JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 18, 2004 — For students in Jimmy Davis鈥� Perspectives in Science class, an afternoon lab is more than just a course requirement.
鈥淚鈥檝e enjoyed this lab more than any other class that I鈥檝e taken at Union,鈥� said 51社区 senior Sylvia Schrivner, of Humboldt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been fun. It鈥檚 stuff that we can do in our classrooms, and it鈥檚 really interesting.鈥�
The Perspectives in Science class is for elementary education students, and in their weekly lab they do experiments designed for them to use with their future students. For example, in this week鈥檚 lab, the class made paper.
鈥淭he point of the experiment is to show them how to use science to prepare a useful product 鈥� paper,鈥� said Davis, professor of chemistry. 鈥淚t鈥檚 designed to be simple to set up, simple to do so they can do it with their students. I鈥檓 sure their students would love to get their hands wet in that pulp.鈥�
The process is simple enough and starts with making the pulp, which students do by tearing up toilet paper into small pieces. The put the paper in a blender, add water and mix it up.
They then transfer the pulp to a deckle 鈥� a device with a screen that collects the pulp for drying. Using an iron and a rolling pin, the students dry the pulp and peel the paper off the screen. Although crude and thick, what鈥檚 left is undeniably a sheet of paper.
In addition to making paper, this semester the Perspectives in Science students have measured how fast they run, used salts to make colored flames, made a device to observe a solar eclipse and extracted natural dyes from onions, blueberries and blackberries, among other experiments.
鈥淭he nice thing about the paper experiment is it can be used in a science class, but it could also be done in an art class,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淎ll the experiments that we do have multiple purposes.鈥�
