{"id":315,"date":"2013-12-20T14:41:28","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T21:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/?p=315"},"modified":"2014-01-02T17:18:15","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T00:18:15","slug":"explaining-zebrafish-research-eighth-graders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/2013\/12\/20\/explaining-zebrafish-research-eighth-graders\/","title":{"rendered":"Eighth Graders Get Real-Life Science Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using Integrated Problem-based Curriculum
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lisa Troy, an 8th grade science teacher at The Sage School in Foxboro, Massachusetts chose the NIEHS-funded Hydroville Curriculum <\/a>as a way to give her students a real-world problem to solve, teach them collaboration and teamwork skills, and expand their understanding of \u201cdoing\u201d science.\u00a0 She was also very interested in environmental issues and once worked as an environmental consultant on EPA\u2019s Superfund\/RCRA Hotline.<\/p>\n

\n \"Teacher<\/a>\n
Teacher Lisa Troy shares instructions for the team building activity (Toxic Popcorn<\/a>). Photo credit: The Sage School<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

In the Hydroville Pesticide Scenario<\/a>, students work in teams to examine and clean-up a large accidental spill of metam sodium near a river.\u00a0 In this scenario students take on roles of an environmental chemist, environmental toxicologist, soil scientist, and mechanical engineer. It creates a valuable experience to learn about these careers and how they work together to solve problems.<\/p>\n

I was very pleased with how involved my students were in their roles. \u00a0Since they were responsible for their own area of expertise, they took ownership of the skills and information that they learned. \u00a0The students also enjoyed fitting their solution into the constraints of a budget, as well as considering stakeholders\u2019 varying viewpoints. \u00a0Their parents attended the presentations and took on roles as stakeholders when asking questions.\u00a0 Their presence increased the feeling of a real town meeting, and it was fun to see the students dressed up! ~ Lisa Troy<\/em><\/p>\n

\n \"Students<\/a>\n
Students do a number of background activities to learn about the science needed to solve the problem. Topics include reading labels, toxicity testing, analyzing pumps, soil texture and permeability, and decision analysis. Photo credit: The Sage School<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure><\/blockquote>\n

Communicating with a Scientist
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The students were learning about toxicity, LD50, and NOEL (No Observable Effect Level) through a seed germination lab.\u00a0 Lisa Troy had read about Dr. Tanguay in the recent YALEe360 article<\/a>, and she shared his research with the students. The\u00a0students were very excited to speak to a \u201creal\u201d scientist who is engaged in meaningful work and making a difference. \u00a0A highlight for the students was when they Skyped with Dr. Robert Tanguay.<\/p>\n

Students were especially interested to learn how zebrafish are being used as models of human response to chemicals in research all over the world.\u00a0 They shared a long list of questions with Dr. Tanguay in preparation for the Skype event.<\/p>\n

The students were intrigued by the idea that, through research such as Dr. Tanguay\u2019s, chemical manufacturers will know much more about the effects of individual chemicals and the possible synergistic effects of mixing chemicals. They were reassured to learn of the human treatment of the fish, as well.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Dr.<\/a>\n
Dr. Robert Tanguay (Project 3<\/a> Leader and Center Research Coordinator) used Skype to answer questions directly from the students. Photo credit: The Sage School<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Not only was Dr. Tanguay\u2019s interview incredibly valuable, it taught my students an important lesson about research: that you can contact scientists and experts in their fields and obtain information directly from the source. \u00a0Science is not just in a textbook. ~Lisa Troy<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To increase career connections, Lisa Troy asked the parents, teachers, and administrators to identify any skills that were important to them in their work or life experience from a list she generated<\/strong><\/a> of all the skills the students learned or used during the course of Hydroville. They checked nearly all of the skills!<\/p>\n

As the year progresses and we study other topics, I will continue to reinforce the concepts and skills the students acquired during Hydroville and know that they will be well prepared for the future. ~Lisa Troy<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[This post was written in collaboration with Lisa Troy. We truly appreciate her sharing her experience with us. If you are an educator and want more information or have a story to share, please contact us<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using Integrated Problem-based Curriculum Lisa Troy, an 8th grade science teacher at The Sage School in Foxboro, Massachusetts chose the NIEHS-funded Hydroville Curriculum as a way to give her students a real-world problem to solve, teach them collaboration and teamwork skills, and expand their understanding of \u201cdoing\u201d science.\u00a0 She was also very interested in environmental… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197061,5614,524],"tags":[197035,182666,197034,182655,5,70010],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-translation","category-science-communication","category-science-education","tag-hydroville","tag-k12","tag-middle-school","tag-project-3","tag-science","tag-zebrafish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/superfund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}