The Northeast News & Tribune
Finding The Right Chemistry
Students at Terrace Community Middle mix fun with science knowledge.
Tampa Tribune photo by JAY CONNER
Carson Marple, seated, and Mauricio Bermudez, both 13, use their guitar-shaped game controller to play “Guitar Hero III” at the event.
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Published: April 11, 2008
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THONOTOSASSA - For more than 10 years, the school was among some of the latest examples in technological innovation.
Terrace Community Middle School, previously housed at the Museum of Science & Industry, has since moved into its own facility off Fowler Avenue, but its foundation in science and technology remains solid.
Last week, the charter school for sixth- through eighth-graders held its Science & Technology Symposium.
Experts in various fields put on demonstrations, showed videos or gave short, informal talks about their careers. This year, guests included Joel Turner, a research scientist at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; Patrick Daley, a Tampa police officer who recently returned from Iraq with the Army Reserve; and Gina Ricard, director of clinical education at Hillsborough Community College.
"This would be the kind of ventilator you would use in your home, for adults," said Stephanie Carr, a respiratory care student from the Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough Community College, who had 10 pupils around her. "This is how you test them to make sure they're working correctly. These are portable and can be used in emergencies."
Symposium coordinator Odalis Pena, who teaches at the school, said that each year a symposium is based on a book the students are required to read. This year, it was David Dutcher's "Feebie Braniac and the Lysis Virus," a story about a group of six gifted children who save humanity from a deadly virus.
Turner said he hoped to get the students interested in the study of diseases and their control. Turner and Terrace Community eighth-grade science teachers Ted Steinmetz and Anna Clarke set up a "glow germ activity" display, giving students a way to see how a virus — such as the one in "Feebie" — rapidly spreads. Using hand sanitizer as a stand-in, they simulated how a virus spreads through touch, observing objects and one another under a backlight.
"I try to impress upon them that infectious diseases are produced everywhere," Turner said. "I want the kids to learn a little civic responsibility and maybe, someday, help third-world countries where diseases like influenza and malaria kill millions."
Next to Turner, Ricard and HCC respiratory care students Brenda Amsler and Marta Tyler taught seventh-graders about breathing problems and treatments. They brought along equipment, including a ventilator, nebulizer and endo-tracheal tubes, to demonstrate.
As she helped a student measure his lung capacity, Ricard said it was perfect.
"The kids get to learn something new. For our [HCC] students, they get to share what they've learned, so this is a twofold experience that's good for everyone," she said.
The day ended in the gymnasium, where students played interactive video games and watched DVDs pertaining to technological studies.
Eighth-grader Juliana Richards said she learned a lot during the day and found the presentation on diseases especially interesting.
"It's good we have this symposium because we get to expand on a lot of things we've read about in class," she said.
Next year, the symposium will focus on musical and visual arts, Pena said.
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