The summer component of the MCB/HHMI Outreach Program includes a ten-day workshop for high school biology teachers and curriculum directors. The summer workshop is designed to integrate faculty lectures with cutting-edge project laboratories on a specific topic in molecular and cellular biology. In addition, teacher participants work collaboratively with multimedia professionals to develop videos and animations based on the workshop.

The summer 2003 workshop will focus on the biology of cancer. The emphasis will be on the causal role of defects in cellular signaling and DNA repair.

Program Format

The program will offer daily sessions of approximately six hours in duration over two weeks to high school teachers. The first five sessions will begin with morning lectures from five Harvard faculty members who conduct research in areas of cell division and cancer biology. Laboratory experiments will be conducted in the afternoons primarily during the first week. During the second week, teachers will have instructional sessions in multimedia software and production in the mornings. In the afternoons, teachers will work collaboratively, designing multimedia projects.

The multimedia projects will be based on the major concepts and experimental approaches covered in the workshop. This will allow teachers to apply what they have learned in the development of teaching media that is fully informed by their own classroom needs.

Program Schedule

Sessions will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end by 3:30 p.m. each day, Monday through Friday, during the two-week period from July 7 through July 18, 2003. Coffee and snacks will be provided in the mornings and lunch will be provided each afternoon. The program is FREE; funded by MCB and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Professional Development

Teachers will be awarded 60 PDPs for their participation in this program and will receive a stipend of $1000 for their participation in this program.

Application Requirements

Applications must be filled out by high school biology teachers who teach grades 9—12 and by science/biology curriculum directors of those grades. Teachers from public, private, parochial, or charter schools in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire are welcome.

Application Deadline — April 7, 2003

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by April 18. A packet containing directions, parking information, and more detailed program information will follow.

For more information on this and other outreach programs offered by MCB, please contact Tara Bennett, MCB-HHMI Outreach Coordinator. (617) 496-3457