Lighting Up the Next Generation of Technological Problem-Solvers

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Interdisciplinary (99) Portable, easily used instruments to conduct experiments focusing on electromagnetic radiation and its effects on the natural world are being purchased for use in two freshmen chemistry courses and a sophomore environmental science course. Several existing experiments are being adapted and others developed to determine: 1) the temporal solar intensity and wavelength profiles incident on earth's surface, 2) the influence of light irradiance and visible wavelengths on terrestrial plant photosynthesis, and 3) the thermodynamic and electrochemistry principles behind solar-based hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell technology. All experimental work is field-based and is of an open-ended, investigative character as opposed to verification type laboratory work. Individual experiments are performed over a several weeks in contrast to isolated, single event ones frequently encountered in introductory courses. Arizona Western College is a two-year school designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Over fifty percent of the student body are Hispanics and they account for seventy-five percent of the minority enrollment. It is expected that the new laboratories will impact 175 students annually.