“Yeah, So What?” Welcome to Chem 103: The Science of Craft
I’m Justin. I’m a blacksmith. I’m also a scientist.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
What am I making? Ping. Ping. Does it have value? Ping.
To who? PING. Why? PING.
These are the sounds many students hear in their first (and often only) science class at UMass. You, dear reader, no doubt see the double meaning in the questions. Is he making a toilet paper holder, by hammering a piece of glowing hot iron? Or is he making new knowledge about the properties of steel, through systematic observation and hypothesis testing?
Does it even matter? Well, yes, and no.
It matters because of who the students are. Chem 103 serves students from outside STEM. Students who often approach the Physical Sciences GenEd requirement with … skepticism. “A bunch of irrelevant facts.” “No idea why we need to know this.” “Electronegativity – seriously, what. Why.”
And it doesn’t matter because scientists and craftspeople bring value to society, but in different ways that each should appreciate about each other.
So what?
Smart, passionate, talented, curious students can’t be expected to care about, and invest effort leaning about, topics that have no demonstrated relevance to things they understand and appreciate. “The Science of Craft” bridges that gap by providing a context where the knowledge and methods of science have immediate value. Forging steel, making pottery, brewing beer, blowing glass. Always starting with students’ questions about the materials, tools, and processes of these crafts.
Putting “why” before “what.”
When Justin takes a blob of molten glass and stretches it out into a 50 foot string; yeah, that’s cool, but when we use it to bend a laser beam – now we have a reason to learn about the physics of refraction and describe how fiber optics work. When we ferment a batch of beer and need an airlock, now we have a reason to learn about solubility, polarity, and electronegativity. And the temperature dependence of yeast metabolism. Or anything else we care to ask. When students answer their own questions with data, whether that is how the tensile strength of yarn depends on the staple length of wool, or how the diameter of a chocolate chip cookie depends on how much butter they used, they have grown in their ability to think like a scientist.
And that’s the whole point. Nobody asks “So what” anymore.
Written by Dr. Justin Fermann with images drawn by Katie McDonagh, English / Art Double Major and Science of Craft student F’23.
Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in General Chemistry
by Haoze He
From their first semester in the lab, students learn not just chemistry concepts—but how to think, analyze, and communicate like scientists.
The Department of Chemistry continues to strengthen first-year laboratory education through a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) embedded in the honors General Chemistry laboratory (Chem 122H/123LS). Instead of following prescriptive experiments, students engage in a semester-long investigation of water quality in the Fort River watershed, applying foundational chemical principles to real environmental challenges in our local community.
Working in teams, students analyze nutrient levels (including nitrogen and phosphorus species), chloride, and metal content in environmental samples to better understand runoff and sources of water quality impairment. They operate analytical instrumentation, construct and validate calibration models, apply quality control practices, and interpret authentic data. Through troubleshooting and uncertainty analysis, students develop quantitative reasoning, scientific communication skills, and confidence in evidence-based decision-making.
A distinctive feature of the program is its undergraduate leadership pipeline. Sophomore students who helped beta-test and refine the curriculum now serve as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UGTAs), mentoring new cohorts and reinforcing a collaborative research-centered learning environment.
The semester concludes with a professional research poster session, and students’ findings are shared with the Fort River Watershed Association to inform ongoing monitoring efforts aimed at improving watershed health and long-term recreational safety. By embedding authentic research into the foundational curriculum, the CURE advances academic rigor, peer leadership, and meaningful undergraduate development.