Where Are We Working?

Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School459 Broadway StreetCambridge, MA 02138ph 617-349-6630

Biology FacultyTobe Stomberg, Maureen Havern, Paul McGuinness, Barbara Dorritie, Marlene LaBossiere, Tanya Augustine, Rachael Haselkorn, Janira Arocho, Janani Nathan

Student ProfileApproximately 400 11th grade students enrolled in the general biology course.

Role of GK12 Fellows at CRLS

CRLS is introducing a new biology curriculum based on BSCS materials for the 2003/2004 school year.

The new curriculum is highly inquiry based, in an effort to have students learn primarily by discussion and experimentation, rather than traditional lectures.

Fellows have been involved in implementing this new curriculum.

Overview of Completed Projects

Completed projects specifically addressing the inquiry-based nature of the new curriculum:

Provided direct classroom support for existing laboratory activities~ Antiseptic action on bacterial growth~ pH in biological systems (buffering)

Developed wet labs to supplement and/or replace existing curriculum materials

~ Dichotomous key lab for use in study of classification~ Immunodiffusion lab for use in study of immune system

Created supplementary background materials to address biology topics lacking sufficient detail in text

~ Plasma membrane handout

Overview of Current Involvement

Ongoing Projects:Weekly meetings with Biology faculty to discuss course progress, difficulties, need for assistance, idea/activity sharingHelp with evaluation of new curriculum materials

Current and Future Projects:Consultation with students regarding science fair and independent study projectsGenerating protocol for revised antibiotic resistance lab for 2004/2005 school yearAdditional wet lab design- PCR lab- Restriction enzyme/DNA fingerprinting lab- Cell biology/examination of cell components- Microscopy labs Additional supplementary materials- Cell structure

Antiseptic Action on Bacterial Growth:

PART I: Learning How to Use a Micropipetter

Purpose: For students to gain exposure to measuring microliter quantities of fluid by using the appropriate micropipetter in preparation for a bacterial growth lab.

Fellow Involvement: Assisted in the classroom by demonstrating how to use the various pipetters and through direct supervision of groups during the lab activity.

Flowchart of Activity:

Introduction by the teacher on metric units

Explanation about what quantities of fluid the P20, P200, and P1000 are used for.

Demo of how to properly use the pipette by fellow and/or teacher

Students were divided into small groups and provided with one of each: P20, P200, and P1000

Students were given blue and yellow colored water and had to pipette appropriate amounts of each into a test tube

While the students were working, the teacher and fellow were able to give personalized attention to groups to make sure that the students had proper technique

Students were evaluated based on whether the volume in the test tube and the color matched the master prepared by the teacher.

Antiseptic Action on Bacterial Growth:

PART II: Zones of Inhibition of Bacterial Growth after Antiseptic Treatment

Purpose: For students to gain exposure to microbiology by plating bacteria and quantifying the effects of antiseptics on bacterial growth.

Fellow Involvement: Fellows interacted with students directly to introduce aseptictechnique and assist with bacterial plating.

Flowchart of Activity:

Introduction by teacher on the experimental setup

Students worked with a partner to divide the petri plate into four quadrants

Students decided on three antiseptics they would use for the experiment which included soap, detergent, bleach, etc. to test against the water control.

Students plated E. coli using the demonstrated aseptic technique, dipped filter discs into their three chosen antiseptics and water, and placed the filter discs on the agar petri dish

Filter disc dipped in antiseptic

Agar plate with E. coli.

Plates were sealed and incubated until the next class period (24-48 hours)

Students measured the sizes of the zone of inhibition around each disc if one was present in order to evaluate the ability of each to inhibit bacterial growth.

On a Scale of 0 to 14: a pH LabPurpose: Students become familiar with the pH scale, as well as the natural buffering

capacity of living systems.Fellow Involvement: Assisted in the classroom by demonstrating and explaining

protocols. Answered student questions and facilitated discussion within student groups during the course of the lab.

Flowchart of Activity:

A) Students make predictions regarding the pH of common household solutions. Using broad range pH paper, students determine the pH of these solutions and compare to their predictions.

B) Students obtain a fixed volume of the following solutions and record the initial pH:i) H2O and ii) potato homogenate

Increasing amounts of acid and base are added independently to each solution, and the pH is recorded after each addition:

H2O H2O homogenate homogenateHCl

NaOH

HCl

HCl

NaOH

NaOH

NaOH

HClpH reading pH readingpH reading pH reading

pH reading pH reading pH reading pH reading

etc. etc. etc. etc.

Students graph data (pH vs. quantity of acid or base added), and draw conclusions regarding which solution is more resistant to pH changes and why.

Classification of Common Fruit Using a Dichotomous KeyPurpose:

Students learn how to utilize a dichotomous key as a tool for identification of living things, using common fruit as an example.

