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B. W. van der Meer, J. J. Alletto, F. D. Byrant, M. T. Carini, L. P. Elliott, R. Gelderman, W. M. Mason, K. L. McDaniel, C. H. McGruder III, C. R. Rinehart, R. T. Tyler (Western Kentucky U.)
The Biology and Physics & Astronomy departments of Western Kentucky University are collaborating to host an IDEA sponsored workshop for high-school students and their teachers. The goal of our workshop is to use activities and hands-on experiences to allow the participants to explore the question "what is life?". This workshop will be held on two weekends in the Fall of 1999. Up to 20 participants are being recruited as teacher-student teams. We are recruiting academically motivated high school students from Kentucky and surrounding states, with a goal of a 50 qualified minority students. It is our expectation that the teacher-student teams will take their favorite activities back to their home classroom and spread their experience among their peers.
Activities will include: inspecting cultures of fingerprints to visualize microbial life on human bodies, researching and discussing the answer to "what is life?", constructing and using a 2-inch refracting telescope, collection and culture of terrestrial microbiota, discussing the harshness of space environments, experiments on microbes in extreme environments, constructing and using a van Leeuwenhoek type microscope and a discussion of problems related to constructing a Lunar base.
If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries, it is a
s follows: