Lessons for NHS students and interns
1
2
NORTHAMPTON - Voices could be heard from a distance coming from three labs in the otherwise silent science building at Smith College.
In the labs, 150 ninth-grade biology students from Northampton High School compared results of a three-day science experiment. Using advanced techniques and instruments, they isolated their own DNA and demonstrated the genetic differences that determine whether they can taste a bitter substance.
The experiment was led by 10 Smith science students participating in an internship that gave them the experience of leading a class.
Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the program was a collaboration designed to give Smith students an opportunity to try teaching while continuing to nurture the college's connection with the high school.
The program is the first that has brought this many high school students to Smith, said the director of the program, associate professor Christine White-Ziegler. In the past, only small groups of students have had the opportunity to use Smith's facilities she said.
"There's a long tradition of outreach," she said. "This idea of getting all the kids at once is new."
Smith also offers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take certain classes at the college, and offers the Summer Science and Engineering Program for High School Girls.
Smith interns spent two days leading the experiment at the high school. On the third day, they finished up the experiment at Sabin-Reed Hall and high school students got a tour of three Life Science Centers at the college: the Center for Molecular Biology, the Center for Microscopy and the Center for Proteomics.
In one lab, three interns worked with students individually on the final stage of the experiment. The rest were gathered in groups, comparing photographs they had taken of gels containing the part of the gene that determines whether they can taste the bitter substance.
A group of students enthusiastically described using pipettes, tools that measure minute amounts of liquids accurately. Others described conducting a taste test, when some found they couldn't taste the bitterness of the test strip that others could.
During the experiment, the students were exposed to a wide array of the capabilities of Smith's Life Science Centers. They used complex techniques and high-tech equipment in the college's centers for molecular biology, microscopy, and proteomics.
Among the things that students were able to do in the facilities at Smith were to visualize the chemical structure of the molecules that give taste to food using a mass spectrometer, and to view the structure of the tongue tissue using electron fluorescent microscopes.
"When we told them how much some of the machines cost, they were very careful," said Director of the Center for Microbiology Wen Li.
All of the parts of the experiment were related to the overarching theme of taste. "It was so much fun to do hands-on activities with the kids," said Lily Maynard, a sophomore majoring in biology.
Conducting the experiment required Smith interns to put in many hours designing the lesson plan and preparing lectures. While they were assisted by White-Zeigler and Li, as well as instructors in the Life Sciences Centers, the bulk of the work was done by the interns.
"Sometimes I think I could have turned it into a course with the amount of work they put into it," said White Zeigler.
For interns, the program not only allowed them to gain experience teaching, but to talk with high school teachers about how they entered the profession.
Maynard is now considering a minor in education, and thinking about teaching in the future.
Comments
Post new comment