As Gustavus Adolphus College prepares to host this year’s Nobel Conference, several hundred high school students around the state of Minnesota have been preparing to attend the conference. A new year-long outreach program aimed at improving high school science curriculum and familiarizing students with the topics that will be discussed at the Nobel Conference has been implemented at numerous schools around the state.
Mankato Free Press reporter Dan Linehan writes about the outreach program in more detail:
The Nobel Conference has a long history of engagement with high school students, but never before have the budding scientists dyed their tongues blue to prepare for the panel of academic all-stars.
A dozen schools around the state are doing this little experiment and more to get familiar with some of the concepts to be discussed at Gustavus Adolphus College’s conference.
The idea, as executed in Mankato West High School on Wednesday afternoon, is to suck on a Jolly Rancher candy until your tongue turns blue. That way, pinkish bumps on your tongue called fungiform papillae stand out in contrast on the blue background.
One of the researchers at the Nobel Conference, Linda Bartoshuk, is known for her work into so-called “supertasters,” and the number of these bumps corresponds to a person’s taste sensitivity.
Nineteen teachers in 12 schools statewide are participating in the first year of a project to familiarize students and teachers with the speakers and concepts of the conference. About 360 students from the program are attending during the first day, with 280 coming to the second day.
The college will be paying for the students’ tickets, transportation and, when necessary, substitute teachers.
Overall, about 1,700 high school students attend each Nobel Conference.
During the second day, the students will get to speak with Finland’s Director General for international affairs in the ministry of agriculture and forestry.
In 2008, Gustavus received a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Part of the grant focuses on outreach to high school science education.
Bob Weisenfeld, assistant vice president for corporate and foundation relations at Gustavus, manages the program and organized a group of teachers to write curriculum during summer trips to the college.
This week, many students got their first taste (literally) of some of that work.
Mankato West physics teacher Eric Koser, who led his class through the blue-tongue exercise, pulls aside a pair of Nobel veterans to talk to a reporter. Seniors Erica Brunson and Jai Kumar attended the conference last year.
A highlight for Brunson was when she got her picture taken with Rajenda Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“I’m really interested about global interlinks, getting that bigger perspective,” said Brunson, who would like to be a mechanical or aeronautical engineer.
She likes the prep study.
“That way, we can get more to sink into our brains,” she said.
Kumar agreed the background information helps one think deeper about a conference rather than just learning the basics for the first time as you listen.
They also have some different experiences with food.
Brunson has an allergy to gluten, and finds the grains that trigger it in the weirdest places. Even some frosting has the plant protein.
Kumar comes from a Hindu background, and doesn’t eat beef or pork. He sometimes has to be vigilant, as well, considering even gelatin can have beef products.
This story was reprinted from the Saturday, Oct. 2 edition of the Mankato Free Press.
Click here to view the lesson plans that were developed specifically for the 2010 Nobel Conference.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510