Grant provides special equipment for CHS science lab

California High School
California High School

Chemistry experiments at California High School just got a boost.

Jamie Johnston, a seventh-year teacher, received a $2,170 grant from the Toshiba America Foundation for an incubator, centrifuge, a micropipetter and a spectral photometer.

This is the first time Johnston has received a grant, but she expects it won't be the last. She is applying for others.

The key was basing the grant request around a project she already had tried without the preferred equipment, she said.

This year, Johnston's chemistry II class studied the biosynthesis of silver nano-particles.

Nano-science is a growing major among colleges. In general, she would like to see more students interested in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Experiments like this and using the new equipment will provide "good exposure before they go to college," Johnston said.

Without the aid of the specialized equipment, the students were limited in their discoveries.

They researched in scientific journals for methods to test the anti-bacterial effects of silver nano-particles. Then they modified those procedures and replicated them.

However, with the precise equipment provided through the grant, "next year's results will say definitively if what we did is what we thought we were doing."

Most of the new equipment, which should be in place by the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, will have uses in other experiments and classrooms, she said.

"We hope to add more labs and interactive, hands-on things," Johnston said.

Next year, she said, her goal is for students to prepare science fair projects, taking advantage of the new equipment.

Johnston is completing her master's degree in natural science with an emphasis in chemistry from Lincoln University. Prior to teaching, she worked 15 years in chemical laboratories.