Mix students and lab, grow scientists

Lowering his goggles, Brockton eighth-grader Jarrett Reese carefully filled a pipette with an acid, then added it to a clear solution in a test-tube. The goal of the experiment, he explained, was to measure how much protein the first liquid contained. The more purple it turned, the more protein it had.

Reese and his junior high classmates from Brockton conducted the test during a visit to Bridgewater State College, which invites middle- and high-school students from some 20 school districts across the region to its labs for a taste of college-level science.

The program, called CityLab, is itself an experiment, testing the hypothesis that more young students will gravitate toward the sciences if given a chance to work with real scientists and conduct sophisticated, hands-on research. Show students that science is more than memorizing periodic tables and geologic eras, the theory goes, and a fuse will be lit.

''In five hours [the typical length of a lab], you can't cover that many concepts," said Michael Carson, a Bridgewater State biological sciences professor who runs the program. ''But you can spark their interest."

That spark is sorely needed, Carson said, at a time when K-12 science education typically takes a back seat to math and English, particularly in low-income school systems with little money to spend on expensive equipment and supplies. And given concerns of a national decline in technological prominence, it is increasingly important to expose more students -- particularly minorities who have not traditionally pursued scientific careers -- to real scientific research.

For the past several years, Bridgewater State has worked with poorer school systemslike Brockton's to show science students that beyond the textbooks, worksheets, and dissections, lies a creative, imaginative pursuit. Other experiments tackle subjects like DNA fingerprinting, and testing for sickle cell anemia. A week-long summer program introduces nearly 300 middle-school students to biotechnology through the study of whales.

Late last month, those efforts received a major push when the program received a $530,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. CityLab, which grew out of a similar program by the same name at Boston University's School of Medicine but is now independent, was the only program in New England to receive the science education award and one of only a dozen nationally.

The grant will allow Bridgewater State to expand its program to more schools, offer new classes, establish a lending library for equipment, and design experiments and course work for school districts to conduct on their own, Carson said. Bridgewater State faculty will also teach professional development classes for middle- and high-school teachers.

Five years ago, the program received an $800,000 award, the school's first-ever National Institute of Health grant.

CityLab teachers say that most schools are doing their best to teach science but that they need money and training to do it well.

''There is more to science than trying to beat a dead horse in the classroom," said Ann Anderson, the program's lab facilitator and a former science teacher in Brockton schools. With limited time and resources, teachers tend to rely on textbooks and lectures rather than lab work, she said. That focus can sour students with more creative impulses.

Anderson said many students, often visiting a college campus for the first time, come to the lab hesitant and a bit nervous. But once they get their bearings and complete a few basic tasks, they often see science in a new light.

''They say, 'Gee, there's more to science than I thought there was,' " she said.

Reese, placing his test tube in a mixer to blend the two liquids, agreed that some of the lab's fancy devices rattled him at first. But once he understood what he was supposed to do, the experiment was pretty straightforward, he said.

''When I saw all the equipment, I thought it was going to be more complicated," he said. ''But you spin the dial [on the pipette], fill up the test tube, then shake it up. It's not that hard."

Across the room, Paul Presti, 13, wasn't so sure.

''This is a lot more detailed than what we do at school," he said.

Reese's lab partner, Sean Roman, 13, said the lab was a nice change of pace from science class, which is ''mostly textbooks."

Roman and several other students said the experience was more enjoyable than they had expected. They could see themselves as scientists someday, despite the ''nerdy" reputation, they said.

Mary Kelly, the students' science teacher, said she wished science students could perform more experiments themselves; but public schools, she said, lack the time and the resources to overhaul their teaching approach.

''Labs make the subjects more real to them," she said. ''When they can see it, they realize there's a practical reason to what they've been learning. They say, `So this is what she's been rambling about. ' "

Carson said lab experiments are all based on a single question that can be answered by day's end. Students are then asked to analyze their results and write a report detailing the experiment.

The Brockton students were conducting their test on behalf of a fictional testing agency assigned to see which of three would-be ''sports drinks" contained the highest amount of protein. They added the acid to three solutions, then analyzed the mixture under a device called a spectrophotometer to measure the protein.

But as the clock drew toward noon, it seemed the answer of which solution contained the most protein (Solution B, with 33 micrograms) would have to wait a bit.

''I guess we'll find out after lunch," Presti said.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.