Science center opens doors to area schools

An eighth grader from Thomas Jefferson Middle School extracts DNA to analyze the "blueprint" of life.

ighth graders make a beeline to the lab coats, goggles, and gloves. Looking the part, this diverse mix of students from Rochester's Thomas Jefferson Middle School become forensic scientists for a day, using state-of-the-art equipment at the newly opened Life Sciences Learning Center.

Housed in a renovated space that includes fully equipped work stations, computers, and a teaching center, the hands-on lab offers interactive classes for up to 30 students. The program targets underserved schools, both rural and urban.

Directed by Dina Markowitz and funded by the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the University's Environmental Health Sciences Center, the lab opened its doors at the end of February to much success.

"The response has been tremendous," says Markowitz. "In our first six weeks we hosted over 300 students from area schools, many of which lacked the supplies, equipment, or staffng to coordinate these types of learning situations in the classroom. We offer a unique opportunity to conduct hands-on science inquiry that will hopefully make learning come alive."

The lab offers a range of classes for both middle and high school biology students, covering topics such as DNA fingerprinting, water quality testing, and microbe identification. The center also offers professional development workshops for science teachers that align with New York State education standards. There is a "lending library" with equipment and materials so that teachers can implement the new techniques they learn into their own classrooms.

Samuel Ibezim, an eighth grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, says the new center is a much-needed resource. "It gets students involved in and excited about science and exposes them to the University campus. Students can begin to make connections between what they do in the classroom and the opportunities that await them in life."

To learn more about the Life Sciences Learning Center, visit www2.envmed.Rochester.edu/LifeSciences.

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