Science after school: Class offers introduction to surgery – Program links scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories with students at Hamilton Middle School

If you want to reach kids with an after-school science class, it’s hard to go wrong having them slice open a pig’s heart, implant a small device and sew up the wound.

Associated Press

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/12/21/build/state/50-science.inc

Or show them pictures of monkeys with immense and yellow fangs. Or let them work on a "whodunit" murder mystery that incorporates DNA analysis.

No, it’s not an episode of the TV show "CSI." It’s BRASS, which stands for Biomedical Research After School Scholars.

BRASS is a project that links scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories with students at Hamilton Middle School. The program puts scientists in the classroom, with time for in-depth discussions and lessons about DNA, genetics and infectious diseases.

"This is really a great program for the kids, in part because they get a lot of individual attention," said Davis Bell, an HMS teacher. "They get to talk directly with highly respected professionals. I do think it makes a difference to put a human face on this sort of information."

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For more information about this program, please contact Beth Fischer [email protected] 406-363-9275

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On a recent afternoon, a dozen students gathered in Bell’s classroom for a session with the lab’s Don Gardner and John Bailey. For the most part, the subject was animals – why they’re used in scientific experiments, how they’re handled and treated, and why some are better than others in terms of mimicking human diseases.

"Who knows what this is?" asked Gardner, a veterinary pathologist at the lab, as he flashed a picture onto a screen. "Any ideas?"

"It’s a mouse," whooped Alex Woolum.

"No, it’s a mice," said another student.

Well, that’s close, but the picture was of a white rat.

Gardner quickly put another picture up – another white rodent.

"Now look at the ears," Gardner instructed. "Do you see a difference between this animal and the first one?"

Turns out rats have much smaller ears than mice. A few more pictures of rats and mice moved across the screen, and soon the kids were experts in identification. The DNA of a mouse, Gardner said, is easily manipulated, which makes it relatively easy to create a mouse whose response to disease will be somewhat humanlike.

"The mouse then models these particular human diseases," Gardner said.

Gardner and Bailey then explained why scientists use animals for research, and although a few kids seem a bit squeamish about the notion, most are enthusiastic about the topic.

"Just about all surgery techniques have been perfected on animals," Gardner said. "Would anyone here want to be the very first one to have a certain kind of surgery, before the doctor had even practiced it?"

There’s a lot more enthusiasm as the pictures get a little, well, gross. A cat with ear cancer, a dog that’s been hit by a car. The students are pleased with the stories of how these animals were cured, healed or otherwise fixed up.

When the slide show is over, the students gown up, grab a scalpel and get to work on the pig’s heart.

Bailey kept the proceedings as serious as he could, though, stressing the importance of sterility in both laboratory and surgical settings. He started by having the students work their way out of surgical gloves dunked in blood-red dish soap. The point was to take the gloves off without touching the "blood," and while most succeeded, a few did not.

Once the students have mastered the gloves, they learn to get into surgical outfits and gloves while maintaining their carefully attained and sterile cleanliness.

"I feel special," 11-year-old Morgan Lawrence mused as she was picked to model the first outfit.

Then it’s scalpel time. Bailey, a supervising biologist at RML, and Gardner were resolutely serious as they talked about surgical instruments.

"Nobody’s gotten cut and we don’t want to start now," Bailey said. "Do not, and I mean DO NOT, turn around with a scalpel in your hand. This is the sharpest thing you’ll ever hold in your hand."

To be sure, the scalpels are plenty sharp to slice into the pig hearts, and Bailey taught the students how to control the depth of their cuts by positioning their index fingers along the top of the scalpel.

After more than two hours of instruction, class wound down as the final sutures were laced into the pig hearts, carefully concealing a small, plastic implant. The sense of accomplishment was clear on the students’ faces; that, of course, is what BRASS is all about.

"This really is a hands-on experience for kids who already are showing some interest in science," Davis Bell said. "This goes so far beyond what we can do in ordinary classes at school. It also puts them in contact with professional adults from outside the school, and that can’t help but be good for them."

Bailey agreed: "It’s good for them and it’s good for us, I’d say."

The students, too, see the benefits.

"Well, I want to be a biomedical researcher, so it’s great for me to get to stand next to them and learn," said Emma Brison, 12. "It’s way different from class."

Brant Selig agreed.

"It’s fun to meet the people from the lab, and we get to see that they’re just people. But they know so much, so it’s pretty neat that they’re willing to come down here and spend their time with us."

All you have to do to assess the success of BRASS is watch a kid like Alex Woolum, who exudes energy like a full-body halo.

"It’s just so cool," he said. "I mean, we got to see all these wild pictures, and get to do all these experiments. The lab people, they just have all the facts and they answer all your questions."

Copyright © 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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Scientists Introduce Middle School Students to Research World

By James Hadley

http://www.nih.gov/news/NIH-Record/04_17_2001/story03.htm

(This is an older story but it shows that BRASS is working throughout Montana. -Russ)

Scientists from NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont., recently brought their world of scientific research and laboratory experiments to 30 students at Ronan Middle School in Ronan, Mont.

Established in 1998, Biomedical Research After School Scholars (BRASS) is designed by RML technical and scientific staff to communicate the nature of scientific research and to stimulate interest in science careers among students in junior high and middle schools.

Ronan is located on the Confederated Salish-Kootenai tribal reservation and the school district has a large Native American population. The event in Ronan was targeted to a mix of gifted and talented students who have demonstrated an interest in science and furthers NIAID’s goal to reach schools with minority populations and underrepresented groups.

Student practices the use of a scalpel during "surgery."

"Pretty cool," is how one 13-year-old described the program in a local newspaper. Cordero McArthur said of the activities, "It was a chance to get away from the normal classes and do something fun."

Dr. Marshall Bloom, a senior scientist in NIAID’s Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases and the unofficial coordinator of student programs at RML, said, "BRASS makes science come alive for the students. The positive response of these young people has been absolutely astounding. The amazement on their faces as they learn the proper techniques of surgery or when they see a glob of DNA in a test tube for the first time is priceless."

The typical BRASS course runs for 5 weeks and consists of lab sessions covering topics such as blood, genetics, cancer, AIDS, infectious diseases and animal research.

In order to retain the students’ full attention, the program is interactive, rather than lecture-heavy. The youngsters become epidemiologists researching public health problems such as an "outbreak" of Legionnaire’s disease. In another phase of the program, students play the role of hematologists investigating a deadly strain of bacteria in a contaminated blood supply. Using substitute solutions for blood, the students learn about the importance of controlled experiments.

Classrooms are literally turned into operating rooms. Students decked out in surgical wear become surgeons-in-training as they learn the technique of suturing under the watchful direction of Dr. Michael Parnell, chief of the Veterinary Branch.

Microbiologists Beth Fischer and Dr. Kit Tilly and visual information specialist Anita Mora coordinate the program. Bloom serves as "dean," gives the "commencement" address and distributes certificates to graduates.

More than 30 RML staffers have volunteered to participate in the program to date. Other participants in the Ronan event included John Bailey, a supervisor in the Veterinary Branch; Dr. Rey Carabeo and Dr. Ken Fields, postdoctoral fellows who conduct chlamydia research in the Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites; and James Wolfinbarger, chair of the RML EEO committee.