By Donna Barr For Peninsula Daily News
NEAH BAY — The Science Adventure Lab came to Neah Bay on Friday and the scientists were driving.
Mark Ruffo, who holds a doctrate in neurobiology, was at the wheel of the 45-foot laboratory-equipped van covered with colorful depictions of cells, chromosomes and microscopic life forms.
The lab team braved the weaving curves of state Highway 112 to drive from Seattle Children’s Hospital to the small community at the farthest end of the North Olympic Peninsula.
In addition to Ruffo, the lab manager, the lab team included the program director, Amanda Jones, who holds a doctrate in microbiology; and Marcus Eby, a molecular biologist, as well as Angela Segarra, program coordinator for diversity and health equity.
Operating the lab is their full-time employment.
Seattle Children’s launched the Science Adventure Lab in 2009, creating the first mobile science lab program directly linked to a children’s hospital and the first mobile lab in the Pacific Northwest.
Neah Bay middle school classes had been provided with preliminary instruction to prepare them for the science labs.
Before entering the lab, students were issued white plastic aprons, each decorated with a drawing of a skeletal torso.
Once inside, they donned safety glasses and rubber gloves before commencing into the lab module.
The brightly-colored lab contains array of equipment — including microscopes, centrifuges and pipettes — and can accommodate 28 children at one time.
Jones told the class, “When you’re a scientist you get to use cool stuff like this all the time — and even cooler stuff. And you get paid for it. Right?” she said to Eby.
“I get the big bucks,” he said, grinning.
“Everybody can be a scientist,” said Russo between classes, clarifying that the term “scientist” is a non-specific term for anyone researching the nuts-and-bolts of natural systems.
During the class, Jones asked the students what they planned to be. One student said he wanted to be a physical therapist. She said this required a scientific understanding of the bones, nerves and muscles.
Another student wanted to play basketball; this would require a knowledge of trajectories.
One student said she wanted to be a chocolatier; Jones pointed out that all cooking is about physics and chemistry.
One said he wanted to work with fireworks.
“That’s totally science,” Jones said.
Of four possible class modules, the one taught at Neah Bay was “Where Is Your DNA?”
Other modules taught in the traveling lab are “Seeking the Sugar Solution: Chemistry Curriculum,” “Stop the Outbreak! Solve a Mystery Using DNA Fingerprinting,” and “Catch Your Breath! Exploring Respiratory Function and Asthma.”
Examined DNA
The Neah Bay students learned to isolate and examine DNA from their own cheek cells. The class introduced basic concepts of genetics, DNA and chromosomes.
Resembling the spitting scene in Titanic, all the students worked up a good supply of saliva to eject into paper cups for DNA study.
“Ooh, gross!” came the cry from around the lab.
“You mean cool and fascinating!” Jones said. The students grinned and agreed.
Eby said that some of the lab is handled by the team rather than students, as a matter of precision and time management. There are no toxins on board the labs.
“It’s kid-friendly,” Eby said.
On Thursday night, the lab team members attended a potluck with 72 members of the Neah Bay community.
The Adventure Lab brought educational science — free of charge to schools, teachers and parents — to 5,000 students in the state public school system in 2009.
Its science programs were created to add to existing science curricula for students in fourth-through-eighth grades, in accordance with national and state science standards.
The Adventure Lab tours Washington State’s most remote communities, targeting “underserved schools.” Its lessons complement the state’s science curriculum.
Russo said driving the big van along country roads and highways is quite a challenge.
Truck-driving training
Before they could do so legally, he and Eby took truck-driving training at Seattle’s Western Pacific school.
Other communities they have or will visit this school year include Northport, Everett and towns in southeastern Washington state.
Visits scheduled by Adventure Lab staff are requested by school districts, principals and school districts in communities of all sizes across the state.
Sponsors of the Science Adventure Lab include Purchase A Miracle, Seattle’s Carter Subaru (which donated a companion Subaru Forester), as well as a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
For more information, a calendar of initial confirmed visits for schools, cities and towns, full curriculum descriptions, program details and instructor biographies, see www. seattlechildrens.org/adventurelab.
To learn more, write the lab at adventurelab@seattlechildrens.org.
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Donna Barr is a freelance writer and photographer living in Clallam Bay.