Estevez	Fuse

John T. Tanacredi of Dowling College (Oakdale, N.Y.) in partnership with science research teacher Maria Brown of Sayville High School (West Sayville, N.Y). The project, titled “Molecular ecology of the Atlantic horseshoe crab (L. polyphemus) as a mechanism to enhance inquiry-based STEM education at Sayville middle and high-schools and beyond,” will expose about 100 middle- and high school students and up to 10 minority undergraduate students seeking teacher certification at Dowling College to ecological studies of the increasingly endangered species.

Alvaro Estevez of the University of Central Florida (Orlando) in partnership with chemistry teacher Marisa Fuse of Bishop Moore Catholic High School (Orlando). The project, titled “The biochemistry of bacteria,” will teach about 100 sophomores and juniors about the diversity of bacteria and allow them to investigate biochemical reactions experimentally. Students will analyze how certain compounds are biologically transformed.

Hagins

Michele Bahr of Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories (Woods Hole, Mass.) in partnership with Whitney Hagins from Lexington High School (Lexington, Mass.). Hagins, a veteran educator, has headed Lexington’s science department for the past four years. The project, titled “Wolbachia and students: discover the scientist within,” will give about 70 10th-graders molecular biology laboratory experience and focus on the symbiotic relationship between the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis and the 20 percent of insects that it inhabits. One future, postproject plan is to have the students talk via Skype with students at the Wettingen School in Switzerland about their joint Wolbachia studies.

Halpin

Patricia Halpin of the University of New Hampshire at Manchester in partnership with fourth-grade teacher Heather Cantagallo of Sunapee Central Elementary School (Sunapee, N.H.). The entire fourth grade (about 36 students in 2011) will take part in the project, titled “Getting fourth-graders excited about the cardiovascular system.” Students will learn about the importance of exercise in their daily lives and be asked to devise hypotheses and methods to test them. Blood pressure and heartrate monitors will be purchased, and students will collect data and plot their results, which will facilitate discussion and allow students to draw conclusions about their results. The monitors will be used annually.

Holtzclaw	Moravec

J. David Holtzclaw of Transduction Technologies (Omaha, Neb.) in partnership with Kristin Swanson of Norris Middle School (Omaha, Neb.), Shelly Avery of Santee Community Schools (Santee Indian Reservation, Niobrara, Neb.) and Carol Moravec of Lincoln Southeast High School (Lincoln, Neb.). Holtzclaw will continue work he began as an academic research scientist in collaboration with his three partner schools. The funds for the project, titled “Inquiry-based learning of K – 12 physiology and nutrition concepts using pedometers,” will pay for pedometers, teaching stethoscopes and aneroid Sphygmomanometers with nylon blood-pressure cuffs. More than 100 students annually will conduct grade-appropriate studies by developing hypotheses, designing experimental approaches, collecting and analyzing data, validating results and learning to defend conclusions based on analysis of results.

Duboise	Nordstrom

Monroe Duboise of the University of Southern Maine (Portland, Maine) in partnership with biotechnology teacher David Nordstrom of the Foster Technology Center located at Mount Blue High School (Farmington, Maine). The center houses the only high school biotechnology program in the state, draws students from five rural high schools and engages students in extended laboratory-based research projects. The collaborative project, titled “Bacteriophage discovery and molecular characterization in a high school biotechnology program,” involves isolation, discovery and characterization of bacteriophages in the environment and will teach students about the importance of maintaining lab notebooks. Projects will culminate in student-created research posters or reports at a symposium.

Poli	Chattin	Dowdy

Dorothy Belle Poli of Roanoke College (Salem, Va.) in partnership with Amy Chattin and Ashly Dowdy of Franklin County High School (Rocky Mount, Va.). Poli will engage the high-school students in research on the respiration and photosynthesis of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). Students will be introduced to the use of volumeters/respirometers and to techniques such as electrophoresis and protein concentration determination. Then students will be asked to hypothesize additional experiments. The project, titled “Bryological respiration and photosynthetic comparisons: a case to connect Virginia high school students to active research,” will serve 30 students of various grades who are not enrolled in advanced-placement courses but who are likely to attend college.

Wyss	Williams	Loop

Michael Wyss of The University of Alabama at Birmingham in partnership with Mary Williams and Trudy Loop of The Altamont School (Birmingham, Ala.). The Altamont School serves students in grades five through 12 who have excelled in science and recently have exhibited a heightened interest in neuroscience. Altamont science teachers actively nurture this curiosity by offering inquiry-based science classes and supporting science-fair interests. In addition, during the 2010 – 2011 school year, Altamont observed its first Brain Awareness Week and participated in the first Brain Bee in Alabama, thanks in part to a partnership with the UAB Science and Technology Honors Program. The project, titled “Exciting students about neuroscience: The Altamont School-University of Alabama at Birmingham outreach partnership,” will extend the Altamont-UAB collaboration by supporting hands-on activities centered on neuroscience research.