Middle School Students Visit the Frontiers of Science

Last Friday morning approximately 600 seventh-graders from Gaithersburg middle schools participated in the 3rd Annual "Frontiers in Science and Medicine Day" held on the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center campus.

Lakelands Park and Ridgeview Middle School students participated in hands-on science activities in the Academics and Research building of Johns Hopkins University. They learned about cell and molecular biology, synthetic chemistry, forensic DNA and bloodtyping, dominant and recessive traits and compared normal to abnormal cells in toxicology tests.

According to Robin Ferrier, Communications Manager at Johns Hopkins and one of the main event organizers, getting kids excited about science is the goal of the event.

"We want to encourage them to pursue careers in science and medicine, discover vaccines and cure diseases," she said.

With these goals in mind, Ferrier, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital President Dennis Hansen and MCPS Chief of Staff Brian Edwards invited over 19 biomedical research organizations to facilitate hands-on activities and provide on-site laboratory tours for the students.

One tour took students to the NIH Chemical Genomics Center.

"Students visiting the NIH Chemical Genomics Center learned about how the laboratory uses biology and chemistry to identify small molecules and drugs that could potentially treat rare and neglected diseases. They toured the assay development labs and saw the high throughput screening robot, which performs over 2.2 million experiments per day," said Ferrier.

Back at Johns Hopkins, students loaded DNA samples into a DNA gel machine and learned of other less-technical ways to separate out DNA in a medium, such as one involving the use of onions and soapy water. They also learned to make glow sticks and bouncy balls using Borax.

On lab tours at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital students worked under the supervision of hospital staff to rescucitate a robotic, life-like baby doll under various emergency scenarios. 

MCPS decides which schools participate in the events each year.

"Proximity to our activities site is a major consideration," said Anita O'Neill, supervisor for Science, Technology and Engineering at MCPS.

She also emphasized that this year's seventh grade science curriculum is aligned to the activities students experience at "Frontiers in Science and Medicine Day."

"Kids enjoy interactive learning. This day highlights the importance of teamwork and provides a dynamic learning environment," said Hansen.

Organizations that hosted lab tours include: BioReliance, Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, Human Genome Sciences, J Craig Venter Institute, MedImmune, NIH Chemical Genomics Center, Sanaria, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, University  of Maryland Pharmacy Lab, and University of Maryland Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research.

Organizations that participated in hands-on activities at Johns Hopkins include: 20/20 Gene Systems, BioReliance, Human Genome Sciences, JHU Center for Biotechnology Education, Lonza, Montgomery College, NIH Chemical Genomics Institute, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, TissueGene, Qiagen, Universities at Shady Grove, and Women in Bio.