| Incorporating research into a high school classroom is an excellent way to teach students fundamental concepts in science. One program that incorporates this approach is the Waksman Student Scholar Program (WSSP), which allows high school students, teachers and Rutgers professors to work side by side on an ongoing molecular biology research program. Students in the program first isolated plasmid clones from bacteria that contain cDNA fragments of genes from the Brine Shrimp Artemia franciscana. They then determined the size of the DNA by performing molecular biology experiments. Students then analyzed the DNA sequence and after review from WSSP staff and high school teachers, the student's sequences were published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. This was often the last step in the project the students performed. However, if the project were being conducted in a research lab instead of a high school, the cDNA clone would often be further analyzed. In the past, safety, convenience, and affordability have limited the availability of these experiments in a high school setting. Although additional bioinformatic experiments could easily be performed in the high school, there is a strong need for additional "wet lab" experiments to keep the students engaged and motivated to work on the project. I have worked on developing three experimental modules that can be performed in a high school setting. These experiments were tested with the students and teachers of the WSSP. This work will expand the scope of experiments that can be performed in a high school environment. |
