Lower School students get caught up in space

The work of students in Blue Balliett's third grade class will be propelled into space in February thanks to the interest of Michael Turner, a classroom parent who is the Chairman of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University. "Professor Turner knows John Grunsfeld, one of the astronauts who are being sent up in space to service the Hubble Space Telescope in February for eleven days," Balliett said. "Mr. Grunsfeld has offered to take up a CD of writings and drawings done by our class. He tells us that a photograph of him holding our CD will be taken 308 nautical miles from the earth."

In preparation for the trip, Turner and science teacher Gerold Hanck showed the class a PowerPoint presentation featuring pictures of the telescope, documentation of past voyages in which Grunsfeld appears in a space suit working outside the telescope, and Hubble photographs of stars and nebulae.

"We spent three weeks compiling stories, poems, drawings, and photographs of the class. We've had invaluable help from Karen Putman, our computer teacher, and Sheila Woods, technical assistant. Information Services helped us to make a very snazzy label for the CD. The kids are very excited," Balliett said. "The students did some wonderful artwork relating to the telescope and their ideas about space, and some colorful and vivid fiction in which space is a mysterious and magical theme. They love the thought of their ideas traveling physically off the earth," she added.

Turner will be a special guest at this year's Connections benefit on April 20. He and other University physical and biological scientists will be distinguished guests of the event's underwriters and will be available to sit with sponsors at their tables.

Middle School draws on dinosaur discovery

Susan Lesher, a fifth-grade teacher, has developed a strong connection with Paul Sereno, University of Chicago paleontologist and one of the world's leading authorities on dinosaurs. He recently announced the discovery of the largest known crocodile from ancient times, but students in Lesher's previous class, now sixth-graders, already knew about the amazing creature because Sereno had e-mailed them from the field last year to let them know of his discoveries.

"The students are enormously proud of their association with the University of Chicago and with Paul," Lesher said. "They understand how important and well-known he is, but he's so approachable and personable that they're on a first-name basis.

"They felt very special to know that they heard the news of his discoveries before the rest of the world did. They saw and read about the dig as it was in progress," she said. "Our focus in class is not so much on learning about dinosaurs, but about how much work and planning an expedition takes and what skills scientists need in order to undertake such work."

Lesher's class visits the Sereno lab once a year to get a special inside look at what's going on. They also take part in yearly fund-raising activities for Sereno's expeditions. The relationship between Sereno and the fifth-graders began more than ten years ago when Lesher heard about one of Sereno's digs in Texas during which a University undergraduate discovered an important dinosaur fossil. "I called Paul and told him that my class was interested in dinosaurs and found the story fascinating. We arranged for a visit, and Paul and the undergraduate carted boxes and boxes of fossils and slides up three flights of stairs to my classroom in Blaine Hall!"

University faculty also lend their expertise to the annual science fair program organized by Middle School science teacher Diane Snider. "The fifth-grade students break up into small groups working on projects of the same type," Snider explained. "One or two adults with background in that area meet with the students for a group interview, with students taking turns asking for advice about their projects or about the scientific concepts relating to their experiments."

Snider is initiating a field trip this year for the fifth-graders to visit labs on campus and learn more about University research projects.

High School students learn with distinguished researchers

Students at University High School expand their interest in science by working in the laboratories of University researchers. The connections have been part of a long history of involvement between the University and the Schools, a relationship that has been strengthened by the work of Sharon Housinger, Science Department Chair, who received a B.A. in 1992 and an M.S. in biological sciences in 1996 from the University.

Because of her familiarity with the University, Housinger frequently suggests that students with difficult or probing science questions call to arrange visits with University faculty. "It's better to talk to an expert than to consult a reference book because sometimes the students don't know for sure what question they should be asking. But when they get very interested in a problem that we're pursuing in class and need to take their inquiries one step further, it's wonderful that they can take questions to someone who is really knowledgeable, like a University professor."

Housinger has also arranged for graduate students to visit U-High science classes to discuss their work. "These visits give high school students a perspective on what goes on in a research lab and show them the possibilities for careers in scientific research."

Motivated high school students also have the opportunity to work in University labs. Among the current students is U-High junior Fei Sha, who spends each Friday afternoon on the second floor of the Erman Biology building working on a plant genome project with Laurens Mets, Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and his research team.

"I enjoy working in the lab because I get to work on DNA," Sha said. "It's different from learning about the same topic in a classroom because you're actually part of a research project. You feel like what you're doing is advancing learning in general."

"At the University lab, we have advanced equipment that cuts the DNA so we can figure out its code," Sha said. "I'm learning skills that students just can't pick up in even the best-equipped high school labs."

She's also discovering that being a scientist requires a temperament of patience and perseverance. "Because it's a big project, there are many steps to go through and it sometimes gets tedious," she noted. "But the data we gather provides us more information to solve the puzzle."

Sha is part of a team working on a National Science Foundation project that is gathering data for a large chromosome mapping effort. Researchers are examining algae to assemble information on their genes, Mets explained.

"I've worked with four or five University High School students and it has been really enjoyable for me," Mets said. "I got to know Sharon Housinger when she was a graduate student and I became interested in working with high school students at her suggestion. This whole effort is a tribute to Sharon and her enthusiasm.

"The students who come over are a tremendous help. The thing I have noticed, as well, is that they are wide-eyed and eager to learn," he said. "They bring excitement about personally contributing to scientific advances with their own hands."