When first beginning my internship at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in the Genomics and Microbiology lab, my only intention was to learn as much as I could to take back to my classroom for the 2015-2016 school year. I wanted to accomplish this for a couple of reasons: 1. so I would not mess up the protocols for Julia’s research in the fall and 2. so I would have a chance of correctly communicating Julia’s research to others. After the first tour of the lab and after hearing Julia explain all the lab equipment I honestly wondered what I had gotten myself in to. I watched the videos she sent our team as “background knowledge” several times, but ultimately could never truly be prepared for the experience that was to come.
Julia did not have to respond the way she did on day 2. When we all sat down to talk about the goals and expectations she received our questions with such patience and understanding and I was honestly surprised. Maybe it was the stereotypical scientists in my head that was making all of this seem unusual, but she did not mind that she literally had to explain every little detail to us. On day one we were practicing adjusting micropipettes and one week later we were following protocol on our own, without Julia’s assistance or guidance. How did this happen? How did we go from knowing absolutely nothing to working successfully on our own? This is proof of what can happen in the classroom. If we as educators take the time to train our children well and really hear their questions and ideas, we can empower them to go off on their own and accomplish more than we maybe ever thought they could. Julia has told us that the questions we have asked her have triggered research questions she has never thought of before due to the fact that she was able to view her research through our perspective. I have often said that perspective is everything, but imagine if educators actually had the patience to listen to the perspectives of the approximately 100 kids they teach every year! If the perspectives of three educators has triggered ideas for a professional scientists, think about how empowering it would be for students to know that their teacher is inspired by THEM! Again it is all about perspective and it is astounding how much change could really occur in our classrooms if we just looked at things differently and instead of just listening to our students maybe we could actually hear them. This idea is applicable to not only students but the folks who are around us constantly whether it is our fellow teachers, administrations, parents, custodians, or community members. It is hard to realize sometimes that we put ourselves, unintentionally, on our islands and march to the beat of our own drums as long as the people around us will let us. In that regard, I guess we have benefited Julia’s research in that we have provided an alternative perspective to her research, which will ultimately trigger new ideas that she may not have had otherwise.
On a more practical level, we are helping Julia make the protocol she uses in her lab accessible to the average classroom. We are taking her fancy supplies that she would use for plating samples and finding grocery store replacements that would be comparable to what she uses so that any teacher regardless of their budget, skill set, or resources can still participate in citizen science. For instance, instead of using nutrient broth, we are using potting soil and instead of using an autoclave, we are using a microwave. So far this process has been successful and the protocol that will be developed from this method will change the accessibility of microbiology in the classroom for years to come.