“ABC,s of Disease and Evolution,”

will be held on

Saturday, March 13th

at Framingham State College. Mark your calendar and stay tuned here for further information.

Click here for additional information and a registration form.

Dear teachers,

Greetings from all of us at Science of the Eye and the Darwin Bicentennial Project. We wanted to make sure you’re aware that February 12, 2010 is DARWIN DAY!!

Here are three ideas for celebrating the 201st anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

1) The MIT MUSEUM will host a Darwin Day event at their Second Fridays program from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.  The event will include demos from scientists, a sneak peak of the play From Orchids To Octopi: An Evolutionary Love Story (coming soon to the Central Square Theatre) followed by a discussion with Science of the Eye’s Jonathan King, an MIT biology professor, and actors from the play. For more information, go to http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/secondfridays.html

2) Want more information about events near you or abroad?

The International Darwin Day Foundation initiated Darwin Day to celebrate the discoveries and life of Darwin on or near the date of his birth.  The website provides resources and information for those who would like to host a Darwin Day event.  You can also find educational materials about evolution, facts about Darwin, and Darwin Day events in your area.  For more information go to http://www.darwinday.org/.

3) Organize your own Darwin Day Screening

Nova has produced several films that highlight Darwin and his contributions.  They are available online and are easy to view.  Have a screening party at school, at home or at work! For more information, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beta/evolution/darwin-never-knew.html

Lisa Guisbond

Outreach Coordinator

Science of the Eye – Bringing Vision into the Classroom

Department of Biology, 68-330

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA 02139

phone: (617) 715-4329

e-mail guisbond@mit.edu

Received on December 16,2009 and printed by permission.

Yesterday I finished the four most grueling days of staff development that I’ve ever done. I’m in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the workshop presentation was for about 130 science supervisors (mainly from Saudi Arabia, but some from the Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan). The pace was agonizingly slow for me since everything I said had to be translated to them and everything they said had to be translated back to me. I spent one day on strategies for differentiating instruction, one day on correction of preconceptions and misconceptions in biology, one day modeling an effective lesson, and one day on problems in the classroom. I couldn’t tell how I was doing until the very end when I got a standing ovation from both the men and the women. (The participants were in separate rooms and the women were viewing me on television!)

The funny thing is I thought these supervisors (i.e. participants) were the same as our department chairs or district supervisors. Boy was I wrong! I found out as I was reading their evaluations that each of them was responsible for between 50 and 80 schools. It seems they were more like state science supervisors and this was an international conference. I’d have probably been trembling in my boots had I realized that. All that said, the Under Secretary to the Minister of Education (who presented their certificates of completion in a formal ceremony) told me that he had heard only good things about my work during the week and that he would be inviting me back next year. So, I guess I’ll get to bring back a little more of the oil money we ship over here (although a very insignificant amount in the scheme of things)!

Of course the biggest barrier was the language and completely different culture. My humor did translate pretty well, which surprised me. The repression of women is still quite upsetting to me. Although I was told I’d see none of the women in the workshop at any time, I actually did run into a few and they practiced their English by telling me how much they appreciated my visit to their country. It’s a little disconcerting speaking to someone when all you can really see of them is a rectangle of eyes – sort of like when the eyes are censored in a photo, except everything else was censored and all you could see was two eyes and the bridge of a nose.

More than one participant was concerned for my eternal life and presented me with various books on Islam. I was able to have a long discussion about religion and share mine with three gentlemen. They listened intently and seemed genuinely interested.

I will say that the people in all walks of life that I came into contact with were very kind and hospitable, willing to help in any way that they could. I don’t think any of the people I met would approve of terrorism that we sometimes incorrectly attribute to all Muslims. Of course I wasn’t used to the security measures that are in place – even at the Marriott where I stayed. Cars were not allowed to approach the building, being held at bay by concrete walls. Those cars that even entered the ground (including my taxi) were checked under the hood and under the chassis before being allowed to pass the guard house.
Then there was another car with guards as you approach closer to the hotel.

As always, I’ll be glad to be back home, for as Dorothy said, “There is no place like home.”

Alton L. Biggs, President

Biggs Educational Consulting

2006 Creekview Drive

Commerce, Texas 75428-3947

Phone: (903) 886-2240

E-mail: altonb@ix.netcom.com

Web site: http://home.netcom.com/~altonb/biggseducationalconsulting/

From Lisa Guisbond

Dear Teachers,

Thanks to all of you who expressed interest and/or came to the Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye Symposium in honor of the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. All of us at Science of the Eye: Bringing Vision into the Classroom were proud to present this program in conjunction with the Massachusetts Association of Biology Teachers, Whitehead Institute’s Partnership for Science Education, the Darwin Bicentennial Project, and Citizens for Public Schools.

We were pleased that so many of you could attend, and gratified at all the positive feedback we received.

