Tips on the ScientistTeacher Collaboration

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Scientists in Public School Classrooms
Invitation, Presentation, Expectation, and Need
Larry Johnson Partnership for Environmental
Education and Rural health (PEER) Center for
Environmental and Rural Health Texas AM
University
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Invitation

• Letters to teachers.
• Letters to principals and/or superintendents.
• Respond to schools requests for scientific input
  or after-school programs.
• Volunteer for your university-public school
  interaction programs.

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Over the Internet

• Maintain email contact with teachers and/or
  students.
• Check in.
• Answer questions.
• Make suggestions.
• Suggest websites for teachers.
• Participate in virtual presentations and
  scientist interviews.

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Science Fair

• Be a judge or advisor.
• Mentor a student in your laboratory.
• Give a class presentation on good experimental
  design.
• Present an award from your department/college or
  scientific chapter.

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Back At Work

• Welcome a class field trip.
• Sponsor a student, teacher internship, or
  independent study.
• Allow students to shadow you, the scientist, for
  a day.
• Offer science career counseling.
• Participate in college recruitment.

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Teamwork

• Provide emotional support.
• Collaborate on lesson planning and lab
  activities.
• Help make lessons model real scientific inquiry.
• Suggest fun lab activities to use inquiry.
• Write an educational grant for support of you,
  other faculty, and public schools.

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Presentation

• Life as a scientist
• Time preparing.
• Time spent.
• Rewards.
• Your specific career path.
• How much money college professors
• scientists make.

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Role of Visiting Scientists

• Expose students to the world of research and the
  life of a scientist.
• Investigation involves critical thinking,
  imagination, intuition, playfulness, use of your
  hands, and thinking on your feet.
• Why is science interesting, exciting, and
  stimulating?
• What do you do all day?
• How does your work eventually make it into the
  hands and minds of the public?
• Remind students that good science starts by
• asking questions and being curious.

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Presentation Approaches

• Use toxicology examples to illustrate the
  scientific process.
• Help teachers and students relate curricular
  topics (standards) to toxicology through

• Historical Events
• Literature
• Ethical Issues
• Facts and Terminology

• Toxicology Concepts
• Your Area of Study
• Current Research
• The News

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Ethical Issues Animals in Research Virtually
every medical achievement of the last century has
depended directly or indirectly on research in
animals. U.S. Public Health Service
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What is Toxicology?

• Toxicology is the study of the effects of
  poisons.
• Poisonous substances are produced by plants,
  animals, or bacteria.
• Phytotoxins
• Zootoxins
• Bacteriotoxins
• Toxicant - the specific poisonous chemical.
• Xenobiotic - man-made substance and/or produced
  by but not normally found in the body.

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Toxicology Terms
Toxicity - The adverse effects that a
chemical may produce. Dose
- The amount of a chemical that
gains access to the body.
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Toxicology Terms
Exposure Contact providing
opportunity of obtaining a
poisonous dose. Hazard
The likelihood that the
toxicity will be expressed.
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What Do Toxicologists Do?

• Most toxicologists work to develop a mechanistic
  understanding of how chemicals affect living
  systems
• Develop safer chemical products
• Develop safer drugs
• Determine risks for chemical exposures
• Develop treatments for chemical
• exposures
• Teach ( e.g., other toxicologists,
• graduate students, and youth)

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What Do Toxicologists Do?

• Mechanistic toxicologists study how a chemical
• causes toxic effects by investigating its
  absorption,
• distribution, and excretion. They often work in
• academic settings or private industries and
  develop
• antidotes.
• Descriptive toxicologists evaluate the toxicity
  of drugs, foods, and other products. They often
  perform experiments in a pharmaceutical or
  academic setting.
• Clinical toxicologists usually are physicians or
• veterinarians interested in the prevention,
  diagnosis,
• and treatment of poisoning cases. They have
  specialized training in emergency medicine and
  poison management.

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What do Toxicologists do?

• Forensic toxicologists study the
  application of toxicology to the law. They
  uses chemical analysis to determine the
  cause and circumstances of death in a
  postmortem investigation.
• Environmental toxicologists study the
• effects of pollutants on organisms,
  populations, ecosystems, and the
  biosphere.
• Regulatory toxicologists use scientific
  data to decide how to protect humans and
  animals from excessive risk. Government
  bureaus such as the FDA and EPA employ this
  type of toxicologist.

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Expectation

• Everything!
• To see the need.
• To see engagement.
• To be appreciated.
• To be flexible and responsive to the teachers
  needs/restraints.

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• Engagement of students

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Students have a mind of their own
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Timing to match class schedules is essential

• A MS or HS class period is generally 45 minutes
  long, but could be 90 minutes.
• Time and the timing of your visit is critical!
• Most teachers will have trouble adding to their
  curriculum.
• Help them enrich it.
• Help them meet their excessive demands.

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Need

• Scientists stimulation of critical thinking,
  rational, use of scientific method, excitement of
  research, and role model.
• Careers
• You are the Source

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Scientists Travel the Globe

• So why not end with some travel fun by letting
  the students guess where you, the scientist, have
  been?

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Assignment 1
Read the Adventure Narrative.
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Remember to

• Encourage an understanding of math and science.
• Be creative.
• Be supportive.
• Have fun and enjoy the interaction.