NWABR Fall Update

October 17, 2012
NWABR Fall Education Update

The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research is pleased to announce a number of upcoming events that reflect our commitment to engaging students, teachers and the public in dialogue about the importance of research.

Washington Science Teachers Association (WSTA)
Jeanne Chowning and Joan Griswold will be presenting sessions highlighting our curricular resources on Bioethics, Bioinformatics, Stem Cells and Animal Research at the WSTA conference in Yakima, Washington, on Saturday and Sunday, October 20 – 21, 2012.

National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)
We will also be presenting sessions on Bioethics, Bioinformatics, Animal Research, Socratic Seminars and Stem Cells at the NABT conference in Dallas, Texas, November 1 – 3, 2012.

Information on sessions, times and locations for both conferences can be found at: www.nwabr.org/landing/teachers.

Life Sciences Research Weekend
Everyone is invited to experience science at its finest: fun, interactive and educational. NWABR and Pacific Science Center are co-presenting this sixth annual event. Over twenty companies and research institutions will have hands-on activities at Pacific Science Center on November 2 – 4, 2012. Meet the scientists on Friday 10am – 2pm; Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm. Complete list of exhibitors: http://nwabr.org/community/life-sciences-research-weekend

Other educational updates
Curriculum: Understanding Research and Ethics
Two new curricular modules are nearing completion and available for classroom use. The Nature of Scientific Research (www.nwabr.org/curriculum/nature-research) and The Science and Ethics of Humans in Research (www.nwabr.org/curriculum/humans-research) provide hands-on activities, ethical background, and historical and current case-studies to support students in understanding the intersection of ethics and biomedical research.

Teacher Workshops: Applications of Biotechnology in the Classroom
This three-part teacher professional development workshop series will be held in partnership with Shoreline Community College’s Amgen Bruce Wallace Program and will take place December 7-8, 2012, February 13-14, 2013 and June 20-22, 2013. Whether you’re new to working with DNA and agarose gels or an experienced middle or high school teacher, these workshops are designed to be taken individually or in series based on your needs and skills. Find out more at:http://www.nwabr.org/shoreline-partnership-workshop

New Animation:  DNA Barcoding
This two-part animation accompanies our advanced bioinformatics curriculum Using Bioinformatics: Genetic Research and explains the steps involved in DNA barcoding, from finding a sample to analyzing a DNA sequence.  Visit the advanced bioinformatics curriculum page and click on the “Resources” tab. http://www.nwabr.org/curriculum/advanced-bioinformatics-genetic-research

Publication: The American Biology Teacher
An activity from our introductory bioinformatics curriculum was recently highlighted in the article Modeling Protein Structure and Function: Pencil Transferase published in the October 2012 issue of The American Biology Teacher. The article can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/8cs8bku

NWABR would like to thank the 43 teachers, 34 students and 92 volunteers from 12 NWABR member institutions who participated in our CURE and ITEST summer programs in July and August! Check out student comments about the Student Fellow’s program at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2qgtASo-sY

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The “Collaborations to Understand Research and Ethics” (CURE) program is supported by a Science Education Partnership Award grant from the National Center for Research Resources and the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives of the National Institutes of Health through Grant Number R25OD011138.

The “Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers” (ITEST) program is supported by a grant award from the National Science Foundation, DRL-0833779

NWABR at 2012 National Science Teachers Association Conference

Join NWABR at the National Science Teachers Association Conference in Indianapolis this week!

NWABR and Science Education Partners at NSTA Seattle 2011

Come join Jeanne Chowning, NWABR Director of Education, and Joan Griswold, Curriculum Design Lead, at NSTA Indianapolis 2012! We will present several hands-on lessons from our popular high school curriculum units.  These resources are designed to introduce teachers and students to cutting-edge science topics and to provide educators with structured frameworks for discussing related ethical issues.  Click on the links below to view our curricular materials on our website!

Sessions include:

The Science and Ethics of Animal Research
Thursday, March 29, 8am-9am
JW Marriott, Grand Ballroom 4

Integrating Bioinformatics into Introductory Biology Courses
Thursday, March 29, 2pm-3pm
JW Marriott, Grand Ballroom 4

Stem Cells: Science and Ethics
Friday, March 30
12:30pm-1:30pm
Indiana Convention Center, 204

We hope to see you there!

