DIMACS Conference on Linking Mathematics and Biology in the High Schools

April 29 - 30, 2005
DIMACS Center, CoRE Building, Rutgers University

Organizers:
Fred Roberts, DIMACS, froberts@dimacs.rutgers.edu
Midge Cozzens, Colorado Institute of Technology, mcozzens@coloradoit.org

Workshop Program:

This is a preliminary program.


Friday, April 29, 2005

 7:30 -  8:15  Registration, 1st Floor Lobby
               Continental Breakfast, DIMACS Lounge, Room 401

 8:15 -  8:35  Introductory Remarks

               Philip Furmanski, Executive VP for Academic Affairs, Rutgers
               Jean Vanski, Deputy Director, Division of Elementary, Secondary, 
                    and Informal Education, National Science Foundation
               Margaret Cozzens, Conference Co-Chair and President of
                    Colorado Institute of Technology
               Fred Roberts, Conference Co-Chair and Director of DIMACS

 8:35 -  9:15  The Interdisciplinary Scientist of the 21st Century
               Keynoter - Eric Jakobsson, Ph.D.
               Director, NIGMS Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
                    at NIH, and Chair, NIH Biomedical Information Science and
                    Technology Initiative Consortium

               Session a Topics in Mathematics and Computer Science that Could
               be Included in High School Biological Sciences Courses and Topics
               in Biology that Could be Included in High School Mathematical
               Sciences Courses:

 9:15 - 10:15  Session a1 Plenary Session

               Learning Science/Mathematics by Doing Science/Mathematics:
               Genuine Research Projects for High School Students
               William Sofer, Genetics, Rutgers University

               Biomathematics: Using Graph Models for High School
               L. Charles Biehl, Math teacher and administrator, Charter School
                    of Wilmington, DE

10:15 - 10:30  Break

10:30 - 11:30  Keynote Lecture cont.

11:30 - 12:30  Sessions a2.1 and a2.2 Concurrent Sessions for Bio and 
               for Math Teachers

               Bio Session: CoRE A, Room 301, 3rd Floor
 
               Probability and Betweenness of Points: The Genetic Ruler
               Kevin DeVizia, Math Teacher, and Mark Nebzydoski, Delaware Valley
                    High School, Milford, PA

               Math!? Why Do I Need That? The Biology Student's Dilemma
               with a Problem-based Solution
               Tom Fleetwood, Charter School of Wilmingon, DE

               Math Session: Seminar Room, Room 431, 4th Floor

               Waiting Time and Seed Selection for Homology Search
               Gary Benson, Bioinformatics and Biology, Boston University

               Co-Evolution
               Robert Hochberg, Computer Science, East Carolina University
 
12:35 -  1:30  Lunch

               Session b Materials: Availability and Development

 1:30 -  2:30  Session b1 Plenary Session

               Using Bioinformatics to Make the Bio-Math Connection
               Kathleen Gabric, Biology Teacher, Hinsdale Central High School, 
               Hinsdale, IL

               Mathematics in Service to Biology and Vice Versa
               Sol Garfunkel, COMAP 
 
               Session b Materials: Availability and Development, continued
 
 2:30 -  3:30  Sessions b2.1 and b2.2 Concurrent Sessions for Bio and Math Teachers

               Bio Session: CoRE A, Room 301, 3rd Floor

               Publishing Bioinformatics in a Well Established Biology Program  
               Linda Lundgren, Glencoe McGraw Hill

               Interactive Modeling Environments: Sources and Resources for
               Quantitative Reasoning in Biology
               Robert Panoff, Shodor Education Foundation

               Math Session: Seminar Room, Room 431, 4th Floor

               Games, Metaphor, and Learning
               Mjumbe Poe, Computer Science, Harvey Mudd 

               Teaching Mathematical Biology in High School
               Joseph Malkevich, CUNY

 3:35 -  5:05  Session c Teacher Training

               The Role of Teacher Training in Overcoming the Inertia of the Status Quo
               Bro. Pat Carney, Math teacher, De Paul Catholic High School,
                    Wayne, NJ 

               Changing the Culture: Professional Development for the 21st Century Teacher
               Valerie DeBellis, Shodor Education Foundation 

               Cross-Disciplinary High School Teacher Professional Development
               Linda Morris, Jefferson County, Colorado School District

 5:05 -  5:20  Break
 
 5:20 -  6:20  Discussion Groups: Where to Go from Here?
               List of Topics and Facilitators:

               Topic 1: Bringing Cutting Edge Math-Bio into Urban Schools
               Moderator: Jerry Goldin, Rutgers University

               Topic 2: How does Technology Play a Role in the Bio-Math Interface?
               Moderator: Kathy Shay, Middlesex County College 

               Topic 3: What Role Does a Research Experience Play in the
                        Bio-Math Interface?
               Moderator: Jean Vanski, NSF

               Topic 4: Implementing BIO2010: Practical Strategies
               Moderator: Eric Marland, Mathematical Sciences, Appalachian
                          State University

               Topic 5: Mathematical Manipulative Models: Kinesthetic Learning
                        in Mathematical Biology
               Moderator: John Jungck, Biology, Beloit College

 6:20 -  7:00  Posters and Demonstrations: Simultaneous with Wine and Cheese Reception

               Demonstrations

               Building DNA models with K'NEX
               Gary Benson, Bioinformatics and Biology, Boston University

               BLAST Your Way into Bioinformatics using Biology Student Workbench
               Kathleen Gabric, Biology Teacher, Hinsdale Central High School, 
                    Hinsdale, IL

               Posters

               Science Informatics at Montclair State University
               Katherine G. Herbert and James H. Dyer, Montclair State University

               Reaching the Community with Mathematical Biology
               Olgamary Rivera-Marrero and Brandilyn Stigler, Virginia Tech


Saturday, April 30, 2005 

 7:45 -  8:00  Registration, 1st Floor Lobby
               Continental Breakfast, DIMACS Lounge, Room 401
 
 8:00 -  9:00  Session d The DIMACS Bio-Math Connect Institute  
               Organizer: Rochelle Leibowitz, Wheaton College

               An overview of the DIMACS program and three presentations by 
               high school teacher participants to describe how they brought 
               the bio-math interface into their classrooms.

