Delaware Biotechnology Institute Director Kelvin Lee welcomes teachers to the Institute for a day of workshops on life science.

Anatomy, Physiology, and Biology teachers watch a 3-D demonstration of the Visible Human Dissector in the Delaware Biotechnology Institute’s Computer Aided Virtual Environment.

Dr. Thomas Hanson, a professor in UD’s College of Marine and Earth Studies and at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, explains the many benefits of microbes.

Dr. Kirk Czymmek, Director of Delaware Biotechnology Institute’s Bio-Imaging Center and Associate Professor of Biology at UD, meets with participants in his microscopy workshop.

Fifty high school and middle school science teachers who share a passion for science attended the sixth annual life science in-service day at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute on Friday, October 10.  Conducted at the request of the Delaware Department of Education, the day featured workshops on microscopy, microbes, and the human nervous system; tours of DBI; and professional development and networking opportunities.

“Delaware Biotechnology Institute is committed to maintaining a connection with teachers, who are a valued part of our scientific community,” said Jeanette Miller, Assistant Director of the Institute.  “We view science teachers as critical experts in the scientific continuum.”

Institute Director Kelvin Lee welcomed the middle and high school teachers.  “Teachers provide for the future of our society,” Lee told the teachers. “Our successes build upon your successes.”  Lee emphasized that the in-service day’s purpose is to provide teachers with new perspectives and with tools they can use to continue to be innovative in their classrooms.  “We want to deliver a program that is something you can benefit from,” he said, encouraging attendees to provide feedback on the day.  “Today gives us a chance to help you renew your relationships with each other, and it gives us a chance to build our relationships with you.”

Attendees received a binder full of readings submitted by workshop instructors. Miller explained that workshop topics were chosen based on input from teachers, noting that sessions were both science-based and technology-based.  Miller added that teachers seem to enjoy a balance between scientific discussion and hands-on techniques.

For the first half of the day, teachers could choose to attend one of three workshops: Modern Microscopy, Microbes in the Environment, and The Human Nervous System I. The afternoon session featured the microscopy and microbe workshops again, as well as The Human Nervous System II.

Microbes in the Environment, officially titled “Microbes in the Environment…You owe them more than you think,” was taught by Dr. Thomas Hanson of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and UD’s College of Marine and Earth Studies.  Hanson provided information, specific examples, and resources to help educators illustrate central biological principles for their students, using environmental microbiology.  Hanson’s talk acknowledged that while popular media and advertising routinely portray microbes as agents of disease, microbes help with nutrient uptake, provide food, prevent the colonization of surfaces by pathogens, maintain oxygen at current atmospheric levels, and detoxify naturally occurring pollutants.

“I was trying to give microbes some good press for a change and provide information that teachers could use creatively in their classrooms,” said Hanson.

Attendees at Hanson’s workshop were pleased with the content.  “My interest in Dr. Hanson's workshop as a chemist was identifying links in the life sciences and chemistry curriculum that would assist students in

understanding the interrelationships of science,” said Dr. Rita Vasta, who teaches Chemistry at The Charter School of Wilmington.  “The biomass of microbes, the carbon cycle and the human impact on the environment enlightens classes.” 

Vasta added that the Delaware Biotechnology Institute’s resources were valuable to her as an educator. “Dr. Hanson's presentation was informative, and we didn't realize that the 90 minutes were up,” she said.  “He spent time to talk to us and share information.  I feel that I could contact him at anytime to follow up on his research.”

Vasta’s students often ask her what they should study in college.  “The DBI in-service gives us ideas to tell students to consider,” she said.

Jennifer Albanes, a Biology teacher at Salesianum School, said, “Tom helped us to see how microbes are a part of our everyday lives and the important role they play in maintaining the environment.  He presented in a simple and straightforward way, which made it easy for us to understand and share with our students.”

Dr. Kirk Czymmek, Director of Delaware Biotechnology Institute’s Bio-Imaging Center and Associate Professor of Biology at UD, taught Modern Microscopy with associates Deborah Powell and Shannon Modla. Teachers attending the microscopy workshop split into small groups and visited the Transmission Electron Microscope, the Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope, and the Multiphoton Confocal Microscope.  “We repeated the microscopy session this year, after it received rave reviews from last year’s participants,” said Miller. 

The Human Nervous System I, led by Professor Sandra Taylor of Delaware Technical & Community College’s Biology & Chemistry department, began in the Institute’s “CAVE,” the Computer Aided Virtual Environment, with a short film about the National Institutes of Health’s Visible Human Project, which was a 7-year mapping project that resulted in an anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representation of the human body.  Now available on the Internet for anyone to use, this “virtual cadaver” is the only one of its kind and allows students to visualize anatomical structures from thousands of different angles. 

Taylor showed the members of her workshop how to use Touch of Life Technologies’ Virtual Human Dissector in their classrooms.  The teachers used the CD-Rom program on laptops and walked through Taylor’s own nervous system lesson, used for her students at DTCC. “I love the program,” said Taylor, “and my students tell me time and time again how much they like it.” 

Taylor said the program is excellent for gross anatomy and that it helps students visualize where organs are in the body.  “For students, it’s great,” she said.  “When they can turn it and see where the structures are aligned, it’s really helpful.”

Anatomy & Physiology teachers Vicki Dalton and Colleen Barrett of Middletown High School agreed that the Visible Human Dissector tool would be wonderful to have in their classrooms.  “We do a pig dissection,” said Dalton, “and this makes that more relevant—it’s the real thing.”  Barrett said, “This is fantastic.  I would love to be able to design my own lesson and have our kids use their own laptops.”  Barrett and Dalton, who have both taught for 11 years at Middletown High School, agreed that the cost of the CD-Rom was reasonable and that seeing Taylor’s own lessons was helpful.  Barrett liked the idea of using the Visible Human Dissector and having her students use it again in college.  “If they go on to Del Tech,” she said, “they’d already have experience with this.”

Both thought that the in-service day was helpful.  “It’s beneficial to see what the Delaware universities have to offer our kids, so we can prepare them,” said Barrett.

Other teachers agreed.  Florence Malinowski, a Biotechnology Career teacher at the brand-new St. Georges Technical High School in New Castle County, prepares her students for entry-level lab positions, placing them in local laboratories as interns.  Malinowski, who worked in industry for 13 years and was Director of Quality Assurance at QPS, said of the Visible Human Dissector workshop, “During my experience in drug development, I reviewed studies using whole-body autoradiography.  It was unique to be able to correlate the two.”  Malinowski said she would use the software to connect animal dissection to the human body, emphasizing biotechnology and drug development concepts.

The afternoon session featured the microscopy and microbe workshops again, as well as The Human Nervous System II, taught by Dr. Deni Galileo of UD’s Biology department.  Galileo’s workshop centered on brain development and disease research, including his own research on glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.

“The Delaware Department of Education encourages teachers to stay abreast of the big questions in life science research,” said Miller.  This understanding then becomes woven into the experience of teachers across the state.”

Sponsors of the in-service day include Delaware’s statewide Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), and DuPont.  Delaware EPSCoR’s goal is to maximize Delaware’s resources and drive its economic growth by promoting partnerships in science and technology among the state’s universities, industries, and government. Delaware INBRE seeks to deliver a statewide pipeline of capable and competitive medical research personnel who can compete for and win NIH-funded research grants.  The mission of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute is to promote research, education, and technology transfer for biotechnology applications to the benefit of the environment, agriculture, and human health.

By Katie Ginder-Vogel
Photos by Tyler Jacobson