An outbreak of fungal meningitis. That\u2019s the problem that University of Massachusetts Professor of Chemistry Dr. Scott Auerbach asked AP Integrated Science students to solve when he visited The Williston Northampton School on November 15.<\/p>\n
As the students settled into groups of three and four, Auerbach outlined the grim statistics: 438 cases in 19 states with a death total of at least 32.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s goal is to understand the role science plays in making sense of understanding this outbreak,\u201d Auerbach said. \u201cYour job is to be Beth Bell, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was one problem that the students weren\u2019t going to be able to solve by looking in the back of their textbook\u2014and not being able to immediately find the solution is the point. When Science Department Chair Bill Berghoff put together the pilot program for the integrated science class, his aim was to encourage collaboration and scientific creative thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really big into inquiry-based learning,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to do experiments, you have to do activities, to really understand what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An outbreak of fungal meningitis. That\u2019s the problem that University of Massachusetts Professor of Chemistry Dr. Scott Auerbach asked AP Integrated Science students to solve when he visited The Williston Northampton School on November 15. As the students settled into groups of three and four, Auerbach outlined the grim statistics: 438 cases in 19 states … Continue reading Science Program Tackles Big Questions<\/span>