Newtown Students Catch The BioBus

Now into its fourth year of educating Connecticut’s students about bioscience through the use of advanced bioscience techniques, Connecticut’s BioBus visited Middlegate Elementary School on Monday and Tuesday of this week. In addition to hosting elementary school students, students from Newtown Experiential High School participated on the BioBus on Monday.

Some high school students conducted “The Case of the Crown Jewels” experiment, in which students used gel electrophoresis to perform DNA fingerprinting, employing DNA restriction analysis to examine DNA evidence from a crime scene, and identified which of the five suspects was guilty. This technique has recently become a standard in forensic science and the subject has been used to introduce students to career opportunities in bioscience.

Other high school students conducted the “Twist of Lyme,” an experiment that uses ELISAs (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays) to detect the tick-borne illness called Lyme disease.

Mary Ann Snieckus the science teacher for Newtown Experiential High School brought ten students to the BioBus. Ms Snieckus said, “Oh the kids loved it. They were on task the whole time. Being on a bus and having all the latest technology was great!”

Fourth graders conducted “The Art of Forgery” experiment from the BioBus curriculum. In this experiment, students became forensic scientists and tested paint samples using gel electrophoresis to determine which of four similar paintings was the masterpiece that recently had been stolen from an art museum. By making, pouring, and loading their own gel, students observed the rate at which paint colors migrated through the gel and compared them to the original paint sample to determine which three were forgeries.

For the 2004-2005 academic year, the BioBus is planning to visit 58 schools and attend numerous community events. Teachers participating in a BioBus visit have completed a teacher training workshop, which prepared them for the BioBus visit and provides tips for incorporating bioscience into their classroom curriculum.

Outfitted with the latest in bioscience equipment and state-of-the-art computers, the Connecticut BioBus is a 40-foot-long mobile science learning center designed to provide students throughout Connecticut with hands-on experience in the life sciences. The BioBus is designed to foster the excitement of scientific discovery among students and ignite interest in pursuing scientific careers.

Kerry Donahue and Matt Doyle, staff scientists for the BioBus. conducted the exciting experiments with the students. As Ms Donahue and Mr Doyle provided the students with step-by-step directions the students were able to view on four overhead television monitors how to perform the experiment.

Fourth grade teacher John Sullivan participated in the teacher training provided by the BioBus. He commented, “It’s a good hands-on opportunity that makes science fun.”

Judging by the enthusiastic participation by his students, it was evident that the BioBus was a big success with the kids.