WInSTEP SEPA Program
Known as the WI Inquiry-based Scientist-Teacher Education Partnership (WInSTEP) Program, which is part of the NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program, the focus of this effort is to help high school science teachers get more students involved in doing classroom-based research with an environmental health focus. Using inquiry-based modules developed by Dr. Petering, Dr. Berg, and their team, teachers and students study the effects of various environmental agents on the development and behavior of organisms such as fathead minnows, zebrafish and earthworms - and then communicate their research via the scientific process of writing papers and creating scientific posters. The year-long program culminates with an annual spring Student Research Conference that highlights the innovative research done by the students.
Please visit our new WInSTEP SEPA website at: http://people.uwm.edu/winstep/
At the conclusion of the week-long WInSTEP SEPA Professional Development Workshop, participating high school science teachers and workshop leaders posed for a photo outside the new School of Freshwater Sciences on the University of WI-Milwaukee campus.
Environmental health science is a critical part of our daily lives and affects everyone in many ways. The goal of the UWM WInSTEP SEPA program is to provide high school science students with multiple, integrated opportunities to conduct inquiry-based experiments that link biological concepts with environmental health issues. Specifically, students study the effects of various environmental agents on zebrafish embryo development, earthworm behavior, and fathead minnow reproductive behavior, which serve as models for human health effects.
The Nerve and Muscular Basis of Earthworm Movements: Effects of Physical and Chemical Environmental Agents
This module provides students with the opportunity to study controlled neuromuscular activity in the earthworm, and then to make comparisons with worms exposed to various environmental agents. Through the study of simple reflexes in earthworms and the impact environmental agents have on these behaviors, students will learn about concepts pertaining to living organisms including structure, function, regulation, behavior, science and technology. They will use skills in scientific processes and reasoning as they generate and clarify questions, conduct investigations, analyze data, and make critical connections between evidence and explanation. They will articulate their own questions about animal behaviors, and their susceptibility to environmental agents. Students will interpret data to draw conclusions and generate explanations and propose hypotheses that link their personal health to environmental agents.
Zebrafish as Models: Studying the Effects of Environmental Agents on Human Health
Using zebrafish embryos exposed to various environmental toxicants such as ethanol, nicotine, and caffeine, students will examine the general development of zebrafish embryos and malformations that occur. By applying the results of the zebrafish embryo experiments to human embryo development, students will draw conclusions regarding personal health, environmental hazards, and the risks and benefits of personal and social decisions in relation to these hazards. They will use skills in scientific processes and reasoning as they refine questions, conduct investigations, analyze data, and make critical connections between evidence and explanation. They will also gain insight into science as a human endeavor, one that serves to characterize the impact of human action on environments and the impact of the environment on human health.
Integrating Physiology and Behavior: Using Fathead Minnows to Model the Effects of Environmental Agents
This module is a hands-on investigation of the effect of lead on fathead minnow reproductive behaviors. Students observe normal and abnormal breeding behaviors of both male and female fathead minnows, a fish native to Wisconsin and often used for environmental toxicity tests. Using a video-format experiment, students then compare the effects of lead to mercury. In addition, students learn how changes in these behaviors are related to changes in fish physiology due to exposure to lead. Importantly, students also learn the efficacy of different methods of reducing lead exposure. Lastly, students see the effects of embryonic exposure to lead on embryo growth and larval behavior. All this is then compared to what happens to humans exposed to lead or mercury, i.e., how are fish models of human environmental health.
Leadership and Roles
David Petering, PhD
Dr. Petering is the Co-Principal Investigator for this grant and overseer of the project.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org; Phone: (414) 229-5853.
Craig Berg, PhD
Dr. Berg is the Co-Principal Investigator on the WInSTEP SEPA grant.
Email: email@example.com; Phone: (414) 229-4047.
Renee Hesselbach, MS
Ms. Hesselbach is the program's Outreach Specialist and serves as a liaison to the teachers and coordinates the events of the WInSTEP SEPA program.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org; Phone: (414) 229-4092.
Michael Carvan, PhD
Email: email@example.com; Phone: (414) 382-1706.
Daniel Weber, PhD
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org; Phone: (414) 382-1726.
Michael Pickart, PhD
Email: email@example.com; Phone: (262) 243-5700.