If you are interested in sampling the talks from our morning session for the MIT community, videos are now available at

http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/2f8146e6cb652c0fc9652feb93f8fe12147df4d0/private

Whether or not you were able to attend our Nov. 20 event, we plan to keep you informed of upcoming professional development workshops, symposia and resources you can use.

Science of the Eye: Bringing Vision into the Classroom is funded by the National Eye Institute, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, and based in Prof. Jonathan King’s lab in the MIT Biology Department. In addition to Professor King, our staff includes Dr. Ishara Mills-Henry, a biochemist working on science curriculum and professional development, and Lisa Guisbond, our outreach coordinator, a writer with a longstanding interest in supporting and strengthening public education.

In the coming months, we will be offering a series of regional workshops and events that aim to bridge the gap between those who do important vision research and you, the people who nurture our emerging scientists, whether they go into research, become eye doctors or perhaps become artists with a deep appreciation of the importance of science and the natural world.

Best regards,

Lisa Guisbond, on behalf of The Science of the Eye Team

Guisbond@mit.edu

to Diverse Group of Teachers

By Lisa Guisbond

Click here to see workshop participants at work.

Though some traveled far and had already spent the day in the classroom, the teachers participating in the first Science of the Eye: Bringing Vision into the Classroom regional workshop were energetic, engaged and excited by the program. A diverse group filled a lab at UMass/Amherst’s beautiful new Integrated Sciences Building on October 8 for the 2 1/2-hour program led by Ishara Mills-Henry, Ph.D., an accomplished biochemist who has just completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. The program was co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Biology Teachers (MABT) and MIT’s Science of the Eye program. (Special thanks go to Mort Stermheim of STEM Ed at UMass/Amherst, for securing the laboratory and procuring the snacks.)

The topic was Eye Development and Anatomy, and the workshop was broken into segments of brief lectures followed by hands-on laboratory activities meant for the teachers to adapt for their classrooms. Teachers looked at eye mutations in Drosophila (fruit flies) under the microscope, observing the strangely beautiful, red compound eye. Mills-Henry explained that similar genetic networks underlie both human and fly eye development, making the study of drosophila directly relevant to research into human eye development and disease. Later, the teachers dissected a cow’s eye, examining the structures involved in eye disease and vision problems.

The group included high school biology teachers Sharon McDonald from Athol and Kelly Pirog of Chicopee, as well as three community college professors and even one kindergarten teacher, Robin Gurdak-Foley, who explained that she teaches her students about the five senses and wanted to be sure the information she gives them is accurate.

Comments and questions from the teachers confirmed the idea that vision and the eye are inherently compelling topics, with several teachers saying they registered because of their personal interest in the topic, as well as their own vision and eye health. Greenfield Community College Professor Sandy Gokey, for example, teaches mathematics but said she came because of her personal interest in the topic.

The program will continue with a series of regional workshops throughout the state and several related conferences. Science of the Eye will return to western Massachusetts in the spring with a longer Saturday workshop. Also in the works is a conference on the Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye, in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species. The conference will be on Friday, November 20, at MIT’s Whitehead Auditorium, featuring some of the nation’s foremost vision and eye development researchers, who will participate in an afternoon session directed at high school biology teachers.

Lisa Guisbond

Outreach Coordinator

Science of the Eye – Bringing Vision into the Classroom

Department of Biology, 68-330

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA 02139

Symposium On The Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye

Friday, November 20, 2009

In recognition of the 150th Anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, MIT’s Science of the Eye program and Whitehead Institute’s Partnership for Science Education are proud to announce a symposium on the evolution of the vertebrate eye to be held in McGovern Auditorium at Whitehead Institute on Friday, November 20, 2009.

A special two-hour afternoon session beginning at 4:15 p.m. will be geared towards high school biology teachers, offering the opportunity to hear from the foremost experts in the evolution of the vertebrate eye and vision science.

Lecturers will include Darwin scholar John Durant, director of the MIT Museum; Dr. Graeme Wistow, section chief on Molecular Structure and Function at the National Eye Institute; Prof. Nancy Kanwisher, investigator at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research; and Prof. Constance Cepko, a Harvard Medical School geneticist.

Also lecturing will be Dr. Ishara Mills-Henry, an accomplished biochemist and director of Science of the Eye, and Prof. Jonathan King, MIT professor of molecular biology.

After the lectures, there will be a general discussion as well as an opportunity for teachers to take part in smaller break-out discussions hosted by a particular lecturer. Teachers will also have the opportunity to join participating scientists for dinner and conversation immediately following the symposium. Sign up is required.

The conference is co-sponsored by MIT’s Science of the Eye program, the Massachusetts Association of Biology Teachers, Whitehead Institute’s Partnership for Science Education, Massachusetts Darwin Bicentennial Project, and Citizens for Public Schools.

For more information or to register, email Outreach Coordinator Lisa Guisbond at Guisbond@mit.edu or phone 617-715-4329.

