 |
 Biotechnology Institute News Digest July/August 2007
The News Digest looks at the world of biotechnology education, with Biotechnology Institute news, links to recent biotechnology education articles and a schedule of upcoming events. The News Digest is published by the Biotechnology Institute, the national organization dedicated to biotechnology education.
Winners of Dow AgroSciences-Lilly BioDreaming Poster Competition Announced The Dow AgroSciences-Lilly BioDreaming Poster Competition awards ceremony, held June 26 at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, culminated a national competition that celebrates young people’s ability to recognize biotechnology’s immense potential to enhance human health, food supply, and the environment. Kindergarten through 12th-grade students from across the nation were recognized in Indianapolis for using their artistic talents to envision the promise and achievements of biotechnology. The first-place winners were:
Dow AgroSciences and Eli Lilly and Company are cosponsors of the competition, which was first implemented in 2004 by the Biotechnology Institute. Indianapolis was chosen as the site of the first ever awards ceremony to highlight the support of Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences and Lilly. More than 400 students from more than 100 K-12 schools in 32 U.S. states and Canadian provinces and territories submitted posters for the 2007 competition. The artwork of the top 14 finalists was displayed during the Biotechnology Institute’s Conference on Biotechnology Education, which was held May 6-9 in Boston, MA, and during the subsequent BIO2007 International Convention, where more than 22,000 convention attendees from around the world had the opportunity to view the posters. The posters are grouped into four grade categories: K-3rd grade, 4-6th grade, 7-9th grade, and 10-12th grade. First, second, and third place is awarded for each grade category. Winners receive prizes of $500, $250, and $100, respectively. For more information, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/biodreaming.html Genome Teacher’s Resource Guide Now Available Genome: The Secret of How Life Works, a vital reference tool on genomics for biotechnology teachers, has recently been published by the Biotechnology Institute. The 112-page, full-color guide is full of hands-on activities that have been welcomed for their simplicity and for using low-cost, easily found equipment and materials. The activities are written at the upper elementary level through high school, but are easily modified for all ages. All the activities in the Teacher’s Resource Guide have been field-tested nationally in elementary, middle, and high schools and science and museum centers. Background material on the related science, as well as pedagogical information, is included, allowing teachers to choose information tailored to their levels of experience and expertise. The guide is funded through a grant from the Pfizer Foundation to support a five-year professional development initiative for teachers in conjunction with the Pfizer, Inc. exhibit, Genome: The Secret of How Life Works. The discounted price for teachers is $25, a fraction of the cost of producing the field-tested guide. Orders of six or more book receive a 20% discount. For more information, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/resources/genome.html. First Year of Operation Biotechnology a Success The Institute has successfully completed its first academic year cycle of Operation Biotechnology, a nationwide project funded by a FIPSE grant from the U.S. Department of Education that develops engaging biotechnology teacher training curriculum and experiments that integrate biology, chemistry and physics content. The first year focused on biology and biotechnology curriculum that was developed and refined in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology and high school biology teachers from Chicago Public Schools. In May, a national group of operation biotechnology teachers was assembled to participate in the Institute’s National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader Program.The Operation Biotechnology teachers were also given additional training in how to integrate the Operation Biotechnology lessons into their biology classes. They also worked together and with Institute staff to develop curriculum implementation workshops they will present this summer and next school year to their biology colleagues in their school districts.In August the Operation Biotechnology team will launch the chemistry phase of this program by introducing biotechnology units to chemistry teachers in CPS. In the 2008-2009 year Operation Biotechnology will focus on physics. For more information, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/#ob Georgia Partnership Continues to Flourish The Institute’s partnership with the DeKalb County School System and Georgia Biomedical Partnership continues to flourish. Dr. Crawford Lewis, Superintendent of DeKalb County Schools, joined a delegation of eight science administrators and teachers at the Biotechnology Institute’s National Conference on Biotechnology Education, held in conjunction with the BIO InternationalConvention in Boston in May.The delegation was sponsored by the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, DeKalb County Development Authority and Georgia Institute of Technology. The sponsorship allowed the teachers and science administrators to participate in the Institute’s National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader Program and the BIO International Convention. In order to continue to develop the partnership, Scott May, the Institute’s Vice President for Systems and Curriculum, met in June at the Fernbank Science Center in DeKalb County to work with district leaders to refine a plan to infuse biotechnology into the school system’s science and career and technical education programs. District professional development experts will present a biotechnology strand at the district-wide staff development session in August. Massachusetts Biotechnology Educators Alumni Conference Held The Institute conducted the 2007 Massachusetts Biotechnology Educator Alumni Conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on May 5. The purpose of the Alumni Conference was to provide attendees with enhanced