Lowell high school students are taking scientific learning to a new level by engaging in research supported by some of the area’s top institutions.
If the experiments going on in the laboratory of Lowell High School’s research class look like they could be happening in a true scientific context, that’s because they actually are. In one corner, a student feeds a tank of zebrafish that are being bed to test for fetal alcohol syndrome and ultraviolet radiation exposer – as in, skin cancer.
Another student works in the name of Parkinson’s disease. She peers through a microscope while using a heated glass pick to lift and transplant worms. Her job is to watch them poop.
These actions can affect research going on right now by way of a partnership with Van Andel Institute to study neurodegenerative disease. The school formed a partnership with MSU’s Grand Rapids Research Institute which allows students to attend and possibly present at undergraduate conferences.
You can see photos of the Lowell high school lab class in action at schoolnewsnetwork.org.