BIORETS: Translating Authentic Microbial Evolution and Big Data Research to the Classroom

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This integrated research-education program will engage 24 high school and middle school science teachers over 3 years in authentic microbiology research to understand how bacteria adaptively evolve when producing biofilm. This research training will prepare them to lead a similar experiment in their classrooms, where students will observe and study bacteria evolving in biofilms over a week using an innovative curriculum. Both research and teaching will be supported by mentors in our laboratory and in their classrooms, where most students come from underrepresented backgrounds. We will measure whether our program improves teacher confidence in using life science experiments in their classrooms, as well as student learning of key life science topics that are essential to careers in biotechnology. This program will empower greater understanding by teachers and students of how microbes evolve, a crucial topic today. The dynamics of adaptive evolution in microbial biofilms are broadly significant and poorly understood. Perhaps the greatest mystery – why is adaptation so fast? – provides the key advantage of our integrated research-education program. Researchers aged 12+ conduct evolution experiments with safe Pseudomonas bacteria to observe and study the processes of adaptation and ecological diversification within one week. Fitter mutants often produce unique colony morphologies caused by a single mutation. Yet it remains unknown why certain traits are selected so rapidly. Teachers will conduct experiments to study this problem with mentorship from a postdoctoral scholar, a PhD student, and 4 teacher-mentors experienced in our EvolvingSTEM laboratory curriculum. Teachers will test i) how adaptive phenotypes alter biofilm demography and subsequent evolution and, ii) how altered surface-sensing influences evolutionary dynamics. These experiments will advance understanding of Pseudomonas population biology. Following their summer program, teachers will incorporate these research questions in an established, effective classroom curriculum already in diverse schools. Teachers will be supported by our research team, curriculum coordinators, and community partners. We will assess whether our program improves teacher and student attitudes towards and knowledge of core life science topics and their relevance to applications in medicine and applied sciences. We predict teachers will gain confidence in conducting authentic experimentation and data analysis in their classrooms, which will empower their predominantly URM students to develop these same skills. The focus on evolution as a foundational concept is especially relevant today and will remedy common misconceptions stemming from a lack of active learning opportunity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.