Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
Date November 2, 2023
All News

Elementary Class visits DEEPS for explosive volcano demonstration

By Mae Jackson

We recently had the honor of hosting Vartan Gregorian Elementary School’s 4th grade class for an exciting STEM field trip. Students started by visiting four labs for demonstrations: In Steve Clemens’s lab, students explored the Ice Ages through microscopic fossils. With Meredith Hastings, they learned about Air Pollution and how scientists track contaminants in the air. Terry Tullis shared the science of Earthquakes, and Marcelo Alexandre explained Gas Chromatography. The visit culminated with a phreatic volcanic eruption, led by Bill Collins (alum and longtime employee of the department), Joe Orchardo (Instrumentation & Mass Spectrometry Specialist), and Jamie Pahigian (Environmental Chemistry Facility and Lab Coordinator).

We’re thrilled to help inspire a love of Earth science in these local kids, one thrilling science demo at a time! 

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Xgx6ic2Iu8
Collins, Orchardo, and Pahigian prepare another bottle for the volcano demo, with a busted bucket in the foreground.
1 of 7

Collins, Orchardo, and Pahigian gear up for another round of the volcano demonstration, following the explosive eruption of the previous bucket.

Collins, Orchardo, and Pahigian smiling for a photo.
2 of 7

The victorious volcano team poses for a photo after their demonstration.

Collins, Orchardo, and Pahigian prepare a bottle for the volcano demonstration.
3 of 7

Collins, Orchardo, and Pahigian prepare to demonstrate the phreatic volcanic eruption by trapping liquid nitrogen inside a plastic bottle and submerging it in a large trash can full of water.

Marcelo Alexandre showing a group of 4th graders the specialized equipment in his lab.
4 of 7
Meredith Hastings and her team showing students the tools they use to study air pollution.
5 of 7

Meredith Hastings and her team demonstrated how they study air pollution by monitoring the air in the classroom.

Terry Tullis showing the large apparatus used for studying earthquakes.
6 of 7

Terry Tullis introduced students to the sophisticated equipment in his lab, demonstrating how scientists study earthquakes on a grand scale.

A microscope hooked up to a laptop shows microscopic fossils.
7 of 7

In Steve Clemens's lab, students looked through microscopes at tiny fossils to learn about the Ice Ages.

Tags
Environmental Science Geochemistry Geophysics Outreach Tectonics, Volcanology, & Petrology