SciCentr: Southern Tier SciFair - Spencer-Van Etten Middle School

Spencer-Van Etten Middle School

The SciFair program for summer 2008 is being led by Ms. Jennifer Joyce and Ms. Lara McFarland. Spencer has decided to focus this year's SciFair program on Genetics.

Week 1 (July 21^st-25^th)

The first week has been extremely busy and productive week for Spencer. The kids have learned a lot about the software and this includes navigation, changing avatars, creating signs, pictures and objects and also applying complex commands to objects.

Jake and Conor adding the alcohol to their test tubes.

Apart from working on their virtual worlds, the students have also been learning about the structure of DNA and what in means in context to the living world. After a lesson on nucloetide pairing and sequencing the kids successfully extracted their own DNA in the science lab. Mentor Jillian Ashley has been a critical part of this process and she has been providing constant support to Ms Joyce and Ms McFarland.

Week 2 (July 28^th-August 1^st)

This has been a great week. We established homesteads - some very creative use of space!! We mastered commands and triggers. Especially exciting and explosive was the use of particle emitters and textures. But the moment many had been waiting for was movers- and wow did we move. We moved on trees, UFOs, carpets and anything we could find. Finally we practice making bump panels and using them in practical ways in preparation for our showcase project.

We also continued to explore the world of genetics. Students learned more about inherited traits and the mapping of the human genome. They learned the steps in mitosis and meiosis and the differences between them.

Mikayla drawing mitosis.

Students drew color models of mitosis and practiced moving chromosomes in an online game. Out of world, we also looked at slides of mitosis in both animal and plant cells. Those chromosmes looked just like our pictures! Students explore the concept of cloning individuals and even tested their understanding by cloning a mouse online! Students also learned about cloning specific genes and the medical utilty of the process. And finally, student researched stem cells, their usefulness and the controversies over the use of them. We have really been busy.

At the moment, we are starting to plan our showcase. Students mapped out the project on graph paper and divided into pairs to break down the construction process. We now have a road dividing the space and will begin construction on Monday.

Week 3 (August 4^th-August 8^th)

This week we began to map out our final project for the showcase. We divided into teams and chose responsibilities. Each team spent about 3 days constructing the basic structures. They have now added genetics related signs, activities and games to the locations. We have been reviewing material related to DNA, genes, cloning and gene therapy. We also talked about stem cell research and the controversy surrounding it. We made art projects (out of world) that depicted a particular aaspect of this genetic project. We will display the art next week at the showcase event. We have been busy and the students are really working on applying their knowledge to the virtual world. They are working very well together and we have found them to be gret resources for one another. Just a few days remain...