SciGirls I 2016 - Day Four

Forensics is using science to make the invisible visible! This was the great message offered by Shawn Yao and his wonderful team of experts who greeted the SciGirls this morning. With seven stations appropriately manned, the girls were given a tour of the Tallahassee Police Department's Forensics Unit. Do you know that the most common fingerprint pattern found is the loop? Yes. While 65% of the population has this pattern, only 5% of the population have the arch. There are different means that forensic scientists use to recover prints from a crime scene because of the rigid detail that may result from the amount of moisture on a person's finger. Not only did the girls learn about fingerprinting, but they also received mini-lessons in blood spatter, firearm safety, evidence collection, and cartridge identification. Newer facets and methodology utilized in forensics are being developed everyday that require awareness of such items Smartwater (and no we're not talking about the type you drink) and degrees in chemistry, biology, and art, just to name a few. The mention of chemistry was a great way to introduce our next experience as we headed down the road to BASF with the motto of "We create chemistry." Dave Simkins, the site manager for the office in Quincy asked the girls to define chemistry. Many answers were provided but Mr. Simpkins offered a definition that got the minds of these young scientists thinking: "Chemistry is what makes life." And believe it or not, a lot of chemistry is happening in this very area. BASF is the largest chemical country in the world with over 70 offices. In the mines located between Quincy and Attapulgus, there is enough attapulgite to sustain the world for many, many, many years. There are 70 different versions of clay and these are associated with everyday products from cooking oil to makeup to the BEHR paint that you can find at your local Home Depot or Lowe's. Blythe Lamonica and Walt Loomis spearheaded this opportunity to help the girls understand that chemicals are essential in everything we do. The girls were attentive to the message but more excited to don their pink hard hats, protective eyewear, and ear protection and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility. (It was so "behind-the-scenes" that no photos were allowed.) The amount of attapulgite that is processed through the plant on a daily basis equates to about 100,000 pounds in a year. After a brief tour of the plant and the lab, we returned to the teaching classroom to exchange the hard hats for aprons in the Kids'Lab. This interactive experience, led by Silvia Medrano, provided an opportunity to work with Dawn dish detergent again and get a brief vocabulary review of the term surfactant. But this was only the beginning. The great sites and high heights that Dr. Seuss spoke of will be SciGirls first stop in the morning - no parachute needed, just fearlessness to explore!