Workshops & Summer Programs
Return-to-Campus Spring 2009
Twice a year alumni of the CIBT programs are invited to a one-day workshop including lab sessions, guest lectures, and opportunities to network and socialize with other alumni.
The Spring 2009 Return-to-Campus will be held on April 25.
Draft Schedule
| 8:15 - 8:45 | Registration and Refreshments |
| 8:45 - 9:00 | Welcome and announcements |
| 9:00 - 10:15 | Talk: Andy Clark |
| 10:20 - 11:45 | Activity Session |
| 11:45 - 12:45 | Lunch |
| 1:00 - 2:15 | Talk: TBA |
| 2:25 - 3:45 | Activity Session |
Morning Activities
- Brain Geography. Presented by Mark Albert, Graduate Student/Researcher Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, Cornell University. Recommended grades: High School Biology.
In this activity we will be coloring toy brains and discussing what each areas does as it is being colored. The parts will be discussed by developing intuition through examples rather than rote memorization. At the end, everyone should be able to take many everyday thoughts and roughly map them to specific parts of the brain as well as make educated guesses about what might happen if the brain was damaged in certain areas. - Finch Beaks: Optimizing Foraging Strategy. Sandra Litvin and William Anderson, Unionville High School. Recommended grades: Middle School through AP Biology.
Participants will be given an instrument that is an analog of a finch beak. When presented with food items of different dispersion and caloric value in an open experimental field, subjects will have to develop a foraging strategy that results in the maximum caloric yield. The strategy will be tested by gathering the target food items in a prescribed time. Morphological changes with positive/negative selective value will be introduced and participants will compare the pre-, post- modification energy yield. This activity is open-ended and economical to prepare. - How Do Pest Populations Develop Resistance to Pesticides? Florianna Blanton. CIBT Staff. Recommended grades: Middle School, Living Environment.
This presentation addresses several Living Environment NYS standards. The teacher uses a classroom skit to illustrate how pest populations develop resistance to pesticides. The concept is expanded with a short and funny powerpoint presentation, a short video from www.PBS.org and the production of a poster that explains how populations develop resistance to pesticides.
Afternoon Activities
- Gene Switches—A Model. Jeanne Raish, Avoca Central School. Recommended grades: High School Biology: Regents, Honors and AP.
Conceptually, how genetic switches function and their role in the process of evolution, can be difficult for students to visualize. “Gene Switches—A Model” attempts to make all of this more understandable through the use of clips from the HHMI DVD Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads and the construction of a model. This activity can be done as a demonstration, a student inquiry activity, or a combination of the two. - For the birds. Jay Waring New York Office of Children's and Family Services/ Lansing Girl's Residential Facility. Recommended grades: Middle School and High School Living Environment.
The Living Environment "Beaks of Finches Lab" can be worked into the curriculum with multimedia and real world experiences for the students: 5 weeks of activities explaining, with authentic examples, the meaning of some of the concepts as defined by Darwin: Competition, Environment, Variation, Adaptation and Natural Selection. Some of the resources called upon: The stunning visual effects which accompany participating in the Citizen Scientist Program, The Great Back Yard Bird Count (a joint effort by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society), "Birds and Beaks" -a multimedia presentation by the PBS series Nature and the Discovery Channel. - DNA isolation from what? Leslie Jensen and Carolyn Wilczynski, Binghamton High School. Recommended grades: Middle School, High School.
For an interesting twist to ‘typical’ DNA isolation, how about using dog testicles...? You can obtain these from your vet and then follow the protocol that will be presented. An alternative DNA isolation from strawberries will be done as well so you can choose the best for your students....or just do both!
Registration Forms
The deadline for registration has passed.
