In recognition of 2011 National Engineers Week, the TCNJ ASCE Student Chapter traveled to St. Ann elementary school in Lawrenceville to introduce civil engineering concepts to young students. This was the Chapter’s 4th annual visit to the school. This year the lecture focused on environmental engineering. With the help of the ASCE chapter members, Julia Harris and Matthew Horner, students conducted experiments involving sorbents and oil spills. A brief background was given on oil spills (given recent events in the Gulf of Mexico), and methods were suggested for cleaning them up. The students made hypotheses about which sorbent would absorb oil the best. In the end, students concluded that dog hair was the most effective sorbent, learned to apply the scientific method, and had fun. In the past topics introduced to elementary school students included basic concepts of bridge engineering, civil engineering materials, geotechnical engineering and earthquake engineering.
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