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A Partnership to Foster Understanding of Bioinformatics in North Carolina’s High Schools

A Partnership to Foster Understanding of Bioinformatics in North Carolina’s High Schools. Stephenie McLean Renaissance Computing Institute mclean@renci.org Amber Vogel DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program Vogel@unc.edu TeraGrid ‘07 June 7th Madison, WI. Outline.

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A Partnership to Foster Understanding of Bioinformatics in North Carolina’s High Schools

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  1. A Partnership to Foster Understanding of Bioinformatics in North Carolina’s High Schools Stephenie McLean Renaissance Computing Institute mclean@renci.org Amber Vogel DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program Vogel@unc.edu TeraGrid ‘07 June 7th Madison, WI

  2. Outline • Translating university research into pre-college lesson plans • Partnership • Goals, Objectives & Outreach Plan • Bioinformatics Module • Teacher Feedback • Education & Outreach Initiatives in the biosciences

  3. Research to Lesson Plans • Share research with broad audiences • Research Lab at UNC partnered with pre-college program • Brought together complementary expertise and resources

  4. Partners • DESTINY- UNC-Chapel Hill’s Traveling Science Learning Program. • http://www.destiny.unc.edu • Dr. Todd Vision’s Biology Lab UNC-CH • http://visonlab.bio.unc.edu • RENCI • http://www.renci.org • TeraGrid- Biosciences Gateway • Bioportal • http://www.tgbioportal.org/

  5. Goals of the Partnership • To foster high school students’ understanding of bioinformatics and their appreciation of the computer as a tool for scientific research. • To facilitate the delivery of teacher training and student learning experiences. • To extend the workforce pipeline into the pre-college arena.

  6. Pre-College Outreach Plan • Develop an inquiry-based bioinformatics curriculum module • Present professional development workshops • Dispatch custom-built vehicles to provide technical support to schools • Evaluate and report on the outcomes

  7. DESTINYTraveling Science Learning Program

  8. DESTINY • Founded 2000 at UNC-CH Biology Dept. • Joined Morehead Planetarium and Science Center 2006 • Further UNC’s statewide science education outreach efforts. • Two 40-foot, 33,000-pound buses • Accommodate 24 students • More than 25,000 students served.

  9. Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) Mission: Leverage advanced computing, visualization, and data capabilities to let researchers ask difficult questions that could not otherwise be tackled. Bottom Line: RENCI is a resource to help faculty use advanced technologies to support innovation,education, collaboration and get research funding that will enable new discoveries

  10. Education • Curriculum development • RENCI Research integrated in the classroom • Teacher Education Resources RENCI -EOT Training • Hands-on skill building using HPC • Biosciences/Disaster response • Teacher Training computational science Mobile Units – ROVER Program Unmanned Aerial Vehicle • Man-made & natural disaster response vehicles • sensor deployment/data collection • resilient interoperable communication platforms • The UAV will be used to gather data from areas too dangerous to be reached by humans. • Equipped with a digital camera & programmed to receive transmissions from battery operated, low-power sensors in remote locations “Bridging science, technology and education”

  11. Bioinformatics Module • Alignments to the North Carolina Standard Courses of Study • Fact sheets • Pre-lab activities • Interactive computer animation • Post-lab activities

  12. BI Module Learning Objective • To have students appreciate how computer tools can be used for scientific investigation. • Evolutionary origin of eukaryotic organelles • Understand how molecular data can be used to generate sequence alignments & reconstruct phylogenies • Be able to read and compare phylogentic trees • Be able to use scientific methods

  13. Scientific Content • Symbiosis and Endosymbiosis, • students need to know to understand the evolutionary process they are investigating through bioinformatics. • Among the related figures students will encounter in their textbooks is Lynn Margulis, a contemporaryscientist.http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/history/endosym.shtml

  14. Teacher Feedback • Teacher Advisory Committee • 13 NC teachers (10 Science and 3 Non-Science) • Concerns about suitability to the pre-college classroom • Work is already under way to ensure that the module's scientific concepts, vocabulary, and overall approach are accessible to high school students with varying levels of ability and interest.

  15. EOT Initiatives in the Biosciences • Mobile Outreach • BioPortal • Trainings & Workshops

  16. Mobile Outreach • Dispatch vans and buses to schools and informal education communities • Science kits and computers to implement the curriculum.

  17. The RENCI Bioportal • A web-based portal to Bioinformatics computing applications. • Collection of five • major suites and • assorted other useful • programs:

  18. Goals of the RENCI Bioportal • Host critical Bioinformatics computing tools • Reduce setup costs • Provide an educational resource • Use technology to promote science education

  19. BioPortal - Hardware • Leveraging RENCI infrastructure ... • 34 node Linux cluster • one head node • 32 compute nodes • one storage node • Configuration • 3.06 GHz dual Xeon processors • 4 GB memory/node • 8 GB memory on storage node • 1.73 TB storage array • 14 x 146GB U320 SCSI Drives • RAID 5 partitioned

  20. Technology - Hardware • ... against Grid resources • The RENCI Bioportal is a TeraGrid Science Gateway • Bringing new users • to the TeraGrid

  21. BioPortal Outreach & Education • BioPortal-centered half-day training session at TG07 • Bioinformatics classes at NC A&T University • RENCI Summer Institute for H.S students • Series of informational sessions at local universities • Bioinformatics Module for H.S Students

  22. Project Next Steps • TeraGrid Conference 07 • Madison, WI June 4th-8th • Supercomputing Conference 2007 • Reno November 10th -16th RENCI Demo- Exhibits Booth • North Carolina Science Teachers Association Professional Development Institute • Greensboro, NC November 14th -16th • The National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Professional Development Conference • Atlanta November 28th – December 1st . • "Turn Your High School Classroom into a BioPortal: Tools and Lesson Plans for Using Bioinformatics to Teach Evolutionary Biology in General and Advanced Courses."

  23. Acknowledgements • Todd Vision • Stefanie Hartmann • Betty Brown • Amber Vogel • Nathan Nicely • Jennifer Shelton Murphy • Stephenie McLean • National Science Foundation

  24. Thank You! • Amber Vogel, Director DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program • Vogel@unc.edu • Stephenie A. McLean, Director Education and Outreach RENCI • Mclean@renci.org

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