Baby chicks!

Poultry Club will be having baby chicks for the kids to handle along with eggs to candle and maybe a chart of embryo development.

The purpose of the Poultry Club is to help bridge the gap between poultry students and the poultry industry.

Dr. Skip Garner's lab is exhibiting at KTU on April 9th!

Have you ever wondered what your DNA looks like? Several members from Skip Garner’s lab at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute will be demonstrating how to make a paper origami model of DNA. You can also help solve a crime scene mystery in Crime Scene:KTU by using DNA evidence to pinpoint the criminal! The Garner Lab studies differences in types of DNA sequences known as microsatellites. These highly variable Sequences are often used as markers, and are the basis of many forensic identity tests.

Virginia Tech's American Medical Student Association

Virginia Tech's American Medical Student Association, is hosting a presentation where kids will be able to do a hands on activity on proper hand washing techniques.

AMSA, the American Medical Student Association, is a national organization for students who wish to become physicians or have a career geared towards health. The local chapter at Virginia Tech offers premedical students the opportunity to build their professional network and help them be the best medical school candidate.

Wheelchair obstacle course by VTCSOM

Many times we don’t think how amazing is to be able to walk and move around. About 50 million Americans have a disability according to the US Census Bureau (about 1 in 5 of us). Roughly 40 Million of those with disabilities need NO ASSISTANCE to carry out their daily activities. If you want to learn more about this fantastic capacity to move with disability, please, come to our exhibit and take the challenge!

In our exhibit, faculty and students from the medical school at VTCSOM, physician assistant students from Jefferson College of Health Sciences will help you to go thru a wheelchair challenge and learn more about the challenges that so many have living with disability.

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute joins the basic science, life science, bioinformatics, and engineering strengths of Virginia Tech with the medical practice and medical education experience of Carilion Clinic. The school seats small class sizes of around 42 students each, fostering a rich educational experience. Unique focuses on four value domains - basic sciences, clinical sciences and skills, research, and interprofessionalism - develop physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. Virginia Tech Carilion is located in a new biomedical health sciences campus in Roanoke, adjacent to Carilion Clinic and near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Ever wondered about how forces relate to rockets?

Ever wondered about how forces relate to rockets? Come join CanSat for a hands-on water bottle rocket activity!

CanSat @ VT is in its third year at Virginia Tech. We compete in a year-long annual design competition where we have to design a rocket payload to carry a raw hen egg that is launched and recovered while completing a variety of tasks upon descent. CanSat has three Virginia Tech teams to compete in this year's international competition in Texas.

Pre-Dental Club is exhibiting on April 9th at KTU!

This year Pre-Dental Club has a variety of exciting dental hygiene related activities! In addition to learning the proper way to brush teeth and floss, kids can participate in “Guess Whose Smile” to win a bag full of dental hygiene goodies. Also, we will have plenty of informative posters, activity sheets, and even a fun video on the benefits of a healthy smile! Smiles are all about expressing yourself, and what better way to express yourself than to personalize your own toothbrush? Good oral hygiene is crucial for growing kids, and the sooner they develop good habits the healthier they will be!

Food Animal Practitioners Club – Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

The FAPC exhibit will be showcasing the differences in the gastrointestinal tracts of different species. The differences between horses, cattle, pigs and dogs will be discussed, and how these differences in the anatomy of their stomachs affect their diet. We will have pictures and diagrams for the kids to look at and touch to explain the differences.

Rumen fluid from a cow along with rumen microbes will be on display to allow the kids to see the microbes moving around in the fluid. We will discuss the importance of the microbes to the cattle’s digestive tract, and how they cannot function without them. Many people know that microbes exist in their own digestive tract, but are not aware of the importance to microbial populations in animal’s digestive tracts.

Common parasites affecting animals will also be on display. Difference species of worms, lice, and flies will be available for the kids to look at and examine. Short displays teaching how to treat these common parasites will be available so that the students can learn how to deal with a parasite if one of their pets gets this disease.

