Teachers Would Work in Science Labs, Do Lesson Study in CRESMET Project

CRESMET answered the call of Science Foundation Arizona in its first request for proposals to strengthen K-12 math and science by teaming with 14 leading science research labs located on campuses of Arizona State University.

If funded, the project would bring high school teachers to ASU for five weeks of summer activities that combine work alongside researchers in cutting-edge science labs with intensive mentoring by CRESMET STEM education faculty. The Foundation expects to make funding decisions in spring 2007.

The project proposes to bring some 100 teachers to campus over three summers. CRESMET researchers and the scientists would continue to work with the teachers during the school year, as well, especially in supporting professional learning communities that the teachers would form in the summer.

Below are thumbnail descriptions of the participating labs and the activities in which they hope to engage teachers.

Biosciences
Biosciences Center for Bio­Optical Nanotechnology, Biodesign Institute: Dr. Neal Woodbury’s team seeks to mimic the astonishing building capacity that nature displays at the molecular scale: Small number of simple building blocks, like the amino acids that make up proteins, can construct intricate molecular scale machines. If scientists can imitate these methods and integrate them directly with advances in nanotechnology and solid state electronics design, they will have a broad impact on society.  

Teacher Activities: Teachers would be introduced to each of the funded research projects now going on at the center, as well as the advanced equipment and instrumentation the researchers employ. They would have the option of working alongside researchers in several of these projects, performing benchtop procedures, collecting and entering data, and discussing results.

Biochemistry Lab for Studies in Photosynthesis: The laboratories of Dr. Petra Fromme house a research group that is investigating the structure and function of the large membrane protein complexes involved in photosynthesis.

Teacher Activities: Teachers would work alongside three postdoctoral researchers and 10 graduate students on procedures related to Dr. Fromme’s photosynthesis studies, using equipment involved in growing and preparing cells, crystallization, and other tools. Dr. Fromme, who has coached a number of students through the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition, would be heavily engaged in the mentoring.

Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Lab for Study of Telomerese Function: The research group of Dr. Julian Chen is studying the implications of telomerase function for cancer and aging. Dr. Chen has just been awarded an NSF CAREER grant, which will fund projects that involve high school students. One project will produce two learning modules on DNA structure and genetic phenotype. Another, entitled “The Telomerase Database,” will be a searchable web­based set of data.

Teacher Activities: Teachers would work with Dr. Chen’s students in the lab, using biochemical and biophysical techniques, as well as molecular genetics and molecular biology, to advance his telomerase research. They would also play an important role in helping Dr. Chen to produce the modules and database proposed in his CAREER grant.

Biochemistry/Biotechnology Lab for Research in Novel Biosensors: Dr. Rebekka Wachter’s lab is studying protein structure/function relationships and developing biosensors for uses in biotechnology applications. The lab uses macromolecular X­ray crystallography, as well as techniques in enzymology and kinetics, molecular biology, spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Teacher Activities: The teachers would work alongside Dr. Wachter’s team on experiments involving GFPs (green fluorescent proteins) as biosensor agents. Dr. Wachter’s lab would illustrate for teachers how disciplines of biology, chemistry, physics and engineering interconnect in the scientific search for solutions to real­world problems.

Mathematical Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI): Dr. Carlos Castillo­Chavez is Joaquin Bustoz, Jr., Professor of Mathematical Biology in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He founded MTBI at Cornell University in 1996 and moved it to ASU in 2004. MTBI houses SUMS—ASU’s Strengthening Understanding of Math and Science Institute—which offers a summer residential math and science honors program for approximately 100 high school students. These students often are underachievers who have not been challenged in their school mathematics courses. Our program would reserve five fellowships in each year for teachers of SUMS students. Preference would be given to teachers from rural, heavily minority, or reservation schools.

Teacher Activities: Teachers selected for the SUMS Institute would work closely with MTBI scholars to gain an understanding of the uses of mathematics in advancing biological research. They would also observe SUMS instruction and tutor students.

Angell­Yarger Chemistry/Biochemistry Lab: Dr. Austin Angell and Dr. Jeff Yarger conduct studies in physical chemistry, materials science, and biophysics. The laboratory specializes in glassforming liquids, fuel cells, nanochemistry, and biological polymers.

