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Summer Science Institute
2006 Program Summary
During June 2006, the University of Florida Summer Science Institute (SSI), a new professional development program for secondary school science teachers, offered three one-week intensive workshops on biotechnology and the environment.
The University of Florida Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (UF CPET) was proud to host over 60 outstanding teachers representing 10 counties from across the state. The participants in the three SSI workshops comprised a diverse group of experienced educators teaching middle and high school science.
Each week of the program engaged the participants in various hands-on and minds-on activities.
During Biotech Basics, the teachers attended lectures on current research concepts and applications in biotechnology such as gene therapy and microarrays; participated in hands-on laboratory research including performing bacterial transformation, protein chromotography, and PCR; visited emerging companies at the Biotechnology Development Incubator; and gained an industrial perspective at the Center of Excellence for Regenerative Health Biotechnology.
The second week of the workshop, Explorations in Environmental Science, the teachers attended lectures on current research concepts and applications in environmental science such as wetlands and water resources; participated in hands-on laboratory opportunities including plant identification, water chemistry, and assessing water quality through macroinvertebrate studies; and gained extensive field experience by visiting several areas of interest in North Central Florida.
Research Topics in Environmental Science combined many aspects of the previous two weeks at a more advanced level. The teachers attended lectures on current research concepts and applications in both biotechnology and environmental science. They focused on ecotoxicology and ecosystem health, as well as on industrial methods employed to monitor various habitats at both molecular and whole system levels. The teachers engaged in two intense hands-on laboratory opportunities including a vitellogenin Western blot anaysis and ELISA; and gained extensive field experience by visiting several areas of interest in North Central Florida, performing water chemistry and quality testing.
All SSI teachers were asked to develop a teaching tool that would translate the new information gained at the University of Florida into their classroom curriculum. The SSI teachers return to their communities, having learned the most recent advances in biotechnology and environmental science which, combined with their outstanding teaching talents, will bridge the research community with the general public.
