SCienceLab introduces research to pre-college students In a
University of South Carolina laboratory, researchers in white
lab coats carefully transfer tiny drops of liquid so they can
study their own DNA. Nearby, fellow researchers study genetic
disorders, polymer molecules and environmental contaminants.
Such studies are routine experiences for undergraduate and
graduate students, but these experiments are being conducted by
middle- and high-school students, many of whom have never been
on a college campus before. The lab experience is part of
SCienceLab, an inquiry-based program designed to augment the
science curriculum in middle and high schools and give students
a laboratory experience similar to one they would find at
college. Created by biology professor Dr. Bert Ely, SCienceLab
recently received a $536,000 grant from the National Institutes
of Health. The NIH award, one of only 17 Science Education
Partnership Award (SEPA) projects in the United States, puts the
university in the company of other pres