               8:00 - 8:15 Overview, Rochelle Leibowitz, Wheaton College
              
               8:15 - 8:30 Reverso: The Exciting Game of Genetic Inversion.
                           A Reflection on Teaching a Biomathematics Unit
                           to High School Students
                           Kathy Erickson, High School Teacher, Monument Mountain
                              Regional High School, Great Barrington, MA

               8:30 - 8:45 Applications Several Dynamic Programming Techniques
                              Lou Giglio, High School Teacher, Riverdell Regional
                              High School, Oradell, NJ

               8:45 - 9:00 Researching the Superstring Problem
                           Charles Mullins, High School Teacher, Arkansas School
                              for Math, Sciences and Arts, Hot Springs, AR

 9:00 -  9:30  Keynote Lecture for Student Session

               Randomly Dealing with Biological Strings by Embeddings
               S. Muthukrishnan, Computer Science, Rutgers University

 9:30 -  9:45  Break
 
 9:45 - 11:15  Contributed Papers Session III: High School Student 
               Presentations

               9:45 - 10:03 Algorithms for Genetic Inversions
                            Jess Platt and Riley Baldwin, Monument Mountain Regional
                               High School, Great Barrington, MA
                            Under the direction of Kathy Erickson, Monument Mountain
                               Regional High School, BMCI 2004 Participant

               10:03 - 10:21 Comparison of the Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I Gene
                             in Soldier and Non-soldier Aphids
                             Christina Sartorio, Seton Catholic High School, Pittston,
                                PA and Zachary Brady, Wyoming Area High School
                             Under the direction of Jim Kupetz, Seton Catholic High
                                School, BMCI 2004 Participant

               10:21 - 10:39 Effectiveness of the Greedy Algorithm in DNA Sequencing
                             Johnson C. Wong, Arkansas School for Math, Sciences
                                and Arts, Hot Springs, AR
                             Under the direction of Charles Mullins, Arkansas School
                                for Math, Sciences and Arts, BMCI 2004 Participant

               10:39 - 10:57 Applying Abstract Algebra and Graph Theory to Model Flu
                             Seasons
                             Ben Hughes, Galileo Magnet High School
                             Under the direction of Olgamary Rivera-Marrero, Virginia Tech

               Session e What is Happening at the Undergraduate Level 
               that Could be Adapted to the High School Level? What Changes in the 
               Undergraduate Curriculum Have Implications for High School Education 
               in Bio-Math?

11:20 - 12:20  Session e1 Plenary Session

               A Biology and Engineering Cooperative Project
               James Stevens, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

               Developing the new Biomedical Mathematics Major at Florida
               State University
               DeWitt Sumners, Math and Molecular Biophysics, Florida State
 
12:20 -  1:15  Lunch
 
               Session e What is Happening at the Undergraduate Level that Could
               be Adapted to the High School Level? What Changes in the Undergraduate
               Curriculum Have Implications for High School Education in Bio-Math?,
               continued
 
 1:15 -  2:15  Sessions e2.1 and e2.2 Concurrent Sessions for Bio and  Math Teachers

               Bio Session: CoRE A, Room 301, 3rd Floor

               Quantitative Courses and Training in Mathematical Biology,
               particularly ecology
               Alan Hastings, UC Davis

               Valuing Voronoi Visualization: Patterns in Nature for Art, Biology,
               and Mathematics
               John Jungck, Biology, Beloit College

               Math Session: Seminar Room, Room 431, 4th Floor

               Bioinformatics? One Minute and One Hour at a Time
               Laurie Heyer, Mathematics, Davidson College

               Bridge Courses for Cross-Training between Biology, Computer Science,
               and Mathematics
               Steve Billups, Center for Computational Biology, University of Colorado

               Contributed Papers Session, Conference Room, Room 433, 4th Floor

               An Angiogenesis Model using Graph Theory and the
               Generalized Ballot Problem
               Mike Gargano, Pace University (with Lorraine Lurie,
                  Lou Quintas, Eric Wahl)

               Dynamic Web Tools for Biomathematics: Bringing
               Realistic Models to Secondary Education
               Michael Martin, Johnson County Community College and
                  University of Kansas

 2:20 -  3:20  Panel 1: Assisting Teachers who Want to Get Involved

               Panel Themes:  Math Teachers who Have Never Experienced
               Interdisciplinary Points of View; Bio Teachers Uncomfortable
               with Math; Ways that Bio and Math Teachers can Partner
               Moderator: Deborah Cook, NJ Math Science Partnership

               Partial List of Participants: 
               
               Nkechi Agwu, CUNY
               Jerry Goldin, Rutgers University
               Consuelo Rogers, NSTA District XVI Director
              
 3:20 -  3:35  Break
 
 3:35 -  4:05  Closing Session: Discussion Groups Present 
               Recommendations followed by Discussion 

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Document last modified on May 2, 2005.