You have to be very committed to chemistry to conduct a research project at 5:30 a.m., yet, that is just what a Michigan high school teacher and a group of students are doing on Thursday, November 9.
Kevin Conkel, a chemistry teacher at Hudsonville High School, spent eight weeks at Grand Valley State University this past summer, conducting chemistry research and learning how to be a better chemistry teacher. He participated in an innovative professional development program, known as Target Inquiry. TI is part of a five-year study that will have local and national impact on how chemistry is taught, while also addressing the new Michigan high school content expectations.
Conkel worked during the summer alongside Grand Valley faculty member Robert Smart on an organic chemistry research project to make new heat resistant polymers. Polymers are common materials such as plastics and foams that have a variety of applications. Conkel and his advanced placement chemistry students will continue that research on Thursday, while making heat-resistant polymers that would be of interest to NASA for use on the space shuttle.
Target Inquiry was developed by two Grand Valley faculty members, Deborah Herrington and Ellen Yezierski, who secured grants from the Dreyfus Foundation and the National Science Foundation totaling over $1.4 million.
For more information visit www.gvsu.edu/targetinquiry or contact Drs. Herrington and Yezierski at (616) 331-3317.
