Contents
- Cover Story
Taking Science on the Road
Cover Story
Taking Science Education on the Road
How It All Started
The original CityLab program, using four biotechnology laboratories housed at Boston University School of Medicine, provided a great way for kids to learn about molecular biology and biotechnology methods. But field trips are unwieldy: Teachers must justify taking a group of students out of school for an entire day, and many students can’t pay the required transportation costs. So Franzblau and colleagues decided to build a laboratory that could go to the students. (See “A Q&A with Carl Franzblau.”)
Dubbed “MobileLab,” the traveling laboratory was unique. At the time, there were programs that brought science educators to classrooms or lent science equipment to teachers, but nothing like what the Boston group created.
“In many ways, MobileLab really levels the playing field,” says CityLab director Don DeRosa. “Whether a school is well equipped or not, the students are exposed to the same program and with the same staff and equipment. It does not matter if the school does not have running water or computers or microscopes. No one gets shortchanged.”
MobileLab typically visits one school within 75 miles of the university each week, hosting five to six science classes every day. “We can do four different lessons for each class in one week, all during regularly scheduled science classes,” says DeRosa. “The students don’t have to miss math or English.”
The six years DeRosa had already spent learning from visiting teachers and students at the on-campus lab made startup easier, but not without challenges. “I had to get a bus driver’s license and learn the protocol for going into a truck stop and filling up the gas tank,” says DeRosa. “The first time I had to back down a little alleyway, I was sweating.”
A Q&A WITH CARL FRANZBLAU
Carl Franzblau (left) and Don DeRosa of Boston University School of Medicine stand in front of their MobileLab. The traveling science laboratory made its debut in 1998. Photo by Vivian Ronay Photography.
How did you come up with the idea of a traveling laboratory?
I was attending a meeting at the Convention Hall at the University of
Miami and I saw a bloodmobile parked outside. I thought, ‘Why can’t
we build a lab the way they are building a bloodmobile?’
Why did you think there was a need for such a program?
At the time, we had an on-campus lab dedicated to teaching high school
students. But teachers were yelling at us because they did not want
their students out all day. In the old days, if you could not go to the
doctor’s office, the doctor would make a house call. So I thought we
could do the same.
What is your vision for science education?
I would like to create 30 to 40 mobile lab units throughout the country.
We could enlist young graduate students and teachers to volunteer
to staff them. I call it a ‘Science Core.’ Its mission would be to bring
science education to all students. From the foothills of South Dakota
to the inner city of Chicago, students would be exposed to the excitement
of science.
From One to Many
One of the programs that followed in CityLab’s footsteps is headed by George Eyambe at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA). An associate professor in clinical laboratory science, Eyambe had heard Franzblau speak about his education programs, including MobileLab, during a SEPA-sponsored meeting at NIH.
Sixth graders from Cuellar Middle School in Weslaco, Texas, verify the micropipette setting as they begin to work on a protocol for analyzing protein samples. They are participating in a project offered by the University of Texas-Pan American Regional Biotech Program. Photo courtesy of University of Texas-Pan American.
“I thought a mobile lab could be useful in the Rio Grande Valley,” says Eyambe. A four-county region situated along the south Texas border with Mexico, the Rio Grande Valley is one of the poorest metropolitan areas in the United States. It comprises 30 independent school districts with a predominantly Hispanic population. Many of the students are from migrant families who speak little or no English.
With SEPA funding, Eyambe established UTPA’s Regional Biotech Program. Initially, the program provided a university-based clinical lab for students and teachers and an equipment lending program. Program staff used several CityLab modules, translating some of them into Spanish. They also created new lesson plans. “The teachers wanted us to do something about evolution and, because we have high rates of diabetes in Rio Grande, we are now developing a module on glucose determination in diabetes testing,” recalls Eyambe.
Although the on-campus program was, and continues to be, popular with many teachers, it was clear to Eyambe that it was not serving all students. “We realized that a lot of students and school districts could not come to us because they could not afford the transportation,” says Eyambe. “And many of the teachers did not have the skills to use the loan program.”
In 2004, with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the group built a mobile lab to take its SEPA curriculum to rural schools within 120 miles of UTPA—from Brownsville to Rio Grande City. “The mobile lab filled an important niche,” says Eyambe. “It quickly became very popular, and it is booked one year in advance.”
