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Mentoring Academic Growth In the Community
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| John Koontz, a Ph.D. student in Food Science and Technology, uses visual demonstrations and experiments to teach middle-school students about the role of oxidation in foods at the SMWV. |
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| Middle-school students attending the "Let's Think Radically" summer camp perform a test to understand the chemical difference between saturated and unstaturated oils. |
A basic understanding of oxidation science and its effects on food and health is important for future scientists and non-scientists alike. But what do most middle school kids know about the effects of oxidation in their everyday lives?
Not a lot! To fill this gap, members of the Virginia Tech MILES (Macromolecular Interfaces with Life Sciences) program have developed the MAGIC (Mentoring Academic Growth in the Community) outreach program, which teaches middle schoolers about oxidation and its impacts on society.
Researchers Susan Duncan, Department of Food Science and Technology; Tim Long, Department of Chemistry; and Craig Thatcher, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine are developing outreach initiatives to bring research related to oxidation that impacts materials, health, and food to the general public. The three are co-directors of the MILES program, a graduate training program that brings veterinarians, engineers, chemists, food scientists, biochemists, animal scientists, and nutritionists together to
study the basic science of oxidation and oxidation’s impacts
on society.
Demonstrating scientific principles in ways that interest and excite different age groups is challenging, and to meet the challenge, the MAGIC outreach effort has partnered with the Science Museum of Western Virginia (SMWV) in Roanoke.
Brenda Brown, a Science Educator at SMWV, has worked closely with MILES faculty and students to develop activities and lessons relating to oxidation for K-12 audiences. Activities include “Hand Warmers: A Redox Reaction with Zinc” and “A Comparison of Vitamin C Content in Fruits, Fruit Juices, and Soda.”
In-museum classes, in-school instruction, and traveling trunks for teachers have generated increased interest and involvement in the program. During 2005 and 2006, the outreach of the MILES MAGIC program brought oxidationreduction classes to a total of 637 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The SMWV also uses the MAGIC program in its after-school programs held at the museum, and supplies materials to high school science classes and by
homeschoolers in the region.
“The key to teaching kids about oxidation is to find examples that make the concepts relevant in their own lives,” says Duncan. “Foods taste better if oxidation is prevented or minimized. Everyone can relate to food, so demonstrating improvements in flavor, appearance, and shelf-life as a result of oxidation control methods is interesting on a personal level.”
The MAGIC program expanded to include the “Let’s Think Radically” summer camp at the SMWV. “Let’s Think Radically” was a five-day camp offered in summer 2005 and 2006 under the auspices of a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation award. Nineteen students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades learned about the properties and functions of oxidation, free radicals, and antioxidants in macromolecular and biological science. Four camp days were spent at the museum and the final day was a field trip to the Virginia Tech
departments of Chemistry and Food Science and Technology, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. MILES Ph.D. students practiced their teaching skills by developing exercises to illustrate their oxidation-related research projects for the benefit of the campers.
John Koontz, Sabrina Hannah, and Kevin Holland (all from the Department of Food Science and Technology) and Annie Aigster (Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise), taught students about food oxidation, antioxidants, and health concepts. Kwaku Gyenai (Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences) and William Miles (Department of Chemical Engineering) integrated their knowledge of oxidation to lead experiments that emphasized the biologicalmacromolecular interface. The campers were evaluated
before and after the camp and then again six months following the experience. Their scores showed they gained knowledge and retained it over the six-month period.