGs," FIG Program Director Mari
lyn Linton said. "It makes science
come alive."
In the avalanche experiment, the
students worked with nine different
panels, each designed from smooth
acetate, burlap and rocky surfaces to
imitate real terrain. The students
then used a combination of sugar,
flour and potato flakes as three sepa
rate layers of snow, which they
packed down on the panels.
The purpose of the experiment is
to reveal layers when the panels are
tilted. According to the class instruc
tors, a successful avalanche falls in
layers instead of all at once, making
the terrain safe for skiers.
During the first panel experiment,
the students smiled and clapped
giddily as fracture lines and layers
emerged with each degree tilted.
Senior instructor Julie I laack, one
of the class's two teachers, said the
smoothest surface is always the first
to give way in this experiment.
"I would really advocate
moving more of these
real-life examples in
science. But it's a lot of
work and it takes a lot of
time the first time."
Jim Hutchison
Chemistry Associate Professor
"Acetate would be the equivalent
of smooth granite while burlap rep
resents the gritty, rough rock sur
face," she said.
In the second panel experiment, the
top layer of snow was still intact at a 55
degree angle before it came crashing
down. As the panel rose a few more de
grees, the two other layers slipped. A 2
inch-tall plastic skier stood strong on
the panel as the equivalent of multiple
tons of real snow fell on him and en
veloped his friends.
So the safest way (in real life) is
to be as tall as a tree and to be glued
down," one student said jokingly.
Mellott kept packing down her
snow as other students tried lifting
the newly packed third panel from a
different angle. All three layers on
the third panel cracked and fell to
gether with lightly set snow.
When it was her turn, Mellott
slowly lifted the panel and the
smooth acetate surface slipped to re
veal a near-perfect layer at approxi
mately 50 degrees. The class mem
bers held their breath as the panel
inched to 55 degrees, 60 degrees and
finally 65 degrees before the second
layer slouched down.
"Oh, look at the layers," chemistry
Associate Professor Jim Hutchison
said with excitement. "That's cool."
At approximately 85 degrees, the
third and final layer of snow broke
from the burlap and slid to the ground,
making Mellott's results the most suc
cessful and the most realistic.
If her panel had been a real
mountain, it would have been the
safest place to ski because the ava
lanche came down in stages instead
of aii at once.
"It turned out well because it was
a more realistic depiction," she said
with a modest smile. "I packed (the
snow) down a lot."
Hutchison, the class's co-instruc
tor, said he has been thrilled to
blend student interests with the sci
ence they learned in the classroom.
"It's been fantastic," he said. "It's
also really neat to have a theme to
make the class more interesting."
Although Hutchison has enjoyed
using real-life examples in science,
he said it's not always easy.
"I would really advocate moving
more of these real-life examples into
the classroom," he said. "But it's a
lot of work and it takes a lot of time
the first time."
Linton said she was glad to see the
students get the most out of their
FIG experience.
"They're having fun and they're
learning chemistry," she said. "That's
the ideal."
Contact the business/science/
technology reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
Monday
Art exhibition, 7 a.m.-ll:30 p.m., Adell McMil
lan Art Gallery. “No Boundaries 2004” is the
CAMPUS
Iqi- n §§
D>U«£»4L
14th annual regional traveling exhibit produced
by VSA Arts of Washington, a nonprofit group
dedicated to providing arts opportunities by, for
and with people with disabilities. Works on dis
play include photos, paintings, watercolors, ce
ramics, linoleum prints, digital designs, paper
cutting and mixed media. Exhibition runs
through Jan. 29.
We've got sp
at www.dailyemerald.com
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE
CLASS SUPPLIES ON SALE ■ 10% DISCOUNT ON ALL BOOKS:
The UO Bookstore has
everything you'll need
when you come out of
your cave winter term.
Non-profit bookstore owned by students, faculty i
nd staff of the University of Oregon.
(
’am
LIGHTS OUT!!
Shut off lights when you leave classrooms.
EVERY WATT COUNTS
Sponsored by the UO Campus Environmental Issues Committee