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CSI - Coming To A Classroom Near You

On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 15 International Baccalaureate(IB) Diploma Program (DP) Biology students at West High became Biochemical CSI investigators and researchers with an assignment to identify a mystery protein. Students from Jennifer Denekas Standard Level (1-year course) and Kyla Lester's Higher Level (2-year course) Biology classes participated in this in-house field trip featuring Dr. Michael Yerky, a visiting scientist from Cornell University.

Under Dr. Yerky's direction, the students prepared samples of protein from 11 different land and sea animals, including vertebrates and invertebrates, plus imitation crab and a mystery meat. Their task was to use a minute sample to determine which proteins seemed most closely related. The pea-sized samples of protein molecules were first denatured, causing the large bulky molecules to unfold into strands of amino acids. A process called Protein Gelelectrophoresis was then used, in which the shortest chains traveled fastest with longer chains lagging behind to create a characteristic banding pattern or fingerprint. The gels looked blank until they were stained to make the amino acid bands appear.

The C-PP visit was made possible through the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers (CIBT) at no cost to the District. DP Biology teacher Kyla Lester is one of a number of C-PP teachers who has participated in two-week, grant funded CIBT summer training workshops in which teachers engage in a number of quality Biology labs and activities. As an added benefit of the program, summer participants have access to the CIBT lending library of equipment and the services of Dr. Yerky, CIBT's Road Warrior and outreach coordinator. He travels throughout much of New York to present CIBT's more sophisticated labs such as DNA Profiling to high school students.

According to Mrs. Lester, the special activity directly reinforced a number of IB topic areas, depending on the class focus. My class had already covered material regarding how the codes in genes are transcribed and translated into proteins. In preparation for the CIBT visit, we reviewed the four levels of protein structure starting from the order and type of amino acids in the polypeptide chain(s), she said. As a post-lab activity, students in both classes completed a lab write-up, including an attempt to guess the identity of the mystery protein which turned out to be buffalo meat.

In a related program made available through Syracuse University's Project Advance (SUPA), a Forensics course is going to be offered next year at both East and West High Schools. This college-level chemistry course will be looking at the science behind the techniques used in the popular CSI shows. Students will learn how to collect and analyze fingerprints, interpret blood spatter, compare DNA samples, and use various chemistry procedures to analyze organic and inorganic substances. It will be offered only to upperclassmen as a Regents Chemistry background is essential.