knowledge about biotechnology education and to connect the many educators who are engaged in biotech education in the state so that they can share best practices. Attendees included alumni of the Biotechnology Institute’s National Teacher-Leader Program, the Biotechnology Teacher Instruction Collaborative, and the MassBioEd Foundation’s BioTeach program. This program was sponsored by Millipore Corporation. The conference featured a half-day workshop followed by attendance at the Biotechnology Institute’s Annual Awards Reception and Banquet. The workshop included sessions about the latest research being done in biotechnology at some of the leading Massachusetts biotechnology companies, best practices in biotechnology education, and the creation of a web-based network of Massachusetts biotechnology educators and programs. The registration table at MIT was hosted by the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF), an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and fostering inquiry-based science and technology learning. The teachers were also invited to tour the impressive student projects in the MSSEF Science & Engineering Fair at MIT. Through the generous sponsorship of the Millipore Foundation, alumni were able to attend free of charge. The program was successful and well attended and we are looking forward to another great Alumni Conference in 2008! Biotechnology Education News Headlines Below is recent biotechnology education news. See more news at http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/. Athens, GA, Encouraging Biotech Education Partnerships. Coweta County's Central Education Center in Newnan is billed as a high school model for the 21st century. The charter school partners with nearby West Central Technical College, allowing students to take college-level courses while still in high school. Local businesses contribute money and materials - and even help design course curriculum. Now a similar school could be launched in Clarke County. The OneAthens anti-poverty coalition teamed with Athens Technical College and the Clarke County School District to pursue a $3 million state grant to bring a "career academy charter school" within the next couple of years. A primary benefit would be that the college's science and biotechnology labs would be available to high school students. Athens Tech has recently expanded its biotechnology courses to fill a growing demand from pharmaceutical, medical research and forensic employers in Northeast Georgia. Partnering with high schools could open this door to teenagers before they even graduate with a diploma. (Athens Banner-Herald, 7/21/07.) NC Tuition Program for Science Students in Jeopardy. The North Carolina state House gave tentative approval Thursday to a bill that would drop the free tuition deal at UNC campuses for graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. The bill passed 80 to 31 and is expected to win final House approval Monday. But its passage is unlikely in the Senate, where the deal was born in 2003 as a special provision in the state budget. Included in the bill is $25,000 for the school to study an alternative tuition grant -- one that would be given only to students who agree to teach science or math in a North Carolina public school for three years after they graduate from the prestigious public boarding school in Durham. Rep. Lucy Allen, a Louisburg Democrat, said the state should do everything it can to support talented students while North Carolina builds its biotechnology industry. (Charlotte News & Observor, 7/20/07.) Biotech Researcher Named Science Advisor to State Department. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named Nina V. Fedoroff, the Verne M. Willaman chair in life sciences and Evan Pugh professor at Penn State and an external professor of the Santa Fe Institute, to be her new science and technology adviser. Fedoroff was nominated for the position by the National Academy of Sciences. She will begin serving a three-year term as science and technology adviser in August while on leave from her current position at Penn State. In the position of science and technology adviser to the secretary (STAS), Fedoroff will serve as the Department of State's chief scientist and principal liaison with the national and international scientific and engineering communities. Fedoroff is the third person to hold this position since its establishment in 2000. Fedoroff is one of the nation's most prominent researchers in the life sciences and biotechnology. (Penn State, 7/19/07.) North Carolina Teachers Learn 'CSI' Science at Wake Forest Workshop. Fifteen middle school science teachers from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools are becoming students themselves during a July 9-19 workshop at Wake Forest University called, “The Science Behind Biotechnology.” Participants will participatein hands-on activities they can replicate in their own classes such as isolating DNA from strawberries using household chemicals and cheesecloth. (Wake Forest University, 7/12/07.)
Events and Professional Development Sessions See http://www.biotechinstitute.org/events/event_list.php for events and information. To submit your event, go to http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/intake.html. The 2007 Toyota International Teacher Program to the Galapagos Islands (September 30 to October 12) is a unique professional development program for secondary school teachers. This is a special chance for educators to visit these remote islands; the inspiration for Darwin and home to unique ecosystems found no where else on Earth! This year the program is open to classroom teachers of all disciplines in grades 7-12, who teach full time in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Twenty eligible applicants wereselected in May to participate on this fully funded program. More information at www.iie.org/toyota.
If you enjoy the News Digest, please forward a copy to friends and colleagues. To unsubscribe from this mailing, please send an email to communications@biotechinstitute.org with the subject line “unsubscribe.” For more about the News Digest and to sign up for a free subscription, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/news_dig.html. |
|
|
© 2005, Biotechnology Institute, all rights reserved. Privacy Statement Terms & Conditions | Contact Us |