First-ever Open Science Quest supports next generation of scientists
18 high school students from across Seattle learned and experienced cutting-edge, hands-on science at the Allen Institute
Hands-on learning beyond the texbook
For two weeks in July, students from 11 high schools across Seattle made the Allen Institute their scientific home. They were part of the inaugural class of Open Science Quest, a two-week intensive offering education, training, and mentorship from the Institute’s Education and Engagement team and scientists.
Students like Nabay (video clip below) are considering a career in science and learned about cutting-edge research and laboratory techniques that help advance human health.
The curriculum focused on neuroscience, immunology, and cell biology. The hands-on experience featured the Allen Institute’s cutting-edge data, tools, and scientific resources.
“This isn’t something that they get to do in their regular science classes.”
The goal of Open Science Quest was to provide opportunities to learn about the principles of open science, emerging research topics, the types of jobs available in the field, and to gain career exposure.
Open Science Quest was offered in collaboration with Seattle Public Schools’ Career Connected Learning Office.
“It has just gone above and beyond. The students have been amazing and it’s great to see how focused they are and how much they just dive in and really want to take advantage of the access. No matter how great your lab is at school, it can never be as up-to-date as a working lab.”
— Karina Luboff, CTE Internships and Career Connected Learning Coordinator, Seattle Public Schools
The course offered career and technical education credits that counted for high school graduation and helped prepare students for the realities of working and succeeding as a scientist. They learned about neuroanatomy through a brain dissection and analyzing original microscope slides from the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas, investigated flu vaccine data from the Institute’s immunology team, discussed the ethical implications of CRISPR gene editing, and ran polymerase chain reactions (PCR) with DNA samples from a cell line in the Allen Cell Collection.
The final day was a showcase of work and celebration of learning as each student presented a scientific poster on a technique or concept they learned throughout the ten days.
Produced by
Peter Kim / Allen Institute
Liz Dueweke / Allen Institute
Jenny Burns / Allen Institute
Erik Dinnel / Allen Institute