Research Opportunities for Classrooms
Partnership for Research & Education in Plants (PREP), a high school plant research project.
PREP is a multi-university project funded by the National Institutes of Health (yes NIH) and its Science Education Partnership Award program. Other universities involved include Virginia Tech, Cornell, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa State, and UW-Madison. We are researching ways to incorporate Arabidopsis thaliana into high school science classrooms and more specifically researching ways for high school students to add to our knowledge about Arabidopsis mutants. As you may or may not know, Arabidopsis is the model plant for plant researchers around the world. This project builds on that role.
The PREP project engages classes in using Arabidopsis seed containing known mutations in its genome as well as wild type seed. Students grow the seeds, observe the plants, record their phenotype traits, and make comparisons with the wild type seeds. This develops good observational skills in students and the skills necessary to quantify and compare wild type plants with unknown mutant plants.
PREP was initiated at the request of high school students and their teachers, who wanted opportunities to collect 'real' science data, and scientists, who needed extra help studying the 'white mouse' of the plant world, Arabidopsis thaliana. In an effort to better understand plant biology, scientists have sequenced the Arabidopsis genome. Now that this has been accomplished, emphasis is being placed on systematically identifying the function of an estimated 25,000 genes. One approach being taken is 'knocking out' each gene to determine its role in the growth, development, and physiology of the plant. This effort is creating an abundance of mutant plants that must now be examined to determine each gene's function.
Extensive resources are available on line for both students and you. Check out http://www.prep.biotech.vt.edu/. UW-Madison scientists can also serve as resources for you and your students.
Contact Kevin Niemi, Ph.D., kjniemi@wisc.edu, if interested in the PREP project.
Arabidopsis thaliana
Time lapse of A.t. growth. Note the DAP (days after planting) control in the lower right corner of the quick time box. You can move your cursor over days in the list and stop the video loop to select specific days for still images of the plant.