1 00:00:04,380 --> 00:00:07,560 CATHERINE DRENNAN: For 5.111, we created this video series, 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,600 and we called it, Behind the Scenes at MIT. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,850 And there are two kinds of videos. 4 00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:14,770 One where undergrads, graduate students, post-docs, 5 00:00:14,770 --> 00:00:16,650 or another faculty member are talking 6 00:00:16,650 --> 00:00:19,740 about how the basic chemical principles we're learning 7 00:00:19,740 --> 00:00:22,740 about in the class are used in their laboratory or by them 8 00:00:22,740 --> 00:00:24,600 and how those chemical principles will 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,040 make the world a better place. 10 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:26,970 DARCY WANGER: My name is Darcy Wanger, 11 00:00:26,970 --> 00:00:29,890 and I work as a graduate student in the Bawendi lab at MIT. 12 00:00:29,890 --> 00:00:32,729 I work with quantum dots in my research. 13 00:00:32,729 --> 00:00:35,850 Quantum dots are really, really tiny particles 14 00:00:35,850 --> 00:00:37,260 of a semiconductor. 15 00:00:37,260 --> 00:00:40,560 People in our lab are working to make quantum dots bind 16 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:41,280 to a tumor. 17 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,590 So when a doctor goes in to remove a tumor, 18 00:00:43,590 --> 00:00:46,140 they can see, just shining a UV light on it, 19 00:00:46,140 --> 00:00:47,580 and see whether it's all gone when 20 00:00:47,580 --> 00:00:48,660 they've taken out the tumor. 21 00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:49,440 CATHERINE DRENNAN: It was interesting 22 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:50,940 because I talked to some of the students 23 00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:53,010 in the class about their sort of perceptions of things. 24 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:54,870 And then, after they had watched the videos, 25 00:00:54,870 --> 00:00:56,160 sort of what they thought. 26 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,980 And a lot of students actually said, I was wondering. 27 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:00,930 You're learning this, and it's good, 28 00:01:00,930 --> 00:01:02,790 it builds character to learn something 29 00:01:02,790 --> 00:01:05,670 that could be challenging but wondered, 30 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:07,881 am I ever going to use this for anything? 31 00:01:07,881 --> 00:01:10,380 And then they started watching these videos and seeing this, 32 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:12,720 and they're like, oh, yes. 33 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,160 This is used all the time. 34 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,290 It could be used in my undergraduate research. 35 00:01:16,290 --> 00:01:18,150 People are doing this. 36 00:01:18,150 --> 00:01:20,220 This is a subject that people are actively 37 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:21,690 learning new things. 38 00:01:21,690 --> 00:01:24,330 And I feel like this is a question for a lot of intro 39 00:01:24,330 --> 00:01:26,310 classes, because you have these thick textbooks 40 00:01:26,310 --> 00:01:28,470 and you sort of feel like everything 41 00:01:28,470 --> 00:01:31,230 that could have been learned, it seems like it's all there. 42 00:01:31,230 --> 00:01:34,970 Like volume 2. 43 00:01:34,970 --> 00:01:36,660 There are three laws of thermodynamics. 44 00:01:36,660 --> 00:01:39,210 Are people trying to find a fourth law? 45 00:01:39,210 --> 00:01:41,340 What is someone who do chemistry research-- what 46 00:01:41,340 --> 00:01:42,960 are they actually doing? 47 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:43,890 Discovering? 48 00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:46,530 No, we know what the electrons are already. 49 00:01:46,530 --> 00:01:49,020 And so this gave people a sense of what people 50 00:01:49,020 --> 00:01:50,820 were using chemistry for now. 51 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:52,650 What were those current questions. 52 00:01:52,650 --> 00:01:55,110 And when I was a high school teacher originally, 53 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:56,550 that was really what I wanted. 54 00:01:56,550 --> 00:01:57,780 What are people doing now? 55 00:01:57,780 --> 00:01:59,010 What are the key questions? 56 00:01:59,010 --> 00:02:02,400 If I was studying chemistry, what would I be doing? 57 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,560 And I want to help create this material 58 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:05,970 so other people can see that. 59 00:02:05,970 --> 00:02:09,300 Because for some people, if you tell them it's hard 60 00:02:09,300 --> 00:02:11,520 and it's a challenge to learn, they'll just learn it. 61 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,830 And if they don't use it-- it could be like Latin, 62 00:02:13,830 --> 00:02:16,050 it builds character, it's fine, it's a dead language 63 00:02:16,050 --> 00:02:17,670 but OK, I'm going to get in there. 64 00:02:17,670 --> 00:02:19,710 But then for other people, they really 65 00:02:19,710 --> 00:02:21,657 want to know that this is going to be useful. 66 00:02:21,657 --> 00:02:23,490 And if they're going to really invest in it, 67 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:25,500 they want to know that it's important 68 00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:26,470 and they can do things. 69 00:02:26,470 --> 00:02:29,850 And MIT students and I think so many people out there 70 00:02:29,850 --> 00:02:31,450 want to make the world a better place. 71 00:02:31,450 --> 00:02:34,500 There are a lot of really wonderful human beings. 72 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:36,150 And they need the tools, and they 73 00:02:36,150 --> 00:02:38,114 want to do something that's important. 74 00:02:38,114 --> 00:02:39,780 So I want to create those tools for them 75 00:02:39,780 --> 00:02:42,390 to learn this so that they can apply it and do something 76 00:02:42,390 --> 00:02:45,650 and they can see the power of chemistry.