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Recently, 41 high school students from homeschool groups and Christian schools attended a Saturday Lab event hosted by ��ҺAƬ’s Sigma Zeta club. Members of Sigma Zeta helped the students perform labs in the areas of chemistry, biology, and physics where they explored pH using a universal indicator and pH meters, identified bacteria through gram staining, and used Geiger counters to examine materials for radioactivity and exponential decay in M&Ms.

At the end of the day, the high schoolers voted on their favorite lab. Although chemistry came out on top, students said they enjoyed getting to eat the extra M&Ms at the end of the physics lab. Karen Torraca, professor of chemistry and faculty advisor for Sigma Zeta, oversaw the lab.

“The Sigma Zeta Lab Saturday was a great experience for students to learn about pH, bacteria, and radioactivity in fun and hands-on ways. It was exciting to see labs full of high school students on a Saturday afternoon, eager to learn about the beauty and wonder of God’s creation.”     -Karen Torraca

The Sigma Zeta club is a national honors society that promotes excellence in the natural sciences, computer science, and mathematics at ��ҺAƬ. Sigma Zeta hosted its first lab event in 2014 as a way for high school students to experience what a college lab is like, and to give members the opportunity to teach some of the interesting labs they have learned during their time at ��ҺAƬ. The Sigma Zeta students organize the event by setting the date, planning the labs that they want to do, and teaching the labs to the high school students.