The Genographic Project EdNet website: www.ngsednet.org/community/index.cfm?community_id=278Posted by Jeremy at IBM.
One of the great aspects about a project as visible as the Genographic Project is that it moves beyond genetic experts to foster conversations with people of different ages and interests. Students, in particular have been very keen on Genographic, and school districts around the world are being very creative in how they use the Genographic Project to teach students about science, history, language, and even music. Read story here.
On January 8th, 2009 I spent the morning with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for Nassau County, New York. Over 70 (!) educators showed up to this special session to learn about the Genographic Project and to brainstorm about how they might incorporate it into their curriculum. Most were high school science teachers, though some taught global history or social studies. There were some middle school teachers there, as well.
After talking about Genographic, we had the privilege to hear from Dr. Jermel Watkins, who works at the Dolan DNA Learning Center (http://www.dnalc.org/home.html) on Long Island. Talking to him, and to the teachers, left me thinking three things:
1) It reinforced what I continue to tell people who want to introduce the Genographic Project into the classroom. There is an enormous opportunity to use the project as a cross-disciplinary educational tool. As one school administrator told me, "If we do this right, the Genographic Project could be taught in every high school in our area." There are obvious links to a biology curriculum, as a teacher could use the scientific underpinnings of Genographic to teach cell biology, and DNA. Anthropology teachers can draw upon Genographic to teach the out of Africa theory, and shed light on our earliest ancestors. Social Studies Teachers can use Genographic to teach about history and culture. The list goes on and on.
2) The best ideas come from the teachers themselves. This is why the Genographic Project created a forum for teachers to share ideas and successes on the NGS EdNet site. On this site you can find permission slips (for parental or guardian consent for students who participate under the age of 18), lesson plans that can be downloaded at no cost, and, of course, a forum to share what works and what doesn't.
3) Organizations like the Dolan DNA Learning Center, because of their passion and because of their access to teachers and students, are inspiring a new generation of scientists. The Dolan DNA Learning Center is doing some very innovative things to help students learn about DNA. For example, a class can participate by sending in DNA and having their mtDNA sequenced. Although it does not offer information about deep ancestry and migration, by doing so, students can learn about the properties of DNA, techniques used to sequence DNA, and students can even compare their mtDNA to other classes in other countries. These activities provide a fantastic background for the Genographic Project by helping students understand the science driving DNA analysis. The Genographic Project lesson plans can then be used to apply this knowledge of DNA specifically to understanding our deep ancestry.
If you're an educator, parent, or student, check out the educational resources that we've put together on our EdNet site!
Best,
Jeremy Dies
IBM
