BSCS Science Educator Rebecca Kruse, Presenter
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A hardy group of Colorado Springs Science on Tap devotees braved a cold winter's night to attend January's fascinating topic, From Rusty Nails to Giant Sequoias: Common Ideas Why Everyday Phenomena Persist and How We Can Challenge Them, presented by BSCS Science Educator Rebecca Kruse.
Kruse's talk focused on confusion that exists in schools and in society about chemical phenomena that occur in the world around us. Why does an iron nail have more mass after it rusts? Where does the matter that makes up a Giant Sequoia tree come from? The answers to these seemingly unrelated questions are rooted (no pun intended) in straightforward, fundamental principles about chemical reactions. So why all the confusion?
In this interactive conversation, the Science on Tap group explored common ideas about everyday phenomena, considered why they persist, and discussed efforts by BSCS and AAAS to study and improve the teaching and learning of these fundamental chemistry principles that explain what happens to matter and mass during these and other natural phenomena.
Science on Tap is sponsored by the Colorado Springs Science Center Project (CSSCP) as a community outreach program designed to gather audiences in a fun and casual environment to learn from local scientists about contemporary science topics. Science on Tap is held at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub in downtown Colorado Springs.
BSCS Executive Director Janet Carlson is a founding director of CSSCP, a collaborative, community-engaged initiative to build a science and technology center in Colorado Springs that stimulates and inspires the inquisitive mind.
Click here for more information about Science on Tap and to check out next month's topic!