Hazelwood Students Participate at Project Lead The Way Conference

Post author:independentnws
Post published:March 10, 2011
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Hazelwood North Middle School Gateway to Technology teacher James Muska, center, talks to his students and answers questions from Dr. Chuck Granger, of the University at Missouri-St. Louis, right, during a Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Counselors and Administrators Conference at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley. Muska and his students demonstrated a way to power a fan the students built to get it to turn on various light bulbs.

Students from four Hazelwood schools presented at a Project Lead The Way (PLTW) conference at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley in January.

Project Lead The Way is a non-profit organization that partners with middle and high schools to prepare students to become the most innovative and productive in the world. It engages students through science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. The District implemented the PLTW curriculum at all of its high schools in 2007.

“Biomedical students were chosen because we are the only district in the area that has the full PLTW biomedical program,” said Gail Stewart, special areas coordinator. “Teachers at each high school chose students to represent their programs – at East High, they represented Human Body Systems, at Central High, they represented the principles of Biomedical Science and at West High the students represented the Medical Interventions Program.”

During the conference lunch hour, students from Hazelwood North Middle, Hazelwood Central, and East and West high schools interacted with adult visitors from other school districts and universities. The high school students brought display boards and models while the middle school Gateway to Technology (GTT) students experimented with a fan they made. Using an electric box fan to generate wind, the students aimed the air currents so they would move the blades on the fan they made, which generated enough electricity to light different types of bulbs.

The high school students explained what PLTW classes have taught them and how the courses have shaped their career paths.

“I picked my career first; I want to become an obstetrician and I looked up what I need to do to further myself in that field,” said Hazelwood Central High School junior Brianna Williams. “In PLTW, you’re teaching yourself.”

The Hazelwood Central station had a laptop computer, models of complex molecules and a display board on their tale, which helped visitors learn about the principles of biomedical sciences. The display board explained such things as red blood cell paths and DNA. Students used software called Lab View to measure their own heart rate and blood pressure then they made an experiment using that information.

The Hazelwood East station showed a display board about the human body systems class that gave visitors information. Their display topic was the effects of adrenaline. They created an experiment showing how adrenaline affects the body’s reaction times. For certain tasks, they wanted to know if it took more time to react and do increased adrenaline rates affect the processing time it takes to react.

Nearby, at the Hazelwood West High School station, senior Cody Collins excitedly related some of the things he has participated in thanks to the PLTW program at his school. His school’s display board focused on superbugs, strains of bacteria that resist standard antibiotic treatments. Antibiotics are used to treat infections caused by bacteria. The students worked with Escherichia coli bacteria to see if it resists ampicillin or streptomycin.

“You get to do a bunch of different case studies to learn about personalities of different doctors and doctors’ personal histories,” he said. “You research a lot, for example, seeing different ways bacteria can become superbugs. You get to see different patients, their symptoms and past histories.”

He talked about disease epidemiology, diagnoses and what kind of tests to perform.

“You get a broader view of medicine and it’s a real cool experience,” he added.

Jim Muska, the North Middle GTT teacher supervised his students as they worked on their project.

“I wanted Jim Muska to demonstrate the Energy and Environment module, that’s why I chose him,” said Stewart.

“We don’t have enough power, people so what do you need to do?” Muska asked his students. The answer was add more power (another battery) or change the transmission path, they said. Using larger blades creates more lift and drag.

PLTW Gateway to Technology (GTT) is a middle school program offered in six independent, nine-week units and designed to help students explore math, science and technology. (story courtesy of Hazelwood District Communications Dept.)