Embedding Biotechnology into WHS Science Curriculum 9-12

Project manager:

Project Manager: Ann Ritchie

School: High School

Type of Grant: Collaborative

Target Grade: 9-12

Curriculum: Science

Start Date: 9/1/2024

Grant proposal

Summary:

Due to a recent retirement, our Biotechnology course was offered for the last time in 2021-2022. When this upper level course was active, it required students to have taken Biology, Chemistry and Physics before enrolling and, while popular, only serviced approximately 48 students per year. Science faculty recently met to identify curriculum needs 9-12. A clear trend emerged: the desire to incorporate biotechnology techniques into virtually every life science course, thereby creating a biotech learning pathway that could become more sophisticated as it progressed. Towards this department goal, I request funds to implement a sequence of biotechnology learning experiences spanning all learning levels from CP to AP and grades 9 through 12. Working with teachers, I will design a learning pathway, starting with biotechnology basics such as DNA gel electrophoresis and concluding with sophisticated protocols such as PCR, with the goal that students be inspired to ask their own questions and carry out collaborative investigations of their own design using technology found at the university level. The Boston/Cambridge area is a biotech world capital. Exposing our students to this discipline would expand awareness of post-secondary opportunities ranging from community college certificate programs in biotechnology, to PhD level industry and research careers. I am unaware of any other high school taking on this ambitious goal of embedding biotechnology into every level and grade of the student science experience. However, based on my background establishing and teaching a bioengineering course at FHS made possible through community partnerships—and with the enthusiasm for this initiative already expressed by science faculty—I am confident we can achieve this goal with WFEE support. Supporting Link: Article about FHS Biotech Initiative

GRANT DETAILS

Educational Issue:

This initiative would address a current weak area of our department. Many of our life science content standards address DNA and proteins and their central role in cell biology, heredity and evolution, yet the activities that students currently carry out to learn these concepts, while engaging, are not authentic procedures actually used by scientists, as we are proposing in this grant. Following are the standards and practices that this initiative would support students to master: HS-LS1-1. Construct a model of transcription and translation to explain the roles of DNA and RNA that code for proteins that regulate and carry out essential functions of life. HS-LS1-6. Construct an explanation based on evidence that organic molecules are primarily composed of six elements, where carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms may combine with nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus to form monomers that can further combine to form large carbon-based macromolecules. HS-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to show how DNA in the form of chromosomes is passed from parents to offspring through the processes of meiosis and fertilization in sexual reproduction. HS-LS3-3. Apply concepts of probability to represent possible genotype and phenotype combinations in offspring caused by different types of Mendelian inheritance patterns. HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence, including molecular, anatomical, and developmental similarities inherited from a common ancestor (homologies), seen through fossils and laboratory and field observations. HS-LS4-4. Research and communicate information about key features of viruses and bacteria to explain their ability to adapt and reproduce in a wide variety of environments. HS-PS1-11(MA). Design strategies to identify and separate the components of a mixture based on relevant chemical and physical properties. Science & Engineering Practices 1. Asking questions and defining problems 2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions 7. Engaging in an argument from evidence 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Goals & Outcomes:

Short Term Goal: Year 1 1. Provision and train 8 teachers to deliver 10 biotech labs within the context of 5 different science courses ranging from CP to AP and spanning grades 9-12, thus providing authentic science experiences to approximately 675 students Long Term Goals: Year 2 2. Achieve goal 1 on a yearly basis 3. Support teachers to modify these 10 labs to encourage open inquiry, further facilitating students’ ability to ask their own questions and design their own investigations using the equipment and protocols 4. Through teacher collaboration, identify next-level biotech techniques that can be added to the curriculum in subsequent years

Activities:

Lab Title/Course/Grade/# of Students Got Protein/Biology CP & H/9/338 PV92 PCR Informatics/Biology CP & H/9/338 Polarity of Food Dyes/ Biology CP & H/9/338 Biofuel Enzymes/Environmental CP/10/34 Comparative Proteomics: Fish Proteins/Biology AP/11 & 12/75 pGLO Bacterial Transformation/Biology AP/11 & 12/75 GMO Investigator/Environmental AP/11 & 12/75 Crime Scene Investigator PCR Basics/Forensics/12/127 ELISA Immuno Explorer/Forensics/12/127 Forensic DNA Fingerprinting/Forensics/12/127 I personally have implemented 9 of the above 10 labs in my previous role as a high school Bioengineering teacher and instructor of a middle school summer biotech bootcamp. My familiarity with the equipment and protocols will avoid costly PD to support teachers during implementation. Another value-added of my three years’ experience teaching Bioengineering and two years as a research assistant at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (publication list), I am confident that I have selected the most appropriate equipment and supplies to provision this initiative, and that I have the technical skills necessary to ensure its success. Supporting Links: Summer Biotech Bootcamp , AR Ritchie Publication List

Innovation & Collaboration:

This approach is innovative because typically high schools treat biotechnology more as enrichment, e.g., inviting in Boston University’s mobile CityLab (a one-day experience) or arranging a field trip to Vertex’s Learning Lab in the Seaport, and not as an integral part of the 9-12 science curriculum. Besides Weston High, which has a robust, integrated biotech experience for their freshmen Biology students, I am not familiar with other public schools that integrate biotechnology into the curriculum in a significant way, besides offering one Biotechnology course to upperclassmen.

Budget:

Total: $59,755