Page 13 - Armed Forces Directory - Aberdeen Proving Ground

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD

equipment and real-world research techniques. The program drew significant
interest, with organizers selecting participants from 25 applications submitted
nationwide.

“This is the most ‘science-y’ science camp I’ve ever seen for junior high kids
in terms of the in-depth science and exposure to science with real scientists,”
said Sarah McDowell, an assistant professor of secondary education at Maryville
College, Tennessee, who served as a resource teacher for the camp. “This has
been an amazing experience.”

The campers spent five days learning about public health entomology through
activities including mosquito surveillance, tick collection, microscopy work, and
even polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, laboratory techniques typically used by
professional researchers--exposure that would be impossible in most traditional
classroom settings. According to the National Institutes of Health, PCR is a fast
and inexpensive technique used to “amplify”—copy—small segments of DNA.
Because significant amounts of a sample of DNA are necessary for molecular
and genetic analyses, studies of isolated pieces of DNA are nearly impossible
without PCR amplification.

Program support and lasting impact

The program was supported through the Army Educational Outreach Program’s
Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science, which provided insurance
coverage, funding for supplies including lab coats and notebooks, and $125
stipends for each camper to offset transportation and meal costs. DCPH-A
used AOEP GEMS grant money to purchase some of the specialized materials
including the permethrin-treated protective coveralls used during field collection
work. Clothing treated with the insecticide permethrin protects the wearer from
mosquitoes, ticks, and other pesky biting arthropods.

For educators like McDowell, who discovered the program through the National
Science Teacher Association, Bug Camp represented an invaluable opportunity
for students to see science careers up close.

“Students don’t typically have this type of access,” she said. “Here, students
see it as a normal occupation because they are working with seven or eight

A11