First glimpses into a real lab
Visiting high school students from Järvenpää thought pipetting and PCR machines were the highlights of a tour in the plant virology laboratory.
On a rainy April day a group of high school students from the Järvenpää high school concentrate on identifying Gram stained bacteria in one of the Biocenter course rooms. Teacher Emma Lager says that the students are participants on a special course on microbiology and the use of micro-organisms in food production and other industries.
“For me the idea was that the visit would be a chance to introduce the students to the University, and to enable them to try out experiments that are impossible to do at school. The visit is a welcome break to routines and I enjoy that my students interact with and learn from experts,” Lager explains.
Justus Mutanen, coordinator of the Biopop centre for bioscience education, explains that in addition to practical hands-on work visits for school groups usually include lab tours, field trips and general introduction to studying and student life at the Viikki campus.
Outreach opportunities
There are plenty of outreach opportunities for researchers at the department of Food and Environmental Sciences and Mutanen encourages scientists to participate:
“This year we expect 1200-1400 visitors from schools and need the scientists’ expertise in illuminating their fields of research to the children and young people.”
School children and high school students are mainly interested in methods or how science is done: stuff that’s distant from the everyday school environment, Mutanen says.
“Most groups are interested in visiting real laboratories, so researchers are more than welcome to give lab tours and talk about their work.”
Highlights: pipetting and PCR machines
I had volunteered to show the Järvenpää students our lab and to talk about the research that goes on in here.
After a short introduction I let the students practice agroinfiltration into Nicotiana benthamiana plants, a method routinely used in our lab. Only instead of a bacterial solution they used water to infiltrate the leaves.
For the tour I walked the group through our lab and described our aims and ways of working. The students were very interested in seeing a real life PCR machine so we also took a look at closer look at different models in the PCR room.
In the lab I had prepared a pipetting station where the students could try out the most important tools of a molecular biologist: pipettes. And it was such fun! Lager later relayed feedback that the students thought pipetting was the best part of the visit in addition to seeing a “real life lab” and the PCR machines.
“The students were apparently a bit surprised that work in the laboratory did not seem to be very complicated”, she says, but adds that her students are not easy to impress as they are used to exceptionally good lab resources also at school.
I, on the other hand, was content rather than surprised: a short visit to our lab had –in some way- demystified science to these youngsters and had expanded their knowledge of the research process.
Inspiration to study biosciences
Societal impact and interaction are an integral part of the responsibilities of Finnish universities.
”Many of the students said that the visit inspired them to thinking about applying to study biosciences at the Viikki campus. For me as a teacher this was one of the most positive impacts of the visit. I’d expect that in the next few years you will run into some of them in Viikki!” Emma Lager summarised the experience.
Besides disseminating new scientific information and knowledge, researchers have also a lot to gain from participating in outreach activities, involving the public and opening up science. Communicating about your area of research, methods and findings in understandable terms increases chances for funding and could even have a positive effect on the public’s view of scientific research.