Today, the Gateway biology classes traveled to Cambridge on a joint visit to the MIT Museum and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. This field trip was packed with hands-on activities related to genetics.
At the MIT Museum, the students explored protein synthesis using both LEGO manipulatives and computer simulations.
At the Broad Institute, the students engaged in a DNA fingerprinting (genotyping) laboratory activity, using the technique of gel electrophoresis.
In May of this year, the O'Bryant Bio Scholars Club will be heading back to the Broad Institute for more lab activities, so stay tuned for more updates on the laboratory adventures of the Gateway students!
Thank you to Kathy Vandiver, Jon Bijur, and Megan Rokop for helping organize such a fantastic field trip for the Gateway students! We look forward to repeating this experience with next year's class!
Trip to MIT Museum and the Broad Institute!
Gateway Term 3 Honors
Congratulations to the following honorees at this week's Gateway Term 3 Honors Assembly:
Amazing Aces (highest course grades):
Pierline Durand (Biology), Annie Moy (Geometry), Christelle Salomon (ELA and History)
Busy Beavers (highest homework grades—4 core courses):
May Bumar, Salma El-Behaedi, Julia Li, Annie Moy, Christina Perry, Claribel Rosa, Wadea Sakhta, Brendon Tan, Tai Tang, Tiffany Wu
Courageous Climbers (greatest course improvements):
Anthony Antonelli (Geometry), Renee Baxter (Biology and ELA), Kevin Herman (History)
Students Who Made a Splash (“Golden Duckies”):
Alex Brown, Delroy Demontegnac, Christina Perry, Lydia Price
Cum Laude (3.00—3.49 GPA)
Vicmarys Brito, Pierline Durand, Kanjo Kamara, Julia Li, Angellica Meng, Wadea Sakhta, Brendon Tan, Tiffany Wu
Magna Cum Laude (3.50–3.89)
Salma El-Behaedi, Annie Moy, Claribel Rosa, Christelle Salomon
Congratulations to these students on your excellent work this past term, and thank you to all of the family members, classmates and teachers whose support helped make these successes possible!
Happy Pi Day at the O'B!
Today, March 14 (3.14), mathematicians around the world celebrated Pi Day, in honor of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. All of the math teachers at the O'Bryant sported Pi T-shirts and planned special classroom activities in honor of the occasion.
Along with many other O'Bryant math classes, the Gateway Geometry classrooms held pi recitation contests to celebrate Pi Day, with the first-place winners in each class winning pi(es) - although I believe Mr. Figueroa gave out cakes instead!
In the first-period class, Vicmarys Brito took first place by reciting 48 digits correctly, using the "paired numbers" memorization strategy. Here's a link to Vicmarys' winning recitation.
In Period 2, the early recitations were far off Vicmarys' mark, until the students were told her winning number. It then became a point of class pride to top Vicmarys. Justin Weathers carried the day for Mrs. Shields' homeroom by blowing out the competition with a recitation of 70 digits on his third try. Here's a link to Justin's victorious recitation - he spoke very softly, so listen carefully!
Congratulations to all of the students who were brave enough to stand up and put their best pis forward today!
Science Mentoring at Harvard Medical School
Congratulations to the four Gateway students who have been selected to participate in Harvard Medical School's Mentoring for Science 9 program! Kishma, Kanjo, Christina and Justin will be working with HMS faculty, graduate students and medical students for the next twelve weeks, developing their laboratory skills and learning about careers in biomedical science.
Job Shadowing at DFCI
Six Gateway students visited two cancer research laboratories at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as part of Boston PIC's Groundhog Job Shadow Day. Three of our students were hosted by the lab group of Dr. Pascal Braun, who visited our Biology I classes back in October, while three other students visited the lab group of Dr. Constantine Mitsiades.
All of the students enjoyed hands-on explorations of biomedical research techniques and materials, including gel electrophoresis, bacterial cultures, lab rats and nematodes!
A big thank you to all of our supporters at DFCI: Pascal, Stuart, Ryan, Matija, Anne, Constantine, Dr. David Hill, Dr. Larry Shulman, Robert Amelio, Candace Burns, Alicia Garcia, and Karen Burns White. Special thanks go out to Terry Alleyne for welcoming our Gateway freshmen into her O'Bryant Job Shadow Day preparations this year. We look forward to getting many more of our students into job shadowing in the LMA in the near future!
