OOOHHHOO GOO! Director Phil Stewart demonstrated the
snotty results of mixing alginate and calcium chloride to middle school kids from
GEAR UP schools in Montana. This was to demonstrate how bacteria
might make the snotty components of a biofilm matrix. GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early
Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs and is a
program for middle school students.
See the GEAR UP website at:
http://www.gearup.montana.edu
Phil invited the kids to touch and feel the red goo and see how
different it was from either of the original components. There was an immediate response of curious hands!
Betsey Pitts explained what agar plates are and how they provide the
food and environment needed to grow bacteria. Betsey and CBE
graduate students, Willy Davison and Suriani Abdul Rani, grew
bioluminescent bacteria in the agar plates, streaking them with the
kids names and in other creative patterns. With the lights out,
the bacteria lit up the room and it only took the kids a surprised
moment to recognize their names in bioluminescent light.
Everyone geared up with 3D glasses to best visualize some of the
red/green stereo images of biofilm on display.
We hope to see these kids return to Montana State University in
just a few years!
The Learning Engineering by Application Program (LEAP) was sponsored
by the College of Engineering and the Gaining Early Awareness &
Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). GEAR UP is funded by
the Department of Education to increase the number of low-income
students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary
education. Montana GEAR UP serves 24 middle schools and the LEAP camp
hosted students entering the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. The LEAP Camp
consisted of hands-on engineering activities along with
outdoor/physical activities throughout the day and into the evening.
http://www.gearup.montana.edu
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