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<\/a><\/p>\nTo find those cellulase-producing bacteria, Kohn sends students out to collect samples from the compost heaps and animal pens behind their school in a quest known as \u201cbioprospecting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in the classroom, students drop the samples into test tubes filled with media solution and a strip of filter paper. If cellulases are present, the cellulose-based paper will disintegrate as the enzymes do their work.<\/p>\n
That process of discovery excites students. \u201cYou see this light in their eyes when they realize that they are participating in science directly, and that their work could lead to actual breakthroughs and results,\u201d Kohn says.<\/p>\n
Kohn developed the activity as a participant in \u201cResearch Experience for Teachers,\u201d a program at the UW\u2019s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). For his project he shadowed Cameron Currie, a CALS professor of bacteriology and a GLBRC researcher who uses genomic and ecological approaches to study biomass-degrading microbes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are not only learning about current science\u2014they are embedded in the lab,\u201d says John Greenler, GLBRC\u2019s director of education and outreach. \u201cWhen teachers have that primary experience, they are in a better position to engage their students because they \u2018get it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor Williams, a high school senior who helped develop the bioprospecting lab with Kohn through his participation in the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America), says his favorite element is the hands-on, independent work.<\/p>\n