Discover Genomics with the J. Craig Venter Institute

The DiscoverGenomics! Mobile Laboratory is a modified 40-ft Blue Bird bus outfitted with advanced laboratory equipment. This genomics laboratory accommodates up to 32 students, their teacher and two mobile instructors. There are working stations equipped with all the necessary equipment to facilitate the learning and inquiry process such as pipettes, electrophoresis boxes, and reagents. In addition, it has a wireless network with computers provided when necessary. The instructors’ station is outfitted with a camera that can transmit to 4 LCD screens to ease viewing of instructions. The mobile lab is self-sufficient with its own water supply, electricity via generators, and internet capabilities.

JCVI targets impressionable middle school students and provide memorable and engaging hands-on science experiences via a multiple-day approach which allows for more interaction during the school’s daily and academic school year, unlike existing local science programs. The DiscoverGenomics! Mobile Laboratory visits middle schools within a 50-mile radius of Rockville bound by the Chesapeake Bay.

The lab was delivered January 2006 and began visiting students a few days later. It has been on the move since. Through July 2008, nearly 6,000 students from over 60 schools have participated in over 16,000 hands-on activities on the mobile laboratory.

What I would want a scientist to tell me

One of the most useful videos I've seen lately for folks who speak to students! This is a training video for the San Diego Science Festival's Nifty Fifty speakers. The students share what they would want to know from a scientists, if he or she was to vist their school.



FYI - found this on SciVee, an excellent resource for the science geek in all of us. According to the website, SciVee is changing the pace at which science is conducted and communicated. They proclaim to be the first Web 2.0 site that enables researchers to combine video with documentation and data in a media rich format, make research more visible, shareable, and accessible throughout the research cycle.

National Biodiesel Day - March 18

Thursday, March 18 is National Biodiesel Day. The biodiesel industry chose this date to honor and recognize Rudolf Diesel’s birthday – the fella with the foresight to recognize the valuable role of vegetable oil-based fuel.

Diesel originally designed the diesel engine in the late 19th Century to run on peanut oil. Only later did petroleum become the standard. In a 1912 speech, Diesel said “the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.”

Are people really using biodiesel?

According to the National Biodiesel Board, the 500 million gallons of fuels produced by the US biodiesel industry in 2007 nearly offset 12 million barrels of oil.

You might be thinking that’s not all the much oil, but according to a USDA/DOE analysis soy-based biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide reductions by 78 percent (this includes planting the soybeans to delivering the biodiesel at the pump). An update to this same study found that for every unit of fossil energy it takes to make biodiesel, 3.5 units of energy are gained.

Finally, for folks who are more interested in the current economy, the US biodiesel industry supported over 21,000 jobs and added over $4 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP).

Are you interested in learning more about biodiesel and its production? MdBioLab offers and hands-on activity to measure the amount of free fatty acids in waste vegetable oil, the first step in creating biodiesel. You can learn more online at www.mdbiolab.org or visit our partners at Biodiesel University.

Upcoming Events to Montgomery County (Maryland) Public School Students

Upcoming events!

MdBioLab is participating at two great upcoming events for Montgomery County (Maryland) students:

Biotechnology Academy Day

For high school students in the MCPS Biotech Academies at Wheaton HS, Seneca Valley HS, Edison HS, Northwest HS and those in Wootton HS Biotechnology Program (juniors and seniors)

Tuesday, March 17

10 AM – 1 PM

Biotechnology Career Day

For middle school girls from the following MCPS schools: Kingsview MS, Clemente MS, Gaithersburg MS, Shady Grove MS, Montgomery Village MS, Forest Oak MS, and Neelsville MS

For MCPS middle school girls

Saturday, March 21

10 AM – 3 PM

Note to self...

Note to self - do not let anyone convince you to park a 40,000 pound trailer on grass during February in Maryland. Even though the temperature may be 20 degrees F outside, chances are good you will have at least one day above 70 degrees F before the trailer is moved again.

Calling a tow truck to extract the trailer may seem exciting, but $250 later and you're just plain embarrassed.

MdBioLab

MdBioLab is a custom-built mobile bioscience laboratory that provides a compelling learning environment, centered on inquiry-based laboratory experiences. A modified tractor-trailer outfitted with advanced laboratory equipment, this laboratory accommodates up to 32 students, their teacher and two mobile laboratory instructors. There are working stations equipped with centrifuges, pipettes, electrophoresis supplies, and other equipment. The instructor’s station is outfitted with a camera that can transmit to LCD screens at the front and back of the trailer to ease viewing of instructions. The mobile lab is self-sufficient with its own water supply, electricity, heating, and cooling.

The program primarily serves high school students and their teachers throughout the state of Maryland. In addition to increasing science literacy, MdBioLab focuses on student awareness of career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Their cutting-edge curriculum is presented by experienced scientist and incorporates the use of research-grade equipment while aligning with the Maryland State Department of Education Core Learning Goals for science.

MdBioLab’s instructors work closely with each classroom educator to ensure an age-appropriate experience that is relevant to the students’ lives, while achieving classroom goals and requirements. This includes providing instruction, equipment, reagents and supplies for all activities while ensuring that each educator is comfortable with the concepts and theories as well as the equipment and laboratory activity itself.

Trailer Specifics

The MdBioLab is a modified Great Dane tractor-trailer that is 45 feet long, 162 inches tall with an exterior width of 96 inches. The Gross Vehicle Weight is 44,000 pounds. The trailer is equipped with two 10 Kw Onan Quiet-Diesel generators, two doors for entry/exit, a handicap lift, four sinks (with a 60 gallon water supply tank), refrigerator, freezer, heating and cooling, and a camera station that projects to the LCD screens. The trailer was up fitted by OBS, Inc. in Canton, OH.

Who & Why

The MdBioLab program was launched in the spring of 2003. Each year, the mobile lab travels to up to 30 different high schools throughout the State of Maryland and the mobile nature of the program has allowed us to reach an extraordinary number of students. To date, over 40,000 students have participated in bioscience laboratory activities on board the MdBioLab. During the summer MdBioLab reaches even more students through participation in career and science camps for middle and high school students and trains more than 100 teachers at the Maryland State Department of Education Governor’s Academy for Science.

MdBioLab is a program of the MdBio Foundation is a private non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the growth of bioscience in Maryland through a variety of programs, with a special emphasis on education, training, and communications. The MdBio Foundation accomplishes this through a diverse set of programs, including the MdBioLab (a mobile laboratory experience offered to high school students in Maryland), bioscience industry awards, a business development program, and networking events. Together, these programs work to advance the current bioscience community in Maryland, as well as educate and inform the next generation of the bioscience workforce.

Operating Budget

The trailer was an initial investment of $500,000 including curriculum development, equipment, reagents and supplies, the trailer cost, and the up fit costs. The program operates on an annual budget of $342,000, which includes two full time instructors.

In a trailer or bus somewhere out there...

In a bus or trailer somewhere out there is a teacher. Not the kind of person who grades papers or sits behind a desk but the kind of person who can extract DNA or change the oil on a Onan generator in their sleep. I am talking about a mobile laboratory instructor. They travel the dark, lonely highway to schools near and far sharing their experiences, equipment, reagents, supplies and endless excitement for the “WOW!” factor of science! Their tricked-out vehicles put the local high school to shame. Power, water, heating and cooling – it’s all packed inside! This blog is for them. Those who dream of tearing out the seats in a school bus and packing it with lab benches and equipment.

Coming soon, our first introduction!

MdBioLab
A mobile bioscience laboratory for high schools in the state of Maryland