The Food Animal Practitioners Club is a club at Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine; we have a large group of veterinary students with interests in cattle, swine, sheep, goats, camelids and poultry. Every month we have a meeting with a speaker that covers topic important to animal agriculture and food animal medicine. On Tuesday of each week the club provides rounds for its members, a clinician will provide a case and the students will work through the case as a group discussing how they would treat the animal in a specific situation. Our goal as a club is to provide an opportunity to learn more about large animal welfare and husbandry while teaching about veterinary medicine.

How do we recognize so many different flavors? The chemical senses by the VTCSOM

Hum…delicious food smells so good! Isn’t it sad when we have cold and cannot smell our food? It seems like nothing tastes good without smell. That is because our senses of taste and smell are very close related. The sense of smell is very important, much more than improving the taste of what we eat. It also plays a role in our protection. When something is burning your first clue is the smell. Smell is also related to memory and emotions. Sometimes a smell seems to bring us to places or remind us of people we know but is not even nearby.

In our exhibit, faculty and students from the medical school at VTCSOM, physician assistant students from Jefferson College of Health Sciences will show you some interesting aspects of how we taste and smell. Come and have fun with us!

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute joins the basic science, life science, bioinformatics, and engineering strengths of Virginia Tech with the medical practice and medical education experience of Carilion Clinic. The school seats small class sizes of around 42 students each, fostering a rich educational experience. Unique focuses on four value domains - basic sciences, clinical sciences and skills, research, and interprofessionalism - develop physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. Virginia Tech Carilion is located in a new biomedical health sciences campus in Roanoke, adjacent to Carilion Clinic and near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

How can we hear? The auditory system by the VTCSOM

Most of us use sounds to communicate with each other. Isn’t it amazing how we recognize so many different sounds? The auditory system is a complex and very efficient system that detects sound vibration and brings the information to be processed by our brain. It is the mental processing that makes sense of the sounds. We can identify where the sounds come from because we have two ears on each side of our head. If you want to learn more about hearing and how it is processed by the brain to give it meaning come to our booth!

In our exhibit, faculty and students from the medical school at VTCSOM, physician assistant students from Jefferson College of Health Sciences will show you how the auditory system works and how we identify and recognize the origin of sounds.

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute joins the basic science, life science, bioinformatics, and engineering strengths of Virginia Tech with the medical practice and medical education experience of Carilion Clinic. The school seats small class sizes of around 42 students each, fostering a rich educational experience. Unique focuses on four value domains - basic sciences, clinical sciences and skills, research, and interprofessionalism - develop physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. Virginia Tech Carilion is located in a new biomedical health sciences campus in Roanoke, adjacent to Carilion Clinic and near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

VT-WFU Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Student Chapter

The VT-WFU Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Student Chapter is a joint organization whose mission is to encourage the development, dissemination, integration and utilization of knowledge in biomedical engineering. Students in our chapter are conducting exciting biomedical research in the areas of musculoskeletal biomechanics, imaging, cell and tissue engineering, and nanotechnology for medical applications. At our exhibit, kids will make hydrogel scaffolds used to regenerate tissue in the lab, learn about molecular analysis through extraction of DNA from strawberries, examine changes in body temperature using a thermal camera, and measure brainwave activity playing the brain game!

Dr. Jean Peccoud's lab is exhibiting at KTU on April 9th!

The Synthetic Biology booth is hosted by the synthetic biology research group at Virginia Tech. The group is led by Dr. Jean Peccoud works on problems related to the engineering of biology.

Understanding what goes on inside living cells is a difficult problem. There are all kinds of molecules bouncing around inside the cell, and we would love to be able to see what was going on. The problem is that we usually can’t see inside of the cells without killing them first. One way to see inside is to modify the cells so that when they make a protein, they also make a fluorescent protein that glows enough to be seen from outside the cell. By measuring the fluorescent proteins, we can get an idea of what the other proteins are doing. At our booth, we will show this idea with movies, clay models, and candy.

E. Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is exhibiting at the April 9th KTU!

. The E. Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is a medical school located in the corporate research center of Virginia Tech. The mission of the college is to train individuals to practice medicine in the rural Appalachian regions of the United States. VCOM will provide Kids’ Tech participants with an exhibit of human anatomical organs that have been plastinated in our facilities. Plastination is a process that preserves anatomical tissues (organs) using plastics. Methods. The specimens are hardened and water-proofed by the plastic; yet retain most of their original properties. They can be handled and manipulated, enhance the learning experience. Results. The specimens are typically used for teaching gross teaching and research purposes. The exhibit will be hosted by medical students from VCOM along with faculty from the anatomy department. Participants will be provided additional hands-on opportunities; one will be to replicate a regional spinal vertebra using clay (prizes will be given to those who can replicate human vertebrae with the clay). Conclusion. Taking part in Kids’ Tech University is an innovative means to stimulate interest in the anatomical, biological and chemical sciences as they pertain to the medical education and the practice of medicine.

IVMC exhibit on April 9th.

The IVMC will be bringing out unique dogs to show.

The purpose of Integrative Veterinary Medicine Club (IVMC) is to educate and provide information to students as well as graduates and faculty members who are interested in learning about holistic veterinary medicine. Integrative Medicine Club shall deliver educational resources, hands-on experiences, and networking opportunities to those individuals in order to further their knowledge in the holistic veterinary medical community. IVMC shall also help students and recent graduates gain professional certification and assist in their search for employment in the area of holistic veterinary medicine. Finally, IVMC will provide opportunities for members to improve their knowledge and understanding of current issues regarding holistic medicine.
IVMC is a recognized chapter of the Student American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (SAHVMA).

How do you make a white frog? VBI’s African Clawed Frog (Xenopus) colony and its applications.

How do you make a white frog? VBI’s African Clawed Frog (Xenopus) colony and its applications.

Presenters: Dr. Pawel Michalak, Graciela Santopietro, Catherine Galecki, Brittany Ralph
Representing: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute

Most differences between organisms can be traced back to changes in DNA, the ultimate hereditary material. Albinism, a rare variety characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, is a good example. Human albinos have very pale skin and are very sensitive to sun exposure. There are albino animals as well, including frogs, and it turns out that albinism in all species results from similar DNA defects in genes responsible for dark pigmentation. Participants will have the opportunity to watch live albino and “normal” frogs and learn how a single change in DNA leads to a dysfunctional protein and how this in turn results in lack of pigmentation and white skin color. They will also learn about African Clawed Frog (Xenopus) in general and their significance in research. Virginia Bioinformatics Institute is proud to house a colony of more than 100 Xenopus frogs from multiple species and verities.

Organization: VT Chapter- Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS)

About us:

MANRRS is a national society that welcomes membership of people of all racial and ethnic group participation in agricultural and related sciences careers. MANRRS members are encouraged to be full participants in other professional societies for their basic disciplinary and career interests. However, MANRRS attempts to provide networks to support professional development of minorities.

The VT chapter of the society pledge to support endeavors that will always foster and promote the agricultural sciences and related fields in a positive manner among ethnic minorities. We also pledge to initiate and participate in activities and programs that will ensure that ethnic minorities will also be involved in and associated with the agricultural sciences and related fields. We pledge to work for the inclusion, achievement, and advancement of all people in the agricultural sciences.

KTU Exhibit: Red light, green light with a twist! (Theme: Nutrition)

-One 3x6 table will be needed-

Participants will be given a handout that provides a little detail about the revised food pyramid and promoting nutrition as a youth. After a brief discussion we’ll move into the activity. The participants will be shown pictures of foods that are healthy, somewhat healthy, and unhealthy. When they see the picture, they have to react to the category that food fits.

