Research Experience for Teachers- ISU
Summer 2016- Molecular Biology lab
Summer 2017- Chemical Engineering lab
My second summer in the RET program, but this year I chose a Chemical Engineering laboratory as that experience would be more directly relatable to my students. I spent the summer learning about and performing organic chemistry reactions. I was trying to develop a water-resistant plastic made from the biodegradable product of wheat starch.
​
My research this summer was centered around trying to esterify starch. This proved to be more difficult that we initially thought, and after attempting three different types of reactions, were finally met with a bit of success on my last day in lab. I have been able to develop a partnership with my research PI and am excited to implement the new lesson in my chemistry classrooms second semester. This will involve a field trip, visits from three ISU chemical engineering researchers, and allow the students a chance to engineer their own polyurethane plastic!
​
It was a very rewarding experience especially since I was out of my comfort zone with organic chemistry- Linked below are my 1) Research poster, 2) My oral presentation powerpoint explaining how I will bring my experience back to the classroom, and 3) My lesson plan idea developed from my lab experience.
Research poster
Lesson Plan
Presentation
I spent the summer learning about soybean genetics and conducting research in a lab that works to understand pathogens in soybeans, particularly the fungus that causes sudden death syndrome (SDS).
​
I started out the research attempting to transform E. coli bacteria with part of the fungal genome, amplify, and isolate it in order to better understand the genetics of the fungus. However, a reagent we were using was prepared wrong and ended up having to switch to a different aspect of the project.
​
My research ended up being a plant screening. I grew up soybeans- a control group as well as a couple variants that the lab had developed. The soybeans that the lab had developed seemed to show some resistance to SDS and we were curious if those variants also showed resistance to a disease-causing bacteria. I innoculated the soybeans with the bacteria, collected leaf samples, grew and counted bacterial colonies on agar plates, and performed statistics in order to determine the significance of my findings. Ultimately the results were inconclusive- could not make significant claims of immunity against the bacteria based on our relatively small sample size.
​
It was a very rewarding experience nonetheless- Linked below are my 1) Research poster, 2) My oral presentation powerpoint explaining how I will bring my experience back to the classroom, and 3) My lesson plan idea developed from my lab experience.