Reinforce understanding that organisms have both common features that reflect evolutionary relatedness, as well as distinct features making each type of organism unique, and that this underlies the modern classification system for living things.

Students also make observations of fruit characteristics directly related to adaptation, thereby reinforcing the role of adaptation in evolution.

Fellow Involvement: Development and organization of lab materials, as well as direct classroom support.

Flowchart of Activity:

Students are provided fruit samples that represent major groups of fruit classification

Students examine the fruit, making observations that will allow them to follow the dichotomous key sequence by choosing the characteristics in each step of the series that apply to the fruit sample being identified.

Fruit samples are identified and placed in their appropriate grouping.

Adapted from:http://departments.ozarks.edu/msc/Biology/Concepts/labpo4.htm

Food Forensics: Immunodiffusion to Solve “Stan’s Salad Saga”

Students are provided a scenario in which “Stan”, who has a severe allergy to eggs, is hospitalized for a life-threatening allergic reaction. In order to determine where the source of the egg in his diet originated, students test pasta samples Stan ate, which are the only sources in question.

Students prepare extracts from pastas, as well as from egg (positive control).

Extracts are loaded into an immunodiffusion gel, along with an antibody that is specific for chicken egg albumin.

After incubation, allowing the antibody-antigen interaction to occur, students analyze their gels, determining if the pasta Stan ate contains egg. The formation of a precipitate by antibody interaction withalbumin in a particular sample, indicates that the sample is positive for the presence of chicken egg albumin.

Antigens in outer wellsAntibody in inner well

• Diffuse toward each other

Precipitate forms at interface of wells where antigen is recognized by antibody

Purpose: i) Students use practical immunological techniques for determining the presence of a specific antigen.

ii) The lab reinforces the concept of antibody-antigen interactions, and specificity. iii) Antibody-antigen interactions occurring in the lab are discussed in the context of the

immune system and allergic response as well as pathogenic response.Fellow Involvement: Development/adaptation and organization of lab materials, as well as direct

classroom support.Flowchart of Activity:

Adapted from: www.accessexcellence.org

Impact of Fellow Involvement in CambridgeClass:

Enhanced student recognition of the lab techniques utilized in the classroom as tools applied for ongoing practical scientific investigations.

Students see that what they are learning in the classroom has utility outside the classroom in real studies that apply to issues of environment, human health, etc.

Student interest is stimulated by a new person in the classroom who is currently doing scientific research and is excited about science.

Teachers:

Contribute to their content knowledge with specific regard to current scientific investigation techniques, especially in areas of cell and molecular biology.

Long Term:

Supplementary curriculum materials that teachers will use in their classrooms in subsequent school years, and which may become part of the standard curriculum.

Overview of Experiences at CRLSRewards:

Gaining exposure to a high school science education environment, allowing for evaluation of teaching at the high school level as a possible career path.

Rewarding to work with high school students who respond positively to our presence in the classroom, as well as their interest in science in the course of conversation with us about ongoing scientific research and recent discoveries.

Renewed enthusiasm about my research, after being able to discuss science on a more global level with students – reminder of other scientific interests.

Enhances scientific communication skills by the necessity to explain science on a very elementary level so that students with limited background can understand more complex biological processes.

Outcomes and Conclusions

Projects

Boston University GK-12 at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High SchoolP.I. Eugene Stanley

Fellows: Eliza Kamenetsky and Raegan O’Lone

Challenges:Given the new curriculum, the teachers continuously evaluate what they do not like about

the curriculum materials, but are not always able to suggest projects for us to be involved in.

Because we are not in one classroom, it is often difficult to speculate what would be most beneficial for the entirety of the 11th grade biology classes.

By Michelle Paquette, George Kierstein and Amit Bansil

To View our Mockup and Documentation go to: http://gk12.bu.edu

To develop a self sustaining community of teachers.

Provide teachers with the ability to share ideas and provide each other with moral support and advise.

Create an organized and easy to use repository of activities.

Allow teachers to add, edit, and rate activities.

Help each other create more in-depth lesson plans, keep up with the latest in scientific advances, and be able to tailor their lessons to best suit the needs of their students.

Originated during our summer workshops.

Teachers developed activities together and we needed a repository to store the activities where all the teachers could access them.

Noticed that finding activities that satisfy framework requirements is challenging.

Many teachers are not technologists and need help using new technologies and locating new activities.

Framework Integrated BrowsingThe ability to search for activities that satisfy specific

framework requirements

Community BuildingForums Reviews and RatingsNews and Updates on education and scientific

advancements

Contributing ContentCollaborative adding and editing activities

Dealing with frameworks, we have found, is an irritating problem teachers are faced with daily. This is why this feature will be extremely useful.

We have found that the problem of dealing with frameworks is well suited for a technological solution.

