Area students ‘Meet the Lab’
Medford students featured in new PBS Wisconsin education classroom resource
Medford Area Middle School educator Jeanine Gelhaus and a group of her middle school students contributed to the development and testing, and are featured in Meet the Lab, a new online collection of educational resources for middle school science classrooms.
Made possible through partnerships with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the Morgridge Institute for Research and Wisconsin educators and students, the Meet the Lab collection introduces middle school science classrooms to relevant, real-world issues and cutting-edge research. The collection also highlights the human element of scientific research — the people working together to creatively advance their research to solve problems using science. The collection supports the National Next Generation Science Standards and creates opportunities for learners to develop their identities in the context of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM).
Released this October, Meet the Lab is free to use and accessible for students in every learning environment at pbswisconsineducation.org/meetthelab.
The first two labs featured in the collection are the Optical Microscopy in Medicine Lab, led by Melissa Skala and housed within the Morgridge Institute for Research, and the Tiny Earth Lab, originating from Jo Handelsman who is the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery — both part of UW-Madison. The Optical Microscopy in Medicine Lab develops new methods to understand and combat cancer using photonics- based technologies. Tiny Earth works to discover new antibiotics through the soil, using a global network of students and instructors to source samples and conduct field research.
Each featured lab’s page in the collection contains a variety of learning media components, that are reinforced with discovery activities. Learners will watch a Why Research Matters video profiling an individual, or group, impacted by the featured lab’s research, and a Scientific Practices video featuring middle school students expressing their curiosity about the area of research and scientists at the featured lab. Then, learning goals are put into practice through an interactive STEAM Identity Card Game featuring researchers from the two labs, and a Science Practices Discovery Activity composed of a slide deck and data sheet focused on how scientists use patterns in their research. Discussion prompts and an Educator Guide are also included.
“Meet the Lab is so well scaffolded so middle school students can understand,” said Gelhaus. “They will understand a bit about cells, healthy and unhealthy. Most importantly, they will understand the career aspects of someone who might select this field of study in the future and what that might look like.”
Gelhaus served as an educator advisor for this collection and her students are also featured asking questions in the Optical Microscopy in Medicine Lab’s Scientific Practices video.
Meet the Lab was made possible through the generous support of the Timothy William Trout Education Fund – a gift of Dr. Monroe and Sandra Trout, the Focus Fund for Education and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
