Biochemistry Faculty and Students
in a Campus-wide Outreach Program

Oscar winner Halle Berry and the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Department- what is the connection?

Dr. Kerr Whitfield, Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, found Halle Berry and her Type I Diabetes diagnosis was just the right hook to get middle school students thinking and talking about genetics. Eighth grade students at Booth-Fickett Middle School were in the midst of exploring genetics when Dr. Whitfield joined the semester. Partnering with teachers Joan Manson and Angela Bell, Dr. Whitfield designed an activity that utilized online resources to explore a variety of genetic disorders.

The students visited a National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) site called "Genes and Disease". Students were challenged with finding out specific information about particular disorders linked with celebrities or present in their own families. The site allowed the students to find the chromosome location of the gene associated with a particular disorder, fitting their prior knowledge of basic genetics into a context that everyone could relate to: disease.

Manson, Bell, and Whitfield are part of the Scientist Teacher Alliance, an introductory partnership program that brings together teachers and scientists to enhance the established curriculum. The Scientist Teacher Alliance provides a structure for sharing expertise in creating developmentally appropriate lessons that enhance the existing curriculum, reflecting both inquiry-based instruction and the nature of inquiry. These alliances help revise both students' and teachers' preconceptions of scientists and science, and, conversely, scientists' perceptions of the classroom. Teachers apply for the program, specifying the area of the curriculum they will be teaching during the partnership. Scientist volunteers are then recruited from across campus in those specific areas of the curriculum to partner with the teacher.

The Booth-Fickett Scientist Teacher Alliance also included Carlos Encinas and Marci Millhouse from the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. An underlying theme in this partnership was the concept of model organisms. Encinas led the students in an exploration of the wonders and requirements of yeast, while Millhouse's collaboration guided the students in an investigation of a number of wild and wacky phenotypes of Caenorhabditis elegans. Students began to see why scientists might spend all their time studying organisms that they previously just thought of as a cooking ingredient, or how Drosophilia, Manduca or C.elegans might act as avenues to understanding human biology.

The beauty of the Scientist Teacher Alliance is that it provides all participants (scientists, teachers and students) with a learning experience in a different field, be it classroom teaching or science. An additional goal is that Alliances can be a stepping stone for further partnerships. Many of the scientists and teachers involved in the program over the past year have continued their partnerships beyond the ten-week period. Examples include working on professional development courses for teachers, writing small proposals for materials, and continued classroom partnerships.

If you are interested in getting involved in an outreach partnership, but looking for experience with a short-term commitment as a baby step, the Scientist Teacher Alliance may be that opportunity. The web site http://biology.arizona.edu/selo/alliance.html provides more information on the nature of The Scientist Teacher Alliance.

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Updated June 1, 2004

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