Introduction to Biological Research: A Laboratory Course in Microbiology

In this paper, the authors describe their development of an introductory laboratory course in microbiology that is geared towards students in grades 8-10. The course was developed as part of the Mentoring for Science Program at Harvard Medical School, an outreach program created by the Minority Faculty Development Program, directed towards providing enhanced exposure to science for minority middle school students in Boston. The goals of the course are: (1) to introduce students to basic laboratory techniques that they could use for science fair projects; (2) to teach them the concept of an experimental design including a solid understanding of the use of experimental controls; (3) to expose the students to the joy of research and to have them see a scientific career as a real possibility; and (4) to reinforce the high school/middle school biology curriculum. The specific objectives of the course are: (1) learn basic safety and technical skills necessary to conduct experiments; (2) use an experimental control--the most powerful tool in science; (3) design simple experiments using easily accessible materials; (4) keep a laboratory notebook and organize data from that notebook into a summary report; and (5) develop scientific curiosity and confidence that will encourage further scientific and educational pursuits. (Contains 4 tables and 8 figures.)