Thanks to the hard work of science teacher Dr. Gregory Panzanaro, Averill Park High School has been awarded with the highly competitive American Chemical Society’s Hach High School Chemistry Grant.
The grant is awarded once a year and brings $1,500 to Averill Park for the purpose of enhancing the school’s technology-based data collection chemistry science in multiple subject areas.
With the grant, Dr. Panzanaro will be able to purchase six Probeware interfaces that will allow classes to attach Probeware that measures temperature, dissolved oxygen, solution conductivity, dissolved carbon dioxide and pH. Dissolved carbon dioxide probes were obtained through a $500 grant Dr. Panzanaro received from the American Chemical Society during the 2018-19 school year.
“I will be working with chemistry, biology and environmental science as we develop lab activities using this data collection equipment,” Dr. Panzanaro said. “For example, a new lab planned for the upcoming school year in biology will provide the opportunity for students to more deeply explore the concept of photosynthesis by measuring specific concentrations of carbon dioxide consumed and oxygen produced by elodea plants – a type of plant people put in their fish tanks.”
The ACS-Hatch High School Chemistry Classroom Grants have awarded more than 700 high schools since 2008. According to the grant website, the ACS-Hatch Grants “support ideas that enhance classroom learning, foster student development, and reveal the wonders of chemistry.”