ASU Research E-Magazine: Real World Biology

“Why do I need to learn this? It’s got nothing to do with real life!”

In high schools across the country, students echo this complaint about everything from algebra to zoology. Arizona State University scientists are working with local high school science teachers to put an end to the whining. They aim to show students exactly how biology coursework relates to life outside the school.

Jeff Langland is an adjunct professor of microbiology at ASU. Together with ASU microbiology professor Bert Jacobs, and Edie Langland, a graduate student in microbiology and education, he provides biotechnology training and resources to high school teachers throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.

For example, one hands-on laboratory experiment lets students conduct real DNA fingerprinting to solve a mock murder mystery. Another allows them to genetically engineer bacteria that glow in the dark. Students use concepts and technology not usually available at the high school level.

“Where biotechnology is going really is not emphasized in the high schools at all,” Jeff Langland says. “And yet, we’re part of a society right now where everybody should have some knowledge of biotechnology. There are many moral issues that need to be answered.”

The ASU program is called “Biotechnology Resource for Educational Advancement of Curriculum in High Schools” (BioREACH). It has two main goals.

“The first goal is to train the teachers and teach them about biotechnology,” Langland says. “They need to know where it’s going and how to do labs involving biotechnology.”

Many high school teachers were educated before topics like gene therapy were even discussed, let alone understood.

“The curriculum at the university really hasn’t changed to incorporate biotechnology for brand new teachers,” he adds.

The second goal is to give teachers access to expensive equipment and the supplies needed to conduct biotechnology labs. The BioREACH team takes almost $8,000 worth of equipment and $300 in expendable supplies to every school visit.

BioREACH begins with a university-based workshop for teachers. For one week, teachers learn lab experiments and discuss important advances in biotechnology. But the teachers are not left to fend for themselves after the workshop. There is always follow-up help.

“We go out to classrooms for one week and teach the same labs to both students and the teacher—again. We help teachers incorporate the work into their daily schedule,” Langland explains.

In subsequent years, teachers can borrow equipment for the labs from ASU. They also have access to additional expendable materials.

Currently, BioREACH features two different lab experiments. The first is a mock crime scene in which students use DNA analysis to track down a “murderer.” Six students are chosen to be “suspects” in the case. The class is broken down into six groups. Each group works to prove its “client’s” innocence.

“The kids really get into it,” Langland says. “We have to make it fun.”

During the second lab, students conduct an actual genetic engineering project. Students inject firefly DNA into bacteria. The result: bacteria that glow in the dark.

Teachers can use this experiment to launch discussions about real issues that affect our daily lives. In fact, the BioREACH labs have sparked some heated debates in high school classrooms.

“Our question to the students might be: ‘If you had the opportunity to design your child with certain traits, would you do it?’ Typically, about 50 percent of the class answers one way and 50 percent the other,” Langland says.

“These kids need to understand biotechnology enough so that they can make wise moral decisions in the future. And they should understand where treatments are going,” he continues. “We deal with a lot of diseases. Some of these students or their loved ones are going to contract these diseases.”

Langland raises the issue of testing for genetic predisposition to disease. “Should this technology and the information it generates be available to insurance companies? Or to an employer? There are many issues like this that we’re not teaching people about,” he says.

BioREACH has received rave reviews from both teachers and students. In 1998, almost 500 students participated in the program. The ASU team expects to triple that number in 1999.

Students have stopped asking: “Why do we have to learn this?”

“I never thought science could do anything for me in the future, but this program has really opened my eyes,” said one student.

Another proclaimed, “It wasn’t boring, it kept me awake!” That alone should be enough to inspire many teachers.—Diane Boudreau