CITY TEACHERS TO TRY HANDS AT BIOTECH

BALTIMORE, Md.--In a series of curricula-enhancing workshops, Baltimore city public high school teachers will be detecting marine toxins with microbes, discovering crab shell-degrading bacteria, extracting and transforming DNA, and running other experiments designed to enhance their students' skills and knowledge in biotechnology.

The program for biotech workshops has been funded by a grant to the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program, administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The first teacher workshop will cover marine and agricultural iotechnologies. It will be held at UMBI's Center of Marine Biotechnology on east Pratt Street at the Inner Harbor. Participants then will be eligible for a medical biotechnology workshop at UMBI in 2003.

In the first workshop, teachers will conduct marine experiments concerning the Chesapeake Bay. For example, they will identify bacteria with a gene that is capable of producing a compound that can degrade crab shell waste. They will locate the bacteria with a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, experiment.

They will also use glowing bacteria to detect toxins in the environment. In the module, "Food Biotechnology: What's the DNA All About?" the teachers will study DNA using laboratory methods, such as gel electrophoresis and DNA transformation. They will mimic experiments by UMBI researchers who are currently using such methods to develop environment-safe technology to protect crops from disease and insect pests.

"These labs are based on actual cutting-edge research," says UMBI education specialist Kathryn Gloersen, M.S. in marine estuarine and environmental sciences. "I like this because I have a chance to help teachers open students' minds to biology, to ask questions, and build confidence, which is the real barrier to overcoming the fear of science," she adds.

Following the workshops, teachers can reserve a loaner laboratory for their classrooms. It includes all the materials and equipment necessary to repeat their workshop experiments.

"In a field of growing importance-biotechnology-the UMBI education programs provide educators in Maryland and elsewhere with high-quality training and enrichment for teaching in more engaging ways in their classrooms," says J. Adam Frederick, Maryland Sea Grant marine education specialist.

Since 1995, the programs have helped more than 30,000 students and teachers connect with guided-inquiry and problem-based model experiments that challenge students and teachers to develop hypotheses and understand the scientific process.

For more information on the teacher workshops: (410) 576-5778 or (410) 234-8850, scitech@umbi.umd.edu, or click on: http://www.umbi.umd.edu/educ/index.html.

The Eisenhower Professional Development Program, Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), is the federal government's largest investment solely focused on developing knowledge and skills of classroom teachers. The program provides funds through state education agencies to school districts, and through state agencies to institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations. These funds primarily support professional development in mathematics and science.

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The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute was mandated by the state of Maryland legislature in 1985 as "a new paradigm of state economic development in biotech-related sciences." With five major research and education centers across Maryland, UMBI is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. The centers are the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville; Center for Agricultural Biotechnology in College Park; and Center of Marine Biotechnology, Medical Biotechnology Center, and the Institute of Human Virology, all in Baltimore.