On November 20, Mrs. Bree Mireau’s Science 10 Honours class went on a field trip to SFU to observe biology in action. They toured the Science & Technology building and were given the chance to perform lab experiments and ask questions about (eventually) life in university, and biology.
Immediately upon arriving, the students began their day at SFU with an earthworm dissection. The purpose of the lab experiment was to educate students on how to search for abnormalities within a cell, and how to properly use a microscope.
Mireau’s students recently started a project where the end product will be a video that supports whichever cause or issue the student wants, such as the plight of bees. This field trip holds relevance to the project because it allows students to narrow down any possibilities of directions they might want to take with the video, and to think about potential careers in the Sciences.
There is a lot of freedom to be creative with this particular project, which is part of what makes it so interesting. The completed video must incorporate concepts learned in the Biology unit, as this project will cover a portion of the overall mark. The only restriction is that whatever issue or cause that is chosen must relate to Port Coquitlam because of the possibility that the video might impact something in our community. Two GoPro cameras and ten Microsoft Surface laptops were ordered for the sole purpose of filming and editing the videos.
After the experiment, the group met with different faculty members and biology students for a chance to ask questions about anything they wanted to know about, whether it be about university life or what it takes to earn a Biology degree. One faculty member described having a Biology degree when looking for a career as a ‘vanilla cake,’ seeing as how there are endless possibilities for ‘decorating’ it (qualifications for a career) and customizing the cake to an individuals needs (having an actual career.)
“I thought that it was very informative,” said Mireau. “The trip was a great example of how biology can be used in different careers.”
To finish off the day, the students were guided through three completely different labs in order to see and understand what goes on . The labs each had their own direction: the life of bees, neurobiology, and shark conservation. All in all, it was a productive, enlightening day.
