Today's class began with Navid (an intern from Duke) teaching about chemistry. He pointed out that two of the students were wearing Transitions Lenses eyeglasses. The lenses, also known as photochromic lenses, darken when exposed to light... but why do they do this? What causes photochromic lenses to darken?
Navid explained that it was a chemical change to the lens. A chemical reaction was occurring. Photochromic lenses don't respond to light from sources other than the Sun, which radiates ultraviolet rays. The class determined that it must be a response to ultraviolet radiation. They were correct.
Victoria introduced the class to WebMO, an online chemical modeling application. The class modeled various compounds, such as the lens material in it's normal (clear) state and exposed (dark) state. Victoria extended the idea of computer models of particles when she compared the structure of two substances. Graphite and diamond are both carbon macromolecules, but they are physically different because of the uniformity of their chemical bonds.
After lunch, Victoria taught the class about using Microsoft Excel to model the spread of an infectious disease. The class modeled the spread in a school of 1000 students where 3 students were initially infected. The infection spread to nearly all of the school students, so the class decided to make sliders and graphs to more easily change and interpret the data in their Excel document. The class also added other features such as vaccination and death.