Post by auntym on Feb 7, 2012 14:54:29 GMT -6
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096481/Ten-year-old-discovers-new-molecule-tinkering-educational-model.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Ten-year-old discovers 'new molecule' while tinkering with educational model[/color]
By Nina Golgowski
4th February 2012
A 10-year-old Missouri girl may be the youngest in history to discover a new molecule after a brief introduction on molecular formation by her middle school science teacher.
Clara Lazen of Kansas City was piecing together over-sized atoms from an educational model in her Border Star Montessori School classroom when she composed something her teacher had never seen before.
Discovery: Ten-year-old Clara Lazen of Missouri may be the youngest in history to discover a new molecule after tinkering with an educational model in her middle school classroom
'I just saw that these go together more,' Clara told Fox4 while holding up her molecule's model. 'Like, they fit more together and they look better. And all the holes have to be filled in for it to be stable.'
When she showed it to her teacher Ken Boehr, he in turn reached out to a friend and PhD chemistry professor at Humboldt State University in Arcata California for advice.
Sure enough, after completing a computer analysis on her formation, the University professor Dr Robert Zoellner turned back to the two to say it looked real, just previously unheard of.
Today Clara's molecule is the highlight of a scientific publication in a major theoretical chemistry journal by Dr Zoellner which features her name as well as her teacher's as co-authors.
'I have never partnered with a middle school student, a 10 or 11 year old student. Never happened before,' Dr Zoellner told Fox4.
TO WATCH VIDEO & CONTINUE READING: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096481/Ten-year-old-discovers-new-molecule-tinkering-educational-model.html#ixzz1ljPY1Kov
Ten-year-old discovers 'new molecule' while tinkering with educational model[/color]
By Nina Golgowski
4th February 2012
A 10-year-old Missouri girl may be the youngest in history to discover a new molecule after a brief introduction on molecular formation by her middle school science teacher.
Clara Lazen of Kansas City was piecing together over-sized atoms from an educational model in her Border Star Montessori School classroom when she composed something her teacher had never seen before.
Discovery: Ten-year-old Clara Lazen of Missouri may be the youngest in history to discover a new molecule after tinkering with an educational model in her middle school classroom
'I just saw that these go together more,' Clara told Fox4 while holding up her molecule's model. 'Like, they fit more together and they look better. And all the holes have to be filled in for it to be stable.'
When she showed it to her teacher Ken Boehr, he in turn reached out to a friend and PhD chemistry professor at Humboldt State University in Arcata California for advice.
Sure enough, after completing a computer analysis on her formation, the University professor Dr Robert Zoellner turned back to the two to say it looked real, just previously unheard of.
Today Clara's molecule is the highlight of a scientific publication in a major theoretical chemistry journal by Dr Zoellner which features her name as well as her teacher's as co-authors.
'I have never partnered with a middle school student, a 10 or 11 year old student. Never happened before,' Dr Zoellner told Fox4.
TO WATCH VIDEO & CONTINUE READING: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096481/Ten-year-old-discovers-new-molecule-tinkering-educational-model.html#ixzz1ljPY1Kov