Science
(2010-07-26)
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High school science teachers get a tour of the Washington National Primate Research Lab in Seattle, July 21, 2010.
Gary Davis/KPLU photo.
(KPLU) - More and more jobs call for training in science. This summer some local teachers are out to improve the quality of that training. KPLU's Gary Davis caught up with a Seattle program that brings science teachers into cutting-edge laboratories.
Story:
On a hot July afternoon I joined a group of teachers at a University of Washington lab. They were getting an up close look at a facility that played a hidden role in a major news story. You might have heard about a new microbicide gel that blocks HIV infections.
"It's things like that you can point to and say, yes, it is making an impact," says Dave Anderson, head the Washington National Primate Research Center. He credits the pigtail macaque monkeys kept in this facility that were used in experiments for the new gel.
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| Dave Anderson meets with science teachers after their lab tour. |
"Eventually we're going to get to a point where we don't need to use any animals in research, and that's going to be a great day," Anderson adds. "But it won't likely be in my lifetime."
Until scientists understand biology better, animal research will continue. It's one of the hot ethical issues teachers like Mercer Island High's Jamie Cooke will take back to their high school classrooms in September.
"It's a very controversial topic. There are a lot of different viewpoints on it from the public and the students, especially those who have pets," says Cooke.
This is Cooke's eighth year in the program run by Northwest Association of Biomedical Research (NWABR) and funded by the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. It packs in two weeks of training and site visits to science labs around Seattle.
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| Jamie Cooke, Dave Anderson and Kathryn Cunningham. |
Cooke says he'll invite researchers to talk to his students.
"It's awesome to be able have access to some of the scientists to come into the classroom and bring in their perspectives that I could never be able to do on my own," he says.
NWABR executive director Susan Adler says that's the kind of contact the program encourages and has made it a popular offering. So far, she says, they haven't had to turn any applicants away.
Teachers in the program come from Lakewood, Lynnwood and from as far as Montana. Some will write supplementary materials that will help keep high school sciences classes up to date. Kathryn Cunningham teaches at the private Northwest School in Seattle.
"The textbooks that we have are light years behind the current research. And I think the most important thing to teach to any class is really how to research and where to find the current information and how to interpret a lot of the findings that are out there," says Cunningham. Her words echo that of her colleagues, whether they come from private or public high schools: textbooks are quickly outdated.
Cunningham says approaching science through ethical issues is a great way to spark an interest with kids who think they have no interest in science, and a great way for teachers to stay inspired to teach it.
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