EVENTS: Chemistry and Color
Chemistry and Color in Astronomy
Headed by: Emily Levine and Jane Lieberman
October 7, 2010
The Columbia University Astronomy Public Outreach program offers public and group lectures and telescope-viewing. In a joint Stern College and Yeshiva College event, our chemistry clubs visited Columbia University on Thursday, Oct. 7th, where we began the evening with a talk on chemistry and color in astronomy. The presentation covered a range of astronomy facts but focused primarily on the different colors of stars and planets, and even the color of the universe (beige, unofficially). Following the lecture, we spent an hour on the roof of Pupin Hall viewing the night sky through three different telescopes. Specifically, we saw a red star, a blue star, Jupiter and its four moons, and a line across Jupiter that was caused by clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere. The event was fascinating and very informative!
Earth Science Week Photography Contest
Headed by: Stern College Chemistry Club Board
October 10 - 16, 2010
The Chemistry Club and Environmental Energy Club informed students of a fun opportunity relating to Earth Science Week, Oct. 10 - 16, 2010. The American Geological Institute sponsors an Earth Science Week photography contest, and this year’s contest theme was “We Depend on Energy.” We look forward to an exciting International Year of Chemistry (2011)! One of the stated IYC themes is to “explore how chemical research is critical for solving our most vexing global problems involving food, water, health, energy, transportation, and more.”
Lecture on Phosphatidic Acid
Headed by: Jessica Gross and Kaitlyn Respler
October 20, 2010
We were honored to hear from Dr. Edgar Kooijman, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Kent State University. He spoke about "how a structurally simple phospholipid influences cellular processes: the biophysics of phosphatidic acid."
Mole Hunt!
Headed by: Aviva Gittleman and Ilana Ickow
October 21-26, 2010
In honor of Mole Day (October 23rd) and National Chemistry Week, we planted small blue and green stuffed moles around the chemistry floor (fifth floor) for students to find! Whoever finds the few special ones that have a sticker will receive a small prize. Happy hunting!
Photograph 51
Headed by: Racheli Ratner
November 18, 2010
The chemistry club sponsored a trip to attend an off Broadway performance of the play “Photograph 51” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre on the West side of Manhattan. Dr. Estes, a faculty advisor to the club, and Mrs. Victory, the department’s technician, attended with about twenty Stern students. The play was an intriguing portrait of the British scientist Rosalind Franklin and her role in the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA in the early 1950’s. She alone acquired the X-ray diffraction image, photograph 51, which was the critical evidence in identifying the structure. The play involved Maurice Wilkins, Franklin’s colleague at King’s College in London and James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge and their conspiracy to use the photograph to race to build the first physical model of DNA without Franklin’s knowledge. Robbed of official recognition due to a premature death, Franklin did not share the Nobel Prize for this work that was subsequently awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins. The play was enjoyed immensely by the attendees.
Chemistry Club Shabbaton
Headed by: Orli Haken, Emily Levine, Julie Meir, Avigail Soloveichik, Becky Weiss, YC Chemistry Club
December 10 - 11, 2010
The December 10-11 Shabbaton (weekend gathering) was hosted by the SCW and YC Chemistry Clubs and the SCW and YC Neuroscience Clubs. Highlights included divrei Torah; paper-flowers-in-erlenmeyer-flasks center pieces; discussions led by Dr. Norman Adler of Yeshiva College; and "a science triathlon" with chemistry and neuroscience jeopardy, taboo, and family feud questions. On Saturday night, we had a Melaveh Malkah with pizza and watched Inception.
Science Sunday
Headed by: SCW Physics and Chemistry Departments
December 12, 2010
The Stern College Physics and Chemistry Departments hosted a day full of fun science learning for a group of local high school students. For chemistry, the students experimented with electrochemistry, polyurethane foam, and gas chromatography. Chemistry club members Jessica Gross, Julie Meir, and Ramona Rahimian assisted with the experiments.
Glow-in-the-Dark Carnival
Headed by: SCW Chemistry and Physics Clubs; Aviva Gittleman, Aviva Gubin, Ilana Ickow, Batsheva Kuhr, Julie Meir, Racheli Ratner, Kaitlyn Respler, Dassi Shulman, Avigail Soloveichik, Becky Weiss
December 15, 2010
This glow-in-the-dark carnival (in honor of our "chemistry and color" theme) exhibited many exciting decorations and activities. Students were invited to ride the Physics Department's gyroscope (compliments of the Physics Club!), make glow-in-the-dark arts and crafts, lava lamps, have their faces painted, bowl in the dark, make glow-in-the-dark slime, listen to Star Wars music, try to hit the center of a target board with a glow-in-the-dark "sticky hand," win prizes, and play "ring toss" with vacuum filtration flasks and glow-in-the-dark rings. Decorations included lava lamps, night-sky wallpaper, glow-in-a-blacklight balloons, and blacklights. Everyone had a fantastic time!
