Join MdBioLab June 4, 2015, 4:00 – 6:00 PM, as we premiere a new laboratory activity with interested educators on the mobile laboratory at Long Reach High School in Columbia, MD.
Registration
High school teachers in Maryland interested in attending are encouraged to email Mondona McCann. Attendance is limited on a first-come first-served basis (maximum of 20).
Workshop Description
MdBio Foundation is currently developing a curriculum for a new unit investigating malaria. The goal is to provide materials and resources that will allow teachers to customize pre and post lab activities to fit the goals of their course. Moreover, this activity provides an opportunity to employ Next Generation Science Standards in the classroom by relating biological concepts to real world problems and applying outside disciplines such as statistics, climate science and geography.
Workshop Agenda
4:00 PM – Networking, introduction of concepts & theories, pre/post laboratory activities (in classroom)
5:00 PM – Laboratory demo on MdBioLab
6:00 PM – Adjourn
The pre-lab will serve as a general introduction to malaria, familiarizing students with the malaria parasite, its lifecycle and pathology, the geographic distribution of malaria and malaria as a global health concern.
The MdBioLab portion of the curriculum is centered around diagnosing a mysterious illness (malaria) using ELISA and provides an opportunity to connect a global health concern via post lab activities to one of three courses of study:
1. Public health and malaria prevention
a. History of efforts to quell the spread of malaria
b. Contemporary methods of prevention
c. Efforts to improve treatment or even prevent malaria
2. Geographic distribution of malaria (and possible other vector borne illnesses)
a. Map infection hotspots
b. Explore the natural history of the parasite and its hosts
c. Consider common factors (e.g. climate, habitat, endemic primates…)
d. Consider implications of climate change
3. Blood disorders that affect malaria infection (Sickle Cell, G6PD, Duffy Neg., Hemoglobin C)
Note: this can be tied into our Sickle Cell laboratory activity, Mystery of the Crooked Cell
a. Map the distribution of a blood disorder in relation to malaria hotspots
b. Examine the relationship between the blood disorder and malaria
c. Consider the implications for human evolution
d. Consider anthropogenic effects to explain the occurrence of the blood disorder outside of malaria hotspots
Registration
High school teachers in Maryland interested in attending are encouraged to email Mondona McCann. Attendance is limited on a first-come first-served basis (maximum of 20).
The new activity development has been funded in part by a grant managed by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE).