Teacher Activities: The lab is working on a number of projects that should interest teachers: the fabrication of fuel cells and design of new types of fuel cells; understanding the structure of spider silk and other polymers; and the use of ionic liquids as biopreservation media. Teachers would engage in benchtop research experiments, learn to manage instruments, and discuss the meaning of results and the solution of problems as they arise. If they wish, teachers could engage in a guided literature study with the aim of formulating research questions of interest to the lab.

Center for Biological Physics (CBP): Four CBP research labs would host teachers. Michael Thorpe is Foundation Professor of Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry and directs the center. His group performs theoretical and computational studies of biological dynamics at the molecular scale. Dr. Banu Ozkan's research group focuses on theoretical models and computer simulations in biology, seeking to understand functions of proteins. Dr. Arjan van der Vaart ‘s computational biochemistry group focuses on the conformational dynamics of biomolecules, particularly the dynamics of DNA­binding proteins. Dr. Timothy Newman’s group performs theoretical and computational studies of biological dynamics at the cellular scale and above. A major effort in this group is simulating early stages of embryo growth—focusing on the bird embryo, but looking at features relevant to human development.

Teacher Activities: These CBP groups would coordinate activities so that the teachers see biological physics from DNA and proteins up to the cell level. A particular emphasis would be on assembling the many excellent resources now available on the Internet. In the Thorpe group, teachers would engage in three activities: an orders of magnitude exercise illustrating how the universe builds from quarks to proteins; a probability exercise providing illustrations that can transfer to the classroom; and an investigation of protein function illustrating how 25,000 simple protein functions can combine to create something as complex as a high school student. With the Ozkan group, teachers would learn the fundamental ideas of how to construct a model of a biomolecular system such as a protein or a small peptide. Teachers in the van der Vaart group would get hands-on experience on atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. In the Newman group, teachers would learn the fundamental ideas of how to construct a biologically plausible model of a multi­cellular system, and then to instantiate this into a computer algorithm. Teachers would also make 3-D movies of the simulations.


Information Technologies
School of Computing and Informatics (SCI): Dr. James Collofello’s research centers on software engineering questions, Dr. Arunabha Sen investigates resource optimization in telecommunications networks, and Senior Lecturer Farideh Tadayon­Navabi is interested in improving the undergraduate SCI curriculum.

Teacher Activities: Working in the school’s superbly equipped computer labs, the teachers would engage in an exploratory sequence aligned with Advanced Placement courses to investigate effective methods for teaching and learning object oriented programming. Guest presenters would discuss computing in applications from health care and decision making to electronic game design and robot­building.

Software Research Laboratory: Co­directed by Dr. W. T. Tsai and Dr. Yinong Chen, the lab performs research in software engineering, service­oriented architecture, service­oriented computing (SOC), model­driven development, verification and validation, robotics, and gaming. The lab is actively engaged with high schools— teaching an SOC class at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, serving as mentors to high school robotic clubs, and teaching modern robotics and game programming at summer camps.

Teacher Activities: The teachers would work alongside lab researchers studying applications of service­oriented architecture and computing, and as part of that process will design a 3-D game or movie and a robot.

Sustainable Systems
Environmental Technology Management Laboratory, ASU Polytechnic: This facility engages in environmental research involving hazardous materials. It is led by Albert Brown, director of environmental research initiatives and former director of environmental services for Maricopa County. Current projects focus on growing nanoparticles for removing arsenic from drinking water; examining commercial bioremediation products for effectiveness in removing petroleum compounds from soils; and studying the energy potential of biofuels and the kinetics of trichloroethylene in groundwater.

Teacher Activities: Teachers would participate in current research projects through sample collection, sample preparation, sample analysis, laboratory equipment maintenance, and data entry. They would be offered three customized lectures on environmental science and up to four study tours of facilities exemplifying environmental management practices.

ASU Laser Facility: Dr. Christian Poweleit manages a facility that houses several laboratories for optical spectroscopy. The facility is pursuing an aggressive research agenda to develop new materials for creating dramatically more efficient solar cells.

Teacher Activities: This lab would be an ideal choice for teachers wishing to make an immediate contribution to active research. Dr. Poweleit and Dr. Jose Menendez would put the teachers to work helping the team to gather data for solving an urgent research question—an energy band gap in materials that inhibits the efficiency of semiconductors used in solar cells.