Pathways in Energy and Environment
February 17, 2011
Tuning Color Visual Pigments
Headed by: Batsheva Kuhr and Orli Haken
Joint event with the Pre-Optometry Club and Neuroscience Club
February 24, 2011
Dr. Thomas Sakmar, professor and Head of the Biology and Biochemistry Lab at Rockefeller University in New York, came to speak to students about his research in color vision. He especially focused on the various visual pigments that lead to the different color perception in other animals.
CHEMISTRY CONTESTS_________________________________________________
Chemistry Club Color Mascot Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross
For our first chemistry-and-color contest of the year, we invited students to design this year's CHEMISTRY CLUB COLOR MASCOT! According to dictionary.com, a mascot is "an animal, person, or thing adopted by a group as its representative symbol and supposed to bring good luck." You can visit our general/associate mascots and the winning color mascot on our Theme page. Bernard and Beatrice the hamster-squishing cowboys were designed by Stern College alumna Tzippora Kanal (2010). They excitedly welcome their color-specific friend, Wadsworth the Water Molecule, designed by Yeshiva College student Yosef Hoffman!
Chemistry Jokessssss Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross
Calling all Jokesters! Do you love nerdiness? For our November contest, we invited students to share their nerdiness with the CHEMISTRY CLUB!!! We asked students to come up with Cleverly Comical Creative Chemistry C-jokes!!! Some original examples are: 1. What would a chemist put in his/her chulent/chili????? A Carbene (pronounced car-bean)!!!!!!! 2. Why did the water dislike the hydrogen peroxide? Because it was H2OTOO!!!!!! 3. Why didn't the bromine want to hang out with the alkene???? Because it felt like a third wheel!!!!
Art of Science Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross, Avigail Soloveichik
In honor of our "chemistry and color" theme, we invited all SCW and YC students to submit their scientific artwork for our December contest. The contest was inspired by a science of art contest at Princeton University where scientists submit scientific research-related photos that look like artwork. Welcome to the art of science contest at Yeshiva University! The images were judged based on scientific relevance and quality of art. You can view the submissions on our art-contest page.
Headed by: Emily Levine and Jane Lieberman
October 7, 2010
The Columbia University Astronomy Public Outreach program offers public and group lectures and telescope-viewing. In a joint Stern College and Yeshiva College event, our chemistry clubs visited Columbia University on Thursday, Oct. 7th, where we began the evening with a talk on chemistry and color in astronomy. The presentation covered a range of astronomy facts but focused primarily on the different colors of stars and planets, and even the color of the universe (beige, unofficially). Following the lecture, we spent an hour on the roof of Pupin Hall viewing the night sky through three different telescopes. Specifically, we saw a red star, a blue star, Jupiter and its four moons, and a line across Jupiter that was caused by clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere. The event was fascinating and very informative!
Earth Science Week Photography Contest
Headed by: Stern College Chemistry Club Board
October 10 - 16, 2010
The Chemistry Club and Environmental Energy Club informed students of a fun opportunity relating to Earth Science Week, Oct. 10 - 16, 2010. The American Geological Institute sponsors an Earth Science Week photography contest, and this year’s contest theme was “We Depend on Energy.” We look forward to an exciting International Year of Chemistry (2011)! One of the stated IYC themes is to “explore how chemical research is critical for solving our most vexing global problems involving food, water, health, energy, transportation, and more.”
Lecture on Phosphatidic Acid
Headed by: Jessica Gross and Kaitlyn Respler
October 20, 2010
We were honored to hear from Dr. Edgar Kooijman, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Kent State University. He spoke about "how a structurally simple phospholipid influences cellular processes: the biophysics of phosphatidic acid."
Mole Hunt!
Headed by: Aviva Gittleman and Ilana Ickow
October 21-26, 2010
In honor of Mole Day (October 23rd) and National Chemistry Week, we planted small blue and green stuffed moles around the chemistry floor (fifth floor) for students to find! Whoever finds the few special ones that have a sticker will receive a small prize. Happy hunting!
