The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Biology 100 takes students off campus, into Richmond schools

In one room students were making double helix DNA models out of Twizzlers and Gummy Bears. In another room they were playing an intense game of DNA Jeopardy, where someone was always quick to raise a hand and answer the question. Elementary school students were learning the names and functions of cell components and made models out of Jello-O, sprinkles and jellybeans.

The teachers using candy to teach biology were University of Richmond students taught and facilitated biology classes for elementary, middle and high school students.

On Tuesday Feb. 10, 15 Richmond students went to Southside Baptist Christian School and led biology lessons for elementary, middle and high school classes. This is one of the required projects for their intro-level biology class, Biology in Popular Culture, which many Richmond students take for their general education requirement.

None of the Richmond students at Southside are biology majors, or for that matter, science majors.

"I wanted to get UR students off campus," said Paula B. Lessem. "Most of the students in these classes are there to fulfill a requirement so I wanted them to be creative and do something fun."

Sarah Nagel, a junior art major, taught third, fourth and fifth graders the structure of the cell and its essential components on Tuesday.

"It's nice to be off campus and to interact with other people," Nagel said. "Just being here and interacting with the kids made it fun for me. I have two older sisters that are teachers and I think I'll eventually become a teacher so it was nice to get a feel for this."

Nagel and her group partners, Nate Gilman and Jessica Waldradt, used Jell-O and candy to help students construct the cell and learn the essential components.

"The food helped," said Gilman, a junior political science major. "We gave them simple synonyms that made this more applicable. I didn't feel like I was in science class today - they were - I was just having fun and teaching these kids something I learned."

Waldradt, also a junior political science major, liked how enthusiastic the students were.

"Many of them were more interested in science than kids our age," Waldradt said.

Kate Rutkowski, a junior business major with a concentration in marketing, worked with sixth, seventh and eighth graders, where students studied the cell in detail and made cells out of candy.

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"It was so much fun but even more rewarding to see these kids so enthusiastic," Rutkowski said. "They really picked up a lot of information but I think we [Richmond students] learned as much as them."

Derrick Williams, an eighth grade student thought the lesson was refreshing.

"I had a great time and it was really cool to review this stuff and learn about organelles with college students," Williams said.

Williams came to the University of Richmond two weeks ago, where he and classmates did laboratory experiments with Lessem. He aspires to go to Richmond and be a science major, he said.

Last year, Lessem gave her students at Richmond the opportunity to teach science classes at elementary, middle and high schools in the City of Richmond. Then last summer, she started working with Southside. During the summer, students from Southside came to Richmond and took laboratory classes with Lessem, where students learned about germs, viruses and parasites.

During the past two semesters, Southside students visited Richmond and learned how to use a microscope. They also did a laboratory exercise with Lessem and looked at cheek cell samples.

Sonjia Upshaw, educational programs coordinator at Southside, has been working with Lessem on the project for the past year.

"Dr. Lessem has been wonderful for our students to collaborate with college students," Upshaw said. "This really brings a different dynamic to the school and some variety. Every time she [Lessem] comes, it is very hands on and all of a sudden science becomes a fun thing and not just a textbook-based classroom lecture."

Cassie Price, community initiatives and program manager at the Center for Civic Engagement, has been working with Lessem for the past year.

"Dr. Lessem is fostering an active interest in biology in non-science majors at the University of Richmond," Price said. "By requiring her students to create and teach modules on biology to elementary, middle, and high school students, she is empowering her students to gain a better grasp of the subject material than they would if they were merely cramming for a test. Some of her students may also find that teaching biology to others increases the relevance of the material."

But Lessem claims she is just using her resources to help others, she said.

"They're [Richmond students] doing the work," Lessem said. "I'm just facilitating."

Paul Warner, a middle and high school science teacher at Southside, enjoyed sitting and watching college students teach his students.

"Paula and her students have created a non-pressure environment for our students to learn science," Warner said.

Terry Stinson, an elementary school teacher at SOUTHSIDE, thinks Lessem has discovered a unique way for the students to learn and just as important, retain science, she said.

"With the hands on approach that Paula and the students have taken, many times we learn just as much as they [students] do," Stinson said.

Emily Warner, another elementary school teacher added: "She gets them involved. Kids don't always remember stuff that we write on the board but they do remember the hands on stuff."

Omarie Williams, a senior at Southside from Jamaica, aspires to go to Richmond, the College of William and Mary or Virginia Commonwealth University. He had a lot of fun playing DNA jeopardy today, he said.

"It's nice to learn science from college students," Williams said. "I get to see what college will be like."

Lessem hopes to expand the project with Southside and not only move on to other areas of science but also mathematics. In the meantime, she will continue to require her intro-level, non-major science students to go to Southside and teach.

"A few people have said this was one of their best UR experiences," Lessem sad. "It doesn't matter what my students decide to go on to in life. But I think this is so rewarding for college students, who truly see the impact they make on these kids and how fun they make school for them.

"It's making a point. The kids will talk about it when they go home. Sparking a true interest is my primary concern with these kids."

Trenton Stinson, director of international student programs, has been working with Lessem and Richmond since September.

"I cannot say enough about her [Lessem]," Stinson said. "Initially we thought this would just be a one or two time thing after school but it mushroomed. We do not have the edifice and equipment to explore all aspects of science.

"This has been a renaissance for us. It has opened our eyes, and more importantly the kids' eyes, to science."

In all, 62 students will participate in the outreach project over the course of four sessions. Richmond students in Lessem's class will participate on Feb. 24, March 18 and March 31.

Contact reporter Nick Mider at nick.mider@richmond.edu

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