Mobile Lab provides STEM experiences for students
Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 16, 2019
- Photo courtesy of Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Dunn 1 – Jaden Stack and Shelby Smith run an experiment in the mobile lab was provided by Learning Undefeated, with funds from the Rebuild Texas Fund.
To The Leader
Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School science students took a field trip this week. The trip was across the parking lot to a mobile lab, where each was able to run experiments, guided by an instructor.
The mobile lab was provided by Learning Undefeated, with funds from the Rebuild Texas Fund. The Learning Undefeated company is out of Maryland and sent labs to schools in Texas who had been impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
Photo courtesy of Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD
Dunn 1 – Jaden Stack and Shelby Smith run an experiment in the mobile lab was provided by Learning Undefeated, with funds from the Rebuild Texas Fund.
Classes are running various experiments, depending on their area of study. Some of the topics include DNA extraction of fruit, “Mystery of the Crooked Cell” for Sickle Cell Anemia and biodiesel. Michael Longmire’s aqua science students will use gel electrophoresis to compare the DNA fragment(s) in a sample of DNA from the fins of a great white and porbeagle shark and determine if an unidentified DNA sample is from a great white shark.
The lab will be at LCM High School for another week and then move to Little Cypress Junior High and Mauriceville Middle School, for a week at each.
According to the Learning Undefeated website, “The flagship component of Learning Undefeated is a 45-foot wet lab housed in a tractor trailer, which can accommodate classes of up to 32 students. The mobile laboratory is fully self-contained, with its own power and water supply. As a mobile unit, it can serve a different school each day or serve a single school for a longer period of time.
Schools may choose from nearly a dozen hands-on biology, chemistry, forensics, and environmental science activities suitable for grades 6-12. The flexible curriculum connects relevant issues in STEM discovery to the recovery effort, allowing students to explore topics such as water quality and filtration, DNA extraction, genetics and heredity, wildlife forensics, and testing soil for contaminants. Learning Undefeated’s curriculum has been developed over fifteen years and has served more than 150,000 high school students since its creation in 2003. Learn more about Learning Undefeated’s mobile lab curriculum.“
For information about the labs that they have available, go to https://www.learningundefeated.org/mobile-stem-education/laboratory-activities/.
