Sea Grant Illinois-Indiana
Science Sips is a series hosted by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Sketchbook Brewing Company, and Northwestern University’s Center for Water that brings together researchers, scientists, and curious minds over good conversation and cold drinks. Each event features experts sharing their work in an accessible, informal setting. No lab coat required.
At this gathering, Chicago author Dick Lanyon will take us back in time with a look at the history behind the construction of the Calumet and Chicago waterways and how these feats of engineering shape the region we live in today. Austin Happel from Shedd Aquarium will also share the latest research on fish communities in the Chicago River, including what the science is telling us right now about the health of this urban waterway.
Stick around to test your Great Lakes knowledge with a round of trivia!
Details at the link in bio.
What if your students could send something to the bottom of Lake Superior, and get it back?
This spring, 9 classrooms did exactly that. Through IISG’s Shrinking Cup program, students decorated Styrofoam cups, then sent them approximately 290 meters underwater. As water pressure increased with depth, the cups shrank, returning as miniature versions of the originals.
It’s Boyle’s Law in action: as pressure increases, volume decreases. But more than that, it’s science students can hold in their hands, see with their own eyes, and actually remember.
🔗 Visit the link in bio to bring this to your classroom
A flooded street isn`t just a local problem.
When roads flood, the ripple effects reshape how an entire city moves, and IISG grad student scholar, Tianle Duan, is building the tools to track it in real time.
Using remote sensing, aerial imagery, and AI, this Purdue PhD student maps flood impacts on road networks so first responders and city officials can act faster and smarter.
🔗 Learn more about Tianle’s research at the link in bio.
Teaching plastic pollution? There’s more to it than the 3 Rs.
@NAAEE’s Plastics eeResearch collection pulls together six studies on how to meaningfully educate students, from preschool through middle school, about plastic pollution.
Research-backed, classroom-ready, and free to access.
🔗 Link in bio
📷 Photo credit: NOAA
#TeachingTuesday #PlasticPollution #EnvironmentalEducation
