BPHS Students Visit to Encourage Participation in Science Fair

Memorial welcomed a visit from Bethel Park High School students Roma Amin, Rachel Marini and Brian Walsh, who visited classrooms to encourage participation in the upcoming Science Fair.  The high school students prepared a science lesson that dealt with a favorite topic of elementary students--pizza!  The Memorial students had a chance to talk about the ingredients in pizza and focused on one particular ingredient--yeast.  The students learned what yeast does and how it impacts pizza dough.  The Memorial students learned about the five steps of the Scientific Method and by the end of the lesson, they had some exciting ideas for their own science experiments.  The project was coordinated by Roma Amin, who was one of 10 area students selected to participate in the Gene Team Program last summer at the University of Pittsburgh.  As part of her participation on the Gene Team, Roma designed this presentation for the Memorial students to get them excited about science.  In addition, the classroom with the most participation in the Science Fair will get the use of a Scope on a Rope for a month from Pitt's Department of Biological Sciences--thanks to Alison Slinskey Legg, the Director of Outreach Programs.  The University of Pittsburgh Gene Team is sponsored by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant from the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the National Institutes of Health.  Thanks to Roma, Rachel, Brian, Dr. Slinskey Legg and the Gene Team for making science so fun!

Here's a ball of pizza dough without yeast.

BPHS students explain that there are living organisms in yeast that make important changes to pizza dough when water is added.

BPHS students mix some pizza dough for the Memorial students.