Support for NWABR’s curriculum development is provided by a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Center for Research Resources and the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives of the National Institutes of Health through Grant Number R25OD011138 and by an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers award from the National Science Foundation, DRL 0833779.

Biology in the Age of Computing

Biology in the Age of Computing: Online Resources for Teachers and Students

As part of NWABR’s ongoing commitment to inspiring students in science, we are excited to announce an upcoming webinar featuring NWABR program staff and partner scientists. The webinar is geared towards teachers and students, as well as formal and informal educators and will be archived for future viewing. We hope to see you online!

Wednesday, February 8th from 11:00am to 12:00pm PST
If you’d like to register for the event, click here.

Join us as we share curricula, online resources, teacher experiences and research findings from Bio-ITEST: New Frontiers in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, a program funded by the National Science Foundation that brings the exciting field of bioinformatics to high school teachers and students. Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. With a strong emphasis on increasing student awareness of STEM careers, each Bio-ITEST lesson features an individual who uses bioinformatics in their work, or whose work is made possible by bioinformatics. The presentation will include an overview of curricular units, including introductory lessons on genetic testing and advanced lessons on genetic research, as well as an exploration of the online resources. Presenters will share lessons learned about increasing student STEM career awareness and engagement in the context of the Bio-ITEST project.

Biology in the Age of Computing: Online Resources for High School Teachers and Students is presented in partnership with the National Girls Collaborative Project and EdLab Group.

The National Girls Collaborative Project is partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, GSE/EXT: National Girls Collaborative Project: Building the Capacity of STEM Practitioners to Develop a Diverse Workforce, Grant No.HRD-1103073. The Bio-ITEST program is made possible by an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers grant award from the National Science Foundation, DRL-0833779.

Photos from our 2011 Bio-ITEST Teacher Reunion at ISB

We recently enjoyed a reunion of teachers participating in our Bioinformatics, “Bio-ITEST” program — short for Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). more about Bio-ITEST

The three-year NSF grant provides funding for education outreach programs that help secondary school teachers and their students learn about how information technology is used in biological research. Major collaborators include Digital World Biology, EdLab Group, and Shoreline Community College.

Teachers Said about Bio-ITEST at NWABR

“At the end of this course, I feel like I could create my own lesson if I needed to.”

“This was an excellent professional development opportunity!  It brought an emerging field of life science to my classroom that was not there before.  I look forward to using this material for many years to come!”

“I enjoyed learning how to use the technology tools Cn3D, Jalview, and FinchTV. The Socratic seminar was excellent also and I now have an effective way to teach students about STEM careers.”

“Having specific activities in the curriculum that asked them to use Cn3D was much better than a simple demonstration of the program. The students really liked using Cn3D … A lot of my kids also downloaded it at home. They’d come in early to school.”

“To be honest, I didn’t even know what bioinformatics was when I signed up for the class, yet was able to implement the curriculum and teach my students the material the first time I tried it.”

Professional Development in Systems Biology

The reunion was generously hosted by the Institute for Systems Biology (an NWABR member) in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, at the global headquarters they opened just this month, May 2011. Below photos of everyone at the reunion are a few photos of ISB’s new headquarters and neighborhood.

ISB also provided professional development for teachers with Education Program Coordinator Claudia Ludwig, using their systems biology module, Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks. All teachers who attended received the Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks kit to use in their classroom!

We began with a reception and discussion of teachers’ experiences with the Bio-ITEST program:

Then, Education Program Coordinator Claudia Ludwig presented ISB’s systems biology module, Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks:

and teachers received the Environmental Impacts on Gene Networks kit to use in their classroom!

The new ISB global headquarters are beautiful, of course. Here are a few snaps of  ISB and the neighborhood:

Brian Glanz from NWABR, reflected in a hallway at ISB.

Not ISB -- Across the street from ISB in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle

ISB lab coats hang inside a window, and Seattle rain keeps outdoor table tennis interesting.

blogged by Brian Glanz for NWABR

The Bio-ITEST program at NWABR is made possible by an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers grant award from the National Science Foundation, DRL-0833779. 

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