Bioeyes

Gina Mynsberge

Zebra Fish

• We had two zebra fish named bio and eyes.• They mated and gave us 72 eggs

DayTwo

• As we watched the development of our 72 eggs, we quickly assessed our eggs were newly fertilized. We were excited as we could visualize cell division. I was excited to know I was completing the same work that my students will complete.

Days Three and Four/Modern Lab

• Today, sadly, 95% of our eggs died. The scientist in me wanted to know why. The teacher in me anticipated how a student would react to this problem. On day four ,aside from having the fun hands-on experience lab we visited awesome websites that I can have the students use in computer lab and I the classroom.

Field Trip

• Just like students, teachers love field trips. We were fortunate to see where the zebra fish are housed, research labs on zebra fish that is trying to help solve the problem of human blindness, and the irradiation research programs. We also got to see Jill’s lab and learn how her research may lend itself to finding a cure for muscular dystrophy.

Modern Biology Labs

• The labs were interesting, but much more advanced than the labs I performed in college and in my classroom. The pGlo transformation procedure helped me to understand why scientists insert phosphorescence into cell DNA enabling them to see cell parts and how they move. I can tell my students I genetically changed a cell.

Pedagogy

• In the pedagogy sessions we learned how we will incorporate our own classroom wiki space to show our zebra fish experiments. How exciting. We also made individual and group presentations using ,and it is interesting to see how different teachers will incorporate zebra fish into the classroom. Listening to “experienced” teachers gave me ideas on how to further the zebra fish experience.

Final Thoughts

• The institute opened my eyes on how to explain how research at the university level can be explained and make the students enthusiastic about research in my own classroom.

• Also, I have my creative juices flowing. I can use more genetic labs, relate the zebra fish to many writing standards, and even use genetics to teach probability. The students will love the zebra fish labs. I can already feel their excitement.