Project CRYSTAL

Year 3 students

Melissa

I am 12 years old and I love math and science. I was in Science Olympiad and Math Olympiad last year and hope to do it this year, too. Besides school, I also love music, especially pop and rock. I do band at my school as a percussionist, but I also can play on the drum set. It's going to be awesome being in Project CRYSTAL. I can't wait!

 

Gwen

I love music and play the violin and the oboe. I also like dogs and like to play with my chocolate labrador, Spock. My favorite subjects at school are science, math, and language arts.

 

 

 

Malaika

I am 12 years old. I play competitive soccer and I like to swim and dive and play volleyball. I love math and science. I also like to paint, draw, and work with glass fusing. I am super excited for this experience.

 

 

 

Sarah

I am 12 years old and I love science. I am very excited for Project CRYSTAL. I have 2 cats, 2 salamanders and 15 hamsters. I also have 2 sisters and 1 brother. In my spare time I read, do sports, and hang out with my family.

 

 

Mentors

Rachel Kubiak

I'm a fourth year biochemistry graduate student in Hazel Holden's lab and study the biosynthesis of unusual sugars that are found on antibiotics and antitumor agents. I'm a Michigan native and have spent most of my life dancing. I still take ballet classes in Madison and have recently started running. If I'm not in lab, in the dance studio, or hitting the pavement, you'll find me buried in a good book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becky Phillips

I'm a biochemistry graduate student in Ivan Rayment's lab and work on solving the structure of proteins from the centriole.  I'm originally from Washington State, but love living in Wisconsin.  When I'm not in lab, I really enjoy running and completed my first half-marathon this year!  I'm also an avid knitter and crocheter, it's one of my favorite ways to relax.

Matthew Zmudka

I am a biochemistry graduate student in Hazel Holden's lab studying enzymes involved in self-resistance in bacteria. I grew up and attended college in Iowa, so I'm no stranger to Wisconsin winters! Outside of lab, I enjoy making and listening to music - I play piano and sing - as well as exploring Madison and its surroundings on my bicycle.

 

 

 

History

Project CRYSTAL (Crystallographers Researching with Young Scientists: Teaching And Learning) started in Professor Hazel Holden's laboratory (University of Wisconsin -Madison) in 2009. Professor Holden was instrumental in crafting a program that gives middle school students the chance to work on graduate level research in a state-of-the-art laboratory.


During the school year, selected students from the seventh and eighth grades intern with one of two graduate students, Rachel Kubiak or Becky Phillips, in the laboratory. Research in the Holden group focuses on the three-dimensional structures of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of unusual sugars attached to antibiotics and anticancer drugs. Techniques utilized in the laboratory include:

  • X-ray crystallography
  • site-directed mutagenesis
  • enzymatic synthesis of appropriate nucleotide-linked sugar ligands
  • kinetic analyses

One day a week, each of the middle school students spends approximately three hours in the laboratory learning about their projects and helping with the research. The projects are ideally suited for instilling in middle school students the excitement of chemistry through biochemistry because they have and will continue to reveal unprecedented chemistries and to provide fundamental contributions for the design of new antibiotics and anti-cancer therapeutics. At the end of the program, participants will have obtained valuable tools for furthering their science education.

Project CRYSTAL is beginning its third year, and we are excited about its future. It is our hope that other laboratories will also reach out to the next generation of future scientists so that more students can experience the wonder of research.

Mission

Project CRYSTAL's mission statement is twofold:

  1. to provide hands-on laboratory experience in an active, state-of-the-art research laboratory thus fostering interest in a future career in the field of science
  2. to instill a love for chemistry in middle school students by studying the inner workings of nutrition, thereby leading to healthy life choices.

Rationale

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18% of 12-19 year olds are obese. This is especially significant given the myriad of social and medical problems associated with obesity, including heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, over 75% of adolescents in the United States do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Clearly the messages about healthy diets are largely being ignored to the detriment of our society. In addition to this lack of interest in maintaining a healthy life style, there is also a decided apathy towards science. Indeed, in a recent speech by Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academies of Sciences, entitled “How Healthy is Science in the United States?” Mr. Cicerone commented:

Sadly, our nation has fallen behind in work on scientific discovery in some fields, and the education of scientists at every level - from the youngest school children our most advanced postdoctoral students - must be strengthened.

One cannot help but notice that the health of our children and the state of science in  general is impaired. We are interested in making a difference in addressing these two issues facing our nation by educating children about science and nutrition both in and out of the classroom.

Modules

The curriculum aspect of Project CRYSTAL is based around three modules written specifically for middle school students to help them relate chemistry to nutrition.

The Chemistry of Sugars focuses on the concepts of matter, electrons, neutrons, protons, atoms, molecules, and chemical bonding  are introduced. The module centers on the main ideas associated with sugar chemistry and how sugars are the major building blocks for starch, glycogen, and polysaccharides of medical relevance. This module is especially relevant given that sugars represent 50% of the biomass of the Earth. At the end of this module, students will know the differences between mono-, di-, and polysaccharides and how they relate to everyday life.

The Chemistry of Fats focuses on the main ideas associated with fats. At the end of the module, students will understand the differences between such commonly used terms as trans fats, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, anabolic steroids, and cholesterol.

The Chemistry of Proteins, focuses on amino acids, peptide bonds, and the three-dimensional structures of proteins. Students will learn to download protein coordinates from the Protein Data Bank and to use specialized graphics programs to display individual proteins. The concepts of enzymes are taught in context of molecular diseases such as galactosemia and phenylketonuria (PKU). By the end of this module, students will understand the importance of essential amino acids, dietary needs, and the differences between a protein and an enzyme. By studying the chemistries of sugars, fats, and proteins, students ultimately will be able to make informed choices on which foods they eat by applying scientific reasoning.

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