Understanding Biological Complexity Using a Systems Approach
"The whole thing?" "We have to connect every component in the system?" "How do we represent the different kinds of relationships between components?" "Can I use a different geometric shape to represent abiotic nodes?" Such are the questions of engaged high school science students as they grapple with a systems approach to a scientific problem. Bellevue School District biology students, along with many other students throughout the nation, are not only grappling with understanding systems, they have also chosen to study an organism that lives in extreme environments.
Recent advances in experimental practice, accompanying computational techniques and systems thinking have advanced biological inquiry. However, the practice of today´s biology does not resemble how biology is taught in today´s high schools. The Baliga Research Group at the Institute for Systems Biology is using today’s practices to launch classroom activities that promote conceptual development of standards based instructional outcomes for students as a potential solution to this mismatch. Students are engaged by the forefronts of biological thinking and computation available in these materials.
Students will ultimately experience five modularized sets of instructional materials to shape their understanding of biology from a systems perspective. The links in this sentence will connect you with the materials development process, descriptions of completed materials and a primer on systems biology .
The Baliga Laboratory has collaboratively resourced the materials development effort. The collaboration includes practicing scientists, a school district, science educators, evaluators and granting organizations. A careful plan for evaluation and dissemination of the materials is ongoing.
A very important piece of the Baliga Lab´s educational work is a high school internship program. Each summer, two students join the research group to gain critical laboratory experience and to help optimize experiments for other students in classrooms throughout the nation.