FORUMS

Provide the ability to exchange ideas, acquire mentors and haveaccess to community leaders.

Encourage interaction with teachers from other schools. This isespecially useful for small schools with maybe only one teacher in a particular subject area.

REVIEWS AND RATINGS

Ratings and reviews simplify the process of selecting activities.

Access to the authors of the content so that they can receive direct feedback as to how to best present it in the classroom.

The community orientation of the site is what distinguishes it from other similar sites.

Our objective is to create a unified format for all of our content. This will simplify content manipulation, use and storage

We have decided to store all of our content in XML. This will allow users to use the content from the website in any environment. The benefit will be that all content will be universal and easy to use and contribute.

Creating an editor to read and edit the XML content will further simplify content use.

Current focus is on creating and editing activities, but ultimately we would like our editor to also be an activity builder.

OVERVIEW

The GK-12 Curriculum Editor simplifies the creation of publication quality educational materials by automatically handling the style and formatting of documents, leaving authors free to focus on content.

FEATURES

Embedded Equation Editor

Embedded MathML equation editor allows the input of complicated formulae without the use of external tools.

XML OutputFiles are saved in XML, a standard format that allows fast indexing, searching, and interchange with other applications.

WYSIWYG User Interface“What you see is what you get” technology overlays the text editors in blue right on top of a preview of the text, allowing the user to see the effects of their changes instantaneously.

Open Source Spell CheckingIntegrated spell checking makes proofing easy.

Create an automated grade reporting system.

Provide forms and tutorials that can be used both in technologyand science classrooms.

Create an activity builder in addition to the activity editor.

Provide the teachers with the means to help teach each other. This is useful especially for small schools.

Teachers will have access to community leaders and more experienced teachers.

Provide a resource that will be open to teachers with a wide range of technological backgrounds and geographical locations.

Create a central location where teachers can come together to create unified lesson plans, obtain feedback and discuss problems and solutions.

Provide a resource for teachers to keep up with current advancements in science that may be useful and interesting for their students.

There will be minimal investment requirements to maintain and run.

GK12 Fellows

Aaron SchweigerMichelle Paquette

TEACHERS

Working with Joe Slater and Bryan Henry.

They have been very supportive of our work in their classrooms.Allowing us to often take over the teaching of the entire class every now and then.

Working with them has been a benefit to them as well as to us.

STUDENTS

Over 100 students.

Very respectful and attentive.

We have seen a growing interest in Science from the students.1) THE ATOMIC SCALE

We used STM pictures of individual atoms made at IBM and put them on the overhead in full color.

The images were used to reinforce ideas about the cloud model ofthe atom. We discussed how the pictures were generated, some ideas about representation and false color imaging.

By making a comparison to DVDs and other forms of media, we were able to stress the significance of atomic-scale structure.

2) TELEVISION AND FLUORESCENCE

We reviewed early mechanical, modern,and plasma screen televisions.

Used plasma TVs to providea real world example of fluorescence.

The idea was to use real world applications to emphasize the atomic phenomena studied in class.

3) MOLECULAR STRUCTURE

We made models of molecules using toothpicks and Styrofoamballs.

The models were taken from an online database*, students were assigned a molecule, had to make a report of its basic physical properties,and reproduce the three dimensional structure.

Students used a Java-based molecular dynamics simulation to determine the structure of a molecule and used this information to reinforce ideas about different molecular conformations and the VSEPR model encountered in high school Chemistry.

* http://people.ouc.bc.ca/woodcock/molecule/molecule.html

4) GAS LAWS

SMD Projects: We used laptops and classroom iMacs to investigate CharlesLaw and the Ideal Gas Law.

Last year, one student dissected a cow heart for the science fair.

We are currently in the processof helping students prepare theirscience fair projects.

We are starting with brainstorming sessions and concluding with three days of intensive work with the Students.

The students will present theirprojects to the school-wide sciencefair where we will be judges.

TEACHERS

Working with Catherine Doherty and Lewis Warren.

Lewis Warren teaches Programming and Catherine Dohertycoordinates activities for the Computer Science department.

STUDENTS

About 20 students in the programming class, but planning on working with other computer classrooms as well.

Big interest in programming and computer science topics.

PROGRAMMING CLASS

Taught by Mr. Warren.

Discussed with students the importance of programming.

Emphasized how applications in use today came about by programming.

Discussed other computer science topics, such as the complexityof algorithms.

Assisted with programming problems and lectures.

Plan on working with the web development and the CISCO networking classes as well.

1) Get students to BU for in-depth lab experience.

2) Design and publish all curriculum on the web for faster in classdeployment.

3) Stress the integration of Excel and PowerPoint for class projectsand assignments.

4) Work with the Java AP class next year.

5) Organize a computer science club and computer competitions.