A Documentation and Analysis of Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship Program (SATF): The First Decade 2000-2010

Based on documents, interviews, and site visits, reviews the design and impact of a program to boost teaching and learning quality at public arts high schools by supporting teachers' artistic and professional development. Lists issues for consideration

Powerful Voices: Developing High-Impact Arts Programs for Teens

Intended to stimulate and deepen national dialogue on the ways artists, educators, program planners and funders can help youth to make art, respond to art, and use art to imagine new possibilities

Efficient Extraction and Detection of Aromatic Toxicants from Crude Oil and Tar Balls Using Multiple Cyclodextrin Derivatives

Herein we report the efficient extraction of aromatic analytes from crude oil and tar balls using multiple cyclodextrin derivatives. The known propensity of the cyclodextrins to bind hydrophobic guests in their hydrophobic interiors enhanced the extraction of aromatic analytes from the oil layer to the aqueous layer, with methyl-β-cyclodextrin and β-cyclodextrin providing the most significant enhancement in extraction efficiencies of aromatic toxicants (69% aromatic toxicants in aqueous layer in the presence of methyl-β-cyclodextrin compared to 47% in cyclodextrin-free solution for tar ball oil extraction), and provide optimal tunability for developing efficient extraction systems. The cyclodextrin derivatives also promoted efficient energy transfer in the aqueous solutions, with up to 86% efficient energy transfer observed in the presence of γ-cyclodextrin compared to 50% in the absence of cyclodextrin for oil spill oil extraction. Together, this dual function extraction followed by detection system has potential in the development of environmental remediation systems

Synthesis of a Fluorescent Conjugated Polymer in the Undergraduate Organic Teaching Laboratory

Fluorescent organic polymers are used in a wide range of applications, including explosive sensing, clean energy technologies, and biological detection schemes. However, such polymers are rarely synthesized in an undergraduate organic teaching laboratory, due to their air and moisture sensitivity. The synthesis of a fluorescent organic polymer, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), is described for the upper-division undergraduate organic laboratory. This polymerization is accomplished using straightforward procedures to exclude air and moisture, without requiring the use of a glovebox or strict inert-atmosphere conditions. Once synthesized, the polymer is used for two applications, the fabrication of fluorescent thin films and the formation of organic conjugated nanoparticles, and leads to a number of pedagogical opportunities about polymerization, organic fluorescence, solid-state properties, and hydrophobic nanoparticle formation

Sweet, Sweet Science: Addressing the Gender Gap in STEM Disciplines through a One-Day High School Program in Sugar Chemistry

Reported herein is the design, implementation, and evaluation of a full-day outreach program for high school girls that focuses entirely on sugar-related activities. The program, which we ran in February 2016 and February 2017, included multiple hands-on sugar-based experiments to increase the participants’ interest in and enthusiasm for science. The success of the program was quantitatively evaluated through the administration of precamp and postcamp surveys. Overall, the survey results indicated a statistically significant improvement in responses in one of the two program years, which corresponds to success in changing the participants’ attitudes regarding the practical applicability of science and in increasing their interest in pursuing scientific careers

Selective Detection of Non-Aromatic Pesticides via Cyclodextrin-Promoted Fluorescence Modulation

Reported herein is the detection of aliphatic pesticides using cyclodextrin-promoted fluorescence modulation. The introduction of the pesticide leads to noticeable changes in the emission of a fluorophore held in close proximity by cyclodextrin, leading to a pesticide detection system that operates with 100% successful differentiation and low limits of detection

Cyclodextrin-promoted Diels Alder reactions of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon under mild reaction conditions

Reported herein is the effect of cyclodextrins on the rates of aqueous Diels Alder reactions of 9-anthracenemethanol with a variety of N-substituted maleimides. These reactions occurred under mild reaction conditions (aqueous solvent, 40 °C) and were most efficient for the reaction of N-cyclohexylmaleimide with a methyl-β-cyclodextrin additive (94% conversion in 24 h). These results can be explained on the basis of a model wherein the cyclodextrins bind the hydrophobic substituents on the maleimides and activate the dienophile via electronic modulation of the maleimide double bond. The results reported herein represent a new mechanism for cyclodextrin-promoted Diels Alder reactions, and have significant potential applications in the development of other cyclodextrin-promoted organic transformations. Moreover, the ability to deplanarize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) under mild conditions, as demonstrated herein, has significant applications for PAH detoxification

Highly Efficient Quenching of Nanoparticles for the Detection of Electron-Deficient Nitroaromatics

Reported herein is the highly efficient quenching of fluorescent organic nanoparticles by 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). These fluorescent nanoparticles are formed from the hydrophobic collapse of fluorescent polymer chains, and display quenching efficiencies that are in line with the highest reported literature values. Moreover, the fluorescent quenching occurs only for the fluorescent nanoparticles, and not for the precursor polymer solutions, which display marked insensitivity to the presence of nitroaromatics. This aggregation-dependent fluorescent quenching has numerous applications for the detection of small-molecule electron-deficient analytes

Colorimetric Detection of Aliphatic Alcohols in β-Cyclodextrin Solutions

The sensitive, selective, and practical detection of aliphatic alcohols is a continuing technical challenge with significant impact in public health research and environmental remediation efforts. Reported herein is the use of a β-cyclodextrin derivative to promote proximity-induced interactions between aliphatic alcohol analytes and a brightly colored organic dye, which resulted in highly analyte-specific color changes that enabled accurate alcohol identification. Linear discriminant analysis of the color changes enabled 100% differentiation of the colorimetric signals obtained from methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol in combination with BODIPY and Rhodamine dyes. The resulting solution-state detection system has significant broad-based applicability because it uses only easily available materials to achieve such detection with moderate limits of detection obtained. Future research with this sensor system will focus on decreasing limits of detection as well as on optimizing the system for quantitative detection applications

Efficient Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Polychlorinated Biphenyls via Three-Component Energy Transfer

Reported herein is the detection of highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) via proximity-induced non-covalent energy transfer. This energy transfer occurs in the cavity of γ-cyclodextrin, and is efficient even with the most toxic PAHs and least fluorescent PCBs. The low limits of detection and potential for selective detection using array-based systems, combined with the straightforward experimental setup, make this new detection method particularly promising