Two Harbors High School underwater science lab

Students from Penny Juenemann’s Two Harbors High School chemistry class had a hands-on lesson on the laws of gases during a scuba diving session Monday. Yan Saillard of the Innerspace Scuba Center and University of Minnesota Duluth chemistry instructor Romesh Lakhan stopped by to demonstrate. Lakhan received a grant to do outreach with area high school teachers. “The goal is to try to develop relationships, strengthen relationships, provide some learning opportunities for the students that they might not ordinarily have,” he said.

Juenemann said the scuba diving helped teach about the gas laws. “As you go underwater, the pressure changes and that’s going to alter the volume...and the amount of oxygen your body needs to get when the pressure changes as you go underwater and then the amount of nitrogen that’s mixed in with the oxygen. All the chemistry behind scuba diving is pretty fascinating,” said Juenemann.

Lakhan hopes to continue the program next year.

Underwater photos submitted by Romesh Lakhan.

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