One of the rewards of this job is the contact it provides with bright minds. Powerful intellects of the future, they are forming the habits of thought and work that will make them successful scholars later in life. It is a privilege to play some small part in their intellectual formation.
As part of our distant learning efforts during the influenza emergency, my colleague, Fleur Montes de Oca, and I assigned a research project based on the unfolding crisis. Students were to keep abreast of the news, maintain a research journal, investigate the nature of viruses and write a report. The flu outbreak allowed students to study a topic in current events from the perspective of the main topics of our seventh grade biology course: microlife, human body organ systems, ecology, genetics and evolution.
It was an opportunity that many students seized and dug into with youthful energy. The fact that it was a national emergency of historical proportions gave the project more urgency. Many discovered links between textbook topics that had never occurred to them before. Science came alive. Whether writing from their homes in Mexico City, or, in one case at least, the beach in Acapulco, the young learners used the internet to delve into the fascinating world of viruses. Their reports are informative, and often insightful. I have linked some of the best.
Here is Alejandra Traslosheros's wonderful research journal.
http://bb.asf.edu.mx/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_599_1&content_id=_59838_1
http://bb.asf.edu.mx/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_599_1
