Chew on this - Dr. John Rupnow discusses the finer points of food science with workshop participants (enlarge image).

Dr. John Rupnow of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Institute of Food Technology enlightened teachers about the science of food. He discussed topics such as nutrition, preservatives, diet products, the chemical effects of some foods on others, substitute foods, cooking, and more. An interesting study he cited looked at how many people wash their hands after using the restroom. The results (40% of men and 60% of women) might make a person think twice before reaching into a dish of peanuts at the bar.

Susan Oleszko-Szuts, a biology teacher at Governor Dummer, took participants on a field trip to Plum Islands Park River Refuge to learn about using tide pools as teaching tools. She demonstrated some surveying techniques, including how to locate a certain point of land using a compass and sighting landmarks, as well as using transects and biological keys to record what students find on the shore.

Hold it! - Teachers use simple surveying tools to collect data at local tidepools (enlarge image).