NHS biology students experiment using real-world products – Southernminn.com

The energy emanating from Northfield High School science teacher Jody Saxton West seemed to spill over into her students.

As the sophomores in her Advanced Placement Biology class worked on their real-world application projects during class Wednesday, there was a certain energy.

"You can see the earnestness," Saxton West said. "I love it. These kids are 16 years old and they are producing real information."

Over the last few weeks, the AP Biology students have worked in small groups, performing independent research projects using Bio-Rad algae beads a product, meant to aid in pollution control, which only hit the market last fall. The beads are essentially fresh water algae wrapped in a polymer plastic. They allow students to test rates of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

The student projects vary from testing the beads under different light concentrations to predicting how they might react to the different seasonal temperatures of Lake Victoria. The information will be shared back to the company.

It's an example of a Northfield School District classroom using a community partnership to provide real-world learning. In this case, the "community" aspect of the partnership is less local. Bio-Rad is a company in Hercules, California, which works on innovating and developing useful products for health care and other industries.

"My greatest joy as a teacher is when my students are no longer just consumers of information," she said. "With the experiments my students did in the last few weeks, they actually contributed to scientific information. Thats incredibly exciting."

In 2013, Saxton West struck up a friendship with Leigh Brown, a member of the Bio-Rad's life sciences division, after they met at aworkshop at Texas Christian University. She was invited in 2014 to provide input into the algae beads lab product, which Bio-Rad was then developing.

Saxton West was asked to consult as to how the applications for the product could best serve the classroom.

The following year,Saxton West's sophomores at the time were selected to conduct beta tests (trials for the purpose of refining a product) on the algae beads. Some of the data from the class' trials are still included in official Bio-Rad publications.

Saxton West was then selected in 2016 as the first cohort to a Bio-Rad program for AP biology and biotechnology teachers. Bio-Rad paid the expenses for her travel to California and her week-long stay. She learned new biotechnology skills, plus research and lab techniques to utilize in her classroom.

Now, the students are working on the algae bead research projects. The partnership with Bio-Rad has proved fruitful beyond Saxton West's initial expectations.

They have no reason to be [so invested], other than Bio-Rad seems to truly believe that 16 year olds are capable of doing real science, if equipped," she said.

The algae bead projects from this year's students deal with photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The students are asked by Saxton West to conduct research, which could be used in the real world.

The students' ideas are diverse. One group is testing the effects of salt on the algae beads, while another is testing the effects of color on the dominant metabolic pathway a series of chemical reactions within a cellof the beads. Perhaps the most unique project involves testing various musical genres on the bead processes.

One group is composed of five girls: Morgan Eddy, Izzy Hessian, Maddie Hessian, Audrey Moad and Lia Pak. They are testing the limitations of the algae beads in the presence of fertilizer.

"I think we wanted to make sure it connected to real-world applications," Pak said. "Especially in Minnesota, weve heard of fertilizer being a big deal in the lakes."

They had some hiccups along the way. They first tried soaking the beads in pure fertilizer, which they found to be a mistake, as fertilizers are generally diluted before use. The beads quickly collapsed when mixed with the pure product.

They eventually noted that the more diluted fertilizers cooperated better with the beads, but were still harmful.

"Our general conclusion is that the algae beads have limitations in fertilizer-heavy environments," Maddie Hessian said.

Regardless of the outcomes of their experiments, the girls learned quite a bit just by engaging in the scientific process. This wasn't a Google search and record; it was a full-fledged research and experimentation venture.

And they all agreed that the project went above and beyond the normal classwork. They were especially complimentary of their teacher.

"She always pushes us to another level," Pak added.

Those words are likely music to the ears of Saxton West. She wouldn't be able to hide her excitement for her students and their projects if she tried.

"I think its amazing when 16-year-olds have a science education in Northfield that allows them to be scientists," she said.

Reach Reporter Philip Weyhe at 507-333-3132 or follow him on Twitter @nfnphilweyhe.

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