This past summer, Oliverian Physical Sciences & Advanced Math Teacher Kate Lewis, went to “camp” at The University of New Hampshire. This was no ordinary camp, but rather a two-week intensive program called Tech for Teachers offered through the NH Creates program at the UNH College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. NH Creates endeavors to cultivate interest and expertise in regenerative medicine and biotechnology to help build a skilled workforce for this growing field throughout the Granite State.

Over the course of the two weeks, eight STEM teachers from across New Hampshire focused on Project Based Learning, meeting with renowned statewide researchers and professionals to learn about available resources on how to bring regenerative medicine projects in their classrooms. Each teacher developed his or her own project to be funded by the program. The group was even visited by Senator Jeanne Shaheen during their time, and is now part of a network of teachers they will learn and grow with throughout their careers.

Kate, now fully immersed in classes during these beginning weeks of third quarter, has brought her project back to Oliverian for the students to experience across all four of her classes. She is particularly excited about this project, as her graduate work was focused on regenerative medicine.

The project focuses around a solution for transporting cryopreserved (frozen) tissues. The Chemistry Class is designing and testing solutions to freeze tissues while minimizing cell damage. To quantify the cell damage, they will use two machines that were built by Oliverian’s Engineering Class in second quarter. The Physics Class will use their knowledge of heat transfer to design and manufacture a storage container for the cryopreserved tissue. Finally, the Calculus Class will support the Chemistry and Physics classes by analyzing the data they collect.

Careful to not leak it to the students, but the plan is to make liquid nitrogen ice cream with the kids to kick-off the project in third quarter and to tour the facilities in Manchester one day!