"As Good As It Gets": Summer Science Program

A Celebration of Life is the Summer Science Program held at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center in Madison, WI

By Michele Arduengo
Promega Corporation

“This is as good as it gets!"

So says one of the young participants in “A Celebration of Life,” a summer science education program sponsored by the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI) and the African American Ethnic Academy (AAEA). The Summer Science Program is designed to introduce upper elementary and middle school students, particularly African American students, to the life sciences and provide them with the tools for success later in science courses and careers.

Upper Elementary Students Study “Birds and Flight”

During this summer’s program third, fourth and fifth graders from the Madison, WI, area explored the topic “Birds and Flight”. The students took several field trips, hatched chicks in a research laboratory and benefited from the expertise of a variety of guest scientists. One of the guest speakers was Ryan Walden of Portage, WI. Walden is a naturalist who brought several of his feathered friends to meet the young scientists in the “A Celebration of Life”. Walden has a special permit from the United States government to provide a home for birds of prey that have been injured and cannot survive in the wild.

In his colorful talk “Birds of Prey”, Walden debunked several myths about owls.Owls are not blind in the daytime, and Walden described how much better owl's vision is compared to humans--even during the day. And, not all owls hoot. Walden introduced several owls to the audience, including a screech owl, an adult weighing only 7oz (200g), but capable of eating 22 pounds (9.98kg) of mice each year!

Walden next spoke about hawks and eagles, "the day-shift birds of prey". He described how to identify hawks based on their silhouettes and shadows, and he discussed the aerial prowess of the hawks including the Peregrine falcon, which can sustain level flight at 100mph (161kph) and dives as fast as 263mph (423kph). Walden also introduced the bald eagle, Martha, to an amazed audience, many of whom had never seen a bald eagle in the flesh. Abby, a golden eagle, was also on hand.

Students Explore the Immune System

Sixth through eighth grade students who participated in the 2000 “Celebration of Life” summer science session  investigated the immune system. These students also benefited from field trips and met scientists from a variety of settings. The laboratory exercises that these students conducted ranged from learning to use a micropipettor to performing gel electrophoresis to purifying antibodies from chicken eggs. In preparation for the exercises the students learned about the immune system and how it protects the body from repeated assault by disease-causing organisms. The students learned the molecular basis of allergies and investigated how gene rearrangements early in development allow the body to produce >1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) different antibody molecules.

Girls Study DNA

The third segment of  “A Celebration of Life” involves mentoring middle school girls. Fourteen middle school girls spent a week at the BTCI. While there, the students studied DNA structure, learned molecular techniques such as gel electrophoresis, but most importantly met female mentors in science with whom they will interact several times throughout the upcoming academic year. Fourteen female scientists from both industry and academia will mentor the girls, meeting them for Saturday programs during the year and inviting the girls to visit their places of work. The mentors include scientists from the USDA-Forest Service, the American Red Cross, the University of Wisconsin, Promega and other institutions. Three Promega scientists, Christine Andrews, Natasha Karassina and Amy Prevost are mentoring students in this year's program.

About the Award-Winning Program

“A Celebration of Life” summer science education program is a collaborative effort between the BTCI and the African American Ethnic Academy. The program incorporates inquiry-based, hands-on activities to equip students for further study in the sciences. Currently, relatively few of the African American children who finish middle school in Madison successfully complete science courses beyond basic biology in high school. “A Celebration of Life” seeks to stimulate the interests of young students in science and give them the confidence for success in science at the high school and college levels. The program offers students a unique chance to learn directly from scientists including African American role models in a range of “real world” settings.

But, the program does not stop with the students. Parents are encouraged to help the students with “homework” and to attend a closing session where they can learn science from their young scientists. The students help the parents don lab coats and safety goggles and show off what they have learned in the lab. “A Celebration of Life” received a “Best Bet” Award from the Ronald McDonald House Charities because of the way the program promotes community partnerships, builds on community assets and speaks to a real need.

Parents give the program high marks with comments like these from evaluations:
"This was his second year, and this year his confidence really grew."

"More children could benefit from so much in life if other companies made their workplace a learning experience as well."

"My fourth grader pushed me to get her here on time so she would not miss anything."

Glossary

Antibodies: Antibodies are protein molecules produced by cells of the immune system that specifically recognize and attach to foreign substances in the body such as bacteria or toxins.

Micropipettors: Instruments that accurately dispense microliter volumes of liquid. A microliter is 1/1,000,000 of a liter.

Gel Electrophoresis: A method for separating pieces of DNA. DNA is negatively charged and when placed in an electrical field, DNA migrates toward the cathode (positive pole). If the DNA is embedded in a porous matrix within the electrical field, the smaller pieces of DNA move more quickly through the pores in the gel while the larger pieces move more slowly. The matrices that scientists use to separate DNA based on size are called gels, which are made of a substance called agarose. Agarose is similar to gelatin in look and feel.