Biology Workshops

CSI-CVSS  (Dr. Johanna Foster and Dr. Eric Merten)
A person has been found dead in Waverly but what was the cause of death?  Were they murdered?  Be the sleuth and figure it out.  All participants will view the death scene, collect information, and then use the Biology Department’s equipment and greenhouse to analyze the data.  Students will have to identify organisms and other materials found at the crime scene, research their potential influence on the outcome, and present their findings to the rest of the group.
                  
DETECTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE ORGANISMS BY MOLECULAR METHODS (Dr. Roy M. Ventullo and Dr. Stephanie Toering Peters)
The sensitivity and specificity associated with the use of molecular assays has greatly improved the field of infectious disease detection by providing clinicians with results that are both accurate and rapidly obtained.  Participants will use Biolog's latest generation redox chemistry (96 biochemical reactions in a single plate format) and the Biolog Microbial ID system to identify species of Staphylococcus bacteria. Participants will isolate and purify DNA from the same cells and use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to confirm the identity as well as antibiotic resistance of the Staphylococcus isolates.

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF NEUROSCIENCE  (Dr. Samantha Larimer Bousquet and Dr. Andrea Eslick)
Neuroscience is a melding of biology and psychology to study the biological basis of behavior.  Essentially, neuroscience asks how humans detect their environment and respond to it. Students will examine the master control center of behavior (the brain) through dissection of a sheep brain, and then investigate some of the things that the brain allows humans to do. Investigations will include looking at the electrical activity of their own brains, as well as other physiological measures that will allow them to determine how their body responds to various environmental stimuli.

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS  (Dr. David McCullough)
Students will learn about the applications of molecular biology and how DNA manipulations are carried out and used to study problems in biology and serve society as well.  Students will experiment with methods used to analyze DNA with restriction enzymes and perform DNA fingerprint analysis.  Students will also learn about the role of pedigree analysis and genetic markers in disease detection.

MR. JOHNSON’S WORKOUT (Dr. Ed Westen)
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent in medical education.  This workshop will present an example of a medical school PBL entitled “Mr. Johnson’s Workout.”  Participants will be presented with a patient’s history and physical exam results.  From there, they will use available resources, each other, and a continuing interaction with the group leader to diagnose the patient’s illness.  Participation in this workshop will provide an appreciation for the problem-solving endeavor that is medicine as well as give students their first experience with PBL.

THE CLINICAL LABORATORY: A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE (Theresa R. Fruehling, MLS(ASCP))
What happens to your blood after it has been drawn?  Taking you into the world of results, the other side of what you see.  Help to diagnose patients and help with their care.  Solve the mysteries that lay beyond the Doctor’s office or ER.  Looking for a challenge, a mystery, or just a new perspective?  Come check out the view from the “other side.”

Engineering Workshop

HOW ENGINEERS HELP THE WORLD (Dr. LeAnn Faidley)
Engineers put knowledge of math and science to use in the creation of products and processes that solve the world’s problems.  In this workshop you will learn about a variety of engineering disciplines as you work with a team to design devices to perform specific tasks.

Math, Computer Science, and Physics Workshop

SCIENTIFIC MODELING OF HOT AIR BALLOONS (Dr. Brian Birgen, Dr. Ben Bousquet, and Dr. John Zelle)
The iterative process of building, testing, and refining models is essential to science in the 21st Century.  Modeling real-world systems often requires the use of tools and techniques from a variety of disciplines, even in the case of a seemingly simple phenomenon.  Participants in this workshop will work with small-scale hot air balloons and attempt to model their behavior using computational techniques.  Development of mathematical models will incorporate both the underlying physics principles and data obtained from physical measurements.  Flight and trajectory predictions derived from these models will be compared to the results of experiments.  This workshop is recommended for students interested in mathematics, computer science, physics, and/or engineering.