4-H biotech camp delves into DNA and GPS

From left, John, Asa and Tyler review their notes at 4-H Biotechnology Camp, held on the grounds of Townsend Hall and UD’s Newark Farm Aug. 8-12.

10:57 a.m., Aug. 16, 2005--It was the kind of muggy August morning that makes hair frizz and spirits wilt. But, Tyler, 14, was too excited to care about the weather as he gathered with fellow 4-H campers outside Townsend Hall on Aug. 8. The youngster wants to be a forensic scientist when he grows up, so he says he couldn’t wait to get to 4-H Biotechnology Camp.

“I watch CSI on TV and learn a lot from it,” Stevens said on the first morning of camp, “but I know I’ll learn even more this week.”

The brand-new camp is giving Stevens and 79 other area young people an opportunity to learn how biotechnology helps solve crimes, as well as its uses in other fields, including medicine and agriculture.

Like every 4-H camp, the Biotechnology Camp stresses hands-on learning. During the weeklong day camp, the students are using Global Positioning Systems (GPS), analyzing their own DNA and taking fingerprint samples.

The campers, who range in age from 9 to 14, also are observing biotechnology professionals at work, during tours of the Delaware Biotechnolgy Institute and the Allen Laboratory.

Special guest lectures were presented by Delaware medical examiner John Ingle and Newark police officer Tom Maiura. Erin Bernberg, a research associate at DBI, spoke about her role as a “virus hunter” in helping to identify the source of an avian influenza outbreak in Delaware last year.

There was even a crime to solve at Biotechnology Camp. At the opening morning session, campers learned that their mission was to find out who murdered the mythical Prof. Halftrack and stole his top-secret cloning formula. Cooperative Extension educator Mark Manno, who designed the camp curriculum, told the fantastic tale of Halftrack, who had numerous enemies with motives to do him in.

To solve the mystery, campers had to find two clues each day that were hidden on the grounds of Townsend Hall and UD’s Newark Farm. While detectives of old carried magnifying glasses and notebooks, these young crime-solvers would be armed with hand-held Global Positioning Systems. Working in teams, they would be given the coordinates of the hidden clues and then had to track them down.

At a GPS training session, 9-year-old camper Martin, quickly got the hang of how to use the hand-held device he shared with 13-year-old partner Taylor. “I want to be a doctor, so the science I’m learning here will help me,” he said, “and the camp is pretty fun, too.”

Manno developed the camp after learning about a 4-H biotech weekend workshop that was held in Illinois several years ago. He borrowed the murder mystery plot from that event and also adapted some educational material from Iowa State University’s 4-H, but the vast majority of the curriculum was original.

Interest in the camp was high. “As soon as enrollment opened, the Biotechnology Camp began to fill up,” Manno said. ”Due to its hands-on nature, we limited ourselves to 80 children, but we easily could have enrolled 160 or more.”

A grant from the Delaware Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Center made it possible for youngsters in 4-H after-school programs at such schools as Eastside Charter and Bayard in Wilmington to attend.

The fun and games of “solving a mystery” and using high-tech gadgets didn’t detract from serious, thoughtful discussions about the role of biotechnology in modern life. Lesa Griffiths, professor of animal nutrition as well as director of the Center for International Studies at UD, led a discussion on the ethics of biotechnology. Workshops also were held on ways to prepare for science courses in college and careers in biotechnology.

Of course, Tyler didn’t need the career talk. On that first morning of camp, he told fellow campers about the ways to analyze DNA: “We might do hair samples, but then again, we could be doing swabs of our cheeks,” he said.

Article by Margo McDonough
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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