Learning by doing: scholastic partners develop essential skills in Discover Now

Teachers from five schools convened on the beautiful campus of the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, USA, for a fun and exciting week of instruction in experimental protocols and data interpretation. This marked the second week of orientation to the theory and practice of Stan-X programs and curricula. This included partners and instructors from the Lawrenceville School, Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico), Commack High School (New York), Latin School (Chicago, Illinois),  and Stanford University. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, three instructors from another partner school, the Haileybury School (U.K.) deferred their in-person training until next summer.

End of the week smiles: group selfie on the last day of Discover Now

This in-person training immediately followed a prior week of online orientation and meetings covering the genetics, molecular biology and cell biology underlying the Stan-X fruit fly curriculum.

Discover Now faculty, Nicole Lantz, Elizabeth Fox, and Lutz Kockel met daily with instructors for an intensive immersion in fly husbandry, molecular biology, bio-informatics, dissections, microscopy and tissue handling. These approaches will be the backbone of course instruction and student activities in the Stan-X courses developed at these partner schools. Stephanie Good, from the Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico) reflected that “the Discover Now program was extremely helpful! The instructors were knowledgeable and patient,  and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my students.”

Stephanie Good practices larval dissections and tissue mounting for microscopy.

Discover Now attendees lodged in a hotel, within easy walking distance of the Lawrenceville School. They had meals provided by the program, giving them a chance to experience fare from local restaurants. During mid-day breaks from lab work, teachers explored the environs, including walks and runs along the Lawrenceville-Hopewell trail. Participants also explored The Lawrenceville School's Big Red Farm, taking in the solar field and vegetable plots, feeding the pigs, and observing the sheep herds, and the apiary. Evenings out in town allowed teachers to develop connections and to network. 

In addition to the lab-based work, materials, discussion and advice were provided on space allocation, practical issues in fruit fly intercrosses, maintenance and larval biology, preparation of instructional materials and safe laboratory procedures. The environment and esprit de corps generated productive networking interactions between new Stan-X partners, features that will be fostered through year-long mentoring and meetings provided by Dr. Kockel (Stanford) and other Discover Now instructors.

Robert Smullen from the Commack High School (New York) summarized his experience: “Stan-X’s fantastic teacher development course is intense, covering a mindboggling amount of material over the five days... but it was super rewarding. The instructors for the course were informative and patient, reminding me of some of the best teachers I have had over my career. The time I invested in the five-day intense training has given information and skills that I will be use years from now.”

For information about Discover Now in 2022, please contact Nicole Lantz at the Lawrenceville School, nlantz@lawrenceville.edu

New scholastic partners introduced to Stan-X programs through Discover Now

This past week, instructors from multiple new partner programs began orienting to the theory and practice of Stan-X programs and curricula. This included partners and instructors from the Albuquerque Academy (New Mexico), Greenwich Academy (Connecticut), Latin School (Chicago, Illinois), Loyola Marymount University (California) and Rutgers University (New Jersey). The week of sessions opened with a greeting by Seung Kim (Stanford).

Hosted by Discover Now faculty, Nicole Lantz, Elizabeth Fox, Anne Rankin, and Lutz Kockel, instructors met daily via teleconference to review written and video materials provided by Discover Now, including daily ‘homework’ for discussion in class the following day. Topics covered included fruit fly genetics and genotyping/naming conventions, molecular biology and antibody staining approaches, discussion of gene regulation and binary gene expression systems in flies, balancer chromosome use, and use of Flybase and other data analysis tools in the classroom. 

In addition, materials, discussion and advice were provided on lab set up, husbandry, curriculum material preparation and implementation, food preparation and procurement, productive networking interactions between Stan-X partners, and mentoring during the school year by Discover Now instructors.

Sahar Ross-Wiley of the Greenwich Academy reflected on the first week: “I learned so much and feel that I am starting to have a better understanding of what this path looks like…Again, thank you for all you shared with us, it was really worth it.”

Following this initial instruction, eight participants from these schools traveled to the beautiful Lawrenceville School campus in central New Jersey to spend this week at the bench with Discover Now instructors. They will be learning, through an immersive week of lab activities and exercises, all the practical skills needed to run the Stan-X course back at their school during term time.

