What is Tech Savvy

Tech Savvy is a day-long STEM career workshop for students in grades 6–9 and their families from communities surrounding Ohio University. Sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, the program gives students opportunities to explore science through hands-on activities in faculty laboratories.

The Hua Lab has developed plant biology workshops that connect sunlight, chloroplasts, DNA, food, seeds, and biodiversity. Through microscopy, simple experiments, and data analysis, students explore how plants capture solar energy and support life on Earth.

Solar Energy to Food

Topic

Where does the energy in our food ultimately come from? The answer is sunlight. In this workshop, students explore how chloroplasts, the tiny solar-energy engines inside plant cells, convert sunlight into chemical energy stored in food such as grains and seeds.

Students use microscopes to observe chloroplasts in plant cells, use prisms to separate white light, compare the complexity of DNA molecules from different genomes, and analyze the diversity of grains using simple scientific data analysis.

Learning Objectives

Understand how microscopes help scientists observe living cells.
Recognize chloroplasts as tiny but abundant organelles that capture solar energy.
Explain that chloroplasts are green because chlorophyll absorbs light.
Understand that genomes can be viewed as books written with A, T, C, and G letters.
Connect differences in DNA and seed traits to the diversity of life.
Practice sorting, ranking, and basic data-analysis skills.

Solar Energy to Seeds

Topic

Much of the energy in our daily diet comes from seeds, and the chemical energy stored in seeds ultimately comes from sunlight. In this workshop, students explore how chloroplasts convert solar energy into chemical energy and how that energy supports plant growth and seed production.

Students observe chloroplasts under a microscope, compare DNA complexity among photosynthetic organisms, and use simple statistics to analyze the diversity of seeds mixed in a bowl.

Learning Objectives

Know how microscope works
Understand chloroplasts are tiny but abundant organelles that fix solar energy
Know chloroplasts are green because of the chlorophyll pigment that harvest photons
Understand that a genome is just like a book containing A, T, C, and G letters and the different composition of these 4 letters determines the diversity of life, such as seeds
Be familiar with sorting and ranking statistics
Know the diversity of life, including seeds

From Solar Energy to Seeds

Topic

Nearly all energy used by living organisms can be traced back to sunlight captured by plants. Chloroplasts are small compartments inside plant cells that convert solar energy into chemical energy. In crop plants, much of this energy is eventually stored in seeds.

In this workshop, students observe chloroplasts in plant cells, compare DNA molecules from different plants, and examine the diversity of common beans to connect plant biology with food and biodiversity.

Learning Objectives

Understand how microscopes help reveal structures inside plant cells.
Recognize chloroplasts as organelles that convert sunlight into chemical energy.
Explain that chlorophyll helps plants harvest light energy.
Understand that genomes are DNA books written with A, T, C, and G letters.
Connect DNA variation with the diversity of seeds and plants.

Explore the Life Machine That Fixes Solar Energy

Topic

The most abundant solar-energy factories on Earth are not made by humans. They are made by plants and are called chloroplasts. These tiny compartments inside plant cells convert solar energy into chemical energy and help plants make sugars.

In this workshop, students observe chloroplasts under a microscope, estimate how many chloroplast “factories” exist in plant tissues, and use a computer-based activity to compare the size of the chloroplast genome with the much larger nuclear genome.

Learning Objectives

Recognize chloroplasts as tiny but abundant organelles that capture solar energy.
Understand that chloroplasts are green because chlorophyll absorbs light.
Learn that DNA can be represented by four letters: A, T, C, and G.
Understand that chloroplasts have their own genome, which is much smaller than the nuclear genome.