The recent discovery of the teixobactin producing microorganism through use of the new culturing technology has many students highly interested in their projects, and a recent proposal from the Tufts sequencing center means that the students might be able to genotype the bacteria they discover, and possibly find a novel JQUS bacteria for whole genome sequencing, which would provide the platform for Josiah Quincy IB class research for years to come.
The nature of this IA lab design and follow through is that the teacher cannot be guiding the students beyond a point. Since the rules say that help from outside sources (parents, etc.) is not forbidden, and since we have the generous gift of support from an elite science research institution, this means that your help gives our students a tremendous boost. All levels of help are a huge boon to our student's success: from helping them to come up with improvements to their experimental design, to proofreading their hypothesis statements, to helping them analyze confusing data, and making suggestions for follow-up experiments. Some volunteers last year came for one 45 minute period and some came multiple days in a row. Some worked with many students, and some mentored a single student.
If you can commit to helping the seniors at JQ Upper School sometime in the next three weeks, send an email to Ian Warner at iwarner@bostonpublicschools.org. In-person support would be preferred at the time of IB classes during the week school hours), or Ian will connect potential mentors who are not able to join them on campus with a student who is eager to get some personalized help via email. Please contact Mr. Warner with any further questions.