Healthy foods= Go ( Green)

· Perform a stationary activity that requires rapid movements

· Examples: Running in place, jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, or jumping in place

Somewhat healthy foods taken in moderation= Slow (Yellow)

· Perform a stationary activity with slow movements

· Examples: Stretching, yoga or pilates poses, or creative dance moves

Junk food= Stop/Freeze (Red)

· Hold a stationary position until the next picture is shown

· Examples: Becoming a statue, sitting, or freezing in place

These categories help explain the idea of eating and practicing good nutrition. We want the participants to understand that “Go foods” mean you can have as much as you want because those foods have great nutritional benefits and they are healthy. “Slow foods” represent foods that can be eaten but with caution and moderation. “Stop foods” are those foods that are totally unhealthy and provide no nutritional value to our health.

How can we see? The visual system by VTCSOM

We are visual creatures and we acquire most information by sight. It is amazing how our eyes can automatically adapt to the distance of an object or the amount of the light in the room. Bright light and contrasting patterns can cause optical illusions. Our brain and eyes work together to create images in our brain. It is the mental processing that determines how we see the world. Many times our brain seems to play tricks with us!

In our exhibit, faculty and students from the medical school at VTCSOM, physician assistant students from Jefferson College of Health Sciences will show you how we can trick our brain, based on how our visual system works and we will have fun learning about 3 dimensional vision and seeing some optical illusions.

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute joins the basic science, life science, bioinformatics, and engineering strengths of Virginia Tech with the medical practice and medical education experience of Carilion Clinic. The school seats small class sizes of around 42 students each, fostering a rich educational experience. Unique focuses on four value domains - basic sciences, clinical sciences and skills, research, and interprofessionalism - develop physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. Virginia Tech Carilion is located in a new biomedical health sciences campus in Roanoke, adjacent to Carilion Clinic and near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Food Pyramid

Food Pyramid
For our exhibit, we will talk about nutrition and why it is important to eat a balanced diet. We chose this topic because we are Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise majors at Virginia Tech and have strong backgrounds in the importance of nutrition. We will focus mainly on the Food Pyramid, discussing the importance of the food pyramid, as well as what the food pyramid means. We will show the kids examples of different types of food that belong in the different categories. We will provide a blank copy of the food pyramid and the kids will color or write their favorite foods in the correct categories. Allowing the kids the opportunity to relate their favorite foods to the food pyramid.

Sources: http://www.mypyramid.gov
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/resources/mpk1_lesson1.pdf

How do we “feel” things around us? The Sensory System by VTCSOM

Touch is part of sensory system: it is mote than using our hands to feel things. Our skin helps us to recognized difference in temperature, vibrations, texture, pressure and pain. Why do we touch everything with our fingertips? It is not only because it is easy but it is due the presence of many “receptors” in our fingertips that are associated with large sensory areas in our brain. The cerebral cortex (external part of our brain) has a special area where the touch sensation is processed. Among the most sensitive “feelings” areas we have are the fingertips and the lips, so that means we can discriminate better sensations in these parts of our body.

In our exhibit, faculty and students from the medical school at VTCSOM, physician assistant students from Jefferson College of Health Sciences will show you some interesting aspects of the sensory system.

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute joins the basic science, life science, bioinformatics, and engineering strengths of Virginia Tech with the medical practice and medical education experience of Carilion Clinic. The school seats small class sizes of around 42 students each, fostering a rich educational experience. Unique focuses on four value domains - basic sciences, clinical sciences and skills, research, and interprofessionalism - develop physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. Virginia Tech Carilion is located in a new biomedical health sciences campus in Roanoke, adjacent to Carilion Clinic and near Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Virginia Career VIEW is exhibiting on April 9th!

We're all about exploring . . . careers! Want to learn more about science and technology careers? Drop by our table to visit Career Town, our interactive game, pick up some "to-go" activities for kids, and get helpful information for parents.

