Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Teachers will
be able to choose from the following projects.
Project
Descriptions: ARCHIVES
- Imaging of DNA
tiles by atomic force microscopy.
- Fabrication of
chemically realistic models of DNA.
- Science Alive!
Drama in the Exploratory Science Lab.
- Artist in residence.
Further Information: Applications
for these summer research projects are due April
15, 2005. Teacher stipends are in the amount of $2500
for 4 weeks and student stipends are $750 for 4 weeks.
- Imaging
of DNA tiles by atomic force microscopy. The teacher who
participates in this project under the direction of Professor
Marya Lieberman will be trained to use an atomic force
microscope to obtain molecular resolution imaging of DNA
molecules, starting with plasmid DNA and ending with artificial
DNA constructs used in an ongoing nanotechnology project.
The teacher will measure the size and shape of several
types of DNA tiles and may carry out biochemical characterization
as well (melting curves, gel electrophoresis) depending on
their background and interests. The research component will
be spread over a 6-8 week period, but about a quarter of
the time will be spent designing curricular material on DNA
structure and characterization for incorporation into their
HS biology course.
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- Fabrication
of chemically realistic models of DNA. This
project under the direction of Professor Marya Lieberman
will use the Rapid Prototyping facility at Notre Dame. The
project will require 5-6 weeks. The teacher will define the
steric properties and conformational flexibility of DNA bases
based on information in the biochemical literature and chemical
modeling programs. He or she will then work with a mechanical
engineering student using ProEngineer, a CAD program, to
design snap-together DNA bases that incorporate realistic
steric contraints and magnets to model base pairing interactions.
Models will be fabricated using a stereolithography rapid
prototyping system. The teacher will also design curricular
materials to incorporate the models into HS biology lessons
on DNA structure. After class testing and evaluation, several
class sets of the models will be fabricated for loans to
local HS biology teachers.
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- Science
Alive! Drama in the Exploratory Science Lab. This
project will take place over 3-4 weeks during the
summer. A primary school science teacher will work
together with a theater professor and a chemistry
professor at Notre Dame to create drama activities
for K-4 students that illustrate science concepts.
Each activity will have a script which directs the
students to act out ideas that they are studying
in their science curriculum, and demonstrations or
mini experiments so they can link the ideas to concrete
observations. The primary teacher will be responsible
for suggesting science concepts that fit into the
existing curriculum and maintaining an appropriate
pedagogical approach; the theatre professor will
manage the dramatic elements (e. g. warmup activities,
sound effects), and the chemist will oversee technical
content and appropriate/safe demos. An undergraduate
with an interest in teaching at the primary level
may also participate. Following the summer development
process, the lead participants and the Notre Dame
undergraduate chemistry club will conduct outreach
activities based on the scripts at local primary
schools. In a 2-week prototype project, two scripts
were created (“Molecules Alive: Ice, water,
steam” and “Molecules
Alive: oil and water”) and tested with the enthusiastic
participation of five third-grade classes at Kennedy
Primary Academy.
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- Artist
in residence. One high school or middle school
art teacher will participate in the summer program in Nano-Bio
engineering for 4-5 weeks as an artist in residence. The
artist will attend technical seminars, workshops, etc, to
gain broader background in nanoscience and nanotechnology,
and will shadow other participants in the program to learn
about their research projects. The artist in residence will
design curricular materials appropriate for their HS or middle
school art students that incorporate themes or materials
from the science and engineering research. One example might
be development of an electronic art project that incorporates
electrical circuits, lights, and other electronics components
into a painting or collage; another might be Photoshop projects
based on STM images gathered by the REU students.
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