AASU to Help local Science Teachers Improve
the Teaching of Chemistry and Geology through NSF PRISM Grant
Savannah,
GA—July 14, 2004—Fifteen certified science teachers in Chatham
County’s middle and high schools are traveling the Georgia/Northern
Florida region July 6-22 for an intensive course of study: "Planet
Earth: Cross-Geology/Chemistry Workshop." The course is one of
the first program grants handed down through the PRISM (Partnership
for Reform in Science and Mathematics) funding awarded to AASU in
2004.
The group will spend two days, Monday, July 19, and Tuesday, July
20, in the laboratories at AASU to investigate chemical changes, solution
chemistry, and produce artificial magnetite. The labs will be held
in the Science Center from 10:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 2 p.m.
During this program, teachers will observe the geological origin of
two important minerals—rutile and ilmenite—that in time
become a part of the beach sands of coastal Georgia and Florida.
"The minerals are mined from ancient, now land-locked beaches,
processed and sent to companies such as Kerr-McGee in Savannah or
DuPont. These chemical companies convert the minerals to titanium
dioxide pigment," said Chris Schuberth, assistant professor of
geology at AASU. Schuberth co-directs the program with Catherine MacGowan,
assistant professor of chemistry at AASU.
The group visited Tybee Island to collect samples of heavy mineral
sands, ordinary sand, and carry out laboratory assignment of beach
morphology. Also, they visited Graves Mountain in Lincoln County,
Georgia, and Kaolin Mine in Sandersville, in Washington County, Georgia.
Also, they visited a Pleistocene beach deposit with commercially extractable
heavy titanium bearing sands operated by Iluka Resources, Inc., at
Green Cove Springs, Florida. The group also will visit Kerr-McGee
Pigments to explore the process chemistry for converting rutile and
ilmenite into titanium dioxide pigment.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) pigment is a white inorganic pigment used
primarily in the production of paints, printing inks, paper and plastic
products. TiO2 is also used in many white or colored products including
foods, cosmetics, UV skin protection products, ceramics, fibers, rubber
products, and more.
Industry support for the project includes Kerr-McGee Pigments (Savannah);
Iluka Heavy Mineral Sands (Green Cove Springs, FL); Imerys Kaolin
(Sandersville, GA); and Georgia-Pacific Wallboard, (Savannah).
For more information
about the Planet Earth course, contact Chris Schuberth at 912.921.7332.
For additional details about the PRISM program in the southeastern
region, contact Sabrina Hessinger at 912.921.2059.
About PRISM
(PRISM) is a pre-school through college approach to improving student
achievement in science and mathematics in Georgia. The National Science
Foundation grant was awarded to USG in partnership with the Georgia
Department of Education (DOE), colleges, universities, and public
school systems in four regions of the state.
In the southeastern part of the state, Armstrong Atlantic State University
(AASU) and Coastal Georgia Community College will partner with Chatham,
Bryan, Camden, and Glynn county school systems to implement the new
program. This region will receive $5,833,926 from the grant during
a five-year period.
PRISM partners will explore opportunities for increasing and sustaining
the number, quality, and diversity of P-12 science and mathematics
teachers. Participants will be charged with identifying the best practices
in the teaching and learning of science and mathematics, and disseminating
these practices statewide. Another component of the grant addresses
the need for faculties in higher education to meet the needs of the
P-12 schools. Across the southeast region, educators will explore
faculty development opportunities that are needed for teachers to
do their jobs effectively.
