University of Southern Maine

News Releases

K-12 Teachers at USM for a Look Into an Invisible World

July 14, 2008

Thirteen K-12 teachers from Maine schools are spending two weeks of their summer getting a firsthand look into the usually invisible world of microbiology, virology, and immunology with the help of USM faculty and staff, and some highly specialized USM microscopes.

The first step of the project is to introduce K-12 teachers to detailed, visual images of microorganisms and cells using advanced lab equipment, including a digital transmission electron microscope.  In subsequent phases, faculty and staff in USM’s Department of Applied Medical Sciences and the USM Southworth Planetarium will work with teachers to develop visual resources for K-12 classroom use throughout Maine. The team also plans to integrate the academic year programs for K-12 teachers into the academic offerings of the Department of Applied Medical Sciences.

The program is made possible through a new, five-year Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) of more than $2 million from the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institutes of Health. These awards bring together biomedical researchers, educators and others to create and disseminate programs that give K-12 teachers, students and the general public a better understanding of life sciences.

COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES:
Professors and K-12 teachers will be working in USM’s Virology and Transmission Electron Microscope Laboratory all day this Tuesday, July 15.

TIME:
9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., this Tuesday, July 15.

PLACE:
Room 106 (Virology and Transmission Electron Microscope Laboratory), USM Science Building, Falmouth Street, Portland.

Room 106 is in the new Research Wing of the Science Building, the next building up from the Sullivan Gym on Falmouth St. Park in the lot between the Sullivan Gym and the Research Wing and use the entrance to the Research Wing that faces campus. Call 228-8040 for directions.

The following are the participating teachers and where they teach:
Julie Cox Pitt and Ruth E. Doughty, Mahoney Middle School, So. Portland; Rori Janel Crossman and Leah Ann Karantza, Bonny Eagle Middle School, Buxton; Joel Vernon Higgins and Richard Scala, Brunswick Jr. High, Brunswick; Andrew S. Kosak, Jordan Acres School, Brunswick; Ruth Maclean, Steven Morgenstein and Paula Frances Murphy, King Middle School, Portland; Thomas H. McGuire, Winthrop Middle School, Winthrop; Roberta Toothaker, Lyman Moore Middle School, Portland; Allyson White, Lewiston Middle School, Lewiston.

CONTACT PERSON AT THE LAB:
USM Professor of Molecular Biology Monroe Duboise.

FOR HELP ARRANGING INTERVIEWS:
Call USM Public Affairs at the office or home numbers listed above. 

For more information on the Department of Applied Medical Sciences in the School of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (ASET) http://www.usm.maine.edu/ams/

For more information on the Science Education Partnership Awards
http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/science%5Feducation%5Fpartnership%5Fawards/20080121.asp

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