The next session of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ Science and Engineering Institute will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 15, at the ASMSA campus in downtown Hot Springs.
The hands-on classes are open to all Arkansas students enrolled in the sixth through 10th grades and there is no charge to attend. The classes are provided at no cost to the studnets thanks to the institute’s sponsor — The Ross Foundation in Arkadelphia.
Students may choose two of the following classes to attend:
Alien Planets! — Finding Planets Beyond the Solar System
So far, we have detected hundreds (maybe thousands!) of planets that orbit stars far from the Sun and beyond our solar system. Most of these are gas giants like Jupiter, but some might be more like Earth. How can we tell things like the size of the planet when they are so faraway? How do we find these planets in the first place? In this class, students will do a lab with model stars and planets to learn how NASA's Kepler project analyzes light from these distant stars, and participate in a citizen-scientist opportunity to help the Kepler team find real extrasolar planets.
The Art of Fractals
After a brief introduction to the concept of fractals and chaos theory, students will design and construct their own fractals to take home.
Moving Particles, Diffusion
Students will learn about cell membrane structures and how particles such as sugar and cholesterol are transported across them. Though some of these movements require energy, others like diffusion do not. Participants will explore how the speed of diffusion is affected by varying concentrations during a hands-on lab. A better understanding of nutrient movement throughout our bodies from the intestines to the bloodstream will help students appreciate the complexity of providing each cell in our body with what it needs.