Natural Science & Mathematics

Mission Statement
The Natural Science Department at Cowley County Community College seeks to provide a diverse student population with broad-based, pro- active problem solving and critical thinking skills to prepare students for performance in a global society.

Cowley AEC team competes at state

Led by freshman Jacob Fletcher’s fifth place individual finish, members of the Cowley College Academic Excellence Challenge team competed at the state AEC finals Friday and Saturday at the University of Kansas State at Salina.

Facing off against other Kansas Community Colleges, the students from Cowley College gave a good effort and finished in eighth place out of 13 teams.

“The team competed hard, we were just outgunned in a few key matches to end our season,” Cowley mathematics instructor/AEC coach Greg Nichols said.

Members of the team are, Joshua Arseneault, Richard Gould, Derek Kelsheimer, Jamie Nichols, Elizabeth Smith, and Fletcher. Gould tied for 20th place out of the 77 competitors.

Cowley’s Pi Day raises $290

Raising over $100 more than they did a year ago, Cowley College’s Mu Alpha Sigma Chi raised $290 during its annual Pi Day on Thursday. The event is part of national Pi Day.

Voting was done by putting coins or bills in the contestants jars. The coins counted as positive votes, with pennies counting as one point, nickels as five points, dimes as 10 points, and quarters as 25 points. All paper cash was worth the face value in negative points.

The top-two point getters, Mark Britton, registrar, and Kristi Shaw, director of student life, received a pie in the face.

Britton finished as the champion with a positive 5,935 points, while Shaw was second with a positive 2,088 points. Shayla McDonald, director of admissions, had the luxury of throwing the pies into the face of the contestants.

Other Cowley employees involved in the voting were Scott Layton (773 points), Amy Slane (209 points), Willy Lucero (122 points), Vince DeGrado (78 points), Dane Straight (30 points), Sue Saia (negative 639 points), and Greg Nichols (negative 833 points).

In mathematics, Pi serves as the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is a transcendental number, meaning it will repeat indefinitely without ever appearing exactly the same; however, Pi is usually calculated to 3 digits, 3.14. Therefore, Pi day is celebrated on March 14.

High school students take part in Cowley’s Math and Science Day

Close to 70 high school students took part in Cowley College’s annual Math and Science Day held Wednesday in Arkansas City.

The event is sponsored by the Math and Science Club and Phi Theta Kappa.

The students competed for scholarships and cash prizes. The format of the competition consisted of the construction of scientific apparatus testing the skills of the creators (in teams of two) and a scholastic competition for those knowledgeable in the scientific fields.

Five academic areas were tested. Areas tested were, the fields of Algebra, Geometry/Trigonometry, Physics/Physical Science, Biology and Chemistry. The top five or six students in each category then participated in a Quiz Bowl.

Along with the academic tests, students had an opportunity to compete in a Ping Pong Ball Launch, Eiffel Tower Construction, and CSI (Cowley Science Investigation) competition.

Students were then treated to a campus tour. The day concluded with lunch and an awards ceremony in the Earle N. Wright Community Room. All participants received a Cowley t-shirt and backpack.

Cornelius Trunkle and Austin Hughes from Chaparral High School were the winners of the Ping Pong Ball Launch and were awarded a cash prize of $20 each.

Another pair of Chaparral High School students, Seth Duran and Garret Struble won the Eiffel Tower Construction competition and was each awarded $20.

South Haven High School students, Tricia Cook and Zane May, placed first in the CSI (Cowley Science Investigation) competition and were awarded $20 each.

Cook, May, and Struble were also recipients of a Math and Science Day Champion Scholarship.

April Nittler, Cowley College Math and Science Club Advisor, was pleased with how well the event went.

“The day went really smooth, we heard a lot of positive comments from the sponsors,” Nittler said. “I thought the event was very positive for the college.”

View photos of winners

CHEMISTRY LAB EXPERIENCE

As part of the Non-Credit Supervised Laboratory Experience program the Natural Science department offered Chemistry this summer. Seven students were enrolled in the course taught by Melinda Neal on May 21-25. The program is offered to students in grades 8-12 who may not have access to science laboratory facilities. The course offered 10-labs in the subject of Chemistry. Students received a certificate showing the labs completed. The program is open to all students, but may be particularly helpful to those home-schooled or enrolled in private academies. Program offerings include Biology, Physical Science and Chemistry on a rotational basis.

If you are interested in these program offerings or have any questions please contact Michelle Schoon or Marcia Cales in the Natural Science office, (620)-441-5297.