Funded by the Virginia State Department of Education's Career and Technical Education office, all Virginia Career VIEW resources are supportive of Standards of Learning and Virginia Counseling Standards. Visit our site at: http://www.vacareerview.org/ for more information.

Bowling Green State University KTU!--inaugural semester- Spring, 2012

Making major improvements to one of the nation’s high-value food crops – from the lab, to the field, to the market – is the goal of a project awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The $9.28 million grant will fund the work of a multidisciplinary team representing a total of 18 institutions that will create new disease management technologies to improve the sustainability of soybean production. The team, which includes extension specialists and economists as well as biologists, will establish relationships with soybean farmers and crop production and research consultants to ensure the technologies are meeting their needs and to measure potential economic value. The research activities will focus specifically on oomycete pathogens of soybean including Phytophthora sojae, a deadly, soilborne plant pathogen that causes root and stem rot in soybean. Soybean production in the United States totals approximately 3.3 billion bushels annually, which has a value of almost $32 billion. However, damage to soybean crops caused by root and stem rot cause an estimated $300 million in annual yield loss for U.S. farmers.

“Soybean is a very important crop for the United States,” explained Virginia Bioinformatics Institute Professor Brett Tyler, who serves as the project’s principal investigator. “It is used in the foods that we eat, the oil that we cook with, and in animal feed. Soybean oil is also used extensively in biodiesel production. The main goal of this project is to improve the sustainability of crop production by mitigating several major diseases. This will benefit small farmers as well as larger commercial producers, and will strengthen our nation’s food security system by keeping food prices down.”

Over the past 10 years, information about the biology and genomics of P. sojae and other oomycetes (fungal-like microbes) has increased dramatically, due in large part to scientific advances and discoveries made by Tyler and his collaborators. The central aim of this project is to translate these discoveries into new disease management technologies that can be easily integrated with current farming practices to improve sustainable soybean production.

“This project isn’t as much about new discovery as it is applying our recent discoveries from the lab to make real-world improvements,” said Tyler.

Watch a video of Tyler discussing the work.

Destructive diseases caused by oomycete pathogens impact not only soybean but also a huge range of other plants important to agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and natural ecosystems. These include potato, tomato, peppers, squash, cucumbers, grapes, most fruit and nut trees, and many ornamental nursery plants. It is expected that many strategies the team develops to mitigate oomycete diseases of soybean can be applied to these other plant species.

“Plant genetic resistance is the most effective way to manage disease. We want to develop a disease-resistant, high-yielding, and environmentally-safe soybean crop,” said M.A. Saghai Maroof, professor of crop and soil environmental sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and project co-principal investigator. “While this project involves mainly soybean, we expect spin-offs for other crops, as this research will be applicable to oomycete or fungi disease in many other plant species.”

According to John McDowell, associate professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a co-principal investigator on the project, “We have a diverse team with a real breadth of expertise bringing many useful perspectives to this disease problem, providing a synergism to help us put some controls on this disease. Most importantly, we will be making strong connections through our extension team with the growers at the beginning of the project to make sure our work will be meeting their needs.”

Education and outreach activities are key project components. A network of colleges and universities will provide opportunities for undergraduate students to contribute to the research. The project will also build on the popular Kids’ Tech University program sponsored by the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and Virginia Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program, establishing a new Kids’ Tech University program at Bowling Green State University.

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech is a premier bioinformatics, computational biology, and systems biology research facility that uses transdisciplinary approaches to science combining information technology, biology, and medicine. These approaches are used to interpret and apply vast amounts of biological data generated from basic research to some of today’s key challenges in the biomedical, environmental, and agricultural sciences. With more than 240 highly trained multidisciplinary, international personnel, research at the institute involves collaboration in diverse disciplines such as mathematics, computer science, biology, plant pathology, biochemistry, systems biology, statistics, economics, synthetic biology, and medicine. The large amounts of data generated by this approach are analyzed and interpreted to create new knowledge that is disseminated to the world’s scientific, governmental, and wider communities.