For information about Discover Now in 2022, please contact Nicole Lantz at the Lawrenceville School, nlantz@lawrenceville.edu

New Drosophila lines described at the third Stan-X Interscholastic Conference: Going Global

The Stan-X program hosted its third interscholastic science conference this spring, with presentations by 54 students and teachers. Students presented their research findings from Stan-X based curricula established at these schools in a scintillating afternoon filled with discussion about results, interpretation and new curricular offerings from Stan-X. The conference was also a celebration of completed coursework and research for students and teachers in the face of difficulties posed by COVID, including intermittent school closings and distance teaching/learning. 

 Participants at this conference represented schools from around the globe including: The Lawrenceville School (NJ, USA), Commack High School (NY, USA), Lowell High School (CA, USA), Phillips Exeter Academy (NH, USA), Haileybury School (UK), Dalton School (NY, USA), American School in Japan (Tokyo, Japan), Latin School (IL, USA), Loyola Marymount University (CA, USA) and Stanford University (CA, USA). 

Students presented data and interpretation of their experiments characterizing new fruit fly strains generated over the past year by our Stan-X partner schools. These included presentations about genomic insertion location of the SX-4 enhancer trap element, neighboring gene characterization, and unique patterns of LexA-dependent gene expression in multiple new fruit fly strains. Presentations included shared data from productive collaborations between schools, including molecular studies of the genomic location of enhancer trap elements. The sessions were moderated by Dr. Lutz Kockel (Stanford) and teachers and students from participating Stan-X schools. For nearly all students this was the first experience they had in publically presenting and discussing primary science data. So, like in prior years, the conference replicated important elements of a scientific meeting. This included the careful planning of data presentation and slides, practice talks, and the management of the natural nervous energy accompanying public speaking. The excitement and high spirits during the afternoon were palpable, despite the virtual setting of the conference this year. 

Student Houston Kilby summarized her experience in the Research Molecular Genetics course at Lawrenceville: "RMG was a great experience because everything we learned and all the high level concepts we studied were rooted in things we were really doing in the lab. We had such a great time getting to see how our research really applied to the world of science, and got a feel for what it was like to do professional level research. I loved this class, and I recommend it to everyone who is even remotely interested in science!"

Presentation and discussion of a new LexA enhancer-trap strain at the 2021 conference, by attendees from Lawrenceville, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Hertfordshire, UK.

Dr. Kockel commented: “This interscholastic conference also helps foster the sense in students and teachers that they are truly connected to a larger community of science, through a network of experimental genetics and biology, and through the data and new fly strains they have generated.”

Students from Phillips Exeter Academy presented their findings from a new Stan-X course begun this past spring with instructors Anne Rankin, Townley Chisholm and Stanford scientist, Dr. Sangbin Park. This new course incorporates CRISPR-based gene editing in living flies to generate new LexA fly strains. Participating Exeter students described the course protocols and successful outcomes from gene editing strategies using CRISPR/Cas9 gene in flies, setting the stage for offering this exciting, new course to other Stan-X partner schools. 

Exeter student Jason Wang summarized his experience with this new course: “Performing the new CRISPR-based conversion protocol was a deeply interesting, always engaging, and ultimately rewarding endeavor. Seeing genetics concepts come to life in our flies highlighted the tangibility and applicability of our project, and I am excited to see what the future holds for this course."

Ms. Rankin noted: “Through the Stan-X program I spend a portion of my time doing exactly what I ask my students to do - get far outside my comfort zone via exposure to new material, experiences and people.  By becoming a learner shoulder to shoulder with my students [and colleagues], I authentically model the characteristics I hope to instill - humility, empathy, inquisitiveness, openness, adaptability and continual growth.”

The afternoon ended with discussions of further studies to be performed in summertime internships and collaborations, and a lively interactions focused on the intent to have an in-person Stan-X student conference in the future.

For information about Stan-X and the 2022 Stan-X Interscholastic Science Conference, please contact Dr. Lutz Kockel, lkockel@stanford.edu