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St. Cloud State mobile science laboratory hits the road
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CopyA laboratory on wheels hits the road this month to bring hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering and math to K-12 students at schools throughout central Minnesota. The laboratory launched by St. Cloud State University - the Science Express -begins a series of one-week visits to area schools with a Sept. 21-25 stay at Sauk Rapids Rice Middle School.
The public is invited to see the mobile lab during an open house at 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Sauk Rapids Rice Middle School.
The equipment and experiments offered by the mobile lab are designed to attract young people to careers in science, technology, engineering and math. With the mobile laboratory, local educators will be able to cover such topics as Lyme disease, oil spill remediation using oil-eating bacteria, DNA profiling, cardiac physiology and laser optics.
Science Express is intended to enhance the science curriculum of schools that don't have the equipment or infrastructure to provide such training. The trailer brings to each school a state-of-the-art laboratory, meeting space and a fully integrated audio/video system with VHS/DVD, wireless network, satellite Internet and two 42-inch plasma television screens.
Among the 10-12 schools the Science Express will visit during fall semester are Independence Elementary in Big Lake, Salk Middle School in Elk River and Yellow Medicine East High School in Granite Falls.
The project was given a $50,000 kick start with a donation from the Morgan Family Foundation, Yellow Springs, Ohio. A K-12 outreach grant of $200,000 from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Bioscience Initiative; participation by the Anoka-Ramsey, St. Cloud, Ridgewater and Minneapolis community and technical colleges; and private donations are supporting the effort. The semi trailer donated by Medtronic, Minneapolis-based global leader in medical technology, was retrofitted with the help of Innovative Laboratory Systems, Rockford, Minn., which provided laboratory casework; 3M, which provided the wrap material; and Everything Signs, Holdingford, Minn., which produced the attention-getting exterior graphics.
Copyright 2009 Tri-County News, Kimball, Minnesota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.
© 2009 Tri-County News Kimball, Minnesota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.
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