New STEM Education Packs Released

To inspire today’s tech-savvy students,Ocean Optics has released two new Education Packs, built around its STS microspectrometer and Spark spectral sensor. With the kit hardware and commonly-available samples, teachers can integrate absorbance, transmission, fluorescence, emission and pH measurements into their curricula, bringing spectroscopy concepts to life. Modular and flexible, the Education Packs are a budget-friendly option compared to the cost of buying all the included hardware individually.

The kits package a small-footprint spectral sensing system and illuminated cuvette holder (EDU-STS-VIS-PACK) or direct-attach cuvette holder accessory (EDU-SPARK-PACK) with a combination of accessories and software. The components can be assembled in multiple configurations to perform several types of measurement. By purchasing Education Packs, teachers can save up to 40% of the cost of the components when bought separately.

The EDU-STS-VIS-PACK covers the wavelengths of 350-800 nm while the EDU-SPARK-PACK provides measurement over the range of 380-700 nm. Both are capable of multiple types of spectral measurements demonstrating several spectroscopy concepts, including: Absorbance - Beer’s Law; Emission - Atomic emission; Fluorescence - Excited state molecules; pH - Henderson Hasselbalch; Transmission - Colour measurement.

To support teachers using the kits, Ocean Optics has established an educational resource page at https://oceanoptics.com/educational-resources/. The page contains experiments and teaching materials to help teachers get started, and is expected to grow as members of the user community share their own experiments and materials. The range of experiments is geared from secondary school, through further education colleges and up to university level.