Photograph 51
Headed by: Racheli Ratner
November 18, 2010
The chemistry club sponsored a trip to attend an off Broadway performance of the play “Photograph 51” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre on the West side of Manhattan. Dr. Estes, a faculty advisor to the club, and Mrs. Victory, the department’s technician, attended with about twenty Stern students. The play was an intriguing portrait of the British scientist Rosalind Franklin and her role in the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA in the early 1950’s. She alone acquired the X-ray diffraction image, photograph 51, which was the critical evidence in identifying the structure. The play involved Maurice Wilkins, Franklin’s colleague at King’s College in London and James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge and their conspiracy to use the photograph to race to build the first physical model of DNA without Franklin’s knowledge. Robbed of official recognition due to a premature death, Franklin did not share the Nobel Prize for this work that was subsequently awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins. The play was enjoyed immensely by the attendees.
Chemistry Club Shabbaton
Headed by: Orli Haken, Emily Levine, Julie Meir, Avigail Soloveichik, Becky Weiss, YC Chemistry Club
December 10 - 11, 2010
The December 10-11 Shabbaton (weekend gathering) was hosted by the SCW and YC Chemistry Clubs and the SCW and YC Neuroscience Clubs. Highlights included divrei Torah; paper-flowers-in-erlenmeyer-flasks center pieces; discussions led by Dr. Norman Adler of Yeshiva College; and "a science triathlon" with chemistry and neuroscience jeopardy, taboo, and family feud questions. On Saturday night, we had a Melaveh Malkah with pizza and watched Inception.
Science Sunday
Headed by: SCW Physics and Chemistry Departments
December 12, 2010
The Stern College Physics and Chemistry Departments hosted a day full of fun science learning for a group of local high school students. For chemistry, the students experimented with electrochemistry, polyurethane foam, and gas chromatography. Chemistry club members Jessica Gross, Julie Meir, and Ramona Rahimian assisted with the experiments.
Glow-in-the-Dark Carnival
Headed by: SCW Chemistry and Physics Clubs; Aviva Gittleman, Aviva Gubin, Ilana Ickow, Batsheva Kuhr, Julie Meir, Racheli Ratner, Kaitlyn Respler, Dassi Shulman, Avigail Soloveichik, Becky Weiss
December 15, 2010
This glow-in-the-dark carnival (in honor of our "chemistry and color" theme) exhibited many exciting decorations and activities. Students were invited to ride the Physics Department's gyroscope (compliments of the Physics Club!), make glow-in-the-dark arts and crafts, lava lamps, have their faces painted, bowl in the dark, make glow-in-the-dark slime, listen to Star Wars music, try to hit the center of a target board with a glow-in-the-dark "sticky hand," win prizes, and play "ring toss" with vacuum filtration flasks and glow-in-the-dark rings. Decorations included lava lamps, night-sky wallpaper, glow-in-a-blacklight balloons, and blacklights. Everyone had a fantastic time!
Pathways in Energy and Environment
February 17, 2011
Tuning Color Visual Pigments
Headed by: Batsheva Kuhr and Orli Haken
Joint event with the Pre-Optometry Club and Neuroscience Club
February 24, 2011
Dr. Thomas Sakmar, professor and Head of the Biology and Biochemistry Lab at Rockefeller University in New York, came to speak to students about his research in color vision. He especially focused on the various visual pigments that lead to the different color perception in other animals.
CHEMISTRY CONTESTS_________________________________________________
Chemistry Club Color Mascot Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross
For our first chemistry-and-color contest of the year, we invited students to design this year's CHEMISTRY CLUB COLOR MASCOT! According to dictionary.com, a mascot is "an animal, person, or thing adopted by a group as its representative symbol and supposed to bring good luck." You can visit our general/associate mascots and the winning color mascot on our Theme page. Bernard and Beatrice the hamster-squishing cowboys were designed by Stern College alumna Tzippora Kanal (2010). They excitedly welcome their color-specific friend, Wadsworth the Water Molecule, designed by Yeshiva College student Yosef Hoffman!
Chemistry Jokessssss Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross
Calling all Jokesters! Do you love nerdiness? For our November contest, we invited students to share their nerdiness with the CHEMISTRY CLUB!!! We asked students to come up with Cleverly Comical Creative Chemistry C-jokes!!! Some original examples are: 1. What would a chemist put in his/her chulent/chili????? A Carbene (pronounced car-bean)!!!!!!! 2. Why did the water dislike the hydrogen peroxide? Because it was H2OTOO!!!!!! 3. Why didn't the bromine want to hang out with the alkene???? Because it felt like a third wheel!!!!
Art of Science Contest
Headed by: Kaitlyn Respler, Aviva Gittleman, Jessica Gross, Avigail Soloveichik
In honor of our "chemistry and color" theme, we invited all SCW and YC students to submit their scientific artwork for our December contest. The contest was inspired by a science of art contest at Princeton University where scientists submit scientific research-related photos that look like artwork. Welcome to the art of science contest at Yeshiva University! The images were judged based on scientific relevance and quality of art. You can view the submissions on our art-contest page.