The topic was Eye Development and Anatomy, and the workshop was broken into segments of brief lectures followed by hands-on laboratory activities meant for the teachers to adapt for their classrooms. Teachers looked at eye mutations in Drosophila (fruit flies) under the microscope, observing the strangely beautiful, red compound eye. Mills-Henry explained that a similar genetic networks underlie both human and fly eye development, making the study of drosophila directly relevant to research into human eye development and disease.  Later, the teachers dissected a cow’s eye, examining the structures involved in eye disease and vision problems.

The group included high school biology teachers Sharon McDonald from Athol and Kelly Pirog of Chicopee, as well as three community college professors and even one kindergarten teacher, Robin Gurdak-Foley, who explained that she teaches her students about the five senses and wanted to be sure the information she gives them is accurate.

Comments and questions from the teachers confirmed the idea that vision and the eye are inherently compelling topics, with several teachers saying they registered because of their personal interest in the topic, as well as their own vision and eye health. Greenfield Community College Professor Sandy Gokey, for example, teaches mathematics but said she came because of her personal interest in the topic.

The program will continue with a series of regional workshops throughout the state and several related conferences. Science of the Eye will return to western Massachusetts in the spring with a longer Saturday workshop. Also in the works is a conference on the Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye, in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species. The conference will be on Friday, November 20, at MIT’s Whitehead Auditorium, featuring some of the nation’s foremost vision and eye development researchers, who will participate in an afternoon session directed at high school biology teachers.

Lisa Guisbond

Bringing Vision into the Classroom

“Science of the Eye: Bringing Vision into the Classroom,” is a series of regional workshops for Massachusetts high school biology teachers. Nearly every student has a personal connection to vision science, whether they wear glasses or contacts, or have a family member with cataracts or macular degeneration. The workshops will capitalize on this connection to students’ lives and help teachers broaden students’ outlook on potential careers in vision science-related fields.

Topic I: Eye Development and Anatomy

This workshop will introduce lab activities to explore eye development and anatomy in model organisms. Activities that are included in the workshop will address mutations that lead to eye developmental defects and the effects of ethanol exposure to vision in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In addition, a cow eye dissection will be incorporated into a discussion of the anatomy of the eye and eye diseases or problems that affect different components of the eye. The workshop is designed to incorporate material from the Massachusetts high school science curriculum frameworks and demonstrate to teachers how to excite, engage and deepen students’ understanding of this material using hands-on laboratory science experiments.

Time and Place

Thursday, October 8, 2009, at UMass-Amherst’s new Integrated Sciences Building, Room 364. Sign-in from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Workshop 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Instructor

Ishara Mills-Henry, Ph.D., an accomplished biochemist who has led workshops for high school science teachers on the evolution of the vertebrate eye and the structures of proteins involved in vision. Dr. Mills-Henry has a special interest in finding ways to engage students, particularly underserved students, in science education before they decide that science is not for them, as far too many middle school and high school students continue to do.

Cost and Credits

The workshops are free of charge and will offer two hours of professional development credit, or two PDPs, as one of a multipart series of workshops offered through the spring of 2010. Coffee and a light snack will be provided to all participants. Parking passes are available for a modest fee.

To register or for more information, contact Outreach Coordinator Lisa Guisbond at:

• E-mail:  guisbond@mit.edu

• Telephone: 617-258-7899

Directions to UMass/Amherst

* From the North: from I-91 South, take Exit 25 in Deerfield. At the end of the ramp, turn left and follow road to the intersection. Turn right onto Routes 5 & 10 South. Go 1 mile, then turn left onto Route 116 South. Follow 8 miles to UMass exit.

* From the East: From Route 2 West, take exit 16 (Belchertown/Amherst). Follow Route 202 for about 15 miles to blinking light at Route 9 and 116 Amherst exit (Pelham). Turn right and follow for 7 miles to Amherst center. Follow signs to UMass. From I-90 (Mass
Pike), take exit 4 (West Springfield). Follow I-91 North to Exit 19. From the exit ramp, turn right onto Route 9. Travel approximately 4.5 miles to Route 116 North (turn left at traffic lights). UMass exit is 1 mile.

* From the South: From I-91 North, take Exit 19 in Northampton. From the exit ramp, turn right onto Route 9. Travel approximately 4.5 miles to Route 116 North (turn left at traffic lights). UMass exit is 1 mile.

* From the West: From Route 2 East, follow to Greenfield/I-91 exit. Take I-91 South to exit 25 in Deerfield. At the end of the ramp turn left and follow the road to the intersection. Turn right onto Routes 5 & 10 South. Go 1 mile, then turn left onto Route 116 South. Follow for 8 miles to the UMass exit. From I-90 (Mass Pike), take exit 4 (West Springfield). Follow I-91 North to Exit 19. From the exit ramp, turn right onto Route 9. Travel approximately 4.5 miles to Route 116 North (turn left at traffic lights). UMass exit is 1 mile.

The Integrated Sciences Building is on Stockbridge Road. For a detailed campus map, go to

http://www.umass.edu/visitorsctr/downloads/campusmap.pdf