AUSTIN, TX (NOVEMBER 4, 2011) This weekend, thousands of students and their families will experience Sapling Learning’s virtual learning environments during the Texas Science and Engineering Festival at the Austin Convention Center.

Sapling Learning, a leader in interactive learning, homework and instruction tools for science education, will host a booth where students and families will interact with two live experiments which will be further explored in a virtual environment.

The first live experiment will give participants the opportunity to learn about electrolytes by measuring the conductivity of different household solutions, such as sports drinks and salt water. When electrodes are dipped into a liquid a LED will light to indicate whether the solution conducts electricity. The same type of experiments will be virtually conducted with dangerous solutions, such as acids and bases.

The second live experiment will feature a Cartesian diver for measuring density and buoyancy. A Cartesian diver consists of a plastic bottle filled with water, with a diver floating on the water. The diver, in this case a packet of soy sauce, will sink to the bottom of the bottle when the bottle is squeezed. After completing this experiment, the virtual environment will ask specific questions related to what was observed during the experiment.

“We are excited about this opportunity to engage and inspire young scientists and engineers in meaningful and interesting ways – both online and with hands-on experiences,” said Dr. James Caras, President of Sapling Learning. “In addition, we are thrilled to provide festival attendees with a glimpse of our newest interactive science products, created especially for the Texas high school market. The Sapling Learning online Biology, Chemistry, IPC, and Physics high school products are receiving overwhelmingly positive responses from students, teachers, and curriculum coordinators.”

The Expo will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6. Attendees will find Sapling Learning in Booth 419.

About Sapling Learning
Sapling Learning provides the most effective online, interactive homework and instruction for problem-solving disciplines. Its programs are proven to significantly improve student-learning outcomes. Sapling Learning’s digital environment offers targeted instructional coaching and feedback, which increases student engagement and comprehension. Because of its easy to use interface, students learn how to solve problems, rather than having to learn the programs. Additionally, Sapling Learning can be customized to each instructor or teacher’s syllabus and any chosen textbook reference. Sapling Learning assigns a dedicated subject matter expert to service teachers’ unique needs throughout the course, making teaching more effective and enjoyable.

Over 200 higher education institutions and 300 faculty have adopted Sapling for their course materials, improving the learning experience for over 100,000 chemistry students in just two years. Additionally, Sapling Learning interactive high school products are helping educate 40,000 high school students at over 40 school districts in Texas.

For more information on Sapling Learning, visit www.saplinglearning.com.

Media Contact:
Patti D. Hill
Penman PR for Sapling Learning
512.218.0401
patti@penmanpr.com